| Show ALGER AND THE SPOILS Secre secretary alger lit irk self defense states states ithac the reason why so mulch much went wrong with the volunteers is that his subordinates failed to execute the orders given them he intimates timatea in that the regulars were all right because by trained office off leera cs while the officers of the volunteers la ili many cases were men mein unett tor bor cespon sible positions ap appointed painted not because ot os their ability but because they had influential friends whether athia be true or not need not be discussed it is a matter of o f which the general public can judge but it to Is worth while noticing that according to the st louis globe democrats washington correspondent resPondent none was more unfit for a responsible position than Secre secretary bary alger aiger himself in the up polut ment of no army officer were merk merit and ability more overlooked than in his own case the writer referred to says t that hat privately and with u unanimity nan ara there was a spirit of intense protest among army officers when it wa known that gen alger was to be made secretary of war he came to his office without a welcome it was remembered that gen We merritt had been algers superior officer in the civil war and had passed upon an alleged offense for which the alger court martial had been convened there was no confluence in alger wb bhea he entered upon his office to make matters worse the becee tary cut at the outbreak of y the war aft sick alck the globe democrat d ent says his physicians advised retirement and ong long 1 rest the patient 6 few days at a time by the he came hurrying back to his the ithe department much of his work during the war was transacted as ba fa lay av flat on his back da day pawed without his presence at the depart de part mint ment but the papers to be examined elamin and signed went to bo the ithe sick room to iab t considered s it is further alleged that time bind alaan the ser secretary detary was waa given to understand der stand that his services we were re bat subtle appreciated the story runs prom from the beginning of hostilities to the signing of the prot protocol ocal there wem wax scarcely a military movement executed was waa not rad radically leally different from the suggestions offered by the decre tary frary whether his way would have been better than the one subsequently adopted is hardly hanily a profitable consideration the tact ithac he was turned down almost continuously tended to affect detrimentally his relations with the commanding officers of the army his usefulness became impaired recent criticisms in off official iclal quarters A 31 rec ted against the secretary are only the public of which high officers of the d delai D 8 have held all of the time U 40 they express want of 1 biad of the war department they rep rent the situa tIm he clung to MB his office Se secretary eretT alger may have reason tor for criticizing criticising critic ising a system that permits incompetent persons to acquire important offices abut if so the criticism falls on himself first there undoubtedly Is some ex aeration se ration in the si tories of the sufferings of the volunteers after the war luine colored for political reasons but there Is enough in what bas as happened to ta suggest the necessity of keeping the army of the united states above the methods known kno wn to a class of politicians land and to oom com jacce the ithe reform at the top and ibert the question to is whether there are wt wk other branches of the government syvlee ontee that need purification too |
