Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-04-24
Major Lees Statement Made to the
Court Today.
GREAT MASS ~. TESTIMONY TAKEN
Belief That the Bad Character
of the Meat is Shown.
THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS

Major Lee. counsel for Gen. Miles, made
his closing address to the beef court of
inquiry this afternoon. He said:
May it please the court:
In the brief time at my disposal since
the conclusion Of the testimony l find it
impossible To attempt Il review OF the evil
derce which has been presented during the
prolonged sittinEs Of the court. 1 must,
therefore, content myself with brief
statement of thc salient points they can
be recalled. In whatever remarks / may
make I wish at the outset to discIaim any
intention to reflect in any personal sense
upon any one. however high or low who
has been referred to in connection with the
subject matter OF this inquiry.
/ may be permitted 10 remark that 1
have not appeared. nor Do ! appear. in any
technical sense as the counsel of the major
general commanding ;hc army. II. as has
been, and let US hoYe gTroHeousIy, main
tanned by some THAI he inquiry under tn
order converting This court was much FOR
The purpose Of investigating implied accu-
satiOn or imputati1H against the major
general commanding for entertaining the
complaints and representations of his Off
GERS and soldiers as to improper food as 10
investigate their merits. then the role of
counsel might be appropriate. But the COR
reSpOnGonCe between the court and the
major general commanding shows quite
resented before this court-the purpos, be-
ing to present and elicit evidence pertinent
TO the inquiry. His allegations are moth
Ing more, nothing less, than the COMPLAINS
brought to his official knowledge by the
officers and men of the army who partici-
pated in active service during the recent
war. These allegations, based on full be
lief in the correctness of said representa-
tons. are found in substance in his state
ments before the war commission. and re-
late specifically to certain meat supplies
which are believed to have been unsuita-
bic for issue and deleterioUs 10 the health
Of the soldiers.
Alleged Newspaper Interviews.
II is not deemed necessary to go into de-
tails of certain newspaper interviews. as
they, even wherever substantially correct,
add nothing to the facts to be inquired
into, and where incorrect have a tendency
t. raise an ISSUE which can hardly be DEEM
Ell worthy of serious consideration.
might say. however. with reference TO
the alleged interviews as testified to before
your court by Messrs. Reid and Berry re-
poTteTS, that from their own testimony il
appears that General Miles persistently de-
cllned TO talk on the subject or give an
interview to anybody, and said he was
tGuoting from Mr.. Reid's testimony most
freely quoted without authority from me
or without any utterance on my part. 1t
has been q source Of great annoyance 10
ne And. quoting further from Mr.. Reid $
les ,imony: Il General Miles, most positive
~ decline [" make any statement IN regard
10 that matter What they may have made
W from running conversation had in the
corridor OF the hotel while General Miles
was on his way to keep an engagement is
rot deemed worthy Of any further notice.
With reference to the Herald interview
which ! believe. is before your court, II
Is only necessary to quote extracts from q
letter received by General Miles from Mr..
Neeker, who admits being the chief AUTH or
OF that composite report. as follows:
NEW YORK. February :. 1899
Dear General: In view of the
situation YOU should have an explanation
from me. or reaching the office
that night after seeing you ! found an As
ISOLATED Press report in typewriting had
been sent 70 all the papers. They
had sent man 20 see you. I said there was
no use in b0thering YOU; that ! knew all
about the situation. Then they said: Dress
it UP a little and / did. l can
swear that you gave no interview; that you
refused to be Interviewed; that you said you
had no statement to maxi. Sincerely.
M. M Meekcr. New York Herald)"
This, with The testimony Of the other TWO
Journalists. clearly shows that General
Miles repeatedly and positively declined to
be interviewed.
Duty of the Major General Command
ing
would not attempt risk offending the
Intelligence Of this court by attempting to
diIate on the paramount duty of the major
general commanding The army to cause a
careful thorough and painstaking tnvesti-
cation OF the complaints which had been
brought to his attention by those who
knew the facts, by those who had suffered
from the evils Of a new departure. an I'M
tried experiment with the meat ration for
troops in campaign. For any one 10 as
sumo or m&ii.taiu that ii not the
bCUEden duty of the major general com
handing the army to institute a searching
inquiry into these matters would be as alb
surd as 10 claim that a captain should not
command his company. a colonel his regi-
menI or general his army.
Let Us recall a few matters of history
with respect TO that supurb little army
which embarked from Tampa for the inva-
sion Of cuba last June and won UnpcriSh-
able rerowu for their individual and col
lective fighting qualities. They endured and
suffered all things without complaint or
murmur. In less than rine weeks that
army, or the remaining part Of it. was re-
turned to the United States to the So-called
haven of MOntauk. pitiabla wreck in body
ard mind; and it is believed the statement
nj today be successfully controverted
that not less than one-half of those gallant
men are either dead or permanently disa-
blet-and this. too. among seasoned regu-
lars and volunteers who We're in that cam
paign from start to finish.
what Caused the Painful Result.
Now. the question arises what cause con-
tributed to this painful result result
which seems TO have aroused the indigna-
ticn and sympathy Of the entire nation. No
one claims that any one article of food was
the sole cause of this sad condition. but we
think II caru0t be denied from the over
whelTIiug evideuce-the evidence of men
WHO were on the fighting line and who
knew whereof they sp0ke-that if improper.
unsuitable or insufficient food was furnish
ell. then. under the conditions existing in
creased sickness would naturally be caused
md its severity intensified. The overwheIu-
ing evidence Of. We believe not less than
o. per cent Of the officers and fully % per
cent of the men. if not more. shows be
yond reasonable doubt that the so-calIed
canned roast beef as a meat ration was all
that it should not have been and nothing
that il should have been for the American
soldier who was for hUmanity's sake peril
ing his life in torr.d cline in the interest
OF an oppressed people.
We neither allege nor charge that there
was any intent or design on the part of
any officer Of the army to furnish a bad or
unfit ration. but the evidence-the unim-
pe4chdble evidence-of regiment and COM
paHy commanders. representing practically
every soldier there. shows that an irrepara-
BILE mistake had been made. that some one