The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1898-12-08
THE REPORT OF ALCER
He Reviews In Detail the Span
ish-American War.
MAKES no REPLY TO HIS CRITICS,

MAKES no REPLY TO BIS CRITICS.
The Secretary Allows the Facts anA
Figures to Tell the story Of His De-
partment's Conduct Of the War.
Wants Army Increased to 1OO, 900.
Washington. Dec. 3.-The annual re-
port OF Secretary Aiger Is a practically
official history Of the SPANISH
American war. The secretary has given
to the public not only all the official
that passed directly between
his own Office and commanding officers
in the field and camp, f5ut has supple
mented these with short explanatory
notes. setting forth the reasons for va
rious movements. and then. to complete
the record Of events. he has included in
the body Of his report the report of
General Miles. Of all the generals who
participated in the campaign in Cuba.
Porto Rico or the Philippines and final
ly the reports of all the bureau officers
OF the war department. Nowhere is
there shown a disposition to criticise.
the ofYiciaI~ dispatrhe. being allowed to
tell their own story. Generally the sec
for sincere congratulation in the re-
suits obtained.
The report proper begins with what
may be described as a chronological his
tory of the war, consisting Of a number
OF short paragraphs, beginning with the
declaration of war on April II and set
ting forth the date upon which any
event Of Importance occurred, but max
WI "a he
facts. The only exception to this rule
Is in reference to the casualties at San
tiago. Some criticism having been
made that there was lack of surgeons
present the report states that there
were 140 surgeons in attendance and
that of 1.431 wounded only 13 died of
their wounds. Touching the surrender
at Santiago. the report shows that Shat
ter demanded the surrender on the Sd
and renewed this demand on the 4th.
On the morning of the 18th another de-
mand was made. On the evening of that
day General Miles arrived, and on the
18th and 14th of July he, with General
Shafter, met the Spanish commander
under flag Of truce to discuss the sur
render On the afternoon of the 14th
General Miles left General Shafter's e
headquarters and soon thereafter went
aboard ship preparatory to sailing foI
Porto Rico. July II Toral surrendered
$4,000 men upon our terms, and the
American flag was hoisted by order OF
Shafter.
The Volunteer Army.
The secretary, coming down in his
history to the middle of August, wher
an order was issued and is now in exc
cution to muster out 100, 900 volunteers
says:
Thus an army Of about ESQ, 900 volun
teers and recruits for the regular army
| was called into existence from civil life
| and including the regular army, the to-
| tai force was 274.717 men. It was or
ganized, armed and equipped (no sup
| plies being on hand other than those fol
| the regulars save Springfield muskets)
| and sc, 900 men Of this force were trans
ported by land and sea to battlefield
in the tropics 10000 miles apart, wher
| they won their victories without a sin
gle defeat and all within the period o
| 113 days from the declaration Of war t.
the signing of the protocol.
| This great achievement can be cred
| tied to no individual; it belongs to tn
nation. 1t was accomplished through
the intelligence and patriotism Of al
| who served, from the commander Il
chief to the private in the ranks. !
| also speaks volumes for the prompt
patriotic and Intelligent assistance o
| the people who furnished in so short
period the supplies necessary to pre-
pare this great army for the field. T
the heroic men who served in distan
lands the country will ever offer q trl
need Of praise, but the mighty army /
camp, ready and eager to take the f1el(
should also be given equal credit.
was their presence, ready at an hour
notice for any emergency, that over
awed the enemy and proved to him tha
further resistance would be in vain.
THE deaths in the army from May
to Oct. /, including killed, died {
wounds and of disease, were 1910, th
smallest death rate recorded of an
army in history, a remarkable fat
when it is considered that over 5000
Of our troops, born and reared in tt
temperate zone, were campaigning
tropical climates, subject to rain an
heat almost unprecedented"
The secretary says Of the volunteer
that to furlough them in wint~r woul
be a hardship. so he recommends thu
in lieu Of the furlough the officers ar
men be given two months pay at IL
time Of their discharge, thus admittir
Of their prompt discharge in their pre-
ent camps in the south.
Increase Army to 100, 900 Men.
Under the head Of increase in the pc
manent establishment, the secretal
says:
I'm view Of the needs Of a milital
force in the islands occupied by Il
United States it Is earnestly recon
mended that the regular army be pc
manently increased to 100000 men a.
the requisite officers: that a portion
this army be recruited from the Il
habitants Of those islands, to be mu
tered into the service of the Unite
States and commanded by the Office
of our army, discretion. however, to
given to the president to make appoin
ments Of officers from the force SO r
lcruited.
These men are acclimated, unde
stand the language and habits Of the
countrymen, and their enlistment W
not only give them employment, b
also have the tendency to enable t
government to get into closer tou
with their people than it would othe
wise be able to do. This would also I
neve our own people from serving
those climates to large extent, Al
would. moreover. enable the voluntee
- -