Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-02-13

general | addressed to the President a
letter in which pointed out to him what
, had been the result of my study and ex-
pcrience and saying that the only way
WAS to abandon entirely which | did dur
ing my seven Years service, all pretence,
content myself with acting as the chief
of staff of the army under the secretary
of war and the President. The result
ing my time. and | did exercise a legti-
mate influence in command of the army,
this because did not claim the exercise
of anything which the law did not give
me-.
THE President must have the same
power of selection of his general-!n-chtef
rs he has of his secretary of war, with
out this there can be no guaranty that
ne will give or that the secretary of war
will place IN the general-!n-chief that
confidence which is necessary TO perfect
harmony. Neither the President nor the
secretary of war should have in the com
mand OF the army an officer who is not
working in harmony with INN.
The report then takes ny. the war de
parrment and its various chiefs OF sub
divisions, beginning with the secretary oil
war. The records of the war depart
ncnt which have been iaid before W
show that the secretary Of war eNtendcc
20 all chiefs of bureaus cordial and fui
support and promptly responded 10 ever;
proper demand made upon him by com
iitduulltS tnltt!S. NO testimony mas DItI
presented showing intentional neglect q.
duty nor any attempts 20 serve persona
interests The charges made that tbs
secretary of war WAS pecuniarily inter
cSted in contracts purchases and othcl
transactions of the war department haN,
been thoroughly examined and found
Fpaseless.. In the Judgment of the com.
mission there WAS lacking IN the genera
administration of the war department
during the continuation of ;he war Will
Spain that complete grasp of the situa'
non which was essential to the iligheS.
efficiency and discipline of the army.
The commission has refrained from
criticizing certain of the heads of bureau
ior not having acted with foresight ir
preparing their various departments fol
active war, before war was actually de
ciared. because il has appeared that tht
national defence fund provided by the
act of March 9. 1873 was not made avail
able for use except for the navy and foi
coast defences and the expenditures i'll
C.dent thereto, until after the declaration
of war.
"Adjutant Generals Department, Brig
Gen II. G. Cor5ln, adjutant general. L
:; A.. in charge-The suggestion has bee
made and opinion given that it woui,
have been better to have organized tbs
;.fmy and equipped the troops in each OF
ippir states before they were conccn.
TAtcd and mobilized into brigades. divi
.iians and corps but the war department
had NOT the officers To send to each statt
IL organize. muster. feed and equip them
nor had ii officers of sufficient rank L
command. drill and discipline The troops
while in state camps. Early removal ui
=, gimcnts from state camps has the ad
vantage of avoiding the d.Stur bing intlu
c"ceS of home locality.
There were about 80 regiments. bat
t"ricS and separate organizations in the
army, from only .5 of which came com
paints. aside from those aGectinS th'
medical department.. Investigation has
shown that mes, OF inesc Gompln'ntts ny
;.un;lbe at first or were due to the mex
prrcncc of officers in command. not, sc
.ar as We can discover. from any inten-
tlonai neglect. 1t was found necessary
20 go outside and appoint officers from
c!vil life, the selection being frequently
made from officers who had had expert
tHcc in the National Guard. graduates
from military colleges and schools. ana
citizens whose business or professions iit-
,ed them for the positions for which they
were selected. The testimony shows
tnat they were honest and manifested
desire To become efficient in their duties;
Not one has been courtmartialled and
but few dropped as incompetent
There have been very few complaints
against This department. The records
and testimony show that it has beer
prompt in its work and has added greatly
To the efficiency of the army.
inspector Generals Department. Brig
Gen. }. {. Breckinridge,. inspector gen
eral, L. S. A., in charge ne commission
iinds that the Inspector general $ depart
ment was not as efficient as il ought tc
nave been. There seems to have been
question as to the authority by which in
spections We're to be ordered. On al
least one occasion, May Il. the secretary
Of war instructed the major general com
manding the army TO inspect certain
, camps, viz: Those al Chickamauga. At
lanta. New Orleans. Mobile. Tampa. Mi
did not act upon such instructions, stat
ing ii to be his place to order inspection.
Further. the commission finds, that al
though several of the officers of this de-
| partment were ASSIGNED 60 duty in COM
mand of troops in the field still compe-
| tent officers were left III charge of the
department in Washington TO perform
such duties as were assigned to them
and the inspectors made reports 10 the
commanding officers 10 whom they had
been assigned. These reports We're often
! rot acted upon and Were not forwarded
to the war department
'''rhe Quartermaster's Department, i.
! S. a., Brig. Gen. Nj. |. Ludington, quar-
! ternaster general. /. S. A., in charge
/ The declaration of war threw upon the
of labor and responsibility for which it
I was neither physically nor financially
prepared. So soon as funds We're avail
able, as soon as war was inevitable, so
, soon as law permitted, the quartermas-
ter's department undertook this enor-
nous work. The quartermaster general
threw the energy Of his department into
this work when funds We're available, it
iaEored faithfully in their efforts to aid
+ Inn Is PLAIN to those who have carefully
studied their work
!. IN spite OF every effort there We're oc-
casions where troops suffered from poor
g tentage or lack of tentage or absence of
straw for, bedding. where clothing was
scarce ana troops suffered discomfort for
lack OF shoes, shirts and other articles
of apparel. At Santiago the deficiency
at the front appears TO have been caused
rather IRON lack of transportation from