The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-14
THE BEEF INQUIRY.

The Chicago papers pretend to have
found out what the army board, which
is investigating the charges made by Gen.
Miles respecting the condition of the meat
furnished the army during the war with
Spain. will report. They do not, of course,
know what the report will be. What they
have published as the report is simply
guess. but it is probable that they have
not guessed very far from the truth. Most
of the testimony has been made pubic,
and the newspapers are as capable OF
Weighing testimony as the members of
the board of inquiry. Therefore, it is not
improbable that what they have published
as the report will prove to be close to
the finding of the board.
Assuming that what these papers say
is correct there will not be much comfort
in the report for Gen Miles. The board
viii say that there was practically no
foundation for the charges which he made.
il will say that the refrigerated meat
was hrst-class and that the canned roast
beef was all right when it left the pack
ing houses. If the canned roast beef was
unpalatable and unwholesome in Cuba and
Porto RICO it was because the climate
Of those islands made it so, not because
the packers did not comply strictly with
their contracts.
of course. the board may find something
before il completes its inquiry that viii
cause it to change the opinions 1t Is now
alleged to hold but the chances are it
will not If it should not Gen. Miles
would have a rather uncomfortable time
of it. The charges he made carried the
idea that there was fraud on the part Of
the packers and corrupt practices on the
part of some of the government officers
He deni : now Il at he meant to charge
fraud, but the language which he used in
making tie charges carried the impression
THAI he believed that there had been
fraud. If there had teen no such i'm
preston conveyed Gen. Eagan would not
have used the language he did in speaking
OF the charges before the commission
which investigated the conduct of the war
We have always held the opinion that
1t would appear on careful inquiry that
the bdN NOAiNANAOH VI the NdAlASb lOdSt DNtL
was caused by the heat in the cars when
sent to the seaboard and in the ships
when sent to Cuba and Porto Rico, and
| by the climate of those islands.
There is no doubt that the soldiers found
a great deal of the meat bad and that
| they have been absolutely truthful in Civ
ing their testimony. But they were not
in a position to say that the meat was
bad when it left the possession of the
packers. And Gen. Miles was moi pre-
pared to insnuate that the packers fur
nished rotten meat to the soldiers. He
! spoke before investigating.
The packers say that Gen. Miles charges
have cost the farmers who raise cattle
and the meat packers more than the war
with Spain cost the government That is
an exaggerated statement. Still it is IN
doubtedly true that Gen. Miles struck the
cattle and meat business a blow which
was extremely costly TO those engaged in
it. The effects of his charges will con-
tinue to be felt by that business for a
long time. The failure TO sustain his
charges viii hurt Gen. Mics in the esti-
nation of the country more than the loss
OF great battle would.