| Show opil laonard wood reprinted from nn an article ty by theodore nose noo tevelt veit in the outlook by special arrangement with the OLIt outlook look of which theodore roosevelt noo sevelt Is contributing editor copyright 1910 by the outlook company all rights reserved gen leonard wood has haa just returned from south america to take up tip his duties as chief of the general staff of the united states army the highest military position which the service affords nearly 12 years ago when leonard wood was acting as governor of santiago I 1 wrote in the outlook about what he had already achieved and what he could be trusted to achieve during the intervening 12 years he has haa played a very conspicuous part among the men who have rendered signal service to the country by the way in which they have enabled it to grapple with the duties and responsibilities incurred by the spanish war what has haa been accomplished in the philippines in cuba in porto rico in panama and in san domingo during these 12 years represents a sum of achievement of which this nation has a right to be extremely proud in each locality the problem has been different in each locality it has been solved with signal success or of course there have been mistakes and shortcomings but w n the whole it would be difficult to find anywhere a finer record of successful accomplishment this record 1 Is primarily due to the admirable quality of the men put at the head of affairs in the different places Aless rs tatt taft luke wright smith and forbes hunt winthrop post and colton governor magoon colonel goethals Is to these and their colleagues and subordinates the country owes a heavy debt of obligation most of those I 1 have mentioned are civilians colonel goethals under tinder whom the gigantic work of the panama canal Is being accomplished with literally astounding rapidity and success Is a representative of the army the share of the army in the honor roll is very large the importance of work like that of general hell bell in the philippines of general barry in cuba can hardly be overestimated but as a whole of all the work of the army officers the greatest in amount and the greatest in variety of achievement must be credited to general wood and moreover he has at times combined with singular success the functions of civil administrator and military commandant the part played by the united states in cuba has been one of the most honorable ever ver played by any nation in dealing with a weaker po er one of the most satisfactory in all respects and to general wood more than to any other one man Is due the credit of starting this work and conducting it to a successful conclusion during the earliest and most difficult years like almost all of the men mentioned as well as their colleagues general wood of course bourse incurred the violent hatred of many dishonest schemers and unscrupulous adventurers and of a few more or less well meaning persons persona who were misled by these schemers find and adventurers but it Is astounding to any one acquainted with the facts to realize not merely what he accomplished shed but how he succeeded in gaining the good will of the enormous enon noua MR majority of the men whose good will could be won only in honorable fashion spaniards and cubans christian filipinos and moros alores catholic ecclesiastics and protestant missionaries in each case the great majority of chose hose whose opinion was best worth havin having g grew fregard o degara beneral wood as their special champion and ablest friend as aa the man who more tinn any others understood and sympathized with their peculiar needs and was anxious and able to render them the help they most needed ills ilia administration was as signally successful in the moro aloro country as in cuba in each case alike it brought in its train pence peace an increase in material prosperity and a rigid adherence to honesty as the only policy tolerated among officials ills his opportunity for military service has not been great other either in the philippines or while ho he was the governor of cuba still on several occasions he was obliged to carry on operations against fi hostile ostile tribes of moros and in each case he did tits his work with skill energy and efficiency and once it was done he showed as much humanity in dealing with the vanquished as he had shown capacity to vanquish them in our country there are some kinds of success which receive an altogether disproportionate financial reward but in no other country Is the financial reward so BO small for the kind of service done by leonard wood and by the other men whose names I 1 have given above general wood Is an army officer with nothing but an army officers pay and we accept it as a matter of course that he should have received practically no pecuniary reward for those services which he be rendered in positions not such as an army officer usually occupies there Is not an other big country in the world where he would not have received a stant lal reward such as here no even thinks of his receiving yet er all the reward for which he be i cares Is the opportunity to r r in service and this opportunity ha haa 0 0 given him once and again 11 bloj sti stands ands as chlof of staff of the J M can army the army in which li hn serving in a subordinate post t tl I 1 surgeon 13 years ago ills his rise been astonishing and it has been purely to his own striking qualifies fica tion and striking achievements again and again he has rendered great ice fee to the american people and he will continue to render such service in the position he now holds THEODORE ROOSEVELT |
