The age-herald., 1898-08-27
OFFICERS WANT
 INVESTIGATION Of Numerous Complaints Made Against
 the War Department. WILL WELCOME AN INQUIRY By Congress Which Will Bring Out All
 the Facts. 
WILL WELCOME AN INQUIRY
THE ACCOUNTS ARE EXAGGERATED
As to the Suffering of the Soldiers in the Various Camps of the Coun- try-Will Discredit Ameri-
 can Army.

Washington, August 26-General Corbin, adjutant-general of the army, says no com
 plalnt has reached the department from maior-general brigadiee- general. colonel or men of the army regarding want or desdtu-
 ton or lack of supplies for the care of the troops No demand has been made for SUD- plies other than the regular acquisitions for troops which come in the ordinary routine way. General Corbin declined to be inter- viewed on the subject of many stories re- garding the destitution and mismanagement of the war, saying that the facts will come out in due time and the people will see for
 themselves what was done.
 The whole department is greatly stirred
 over the many newspaper accounts Of what
 has been going on, and it was the subject
 of discussion everywhere about the war
 department, but apparently each head or a bureau believes that an investigation or
 the subject will vindicate him and his de-
 partment The officers in Washington say
 that the accounts of suffering have been exaggera ted, but if there has been suffering further than the incidents of war would naturally bring about, the fault has not
 been with the officers in the department
 here Each officer profesSes to be ready and willing that there should be an 1nvesu-
 gation Some officers say that It VIII De
 necessary, and that they will welcome
 complete congressional inquiry "hfch "ii'
 bring out all the facts
 No official statement is expected Tn the
 absence of Secretary Alger, who VIII re- turn tomorrow. <, , One of the complaints which had peen made was in regard to the Elgnth NEW York at Chickamauga park. II IS seeeoH
 at the war department that General BOY
 ton. in command at Chickamauga, haa peeil @
 ordered to make a thorough ana coiilpioto
 investigation of the hospitals at that piace
 to ascertain how the men nave lareu any
 report all the facts to the department.@'
 there has been any shortcomj'es-lie Is in-
 structed to ascertei.s~ who IS respohsipe and include .he names of those louho iau
 ty ip=EsS report. ,. . o.r
 Srhere seems to have been neglect in car rying out the order of the department, AO
 1ie which allowed 60 cents a day to all SUI
 diers in hospital, the amount to De sen. eral fund which could be drawn ' nnoi'ty a to purchase delcacies and necessaries ioi | the sick soldiers. -This oroer is oate0 11'1 gust 10. .s-- ,s.sz1,, Accordtngs to the records of the surgeon generals office it was received there on tiie 18th and sent out to the various oiiieeiS on the 18th. It should have reached these officers on the 17th, especially those along
 tb, Atlantic seaboard. It seems that II It
 did reach them 1t was disregarded by many
 surgeons The surgeon general oieo oomnlains that other orders sent out nave not received proper attention 1hls oruei, No. 116, 1t is said, was not only sent ou. through the surgeon generals s ohce, oue was sent direct from the adJutant seheiai office to the commanding ofhcers III Var 4. r camps If it has not been carrieu ou' .,, ~ ;s aecIarad the fault has been with the oni- cers in command and surgeons In charse oi the bospitals Ii is probable an lnVestisd- tion will at once be made to see Wnethei
 the order has been disregarded ana why.
 Officers at the war department deprecate
 the manner in which complaints nave peeh
 made on the ground that the whole matter
 will discredit the American army ana nave
 A bad effect on discipline. The soioiers,
 they say, will be made to peneVe tnae 'iey
 nave been badly treated; that they are
 haing imnosed on and at some juncture 1t
 nav result in mutiny and subordination for the reason that the troops in case oI some order which seems especially hard' VIII take matters into their own hands, claii ing the people are with them. It is claimed that if the stories are all true, 1t Will lndi- cate that the American army is of rarely lttle account and cannot near hardships war is a tragedy from one end to the other" said prominent officer of the de- partment today. There were some people who thought it was picnic and that the war in Cuba was to be holiday tune III Cuba. No man who considered the matter, knew anythingsabout the climate, difficult ties and the trials which would have to be undergone felt that way. They expected hardships expected that the troops would enter the portals of danger and death, would have to face bullets and fever. It is | only wonderful that we have got off so easily. Our losses are less than expected l when the war began"