Evening star., 1896-04-07
70 PROMOTE GEN. MILES
Report in Favor of Making Him Lieutenant
General
No Public Hearing Given, hut the
Committee Discussed the PROPOSE
tiOn Thoroughly.

The House committee on military affairs
today decided to report favorably to the
House the resolution to bestow the rank Of
lieutenant general on Gen. Nelson A.
Miles. The resolution is as follows:
Resolved, That the grade of lieutenant
general be. and the same is hereby, re-
vived in the army Of the United States, in
order that when, in the opinion of the
President and Senate, it shall be deemed
proper to acknowledge the distinguished
services Of the major general commanding
the army, rendered in the volunteer army
during the late civil war and in command
of expeditions against hostile Indians in
the frontier states and territories, the
grade of lieutenant general may be special
ly conferred: Provided. however. that when
the said grade Of lieutenant general shall
have once been filled and become vacant
this joint resolution shall thereafter ex-
pre- and tecome of Eo effect: Provided fur
ther, that nothing in this resolution shall
increase the number of general officers of
the army" The vote was to 4, in favor OF
the resolution.
How the Vote Stood.
Those who voted for the resolution were
(all republicans): Hull of Iowa. Curtis of
New York, Marsh of Illinois, Woomer of
Pennsylvania, Griffin of Wisconsin, Parker
of New Jersey, Fenton of Ohio, Tracey of
Missouri, Catron of New Mexico. Those
opposed were Gepublcans): Bishop of Mich
igan, Qlemocrats) Tyler of Virginia, Nc
Clellan Of New Jersey and LOckhart of
North Carolina.
In the beginning the committee decided
to settle the question without outside ad-
vice and abandoned its previously formed
plan to give hearing TO the army officers
who might be interested. This decision was
q disappointment to the group of officers
who We're waiting in the corridor outside of
the committee room. Although Gen. Miles
had been invited to come before the COM
mittee he did not put in an appearance.
This decision was reached because the COM
mittee feared that personal grievances and
army prejudces might be unpleasantly
aired in the investigation. In the commit
tee discussion which followed there Were no
reflections upon the character or career Of
Gen. Miles.
Question of permanency.
It was contended by the opponents of the
resolution, however, that as the lieutenant
generals rank had been conferred upon
Gems. Scott, Grant, Sherman. Sheridan and
Schofield as a recognition of their eminent
services in commanding large armies in inn
portant actions, they would only approve
the resolution if the rank was to be perma-
nently established for the head of the army.
A substitute for the resolution was Of
fered by Mr.. Parker to make the rank a
permanent one, but this proposition was
lost by tie vote-6 to 6. The argument was
advanced in its support that the standing
army of the United States, although COM
paratively small, is large enough to demand
a lieutenant general as its commander. AL
though little was said about Secretary La
Monts report against the resolution re-
Gently sent to the Senate committee, the
democratic membeTs>made their arguments
along the lines of that letter. Mr.. McClel-
Ian gave notice that he reserved the right
to make a minority report to the House
against the resolution, but the members
who voted against 1T have not yet decided
whether to make such a report.