The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-05


GEN. MILES AND THE ARMY.
The Sentinel processes surprise that Re-
publican papers have had nothing to say
in regard to the very pointed remarks of
General Miles concerning the treatment of
our soldiers" In support of the implication
that General Miles has made such remarks
some expressions are quoted from a state
mert made by him some time ago, in which
he said: 1.-THE peril which our soldiers had
most cause to dread was not bullets. but
disease" In saying this General Miles
simply stated what the statistics of all wars
and armies show, namely, that at least
three times as many men die of disease as
do of bullets or wounds received in battle.
This is one of the notorious facts of history
and has been published in Republican pa
pers time and again, but carefully sup
pressed by those papers which are trying
to create the impression that no other army
ever suffered as much by disease as did ours
in the late war. The truth is that no Ameri-
can volunteer army ever had as small
percentage of sickness and deaths in its
first three months of service as did our
army in the late war. Statistics prove this
beyond a doubt but the yellow press sub
stitutes it's own lies for statistics. In stat
ing that 1.-THE peril which our soldiers had
most cause to dread was not bullets. but
disease" General Miles gave his official
sanction to one of the strongest arguments
in defense of the administration, namely,
that it was beyond its power to control
climatic conditions. violations of sanitary
laws, the results of inaction and homesick-
ness, and other causes of disease.
In further proof of General Miles's very
pointed remarks concerning the treatment.
of our soldiers he is quoted as saying that
these men, meaning the soldiers. did
not sicken and die because they wished
to-" and that "those who say that our SOL
diers suffered through their own fault in
suit the troops" These remarks, so far
from being very pointed. very vague.
They do not charge neglect or bad man.
agement on the administration the War
Department any branch of the military
service but, taken in connection with what
General Miles said regarding the destruc-
tiyeness of disease, they seem to reflect
upon inexperienced officers who failed to
enforce sanitary discipline in camp and
among the men. This, in fact, is the whole
drift of General Mies's statement which
was an argument against sending unsea-
soned and imperfectly disciplined troops
into a dangerous climate to encounter for
midable difficulties and an enemy who,
experience has shown, were good fighters
on land. General Miless plan of campaign,
which was formulated at the beginning of
the war. contemplated keeping the volun-
teer. troops in camp all summer, under drill
and discipline. In the statement prepared
and given out by himself he said:
No officer is fit to command troops who,
from any motive whatever, would need.
lessly risk the life of a single soldier,
either from disease or the bullets of the en-
envy. l have never sacrificed the lives of
men under my command and do not pro-
pose to subject them to any unnecessary
risks in the present campaign.
The plan of campaign which would have
kept the troops in camp all summer may
have been wise at the beginning of the war,
though it would not have lessened disease,
but circumstances compelled a change. To
quote again from General Miles's state
ment: 1.-THE Enclosure of Cervera's fleet in
the harbor of Santiago changed the condi-
lions and maze it necessary to move mill
tary force to that point" The movement
thus necessitated by events could not pos
sibly have been made without increasing
the danger from disease, which General
Miles practically admits is due to circum-
stances beyond the control of any secretary
of war or any administration. 1t would be
quite as reasonable to hold the commander
of the army responsible for disease among
the troops, as the secretary of war or the
President, and it is not reasonable to sup
pose that General Miles intended to criti-
else either of his superior officers.
Instead of trying by garbled expressions
to prove that General Miles has criticised
the treatment of the soldiers, yellow pa
pers would better initiate his example by
suspending censure and praising the re-
suits of the war. press dispatch from
New York on the day of his arrival from
Porto Rico said: HE expressed the opinion
that there has been too much criticism,
complaint and condemnation published al
ready, and that the public has lost sight Of
the success anu SlorleS Vi the WdI. Cit-
fortunately the public has too much lost
sight of the success and glories of the war,
and the fact is largely due to the clamor
of yellow papers, which are trying to make
people turn from the contemplation of the
most brilliant and decisive campaign on
record to listen to the villainous libels on
the army, the administration and the gov
eminent.
The only war in which the United States
has engaged that showed utter lack OF
preparation and imbecility the part of
OF