The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-16
GEN. MILES, WELCOME
1T ATTEsTED THE ESTEEM IN
WHICH THE NORTHWEST
HOLDS HIM
AMERICAN ARMY TOO SMALL

1t Must he Increased, He Says, to
Keep Pace with the Growth of
the Nation and It's Military Needs
Fort Smelling Likely to BE EN-
Importance.
Fort Smelling will be enlarged and
will be made as strong a military post
as It's Importance demands. This was
settled yesterday, when Maj. Gen.
Nelson A. Miles visited it and ex-
amined its accommodations in com.
pany with Col. Page and other military
officials.
THE fort Is one Of the most i'm.
Miles later to a reporter for The
G o b e, "and it will be necessary to
station a larger body Of troops there
in the near future"
Gen. Miles did not commit himself al
to the number Of troops he deems es.
sential at Fort Smelling, but he init.
mated that it would be q material in-
crease of forces.
1.-The entire American army" con,
tinued Gen. Miles, must be Increased.
1t Is true that at Omaha I said thera
should be a soldier for every thousand
Of the population. Let that be the
basis of the military force Of the coun-
try, and as the country grows in popu.
lation, let the army keep pace with 1t.
1t is absurd to say that the American.
army shall be $4,000 men and no more.
You might as we'll say that st. Paul
shall have 200 policemen, no matter
how much 1t may grow in population
and territory. The army and navy
should keep up with the growth of this
country.
1T has been suggested that this
country should have a general staff
Similar to those of European armies.
but 1 do not think so. Conditions here
are different. In Europe the emperor
or car, or whatever may be his title.
Is a trained soldier from the cradle,
In this country the president is
civilian. The army officials are quits
competent to perform all the duties
that in Europe fall to the general staff.
OUTBREAK A SURPRISE.
"The Chippewa outbreak came as .
surprise to me, but I think it will bs
well handed. Gen. Bacon is a COM
petent commander and knows how tu
handle the Indians. No one can tell
what they may be plotting. but hopo
they will cause no more trouble.
do not anticipate trouble in deal
ing with the Cubans. The question OF
admitting Porto Rico as state Is one
that will adjust itself. We have ter
ritories in this country that will be ad.
mitted to statehood when they are fl
for it, and the same is true of Porta
Rico. When the people of that island
prove themselves able to administer ar-
fairs in the American way they will
be allowed to enjoy statehood"
Gen. Miles said that the Investigation
into the conduct of the war, at WASH
1ngton, was progressing in a mannet
satisfactory to him, but he did not
care to speak ON that subject.
GEN. MILES ARRIVAL.
Gen. Miles, Mrs. Miles and Col. W.
M. Black, chief engineer. Of volunteers.
Col. Frank Micheler, aide de-camp;
Col. James Allen, Of the signal CORPS.
and Capt. Whitney, of the Fourth ar
tillery, arrived in a special car on the
Omaha road shortly after o'clock yes.
terday morning. Soon afterwards they
were waited upon by Gen. Sanborn.
Capt. ]. j. McCardy, E. S. Chittenden,
T. j. Smith, Maj Espy, Thomas Coch-
ran, E. G. Stringer, Gen. ]. w. Bishop.
G. p. Stine, F. W. Bergmeier and Ben.
jamin Sommers, who invited Gen. and
Mrs. Miles to accept the hospitality of
the Commercial club in the afternoon,
The invitation was accepted and later
Gen. Miles. visited Gov. Clough at the
capitol and inquired closely into the
Indian troubles. The governor gave
him all the information In his possess
sion, but no reference was made dur
ing the conversation to the kilograms
that passed recently between Gov.
Clough and the war department..
At the conclusion of the interview
with the governor, Gen. Miles and staff,
accompanied by the members of the
reception committee, went to Fort
Smelling in a special car which was
placed at their disposal by the rail-
Col. Page and the other officers at the
fort and inspected the buildings and
the plans for enlarging them.
He then returned to the city, and
at o'clock drove to the Commercial
club, where reception awaited him.
GREETED AT THE CLUB.
Very little time had been given the
officers of the club to arrange for a
reception, but in the few hours at
their disposal they accomplished
good deal. With the assistance of May.
the florist, they turned the club rooms
into a garden Flowers were placed at
every available point, and the walls
were decorated with flags and bunting.
Seibert's orchestra was engaged, and
everybody connected with the club and
other commercial bodies were notified
to be on hand. There was an irnme-
date response, and when Gen. Miles
arrived at the club rooms he found
nearly thousand people waiting to
shake his hand.
The visitors filed past Gen. Miles In
single file, and Gen. Miles had a smile
and a word Of greeting for each. By
his side stood President Conde Ham
lin, of the club; Gov Clough, Mayor
Kiefer, Capt. McCardy, Thomas Coch-
ran, Gen. Sanborn, E. S. Chittenden
and Secretary c. P. Slime. While the
crowd walked past the group the or
chestra played the t'Star Spangled
Banner" and other national airs.
Soon after the reoan+ion hepoD n