The times., 1899-03-27
Its Sessions to Be Resumed in
Washington Today.
VindicatiOn for General Miles Now
Seems TO Be Assured.
EaEan May BE Dismissed From the
Service for All Time
to Come.

against the Commissary Department re-
turned to Washington yesterday from New
York. and will resume their labors in this
city
Major Lee, counsel for General Miles, re-
turned with the board, and is quartered
at the Ebbitt House. He declined last
night to discuss the beef controversy. but
intimated by his manner and tone of
voice that the Investigations made by the
Court in the West had proven highly salts
factory to himself and the General Com
manding the Army
| 1t was stated last night that number of
Chicago beef packers had been invited
mere by the Court to offer additional testi-
mony, and 1t is expected that representa-
yves from the leading firms concerned in
furnishing meat supplies to the Army will
appear this week to supplement the tes-
| timony taken by the Court during its
| Western junket.
Edward Morris and T. l.. Swift, jr.. both
| oil Chicago, arrived at the Arlington yes
terday- Both denied that their appearance
here had any connection with the army
beef controversy, but it is understood that
they came TO Washington in the interests
OF Chicago meat packers.
The best part of this weeks sessions of
| the Court Of Enquiry will probably be
placed at the disposal of the Western beef
! packers, who propose to counteract il
possible, the damaging testimony heard in
the West. How successful they will be
remains TO be seen. The friends of Cen
eral Miles. however have no fear of the
contradictory representations which may
be expected from the representatives of
| w NeStern meat packing industries
The members of the Court refused last
night to discuss their work beyond saying
| that the taking of testimony will probably
| be completed in another week. Then will
come the enormous task of compiling a
| report from the mass of evidence collected
and this will occupy, perhaps, several
| weeks more, and it is not expected that
! the voluminous document will be placed
| in the hands of the President before the
| first OF May.
The proceedings of the Beef Court in
its tour of the beef packing centres, has
been followed with keen interest by army
offcers throughout the country. but espe-
| cially by those officers who are stationed
| at Washington
reporter for The Times spoke last
with many men who wear shoulder straps
! 1t is clear that General Miles still has
many enemies in the Army, but the man
ner in which his charges against army
| beef have been substantiated by the very
Court which was created for the purpose
OF finding them groundless, has wrought
considerable change in opinion respect
| ing the Commanding General of the Army.
| There are still many officers in the Army
who for various reasons, both personal and
| professional hope that the charges of
| General Miles may be found by the Court
OF Enquiry to be without foundation, but
| the number is not great as when the
Beef Court began its sessions.
An officer of high rank said last night:
| Il felt that the manner in which General
| Miles criticised the Quartermaster's, Sub
| sistence. and Medical departments of the
Army was little harsh and crude
mean by crude that his criticism was
made too publicly. l felt that il errors
| of Judgment had been committed in the
service, it would have been better for
| the prestige of the American military
| establishment to have had no loud sound
| ing scandal. | believe it would have been
| better TO have settled the matter inside
| the department, if that had been possible,
rather than to discuss the matter
in the newspapers. l found fault with
General Miles not because | believed that
his statements were overdrawn, but be-
cause he seemed to make it point to
give them too great publicity. 1t does
not seem to me to be quite the proper
thing to have made great scandal of the
case and to exploit the incompetency or
neglect of certain officers before the eyes
of the whole world.
Another officer said: THE enemies OF
General Miles are very much disturbed
over the proceedings of the Court OF En-
quiry. General Miles was n thcrn in the
side of this Administration, because his
charges in all cases made ii appear that
Secretary Ayers conduct of the War De-
partment was improper, and that he reliei
| on favorites who were either criminal or
foolish. The Administration undertook to
| ruin General Miles by fake Court of En-
| duiry. but the testimony against the com
| mssary supplies has simply overwhelmed
this Court. The evidence against the char
acter of the meat, which. as you know. is
the most important part of the solder
| ration has come from so many independent
sources that no one can doubt that the
meat was bad. This is what General Miles
| charged. If the meat was bad it was i'm
proper food. This is what General Miles
said. II the food was improper it must b.
clear that the Commissary Department
caused much of the sickness from which
the troops suffered. General Nil s made
this charge. The result OF the investiga-
tion has been to substantiate all that the
Commanding General alleged against the
Commissary Department If the Admins
| tration should now displace General Miles
it would be so palpably OF persecu-
tlOn lnal tUeTe WCuiu De "a popular OutCiy
against 1t. | do not believe the President
or the Secretary OF War will have the
rashness now to molest him..
One of the military men who sat in the
Army and Navy Club last night said;
"One of the consequences of the Startling
revelations made by the Beef Court is that
somebody must bear the blame. The Adj
ministrations must have a soaps goat. ana
the most likely man for this role seems to
me to be Charles Patrick Eagan. now under
suspension for six years for conduct unbe-
coming an officer and a gentleman. 1t
seems to me that the logical outcome of all
this will be that this man will be court
martialed for incompetency or criminality.
and will be dismissed from the service. |
am not lawyer enough to know just what
the Government can do to the men WHO
supplied the bad beef, but il the theory of
the law, that for every wrong there is a
remedy" is true. some punishment should
be meted out to the contractors. | have no
doubt that many of the soldiers died from
eating the poisoned meat. If this be true
those who furnished the meat are guilty nj
murder. whether the meat packers or those
connected with the Commssary Bureau"
FATAL BOILER EXPLOSION.
killed and En.i,..,