Evening star., 1923-06-13
Great Britain Most Generous
I'm Awards for War Callantry

erations which eliminated in J&pans
seizure and occupation Of the Ger
man colony Of KiaoChou. More
over. the British quartermaster gem
eral was called upon to either furnish
outright or else to contribute to the
equipment and supplies of all sorts
Of foreign auxiliary forces. There is
no eNaggerating the magnitude of
the details that fall to a quarter
master generals department in a
great war. 1t means the furnishing
OF the armies in the field with food
and drink, with buttons, boots. shirts.
socks. mounts and remounts. wagons,
hospital supplies. uniforms. belts.
helmets. Caps-in fact, there is no end
to the catalogue of the supply serv-
Ices for an army of millions in
great war. BY common consent the
British army was the best fed. the
best clothed. and from a physical
point of view the best cared for OF
any of the armies in the field. at
any rate until the American serV
last year of the conflict. All this was
due to the extraordinary powers of
organization and TO the resourceful-
ness of Sir John Cowans. He re-
peatedly asked TO go to the front
to see some OF the fighting. but he
could not be spared from the war
department in Whitehall.
Not merely millions, but even bill
lions. of dollars passed through his
hands. and II is a matter of pride
that whatever charges of dishonesty
and corruption were brought against
civilian contractors, the officers of the
regular army, and first and foremost
among them, Gen. Sir John CoWanS,
did their duty in a patriotic and dis
interested manner. above all reproach
and suspicion as far as their integrity
and efficiency of service were con-
cerned. True, there was consider
able amount of extravaganza, owing
to the impossibility of determining
beforehand the duration of the con-
flict and likewise attributable to the
disposition of the contractors to take
improper and eXtortionate advantage
of the urgent necessities of the army.
But ii is all to the credit of Sir John
Cowans that. with the billions of
money that passed through his hands
during the four years of war, and
his unrivaled opportunities of quietly
and secretly enriching himself, he
should have died heavily in debt and
without making any provision for
his widow, who is now dependent
barely $1,000. since she has refused
the additional grant of $500 year
from the civil list of the crown.
In spite of these intellectually valu-
able services of Sir John Cowans.
which it needed a soldier of the
regular army to appreciate at its
true worth, the late quartermaster
general was not persona grata at
Westminster or with the public.
1t may be recalled that he was at
| one moment during the war the OBJ
! ject of such a storm of popular
prejudice that his retirement was
demanded in parliament and clam
ored for by the press. and that it
was only because he was regarded
as indispensable in the office of
! ouartermaSter general that he was
kept at his post and escaped ship
wreck of his career. 1t was in con-
nection with now almost forgot
| ten episode, where his courtesy.
good nature and friendship caused
; coat influences. en- tout bien ct tout
/ honneur. the lady in the case being
near septuagenarian, to the extent
| of becoming the principal party to
! the war departments persecution
of certain young officer of humble
birth and remarkable good looks
and who had been badly wounded
| in France. The treatment which the
young officer received from the war
department at the instance of the
tion and care he had misinterpreted
was of a particularly harsh charac-
ter. 1t must be confessed that in
this unfortunate matter, distressing
to her gallant and popular husband
and to her two daughters, a duchess
and foreign princess, the indiscre-
tion displayed by Sir John rivaled
that of the lady involved. and the
denunciation which he incurred was
of a particularly savage nature,
especially in parliament, from which
it would have under the circum-
stances been hopeless to look for
any monetary grant.
Then. tco. when the war was over
and his services were still badly
needed in order to deal with the
frightfully difficult problem of get
ting rid of all the surplus supplies.
amounting in value to hundreds of
millions Of pounds sterling. a prob
lem which he understood better than
, any one else, he suddenly resigned
and left the government in the lurch
in order to enter the service of the
so-called Shell Transport and Trad
ing Company, embracing a number
of concerns, including the Mexican
Eagle oil interests. Before his ar
rangements with the latter could
be finally concluded he suddenly
died in the south of France-that is
to say, before he had time to derive
any benefit from the new venture
upon which he was embarking
every statesman, in and out of Office.
in turn, with her grievances on the
score of the alleged niggardliness
of state and people in falling to
monetarily reward her husband or to
| make what she considers adequate
provision for herself.