The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-02-11
Dawes and the Investigators.

quoted in this editoriaL-Miami Her
aid.
Dawes and the Investigators.
We do not know whether the course
of the war investigating committee of
the house of representatives justifies
the structures or the profanity of
Charles C. Dawes, but we heartily ap-
prove of his strong defense of the
conduct and achievements of the
American army in France. Undoubt-
eddy mistakes were made over there.
Undoubtedly much was done under
the stress of the emergency that
would not have been had there been
time for different action. Undoubtedly
great sums We're spent that seem
wasteful from the standpoint of con-
ditions of peace. But the war had to
be won. The work the American
Army had to do had to be done quick
ly, regardless of cost. The only justi-
fication for any investigation of the
war activities in France, is to punish
fraud, ii fraud anywhere was commit
ted. and to ascertain what errors
might serve as a valuable lesson to us
If such an appalling emergency should
confront us again in the future, which
God forfend. There should be no par I
tisan feeling or purpose in such an
investigation. 1t was not, as we have
always sturdily maintained, a parti-
san war. 1t was not a democratic war
or a republican waf. GloriousIy it
was fought, and gioriously 1t was
won. Long after this committee is
dead" said General Dawes to that
body, "the achievements Of the Amer
lean army will stand as an everla sting
blaze of glory" and unquestionably
that is true.
Gen.. Dawes, who, as the country
we'll knows, is a republican, and has
been prominently considered as a cab
met possibility in the administration
of Mr.. Harding, held the very impor-
tant office of head of the Army sup
ply procurement service in France
during the war The work done by
him in that difficult and trying posi-
ton has been highly commended, con-
tributing very materially, as it did,
to the results obtained by the troops
in the field. 1t was not work that
made him conspicuous in the dis
patches; it was not a work that called
for dashing brilliancy in action. 1t
was the job of a keen and level |
headed business man, accustomed to
financial and commercial operations
on a large scale, and it was just as
essential to the conduct of the war
as the evolutions of military comman-
ders. In the urgency that existed vast
quantities of supplies had to be OBJ !
tanned in Europe, and the main ques- |
ton was not how much they would
cost but how quick they could get
them. Sure we paid said Dawes to !
had to win the war! We didn't stop |
prices for sheep If the sheep could |
have pulled artillery to the front. Our |
men were standing at the front to be |
shot at. We had to get them food and |
ammunition. oh, it's all right now to !
say we bought too much vinegar and |
too many cold chisels, but we saved |
the civilization of the world"
1t is easy enough for a committee to |
sit in their peaceful chamber and |
pick flaws in the conduct, of an army /
in the field, and in the procurement of |
supplies for such an army. But war, |
and particularly such a war as con- |
fronted us in 1918, involves the life |
or death of the nation, and there is no |
time to pick and choose and barter |
like traders in market. Whatever |
was believed to be necessary had to |
be done, no matter what it cost. And !
the n 5ult of victory justifies every |
thing that was done in that belief |
Moreover, nobody knew how long the |
war was going to last, and supplies !
had to be obtained upon the basis of /
an indefinite tenure. The quick /
achievement found us with vast sup /
plies on hand Whether the food and |
clothing could have been disposed of
for more than the 100000. 900 obtain i
ed for them is an open question. but /
it was the opinion of Dawes and 9TH !,
ers associated with him in the re-
sponsibility, that immediate disposi- |
ton at the best price obtainable was
the better business policy. 1--WE
cleaned the slate he says. and Great |
Britain, which held on to it's stocks
and tried to drive a hard bargain, has
lost millions OF dollars, and their stuff /
Is there today. as he expresses it, rot
ting in the fields.
We do not decry the investigation
of these sales, or of other matters per-
tanning to the conduct of the war,
where the facts can be helpful to the
country, but there should be no at
tempt to throw a cloud upon the del
tenders Of the nation in the most