The evening times., 1898-12-12
The Army Ellis.

man freedom viii be misplaced.
The Army EiIIs.
- would never occur to the mind of
anybody who has not a contempt for
military conrenuonaities' that civ
!lian without The advantages Of thor
1uch and technical military education
could devise q satisfactory plan OF army
Reorganization. General Chanonine, re-
Gently Jhe French minister OF war, has
expressed an Obvious fact in saying that
civilians do not ana cannot reconstruct
an effective army Ii is unfortunate i'll
some respects that Americans refuse to
acknowledge any authority in opinion. II
IS one II the very few unhappy results of
.eil-sayerument and the spirit of se!f-reli-
lsncG that i promoted by cur free insti-
tgtiDnS. After weeks study The repre-
sentative young American is ready to
announce a new theory of heat or cleo
,ricity and 10 say the last word on sub
jects that have baiiied The abiest special
I lists who have devoted life TO their in
vesligation. TIE Secretary Of War and
the adjut;nt general are not alone in
| the idea that it does not require a par
jiCu,ar training of years 10 be able to
| direct the movements OF an army In the
( Geld or 10 draw Up a scheme of army
( reorganization. Yet with the disastrous
! consequences Of an attempt 10 do that by
smbi;!ous civilians fresh in mind it is as
/ tpu!shing that anybody should persist in
I tuaJ especial Ge!u~ioD. II is not chiefly
! ss'f-c1andenoy however. that induces
1 the Secretary OF War 10 display the
audaeity of deciding against the
/ plan Of General Miles, the experienced
and efficient commanding general, but
! for whose plan Of campaign and timely
! Intervention the war with Spain would
! not have ended 20 quickly The consid-
( e-ations that influence Secretary Alger
! aIe his personal feeling against General
! Miles and that provision Of the Hull
! measure which provides for the APP
/ roiHtmeGt Of cirilianS-the sons of
somebody star positions
Ii is worthy Of note that General Miles
( agrees perfectly with General Chanonine
| as 10 one of Tho fundamental and neces-
Sary principles of modern army organi-
zation The staff and line" says The
! French officer, should be interchange
able" In he Miles scheme. every men,
! Der Of the staT becomes experienced in
! that and also IN line service and is better
equipped to meet demands that may be
/ made On him IN tine of war it is found
! tp be Imperative 10 assign staff officers
I 10 various departments that call for
! ghr special knowledge they are bound 20
! have under the Miles bill but which
! they may not and probably will not
/ have under The prov isious OF the Hull
/ bill <ot only thousands of lives. but
also the fate Of a battle may depend
ON the practical qualities Of p man who
! has ns training. in the case OF the latter
measure Probably IL WAS without any
familiarity with the facts Of our recent
experience that General Chanuuine stat
. Cd a principle which would have saved
many lives and prevented the wrecking
/ Of our army by epidemic disease if it
/ had been recognized and respected by
I the amateur war makers Of our War
/ Office. This is that the heads of the
] STAFF should he responsible to the general
! of the army" and not to the adjutant
/ general 1t sounds elementary he
/ says. ITO say that the general of the
| army is its proper and natural head.
1 The heads Of the staff corps should be
subseryient to the generals orders"
Elementary as this is, it was the con-
tempt FOR II that was primarily RESPONSE
BILE for whatever affiictions our army
suffered-from the neglect of the wound
! ed. the failure OF supplies, the transport
horrors. and the like, TO the raging of
epidemic disease in the unsanitary
camps.
This is the keynote, too, of our pres
ent danger. Exactly the same influence
with exactly the same purpose is now in
! OPPOSITION to the plan of army reor-
ganization devised and urged by the gen.
eTal OF the army and in favor of the Hull
bill that is eXecrated and ridiculed by
! every army officer of experience who
does not depend on political influence to
realize his ambition for promotion or de-
tached service with perquisites, such as
Captain Carter enjoyed and abused. The
country counts on sincere regard for
the welfare of the army on the part of
the military committees of Congress for
a favorable report on the Miles bill,
which meets every requirement of mod
/ ern military science