The times., 1899-01-15

| that il believed there would be no war, up
| to the last decisive act of Congress, and
| was therefore wholly unready. However
| that may be. the important fact. which is
| apparent and undisputed is that the active
direction of military affairs was taken out
of the hands of the commanding general.
All the rest followed as a matter of course.
General Miles was not allowed to designate
the commander of the Cuban expedition.
Indeed, that poor creature was instructed
TO assert his independence of his superior.
In spite of the scandals that reveal the
verse than incompetency of Secretary AL
ger, eliminating in the most disgraceful
exhibition of indecency that ever shocked
the country, the head OF the War Depart
ment appears to be as secure in his office
as the President himself. Such has been
his maladministration that the term AL
gerism is generally accepted as expressing
whatever is positively bad in the public
service: Algerism is held to be responsible
FOR the only stain on the administrative
record of President Mckinley So often
sive has he become to the vast majority
of the people, including Republican parti
fenses of Republican Administration, that
the demand for his removal, which was
made more than half a year ago. has
reached a magnitude that must appall the
President and his other advisers. Now the
new offense of Algerism-the indecent as
sault of Commissary General Eagan on
General Miles-has led to the hope that
there will be a clearing up of the whole
business and the retirement of Alger., 1t
is everywhere expected that the offender
Will be subjected to a court martial by the
President in the failure of the Secretary of
War to take any steps and that the eX
animation of General Miles. General Breck-
inridge and other army officers will expose
the methods and purposes of the War De-
partment.
Any other man than Secretary Alger
would be generous enough to resign his
office and save his chief. But there is
nothing large and generous in his nature.
He knows the opinion the people hold
about him, and that his retirement from
the only Office he has ever been able to
capture outside of Michigan would mean
his future obscurity. Great as have been
the evils growing out of his appointment
to this office-includng the untimely
death of many brave and stout young
men who would have been of use to the
world-they are of kind TO make TIE
people gladly forget his very name. II
was considered to be a sad spectacle when
Senator Hanna posed as the proprietor of
a President of the Republic. but that is
tolerabie compared with the tenacious
hold of Secretary Alger on an Office where
his opportunities for mischief are end ess-
as when he brings the power OF the Ad-
ministration to the support of his army
bill and when he stops the only proper
investigation of the meat scandal by the
extraordinary detail of General Breckin-
ridge to colonial work. He has the audaci-
ty, too, TO require that the reports of the
Inspector General shall be made. not TO
General Miles, but to the Adjutant Gener-
al. The detail is extraordinary, not only
because of its obiect-to prevent the reve-
lation of the truth about the beef-but also
because it violates all precedent in making
the detail cover forty, instead of thirteen.
posts, and not less than three wears of
time. The boldness of Ayers operations to
prevent an honest inquiry into the con-
duct of the war discourages the hope that
the President will take any steps that are
not TO the advantage of his Secretary