New-York tribune., 1899-02-17
THE BEEF COURT OF INQUIRY.
IT'S FIRST SESSION WILL BE HELD
TO-DAY.
SOME PRELIMINARY OCCURRENCES WHICH
CAUSE GOSSIP IN WARRINGTON
GENERAL MILES MAY BE
It'll LII
TIE FIRST WITNESS.
lnr TELEGRAPH To THE rRrpuNE.l

Washington. Feb 1G-The court Of inquiry
ordered by the President to probe the beef scan
dal will hold its first session tomorrow. but al
ready there have been peculiar occurrences
which are calculated to cast doubts upon the
dislnterestedness Of one OF its officers Chief Of
these are the mysterious visit Of Lieutenant
Colonel Davis the recorder Of the court. to Chi
cago. and the Difference paid to eX-Governor
Woodbury.. who. one OF the members of the
War Investigating Commission, was said 10 have
been influential In establishing the unquestion-
able purity Of the beef packing methods.
Until the court met and organized It was pre-
surned that Lieutenant Colonel Davis. as we'll
the other members. had no official connec-
uon with the proposed investigation 1t IS the
general impression In military circles that the
sole duty Of the recorder Of the court IS To re
cord It's proceedings and to act as It's agent un-
der it's instructions I'm the pursuit Of any lines OF
investigation Il may desire to develop. When
Colonel Davis left Washington last week 1t
thought by all who were not conversant with the
fact that he had been for some time in close
conference with General Eagan. whom he had
80 recently prosecuted with such notable vigor.
and that he had returned 10 West Point. where
he is permanently stationed What business he
could have had in the principal beef centre Of
the country. where are located the offices Of all
the packers who furnished the food under in
vestigation for the OF the soldiers in Cuba
and Porto Rico. can only be coniectured. but in
the absence Of any authoritative statement on
the subject his visit at this time is deemed Pc
culiary unfortunate by those who We're conf
dent that a full and impartial investigation Of
the numerous complaints against the beef would
be forthcoming through the machinery of mill
tary tribunal
The members Of the War Investigating Com
mission who found ground for the complaints
have all left town. it is understood. except Cen
eral Wilson. who is naturally detained on duty
Chief Of Engineers. and Ex-Governor Wood
bury, whose frendllness 10 the beef interests has
already been the subject Of gossip. which was
heightened to-day by the long private confer
ence he had with Colonel Davis. The time con
sumed at this conference was altogether aston
ishing in view Of the fact that Colonel Davis
gives every one the impression OF being eX-
ceedingly busy man. without a spare moment on
his hands
When individual members Of tho court met to-
day Informally Colonel Gillespie the only
one in uniform. and a formal meeting could not
therefore he held under the Army regulations.
General Wade had only arrived IN the city from
his headquarters az s.. Paul last night stimuli
taneousy with Colonel Davis while Colonel
Davis reached Washington from Havana this
morning only few hours before the meeting oc-
CURED. Colonel Davis vouchsafed the informa-
ton that the regular meeting postponed
until tomorrow on account OF certain prelimi-
nares he had been unable TO complete. and on
account OF his being delayed by the storm In
reaching Washington. What these preliminaries
are is beyond the imagination of any military
authorities. II Is declared that the only possible
preliminary to the proceedings OF such Court
Of Inquiry is the order OF the convening author
ity. in his case the President II Is well known
that the charges for which the court IS assem-
bled have already been formulated by no less
than sixty officers I'm the service. and all the
court can do after organizing IS 70 determine
whether they can be substantiated. and, II go,
what further proceedings are advisable
As General Miles IS specifically named IN the
order convcnilR the court as authority for the
clarges. II IS expected thar his testimony VIII he
fret taken as n basis for the inquiry. The court
has not been Informed that General Miles VIII
be represented 10y counsel, though this is his
right II was said that any one whose course of
action was involved had the right 70 be repre-
sented by counsel This. Il was stated. would
permit beef concerns. as well as any other firms
or individuals directly involved in the inquiry 10
he represented by counsel II they saw tit There
has been no notice Of counsel however. and no
legal representatives were present to-day.