Evening star., 1898-08-29

mere was an army OF ooo,OuO men enlisted
| IN a very brief time, and there was no
clothing for 1t ready and no tenting Con-
sress had restricted the department to sim
ply enough and hardly enough for the cur
rent needs of the regular army
when the volunteer army sprung into
existence there was, of course, a cry every
where for the necessary supplies. They
were furnished rapidly as possible We
secured every tent in the> country, and
even in one case hired great circus tent
for a hospital. The cloth used in the army
uniforms was not TO be had in the country
or anything that could be substituted for it
And yet within few weeks the whole
great body of men was supplied l could
clothe and tent million men now If it were
needful.
Everything Ready mt Montauk.
"As for the charges made of the faults
of my department at Santiago, especially
as to the time taken in transporting the
az my away after the victory was won, the
facts are very plain. When 1T was decided
to bring the army home to Montauk Point
every plan of the quartermaster's depart
ment was ,1isarranged. 1t had been in
tended to send troops to Porto Rico, and
there had been other arrangements. They
were all upset. Everything gave way to
the bringing of the troops home. But this
took time At Montauk Point we had
ready. when the army arrived and before
supplies of every kind for 10000 men. 1
was ready to clothe ana house the entire
army anew, as everything was left behind
at Santiago
''The case of the Grande Duchesse and
the assertion that she went to Santiago
with provisions and left there without un-
loading them, l don't know about. I do
know, however, that there were several
such cases. They are all accounted for by
the rush that was made to get the army
he me. But it was never the case that
needed supplies were sent back to this
country.
cHo- hot
were overloaded may be true to a GER
tain extent, too. l do not know who was
to blame for this, but 1 believe that It
was alf- owing to the great desire on the
part of the troops to get away from San
tiago and Of the officers to get them away.
But these stories are grossly exaggerated
The whole Santiago situation is very
clear. 1t was found necessary to send the
army to Cuba in the fever season. 1t was
feared and predicted that the climate would
be terribly destructive. The experience of
the Spanish army in Cuba has been fear
fui-much worse than ours. Last year 81
600 Spanish troops were killed by disease,
and always it has been the same. Our
army went down to Santiago and won its
fight gloriously. Now it Is coming back
wrecked by disease. Why do the news
papers blame the surgeons or the commits
sary department or the quartermaster de-
partment for thlS?
Favors Congressional investigation.
Brig Gen. Eagan. commissary general of
subsistence, has made the following state
ment of bis position in regard to the con-
duct of the Spanish war, SO far as his de-
partment is concerned:
4 believe that an investigation should be
made of the entire conduct of the war, for
the benefit of the people of the United
States, that the truth may be known and
justice be done to everybody. But | hold
that such investigation should be made
by Congress, committee of the Senate and
the House to be appointed by the President
of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House. Such a committee would be en-
powered to examine witnesses under oath,
to call for papers and it would be able to
probe to the bottom every charge that has
been made.
Such a committee would command the
respect of the people. No one could then
question its integrity the thoroughness
and fairness of Its work. What the people
want is the truth. the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. If any man has
been incompetent or corrupt, or has failed
to do his whole duty, the fact would be
ascertained by such committee, and its
findings would be accepted by the people as
final and conclusive.
Il for one shall urge in every way in my
power that such a committee shall be ap
pointed l prefer such a committee, be-
cause l believe that no other investigation
would be so acceptable to the people.
Il do not believe that the rawlings and
howllngs Of the press are from the people,
anu IOT one dfi SOTTy iut peOpiS are ulS-
tressed by them, and that our troops and
officers held up to the gaze of Europe
as the newspapers have been and are now
holding them up.
Il shall welcome such an investigation,
knowing that my department has nothing
to fear.
Il do not believe that the conditions are
as represented in the newspapers. L think
that the newspapers have been guilty OF
gross eXaggeraIion and positive misstate-
ments. ! stand ready to verify and corrob-
crate this | am an officer of thirty-five
years service, and | hold my present posi-
ton without having gone over anybodys
head and without the help of favoritism.
"HOwl of the Newspapers"
1.-The howl that the newspapers are max
ing about the so-caIled suffering of the
soldiers on the fighting line at Santiago
for lack of food is pitiable and does gross
injustice to the American soldier, who is
too much of a man to complain of the
brief and inevitable hardship On the fight
ing line. 1t is official history-the official
report of General Shafter-that he always
had plenty of food with him at Santiago;
had so much that he was able to feed the
$4,000 refugees that came out of Santiago.
But it is known to every soldier that you
can't cook food on the fighting line. nor
can you fall back of the fighting lire to
cock food. So General Shafter ordered
that only bread, meat or coffee should be
furnished ON the fighting line.
Il refer with confidence to every officer
and every soldier who has come back from
Santiago and declare that OF their own
knowledge they will say that at all times
there was abundance of food on the
lighting line. That all the components of
the ration could not be cooked and used
on the fighting line was no ones fault.
That the storm, the mud, the distance from
the supplies, all made the conditions ex-
traordinarily hard must be remembered
but nevertheless / am assured officially ana
by many conservative officers who have
returned that even on the fighting line
there was plenty of bread coffee, timed
roast beef and bacon.
Plenty of Supplies at Santiago.
There was not only an abundance of
supplies at Santiago. but the Grand Ouch
esse, which reached New York yesterday
has now in her hold 1000 tons of supplies
that were sent to Santiago and never un-
loaded. And yet there is abundance.
There is not in the War Department
any part Of it, nor has there been received
by the President, "a single complaint from
any officer in the regular volunteer army
or from any enlisted man alleging a def
cheney of commissary. All the complaints
come from outside sources. Now to as
sumo that there was dearth of commits
sary stores is to assume that every gen.
erai, colonel, major. captain and lieutenant
of the regular and volunteer army has
failed to do his duty, for if there was a
F1nF