The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-01-13
Very respectfully.
CHARLES DENNY.

President.
official action, if any, would be taken re-
garding General Eagan's attack replied
that he had not made any statement on
the subject, and did nit intend to fore
cast the proceedings of the War Depart
rnent. When it was suggested that the
War Department was estopped from any
proceedings against General Eagan, On the
ground of the protection promised by the
President to all witnesses in their testi-
nony before the War Investigating Com
mission
General Miles said that there might be
some question as to the dividing line be-
tween testimony and personal abuse: that
in his opinion any court Of justice. or for
that mater d police court would have
| ste q 9. witness who had used before
It such language as was used before the
War Commiss!oa yesterday. General
Miles n ~:
Il di,. rot want to appear before the
War Commission in the first place. When
they wrote me suggesting that | volun-
tarily appear before them, l replied that
I believed it to be for the best interests
of the service for me not to volunteer
any testimony When I was ordered be-
fore the Commission and they asked me
concerning certain facts that l then had
in my possession, | was obliged as mat
ter of honesty to answer them
and produced official complaints to
me as my best reply. Even then did
not tell them all the facts which | had
discovered by my own investigation. This
inquiry was carried on quietly through
the proper branches of the War Depart
ment and was begun as a matter of
duty by the Commanding General after
the receipt of an immense number of COM
plants That investigation is still be-
ing prosecuted and | still think, as | said
before, that ii would have been much
better had the officers of the War Depart
ment who have in charge the care and
proper feeding of the soldiers, been al
lowed to attend to these matters quietly
+ in their own way
General Eagan when seen said he had
nothing to say. He regretted, he said the
newspaper notoriety which it had already
involved. The controversy was. not of
his seeking, and he should decline to say
anything further regarding it.
Army circles this morning had scarcely
recovered from The SnocA -~SS-.Ss- -
day by the statement of Commissary - ;
eral Eagan. Still, in the consideration of
the matter the officers had reached the
point where they began to appreciate the
real gravity of the event and to UNDER
stand that 1t was not ITO be discussed
lightly and without due thought of the
consequence, the case being one entirely
without precedent in the military history
notable disinciinatlon on the, part Of the
officials to express for publication any
opinion on the merits of the case. This
was true from Secretary Adger as qoWn low 70
yately it was evident that nearly all re-
gretted the incident and deplored 1t as
calculated to injurse the f who,e aTmy ~
feet = ,tild be to accentuate the DIVISION
of the Amy into two camps, and thus to
injure The chances OF the ehactmeslnit OF
legislation favorable TO the HllntaFy
establishment.
The sober second Judgment OF the cool
est minds on both sides, meaning by that
the friends of General Eagan and the
friends of General Miles, inclined to the
opinion that no action will follow yester-
DAYS eruption. 1t has already been in
timated at Army Headquarters, ,aceptlng
of his responsibility to the Major General
Commanding the army as plndlpg, tnat
this places &he responsibility for anything
he saws or does on the department.. The
department itself, however, Is stopped
from action in this case, no matter what
the inclination of the officials might be,
by the fact that the President has given
his solemn promise to protect the witness
es who might appear before the War In
yestigating Commission from the conse-
quenees OF any testimony they might give
there. He was compelled to give this
nledse At the beginning of the investiga-
ton BY the open intimations a,,1s IN certain ain
dare to testify to all of the things they
knew that would reflect upon the admins
tration of the War Department. When
General Miles made his first statement be-
fore the Commission, In which he
spoke Of embalmed beef as being fur
nished the soldiers, General Eagan re-
sented this but found upon sounding the
officials of the department that he could
not prefer charges against General Miles
Of slandering him, as he desired to DO.
because the Presidents promise protected
the Commanding General as well as all
other witnesses. This led to General Ea-
ol pesssappe Isl4sI 3 40 '1dmsllB .ue5
General Miles e learn as i he had said the
part 81 his testimony. The purpose was
to secure repetition, II possible, outside
Of the commission chambers, OF