The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-04
GEN, MILES TO Be TRIED
BY ALGER AND M'KINLEY
Must Prove His Charges Against Meat Packers and
War Department
President Decides to Order An Inquiry, But Will Wait Until
Official WhitewaSherS Have Reported

Washington, Feb. 3.-The purpose of
the president to terminate the unsat-
isfactory state of affairs that has eX-
listed for some time as the result Of
the numerous charges and counter
charges and interviews respecting the
character of the army beef, by institut
ing a formal inquiry into these mat
ters and endeavoring to place the re-
sponsibility where it belongs, was made
known today. This inquiry win not be
undertaken before the commission to
investigate the conduct of the war has
made its report to the president.
The scope of this new inquiry has not
been defined, but it certainly viii en-
brace the allegations by General Miles
as to the character of the army sup
plies and viii involve that officer to the
extent that he must make these charges
good, and to that degree he viii be on
trial himself in a preliminary manner.
Should the charges be found to be well
established, a heavy responsibility
would be placed on the packers and
persons concerned in the meat inspec-
ton, and perhaps others; should they
fail unsupported, General Miles may be
obliged to answer to courtmartial
for rejecting upon the character OF
other officers.
There are two methods by which such
an investigation may be conducted, ac-
cording to established military usage.
The first is by the appointment of
court of inquiry and the second by the
appointment of what is known as an
officers or inspection board. In the for
mer case it would be necessary to name
some officer who is TO be the subject
Of investigation In the latter the
board is charged simply to inquire into
state OF facts. or alleged facts, with
out reference TO any particular person
and to place the responsibility for any
thing of which complaint is made. Their
findings may serve as the basis for a
courtmartial quite as effectually as the
findings of a court of inquiry, and have
some advantages, in that they do not
begin with the presumption of a court
of inquiry.
Where a court of inquiry is ordered,
it is said, there is conveyed a distinct
reflection upon the officer named. Be
cause OF tins. when the navy depart
ment requested the war department to
onder q court of inquiry TO investigate
the circumstances attending the kill
ing of a number Of Spanish prisoners
on board the Harvard, the latter, in
stead ordered an inspection board, con
SideTing that the ordering of the court
III INJURY ull6 III Jt lOOheu upon dS d
predecisiOn against our troops. Such
officers boards are frequently ordered
10 fix responsibility for the loss or dam
age of stores. and several of them have
been appointed during the war TO look
into the loss Of meats, notably in the
case Of that shipped TO Porto Rico and
returned TO Montauk Point. Like q
court of inquiry, these boards return
statements of facts developed by them,
which the GI1naTlgF- 1n5 nDT-iTInG
act
Il is not possible at present to learn
in which direction the president leans,
but he has been in conference on the
subject with The secretary of war and
the attorney general and the matter
has been discussed in the cabinet TO
some extent As before stated, how
ever, go action is to be taken on either
plan until the report Of the war inves-
tigating commission is submitted.
GENERAL MILES INTERVIEWS.
Up TO the close Of the day, General
Miles positively declined 10 discuss in
any manner the events of the day, so
far as they related 10 himself, or to
discuss any statements cOnta ned in any
OF the interviews attributed TO aim. i
may be said of these interviews, that
while il is conceivable they might fig-
IRE. they would not do SO Of necessity,
for the matters 10 be first looked into
are those connected with the character
Of the army beef.
The common impression is that
court Of inquiry can be ordered only
uDon the demand Cf the officer whose
conduct is TO be made the subject Of
investigation. While that is usually the
case. there is, however, a reserve power
in the president to order such d court,
reear-dless of the wishes of the officer
concerned. The authority is contained
in article 1l5 OF the articles Of war,
which have the force OF statutes. The
article is as follows:
a court Of inquiry 10 examine into
the nature of any transaction of, or
accusation. or imputaion against any
officer or soldier may be ordered by the
president or by any commanding Offi-
cer but. as courts Of inquiry may be
peTverted TO dishonoraole purposes and
may be employed IN the hands of weak
and envious cOmnandants as engines
for the destruction OF military merit,
they shall never be ordered by any
commanding officer, except upon de-
mand by the cfficer or soldier whose
conduct is to Se inquired into
II is asserted in some quarters that
the above quoted regulation does not
ne-rnit the president himself to order a
court OF inquiry in the absence of a
demand the o4LGGI lIlLC- C-tILEi. ana
General Miles friends say that he has
not vet made any uemand. But legal
authorities are against this contention,
and it is explained that the regulation
makes a very clear distinction for a
Drrpose expressly defined between the
powers of the president and Of the
commanding officers.
II is suggested that Il viii be a mat
fer of difficulty TO secure the personnel
for even q court of inquiry with its
limited membership. because many Off
GERS have already taken some part in
The controversy between General Miles
and General Eagan. This is on account
Of the scarcity Of available officers Of
sufficient rank 20 warrant their as
eignment TO this duty.
The war investigation commission
continued the preparation OF the report
"a the president behind closed doors as
usual today. No reply has been re
ceived To the telegram addressed by
the commission to James Farnan at
chester, Pa, requesting him TO come
here for the purpose of testifying as TO
the alleged embalming OF beef for the
army. which he has said he saw while
at South Omaha last year. A member
of the commission said today that the
report is nearly rcady for submission
To the president. Il is the expectation
that the commission viii submit its re-
port to the president next Monday. No