Show 0 ali 0 1 Z ft 00 Is washington A routine war department order came through the other day which said crap thunder tl ti cally over hagood by direction of the I resident maj gen johnson Jo linson hagood IIa good U S A Is ig relieved from assignment to the command of tit the C eighth corps area and further duty tit at fort sam houston texas major general alagood will proceed to his bis home and await orders kach each day there comes from tile the war department anywhere from two or three to a couple of at dozen orders by which army officers are transferred from one post to another from one assignment to another or given new instructions it Is not unusual at all that Is why I 1 said at the outset of this item that the order respecting C general alagood wits routine rut bill it was routine only in the language that was used of otherwise 11 emise it was significant just how significant it will prove to be remains as a secret to lie be unfolded by the future suffice to say that seldom has one minor incident of government administration created such guch a storm as this army order because it his has become a political issue Ceri general eral hagood Is the third ranking making officer in the united states army ile he has ills been in the service something like forty years ills ilia record Is generally regarded as distinguished but at the same time he has never been a pussyfoot he has spoken boldly sometimes too boldly and sometimes out of turn yet I 1 think it Is generally agreed that general alagood Is sincere cut but to go back of tile the routine army order by which he be was summarily relieved of ills his command at the important army post of fort sam houston we find a record of general IIa Ila goods testimony before an appropriations committee in the house of representatives in that testimony general hagood spoke with his usual bluntness ile he apparently offended somebody when he did it his testimony has been criticized and commended the war department and secretary dern have been attacked and defended and even president roosevelt lias has been dragged into the controversy because somewhere somehow new mew deal opposition has become convinced that president roosevelt and secretary dern punished general aln hagood by removing him front from his big post because he dared to point out nukes flukes and flaws and ridiculous aspects in new deal policies of handling taxpayers money general was called before the appropriations committee by its chairman and told speaks to express his can freely did sentiments his honest convictions and any constructive suggestions lie might have respecting improvement of the united states army the gen era eral somewhat blusteringly related to the committee that the army must have additional add illonal housing facilities lie related conditions in many army posts POS t S and asserted that flint many persons on relief were accorded corded ne better places to live than uncle sams soldiers that part aroused no particular controversy tro versy but when general told tile the committee of the difficulty tile the responsible army authorities have in setting gettling money alth which to provide better hou housing ing for the soldiers he stepped on administration toes by saying n that it was more difficult to get live five cents for a penell pencil than a thousand sit nd dollars with which to teach civilian conservation corps boys new hobbles or boondoggling boon dogal I 1 ng he said he col could get a hundred dollars to build a arii glaiel e I 1 walk and a rose garden but could not dot get ten dollars with fill which to repair a broken steam pipe in an army barracks the next outburst by the general brought forth his description that money being handled hy by relief administrator hopkins was stage money that nothing worth while or of a permanent character was being done with th that t money and the explanation that he filled called it stage money because it Is being handed around and you can do nothing with will it in the flip end ell ills plea was that some of these funds which he be sald were being otherwise wasted should be employed to bull build structures of concrete and steel that can he be shown to our grandchildren 50 years from now in hearing general alagood IIa goods s testimony the committee understood that the war department had given him permission to speak freely indeed such stich assurance bad been passed along to the committee froni from the war department part ment but apparently the war department part ment did not know what hat general gener a I 1 hagood had on his chest if it b had ad known it certainly could have expected exactly such expressions because general alagood never has pulled his punches ile he has said each time what he thought by saying what he fie thought however he undoubtedly moved across the line of discretion army officers must guard their speech they are under disciplinary regulations it has to be so otherwise wi we would see frequent outbursts ats by army officers in oppose tion to established policies rules and regulations and it takes no stretch of the to see what a disordered mess would result 0 0 on the other hall annd general alagood was certainly privileged to believe that ills his observations were then th the e being made only for storm broke tile committee ofton gress before which he appeared APpen red the alie doors to the committee room ere cre closed and locked and only committee members were in at te rolance it happened lion ever that subsequently the stenographic record of hie file hearings was made public and ami lien that hipp happened ened the storm broke almost simultaneously with the removal of the bond of secrecy arec y 11 nn n lie committee record thi avar department order de del horning lorning general alagood was written when that happened tile the politicians literally blew up lip they shouted charges of censorship terrorism by the president and secretary pern dern dictatorship political punishment and half liala a dozen other oilier vicious accusations A few of the lie nd administration ministration spokesmen in congress defended the war department part ment action almost in the same breath these administration spokesmen sol sought t conferences with Sec secretary y dern and others in an attempt to persuade the president and the war secretary to soften the punishment but those moves were futile and representative blanton lanton li texas democrat shouted on the floor of the house that the alie alagood punishment would cost the democratic party a million votes unless it were withdrawn As a part of f the defense of 0 the war department action gen malin craig chief of staff of the army mode made public ills his memorandum to the secretary of war respecting general Ha hagoodd hagoods goods attitude and his testimony before the congressional committee in the course of tills this 2000 word memorandum general craig described general hagood as a wisecracker wise cracker and lie he was probably correct in so far as general ila ha goods remarks about stage money were concerned yet vet I 1 have found very few among the washington observers whose opinions are worth while who saw in the craig memorandum any real justification for the severe punishment meted out to general hagood then der still stands general flamond bagood rs fc going to his home in charleston S 0 to await orders no one familiar with tile the army procedure expects that general hanood ever again will be given an army assignment lie will be sixty four years old next year and at that time automatically retires from active duty so there Is hardly any question but that general lagood his has held his last command the whole situation suddenly come to be known ns as the alagood case Is bound to ile be multiplied and mirrored it will figure in the coming political campaign campal gu because however justified the war department action may have been in the interest of discipline and good army administration there are thousands of individuals who neier neer will he be convinced that the alagood removal amov 11 was for any purpose other than as punishment because lie he criticized new deal spending policies 0 0 although there Is and can be no connection between tile the two it was the basis for a really huu S at morons marons reaction that dallas fair during the time when the controversy rag rayed ged over general Flag nods removal from ills his texas army post a federal government committee was busily engaged in making plans for federal participation in the texas centennial exposition which opens at dallas june G uncle sam Is spending inn the largest sum congress ever has authorized for federal participation in such stich a show so go that twenty odd government agencies can display to exposition visitors what the government has done with its billions since the cards were shuffled for the new deal the agriculture department as usual will be represented by the largest of all federal exhibits the com merce department and the state war navy treasury justice post office offic interior and labor departments will have their booths or bull buildings dings the federal housing administration and the farm credit administration will be there I 1 with displays of their wares and the public health service will at tempt to further the cause of health in its usual splendid fashion one unusual feature of the g governments 0 er participation will be a r building in which it wl will I 1 tell the L s story t ory of the negro race and its progress since the first slaves were brought into amerl america ell plans call for the use of at negro gro labor in 10 the construction construct io a of thle exhibit building and as far Is as negroes will prepare the exhibits 0 newspaper union |