New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-10
LIGHT ON BUREAUCRACY.
AoRDINARY DEVELOPMENTS OF
THE BEEF INVESTIGATION.
,-vrcrrI.TY OF FIXING RESPONSIBILITY
UNDER THE PRESENT sYsTEM-AL-
GERS RETIREMENT FAVORED
BY MANY REPUBLICANS.
BY MANY REFU bLIOANo.
.-,p.pu no THE TRIpIf<r

BY MANY REPUBLICANS.
my TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNEl
washington, April 9.-The beef inGuisition
,aoorne a most extraordinary affair The
=. .hrouyn on the methods of the War Depart
.t hureaucracy by recent unexpected devel-
o,,s is a matter of grave concern to the
'p .. From time immemorial 1t has been a
Ill, that the acute sense of honor and or
-, honesty in the Army man was altogether
,or IN that Of the more humble civilian.
o. r-eat has been the public confidence In their
..,.v that for many years 1t has been deemed
- edvantage TO place Indian affairs ana the
-. disbursements of river and harbor WORK
,D--o,v IN the hands of Army officers. was this
",-odfast public confidence misplaced-a mere
s-.,urt Of the brain-and these white-souied
S,a,ars with a life tenure, no more trustworthy
49,, common clay? 1t is undeniaole that the
,-a-,rs and the Carriers and the Lydeckers nave
No.,,,,v done much to weaken public faltn IN
abe men Of the military profession.
SOME PERTINENT QUESTIONS.
ching ,s apparent This beef scandal and
~ ...,,,~ersat,on II has engendered have
-, a deeper blow at the moral status OF the
-, oe,cer than even the vast embezzlements
-rAd 70 Captain Carter. There is good
80, ~ serious gossip going the rounds. Much
- sroun and talked about that cannot be
~.,n,aa But men are asking, II it be possible
.,cb officers 10 rise through the evolution
.,.-orsbt by the iron rules of promotion In these
.,-ssus 70 the practical direction of vast MILL
..r,, concerns and the disbursement of mill
,ors ,s such system good for the country!
Ara .he bureau chiefs so independent or the
ordinary official checks, entirely irresponsible
.o the higher powers or the law, that an of1cer
-, +ba stripe of Eagan without the knowledge
o4 b,s departmental superior, may have the de-
,arrinlnr voice in vast contracts affecting d.
rectlv the operations Of important military un-
der+akings--of the very life of the Army itself!
Is Eagan typical OF the War Department hier-
.archy as has recently been asserted py IT'D
,,ne contributor? Or is there a higher response
huitv? Having made him its innocent instru-
ment for more than two years. ana utterly
failed in the Spanish war. finding itself faced
by an outraged public opinion, has the stan sys-
ten, at last attempted TO hide behind the De-
partrnent and left the Secretary or war 10 hoia
the bag? True. Eagan has been partially un-
lowered and dragged into the sunlight OF popu-
lay view. Nevertheless, the difficulty Of posi-
lively fixing responsibility for any official dere-
LECTION in which these staff bureaus are con-
cerned is made more manifest than ever by
,ba effort To come at the true inwardness of the
,conmissary Department of the United States
Army
UuERE NEGLECT COST MANY LIVES.
Another instance IS recalled. Who has forgot
ten the Washington horror OF 1898, by which,
through oficial neglect. scores Of the Record
md Pension Ofice clerks lost their lives or were
erieyousIy injured? Somebody was responsible
for that startling slaughter and the Govern
nent's subsequent outpouring Of money to the
fatherless families thrown on the world without
resources But after great labor and cost the
effort to name the guilty officer proved utterly
futile. The head Of the bureau, General Aims
worth former Army surgeon, caused to be set
on foot or permitted the excavations beneath
the old Ford's Theatre in Tenth-st.. under his
charge which resulted, filled as 1t was with
hundreds Of unsuspecting clerks in its unex-
pected collapse After the tragedy Ainsworth
was cited before a judicial court of inquiry.
charged with being the cause Of these deaths
through neglect Of Official duty, In that he had
not put the dangerous work under charge or the
proper engineer officer in control Of operations
Of the sort here at the capital. II found guilty
Ainsworth must not only have lost his life
tenure commission In the Army but gone to the
'penitertiary. But IL was as impossible TO con-
vtct Ainsworth Of responsibility for this costly
disaster In blood and money as 1t was to trace
the responsibility to the Engineer Bureau or
any other official origin in the War Depart
ment Yet these obscure clerks were dead ana
the surviving cripples hobbling about on
crutches The Government quietly reached deep
into the Treasury and paid the costs. Directed
by the cunning pilotage of Senator Cockrell,
whose protege this officer was from the first, 1t
even reimbursed Ainswolth in large sum OF
money for the expenditures Of his legal defence.
THE PROMOTION OF AINswORTH.
General Ainsworth sang low for time, until
the public's evaporation was calmed and the
bloody scandal slept. But imagine the present
chagrin Of those whose memories had not lapsed
10 find this intriguing busybody Of the bureaus,
tried for the catastrophe of 1898. promoted In
1899 to brigadier-general by Congress. under
the whip and spur OF this Democratic Senator.
Cockrer, on the recommendation. or at least
acquiescence. Of Republican Secretary Of War.
And that the act might have the greater signih-
cance the new grade is TO expire on Ainsworth's
death or retirement. What, beyond his duty,
had he done between the day the old Ford's
Theatre collapsed and 1899 to merit this special
interposition OF Congress? Nothing whatever,
otneT thdh u hiaihtdin MS personal grip on
Cockrell, who, to quote distinguished United
States Senator. has gone daft on the subject
Of Ainsworth. and has for years imagined that
the routine operations Of the whole Government
would come to dead standstill were 1t not for
the overwhelming motive power thrown into
It's rusty machinery from day to day as a mere
pastime. by this one officer
Those who note official events and understand
their meaning and sequence were all the more
astounded at this preposterous and strained
promotion. under the circumstances direct in
suit TO the Republican Administration because
the President had fairly begged Congress for
four additional Regular Army generals for ac-
tive service in the field. This request was inso-
lently spurned by Cockrel and the minority be-
cause, as they alleged. the country was opposed
to any permanent increase Of the standing