The evening times., 1898-11-14
MONDAY. NOVEMBER il, 1895.
The wnr on General Miles.


renewed by the War Department since
the publication Gf his official report,
nresumably to induce him 10 refrain
from reflections on that branch OF the
G,yalnmeut in the testimony he Is eN-
uected to give before the Alger Relief
t-.r r,,naiss on. IL is true that the officials
NJ The War ClTlce hide behind a news
nap-r but IL is Obvious enough that the
attack is inspir, by them. In his re-
pod Gen-:al Miles gives the full text
Of the GocGmcnt in which he opposes
thr invasion Of cuba al the beginning
~ the rainy and Unwholesome season.
THIS WAS under dat Of April is HIS
enemies now all.ne that he omitted
frola lis Iistory of lhe war what they
prDress 20 rsaGrd a. most important
GoruIasut-an .rd=r dated May >, con-
tc..platin@ tte sending of an army at
once into TIE island. This, is it said,
vas vetoed by the President. The text
81 thJ 11a5r IS not given on the alleged
ground tEat il is a part OF the secret
archives of the office.
W. have a right To assume that the
charge is purely malicious and that the
whole meaning and tie inspiration Of
the order are misrepresented To show
that General Miles was inconsistent
AS long as the War Office suppresses
the order The alleged substance" is not
entitled Ia the least consideration. That
General Mikes was opposed TO the i'm
mediate invasion Of Cuba is beyond a
doubt 10 any reader Of his report. The
result Of the invasion, but for the mur-
deious work of the War Department
would have been a vindication Of the
Presidents judgment that the earlier
active hostilities should begin and end
the beitei If the instructions Of Gen
eral Miles had been fully carried out
there would have been no needless SUI
ferinc. the war would have been ended
and the American troops withdrawn
without the appalling consequences of
deprivation, exposure and disease.
1t was after the rejection of his ad-
vice to postpone the movement that the
alleged order Of May was issued. 1t
is conceiVable-it is moral certainty
that the Presidents admirable purpose
TO send a considerable army TO begin
aggressive operations at once was made
known to General Miles, and that his
order was the result of a request from
the President If the latter rejected il,
he did not do il in the spirit the War
Office represents. but for reasons that
probably had the approval of General
Miles Nobody at this day needs To be
told that General Miles made no such
mistake in planning a military move
nent as that implied in the attack of
ais enemies in the War Department.
The fact that he devised every success
'ul feature of the Santiago campaign
and would have saved the army from
munger. exposure and the yellow fever
epidemic if his Instructions had been
'ollowed-just as he saved the army
from disaster by his timely interference
and the fact that his Porto Rico cam
paign is regarded by the highest mill
tary authorities as mastery and beyond
Improvement, will be ample protection
to the commanding general against the
malicious inventions of his cowardly
enemies. who are like guerrillas and re
fuse TO fight in the open.
This display Of vindictiveness is not
intended to influence public opinion
against General Miles. That would be
vain. The only purpose is to warn him
that if he gives testimony to the dun
derheaded incompetency Of the War
Office. whose unpatriotic salary eaters
would wreck an army rather than have
General Miles credited with victory
he will be followed with this sort OF
petty persecution. The motive is clear