The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-04-25
COUNSEL FOR GEN. MILES
Sums Up His Case Against the Beef
Packers.
PROCESSES WERE USED
To Preserve Meats, and the Commissary
General Admitted This to -Four
Witnesses Who Appeared
Before Commission.


Washington, April 24-Major Lee. who
has represented General Miles tefore the
" ade court of inquiry, made his closing sd-
dress to the court this afternoon lie pre-
sented a long argument, which reviewed
the causes that led to the beef investiga-
ton.
Prefacing his argument, Major Lee said
II may be permitted to remark that
have not appeared, nor do appear, in any
technical sense fit counsel for the major
general commanding the army.
IF, as has been and, let us hope, erron-
eously maintained by some, that the in
| quiry under the order convening this court
was much for the purpose of investigat-
ing implied accusation or imputation
against the major general commanding for
entertaining the complaints and represen-
tations of his officers and soldiers to i'm
proper food, to investigate their merits,
then the role of counsel might be appro-
pirate.
But the correspondence between the
court and the major or-general commanding
shows quite clearly the extent to which he
has been represented before this court
the purpose being to present and elicit evil
dence pertinent to the inquiry. His allega-
tions are nothing more, nothing less, than
the complaints brought to his official know
edge by the officers and men of the army
who participated in active service during
the recent war;
Compelled to Make Inquiry
Major Lee said that the general was
obliged by his position to institute search
ing inquiry into the allegations concerning
the food supply of the army. He referred
to that superb little army which embarked
from Tampa last June for the invasion of
Cuba and won imperishable renown add
ing that In less than nine weeks the re-
naming part of 1t was returned to The
United States "a pitiable wreck In body
and mind" No one, he said, claimed that
any one article of food was to blame.
But" he said, "the overwhelming evil
dence of, we believe, not less than 80 per
cent of the officers and fully 80 per cent.
of the men shows beyond reasonable doubt
that the so-called canned roast beef as
meat ration was all that it should not have
and nothing 1t should have been for the
American soldier, who was ready, for hui
manity's sake, to imperil his life in a torrid
cline in the interest of an oppressed peo-
pie.
1--WE neither allege nor charge that there
was any intent or design on the part of
any officer of the army to furnish bad or
unfit ration, but the evldence-the unim-
peachable evidence-of regiment and COM
pany commanders reporting shows that an
irreparable mistake had been made"
He contended that the canned roast beef
has been adopted as ration without a
proper test, the sole test being a single
case sent to Tampa and cooked with veg
etables and condiments.
'This experiment" he said. twas at the
instance OF a distinguished officer of the
subsistence department. The error was on
honest one of judgment, caused. perhaps,
In some measure, by the pressure of his
duties; but the adoption of this canned
roast beef as a material component of the
meat ration in place of fresh beef was
responsibility belonging to higher author
ity.''
Inspections Were Perfunctory
Major Lee declared that some of the in
spections were so perfunctory that canned
meats were accepted on the reputation of
the packing firms.
..Since when?" he asked, "have gigantic
corporations and trusts become exempt
from that close scrutiny that would be ap-
piled to a dealer of moderate means?''
He then took up the question of refrigera-
ted beef and said:
canned rost beef was undertaken another
experiment, new and novel in the extreme,
of attempting to supply an army In the
field with refrigerated beef. Methods
which had In all previous wars been tested
and of approved efficiency, were discarded
for this hitherto untried experiment.
Various proposals were asked for and
among them was one stipulating that the
refrigerated beef should keep seventy-two
hours after issue or delivery to the army.
preservative process in addition to the
ordinary refrigeration seemed a sine quo
nd In UJif
General Eagan, the commssary general of
subsistence, four witnesses-Sypher, Gig
gings, Simpson and Armstrong-all testified
in effect that the commissary general stated
the refrigerating people had special pro-
cess for the preservation of meat and that
one process was being tested at Tampa,
Fla"
Major Lee dwelt at length upon the
question as to whether preservati tives had
been used on the beef and quoted at length
from the testimony bearing upon that point
particularly that of D. w. H. Day. con-
tending that 1t was established beyond all
doubt by competent and reliable testimony
that the beef furnished the troops in
Florida had been subjected to some pro-
cess to insure its keeping the specified con-
tract He then said:
Chemical Process Used
"It must be clear that secret chemical
process was used with meat delivered to
troops at tnat point, similar use would no
doubt be made of such process at other
points or for all shipments where it might
be deemed necessary as preservative of the
refrigerated beef.'
In summing UP his case. Major Lee made
the following claims:
"It was perfectly practicable to have
landed beef cattle with the armies in both
Porto Rico and Cuba
'There was no necessity for departure
from the army travel ration which has been
found perfectly satisfactory. Instead of
Supplying the troops during this war as
frsonffnued e, y Paeel