The herald., 1898-07-04
SUPERsEDINa MILES

It Is an old saying that where there
is much smoke there must be some fire.
and applying 1t to the case of General
Miles furnishes ground for suspicion
that he is not in the highest favor with
the powers that be. 1t has been time
and again asserted that he and the presi-
dent and the secretary of war are not in,
the best accord; but 1t has also been re-
peatedly denied. Nevertheless we hear
very little about Miles, and on the sur
face he appears not to be. doing much.
The war department sends orders d.
rectly to General Merritt, and seems also
to be directing the movements Of General
Shafter and the armies generally without
the intervention Of General Miles.
There has been much talk, too, about
putting some one else at the head of the
army; that the grade of lieutentna-gen-
eral is to be revived, and that Adjutant-
General Corbln is likely to be- the recpi-
emit of that distinction. Corbin has the
faculty Of advertising himself. and has
not been idle since he became adjutant-
general. AS a soldier on paper he has
become prominent, but in the field his
achievements have not been memorable.
There may be nothing in the talk about
him, yet there is feeling extant that
the president has under consideration
some change In disparagement Of Cen
eral Miles.
The country Is concerned about such
matters only so far as they may inter-
fere with a vigorous prosecution Of the
war and postpone an honorable conclu-
sion.
lions between the president and General
Miles are affected more or less by politi-
cal considerations. It has been an open
secret for some time that General Miles
has been afflicted by the presidential bee,
and some of his friends claim that the
president means to- deny him opportuni-
ties for achieving distinction in the war
from fear that he may become so con-
spicuous and popular that he will be a
formidable rival before the next Repub-
l1can national convention.
Such an apprehension is not natural,
when consideration is given to the his
torlcal fact that the American people
have been generous in bestowing the
presidency upon military chieftaine.
Washington, Jackson, Taylor and Grant,
the leading heroes Of four wars, were
recipients Of the highest civic place In
the government, and three Of them were
given two presidential terms in success
sion, and as Taylor died in the middle
Of his term 1t cannot be known whether
he would have succeeded himself. Eleven
of the twenty-four presidents saw serv-
ice in war.
General Miles earned an excellent repu-
tation in the civil war, and did effective
work in Indian troubles, and If, in addi-
ton, he should achieve distinction in the
Spanish war, he might indeed become a
formidable competitor of Mckinley for
the next Republican presidential nomina-
ton. Nearly all presidents have been
ambitious for second term, and they
have labored and used their power to
achieve 1t. 1t would not be surprising
if it should appear that Mckinley is
ambitious to succeed himself. If he is
looking after his political fences in ths
management of the war his action is no
without precedent. 1t has before hap
,pened that president has used his power
to prevent a general from receiving toe
much distinction from fear of it's effec
upon political parties, and especially il
defeating realization of personal ambi-
4 ton.