The times., 1898-12-17
GEN. BRECKENRIDGE OBJECTS.
lie Docs Not Like Gen. Corbin's
Army Reorganization Plans.

Gen. BreckinrloSe, inspector SSHefai VI
the United States army, gave some inter-
estirg testimony before the House Mill
tary Affairs Committee yesterday after
noon. While carefully avoiding any out
right criticism OF his superior, officers. he
yet plainly showed that he resented the
practical dlsestablishment af his depart
ment at the beginning OF the. war. for
which he held Gen. Corbin to blame.
Gen. Breckenridge began by objecting
to the manner In which the recomnen-
dations for his department. had been al
tered in the bill by the adJutarit general
Il is worthy of mention THAI all the other
staff departments submitted their recon-
mendations to the adiutatt generals de-
partment. and every one of them has beea
cut down except the last named. Cen
erals Stanton. Ludington. Eagan and
Major Morrison, representing Gen. Lie
ber have all complained OF this.
Gen. Breckenridge further objected that
the rank of his officers had been SO re-
duced in the bill that it amounted to
sending Il private TO inspect sergeant.
No good results could be expected.
Representative Hay wished to know
what were the duties OF the inspe ctor
generals office.
Gen. Breckinridge stated that before
the war the department had the district
system of inspection, where each officer
was the representative of the Secretary
During the war and since. this system
was abandoned and the officers were
placed under the control of the various
general officers in the fed and did what
these generals commanded. They did not
report to him, and had not yet done so.
This system is not novelty with us, -
inspector general has over his officers de-
pends on the judgment-I would not like
to say the whim-of the Secretary cf
War. Congress does not prescribe the
duties of the inspector generals Office"
In answer to a question from Repre-
sentative Lentz, Gen. Breckenridge said
that the change had been made on the
advice of the adjutant general, and adj
mitted that it had demoralized his office,
depriving him of all control of his off
GERS.
In answer to a question from Represen-
tative Hay, he said that there was a
suspicion that the object of the change
was to show that the inspector generals
Office was useless and ought to be con-
solidated with that of the adjutant gen.
eral. If they had any other object than
this, / don't know what it is" he con-
tlnued. Gen. Corbin told me recently
that he thought that our departments
ought to be organized alike. The differ
ence between them, in my opinion, is
that the adjutant general is the mouth
piece of authority and the inspector gen.
eral is the eyes and ears of the Secretary
of War. But if our reports are made to
the adjutant general, ii leaves US helpless
to know even that they have ever been
sent"
Coming to the discussion of affairs in
Cuba, Gen. Breckenridge said that Cuba
was in condition far removed from
peace There had been there change of
dynasty, a change of language, and an
unsettled condition had arisen that could
easily breed trouble. c"The great neces-
sity." he continued, '.is to- have show
of present force that will prevent even
the possibility of trouble. The President
has managed things $50 admirably that
We may not have any difficulty at all.
If you give man everything he wants,
and promise him everything he may
want, and have force on hand that can
whip him If he does make trouble, he
isn't likely to make it.,' -.
Gen. Breckenridge said he favored the
Miles bill with its army proportioned to
the population of the country rather
than a fixed number like. that provided by
the Hull bill. Rf
Representative Cox questioned Gen.
Breckenridge quite sharply in regard to
the need of having troops in the islands.
The general said that the question was a
political one and outside of his province,
but that he personally thought the object
of keeping troops there was to preserve
order while the people were organizing
free governments of their own.
Gen. Breckinridge concluded with a