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Show j FUNSTON FIRST TO GO. The doparturo of the lfifth brigade i from Toxas City for Vera Crux may mean the hogiuulng of the war which the nduiinietrnlioii aad a majority of r tho people of the United States wished to avoiiL Tho announced purpose isto H; aid lb murine and Mucjackota to maintain control of the chief Maxienn port nod take posfifwtiou of tbo rail-, rail-, road loading to tho capital for some miles out. The selection of Brigadier Genora) f Funstou to command the first detach mont of s-oMie to land on foreign soil i". a tine compliment to that ofScrr and t ebows that the man from civil life ha; j the same opportunity in the United j States army as the Wot Pointer. It is merely a question of capacity for j Icadcrphip and knowledge ot modern warfare. j - Funston, it will be remembered, went ' I to the Philippines as colonel of the Twentieth Kansas, and won his promo- I tion AK the campaign against Agui naldo. finallv carturing tin 1'ihpno rebel leader. Prior to entoring the army tho Kansau had fought with tho Cubans in their efTort to throw off the Spanish yoke, and had endured almost incrediblo hardships in tho struggle. A great manyf people hnliovo that Funston is the creation of tho war correspondents cor-respondents and that his olovation to high rank was dnc in great part to the countless columns of praise bestowed upon him. Perhaps thoro is some ground for tho belief, but nevertheless he has novor beon found wauting when called upon to take action. Tho capacity ca-pacity of the man was shown at tho time of tho great San Francisco earthquake earth-quake and tho destructive fire that followed. fol-lowed. Funston is what might properly be called a born soldier. Ho failed in his effort to obtain a cadctship, but had tho satisfaction in after years to com-mand com-mand a brigade in which his successful competitor for West Point honors hold a much lower rank. Itwas another caso of tho irony of fate. Tot long ago a high military authority in Utah declared that, if war with Mexico broke out Major General Wood would be chief in command, and that Funston would bo selected as ono of his chiof lieutenants. Evidently ho knew whnt ho wna talking about. It is pleasing to tho Amorican pooplo to contrast tho manner in which commissions com-missions aro obtained in tho United States army with the practice in Great Britain, whoro tho youngor song of peers who do not tako holy orders go into tho army and obtain promotions by tho influence of their titled relatives. rela-tives. Not so long ago commissions could bo purchased for these favored fa-vored individuals. Their worth as soldiers, to say nothing of their patriotism, was shown in tho recent Ulster crisis, when hundreds of them' gave notice of their intention to resign rathor than assist in putting down a threatened rebollion. "Wood and Funston roso by their own individual efforts, tho former being a contract surgeon in the army and tho latter a Kansas fanner. They are both good Boldiers and will give a good account ac-count of themselves in Mexico if callod upon to strike a decisivo blow. |
