The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-03-09
Give POWER
TO PERSHING
FRIENDS URGE
Some Ask Harding to Make
Him Ambassador to France
Great Number Want Him
To Be Real Head Of Army.
EFFORT IS IN EARNEST
BY MARK SULLIVAN


dor to France and thase who are urg-
ing Secretary of War Weeks, and ulti-
mately congress, to change the Gus
toms and statutes dealing with army
organization in way to make General
Pershing in fact what he now is in
name, the head of the army.
General Pershing's friends think he
cannot be wholly happy in his present
situation. He is the general of the
United States army. This is unique
honor. 1t carries the privilege of four
stars on his epaulets and other SIM
liar dignities.
In sense, the position makes him
above the army and away from it, and
IN institution all to himself. He can
wear any uniform he pleases. He is
the only soldier who can wear a Sam
Browne belt. He can go his way and
the army runs along without much
reference to him. But there lies the
drawback for General Pershing's tenn
permanent. The position of general of
the army carries too much dignity
and too little power. The Office more
or less puts the holder of it on
shelf. 1t superannuates him before
his time.
Like ExPresident.
Pershing is like an ex-president. He
has practically no real power in the
army The real head of the army in
the sense of being active, in having
power is the chief of staff. Pershings
friends and partisans think that to
have the exalted honor that General
Pershing has, but to be excluded from
the real power and activity that the
chief of staff has, is not best.
What they want and are now ener-
getically trying to accomplish is to
change the statutes and customs so as
to make General Pershing in effect
chief of staff, by attaching to his
position as general of the army, all
the power and much of the activity
that the chief of staff now has.
Would Trade Places.
Roughly, the idea is to make the
chief If staff subordinate to the gen.
eral of the army. instead of dependent
and 70 make the general of the army
the actual and active head of the or
ganization. There is an earnest ef-
fort afoot to bring this about.
How it will end, depends largely Of
course. on the new secretary of war,
Mr.. Weeks, and on the president and
congress. If this present effort should
promise success. probably General
Pershing would not care to consider
anything else.
Lacking success for this effort, how
ever, many of General Pershing's par
tisans would like to see him given the
enthusiastically to France That is
the basis of all the present discussion.
The whole thing is now largely in the
state of drawing-room wire pulling. 1t
is Hrott- n |, OF
has to do with ambassadorships; poll
tics in the popular sense has little
concern with it. The public general
ly takes little interest.
Uses Trial Balloons.
1t is easy to make shrewd surmises
as to what is really in Harding's mind,
so far as his mind has clarified. The
fact is, however, that these foreign
ambassadors are being chosen in mucc
The same way as the cabinet members
that is to say, by method which in
cludes the use of trial balloons.
Whether Harding does it conscien-
tiously or unconsciously. this method
of letting a name go up, letting the
newspapers, the politicians and the
public generally shoot at it ard letting
these critics accomplish an amount
of elimination which would be painful
for SO generaus a man as Harding to
manage himself, serves Harding Use.
fully.
All that is said about these ambassa-
dorships really represents little more
than a comparing of notes by the
friends of various candidates who have
called on Harding and who have got
indefinite replies.
Herrick Best Bet.
Out of this sort of background the
best surmise is that Ex-Governor My
ron T. Herrick, of Ohio, has or has
had the best chance of being the next
ambassador to France. Mr.. Herrick
has already held this office. He is not
In very good health. and it would be
easy to appreciate that the assign
ment might not appeal to him.
After Mr.. Herrick, the men who are
believed to have the most pressing
Endorsements are General Pershing
and Colonel William Hayward, a New
York man, who made one of the most
picturesque records of the war as the
head of negro regiment which he
raised personally, which fought with
the French apart from the Americans
and which as a generous recognition
on the part of the French, was the
first American regiment to reach the
Rhine in the "Mache triomphale" afte,
the armiStice.
Oppose Harvey.
The universally expected robability
that Col George Harvey will be named
as ambassador to Great Britain has ex
cited an opposition which is large ir
quantity but somewhat timorous il
quality. The files of Harvey's weekly
are being systematically searched fol
passages that might render Colone
Harvey unpalatable either to England
or to sections of our own people. Many
senators and many other politicians
are without enthusiasm for the ap
pointment.
1t will probably be accurate to de
scribe their state of mind as one o
wondering just how far President
HArding's heart is set on this particu
lar appointment
II they thought it represented {
Continued on Ejphfl