The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-15
roo sTRoNG FoR MILES.

TOO STRONG FOR MILES.
The Secretary of War and a clique of
| army officers who have positions in the
war department have proven themselves
too strong for Gen. Miles. The general
came back from Porto Rico with the idea
that he commanded the army. To show
that he felt sure of his position he counter
manded some orders relative to Camp Wi
koff given by the Secretary of War. No
| body Aisputed his statement, and there
fore he went ahead just if nobody would
dare to dispute it. Even before he arrived
from Porto Rico he announced that he
would have a great parade in New York
city TO celebrate, as Il were, the successful
ending of the war. At that time the Secre-
tary of War minated pretty strongly thee
there would be no parade In fact, he said
there would not. However, as soon as Gen.
Miles reached Washington he called on the
President and obtained permission to have
the parade. The generals purpose was to
have the troops al Montauk Point, as well
as those who had accompanied him TO
Porto Rico TO take part in the parade. The
affair was to be one that would make the
New Workers open their eyes and Gen.
Miles was to be the central figure of 1t.
Had he succeeded he would have fastened
in the public mind the thought that he
was the man who had conducted the war
from the beginning. ana brought it to
successful conclusion. 1t was the intention
Of the war department probably that no
such thought should be lodged in the
minds of the people. Therefore steps were
taken to head off the parade. a report was
obtained from Montauk Point that the sol
diers there were not physically able to take
part in the parade, and that if they were
il would cost a very large sum of money
to transport them TO New York and back,
and to take care of them while there This
report was carried to the President, and
he was persuaded to recall his permission
to Gen. Miles for the parade. He told the
general that he could parade the troops
which he brought with him from Porto
Rico if he wanted TO- but that the soldiers
at Montauk Point should not take part in
the demonstration. That was not what the
general wanted, and so he decided not to
have parade. He was beaten by his enc
mics in the war department and no doubt
these enemies rejoiced greatly over the
fact that they had thwarted him in his ef-
forts to bring himself conspicuously be-
fore the public.
The feeling against Gen. Miles in the
war department is regrettable, because 1t
interferes with the efficiency of the army.
Even before the beginning of the war there
was a disposition in army circles to ridi
cule him. The reason of this was probably
that Gen. Miles is not a West Point
graduate. and also because he has a good
deal Of vanity and is rather too anxious to
figure in the newspapers. Still no one in
the army ever publically questioned his
ability as a soldier. In fact, he has shown
more military capacity since our trouble
with Spain began than any of the other
regular army officers. He has peculiaritles
which are against him, but if he has the
ability to command the army the Presi-
dent should give him his confidence and
support. He should not permit either the
Secretary of War or any Clique of army
officers in the bureaus of the war depart
ment to try to defeat his plans with the
view of lessening the respect entertained
for him in the army. The President was
probably right in cancelling the order for
the parade in New York, but that order
might have been cancelled without letting
it appear that the generals enemies in the
army had gained a victory over him.