The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-02-14

| the secretary of war extended 10 all chiefs
! Of bureaus cordial and full support and
| promptly responded to every proper de-
mand made upon him by commanding Off
| GERS.
mo testimony has been presented show
ing intentional neglect OF duty nor any at
tempt to serve persoai interests The
charges made that the secretary of war
was pecuniarily interested in contracts,
| purchases and other transactions OF the
| war department have been thoroughly ex-
amined and found baseless.
I'm the judgment of the committee there
was lacking in the general administration
! of the war department during the con-
! tinuance of the war with Spain that COM
/ plete grasp of the situation which was
! essential 10 the highest efficiency and dis
1 cipline of the army.
The commission has RETAINED from crit
! icizing certain of the heads of bureaus for
/ not having acted with foresight in prepar-
/ ing their various departments for active
war before the war was actually declared,
because il has appeared that the national
| defense fund provided by the act Of
| March 9 1898, was not made available for
use, except for the navy and for coast
! defences and the expenditures incident
| thereto. until after the declaration or war"
| ''Adjutant Generals Department-Briga
der General H c. Corbin. Adjutant
General. L. S. A, in Charge.
This department, which was organized
and trained to take care of q, small regu-
lar army, was required to rapidly provide
| for organizing and mastering in 10000 SOL
diers, and within six months to muster out
| 100000. The adjutant generals department
of the army having full knowledge of the
| condition of the army when the declara-
ton Of war was made. it could not be sur
prised at the inability Of the depart
ments 10 Immediately respond TO the de-
mands. The economy OF previous years.
by which nearly every article of equip
ment not Immediately needed by the army
was disposed of, and no provision made for
| emergencies, rendered immediate effective
expansion of the army impossible. In the
organization of the army for active duty
proviion was made for eight corps, seven
Of which were fully equipped and placed in
the field.
EQUTPPING THE TROOPS.
''The suggestion mas been made and
opinion given, that Il would have been bet
ter to have offered the army and equip
ped the troops in each of their states be-
fore they were concentrated and modified
into brgades. divisions and corps, but the
war department had not the officers to
send to each state to organize, muster,
feed and equip them. nor had it officers Of
sufficient rank 10 command, drill and disci-
pline the troops while in state camps
Early removal of troops from state camps
has the advantage of avoiding the disturb
ing influences of home locality. During the
organization and equipment of the army a
daily telegraph report was received from
each camp. Where important deficiencies
were reported, the secretary of war called
the attention to the fact and in most cases
ii was found that such deficiencies were
due 10 the non-existence of the article.
There were about $50 regiments, battal-
ions and separate organizations in the
army, from only twenty-five of which came
complaints, aside from those affecting the
medical department. Investigation has
shown that the most of these complaints
were because of lack of supplies not OBJ
tainable at first, or were due to the mex
perience of officers in command, not, so far
as we can discover, from any Intentional
neglect.
ut was found necessary to go outside
and appoint officers from civil life. the
selections being frequently made from Off
GERS who had had experience Il the ma
tional guard, graduates from military coll
leges and schools, and citizens whose bust
ness or professions fitted them for the
positions for which they were elected.
The testimony shows that they were hon
est and manifested desire to become
efficient. No one has been court martialed
and but few dropped as incompetent.
The adjutant general testified that there
had not been a deficiency or 81 reported on
the part of a volunteer staff officer, and
that he wished TO make it matter of rec
ord that in this distribution of many mill
ions of dollars during this war there was
yet to be made the first charge of defalca-
ton against an army officer, regular or
volunteer.
There have been very few complaints
against this department. The records and
testimony show that It has been prompt in
it's work and has added greatly 10 the
efficiency of the army.
inspector Generals Observation-Disclosures
General, Z. S. A, in Charge.
THE commission finds that the inspector
generals department was not as efficient
as it ought to have been. There seems to
have been questions as TO authority by
which inspections were to be ordered. On
at least one occasion, May II. the secre-
tary of war instructed the major general
commanding the army 10 inspect certain
camps, VIZ: ThoA a Chickamauga, At
lanta, New Orleans, Mobile, Tampa, Miami
and Key West. The major general did not
act upon such instructions. stating Il 10
be his place to order inspection.
Further, the commission finds that. al
though several Of the officers Of this de-
partment were assigned to duty In COM
mand of troops in the field. still competent
officers were left in charge of the depart
ment in Washington TO perform such duties
as were assigned to them. The orgsniza-
ton in the field was ample, and the in
spectOrs made reports to the commanding
officers 70 whom they had been assigned.
These reports were often not acted on and
were not forwarded to the war depart
ment.
The Quartermaster's Department, L. s.
A. Brigadier General u. l. Luding.on.
Quartermaster General. in Charge
ION March !. 1ssS. with the possibility OF
war with Spain. the quarterInaster de-
partment found itself charged with varied
numerous and important duties, its appro-
priation small and facing the probability
OF a large army being soon organized for
field service.
THE department, ID 20 March !, 1893.
found Itself confronted with sections $50.
S7G and SOC OF the revised statutes, which
prohibit any government department from