The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-01-13


I submit 10 this committee and 10 the
whole country that this account of an in
terv1ew with him in the New York Jour
nal, going uncontradicted, undeuied. and
when the opportunity was given him a
refusal 10 deny IL in terms places upon
him the responsibility for the statements
in that interview, which statements
here and now denOunCe as unmttigated
faISehoods, vile and Slanderous 50 Sian.
derous that IL can only be called filth
l submit TO this commission and TO the
country at large whether it is the char
acteristic Of an honorable man TO permit
such statements as are made in this al
legged interview with General Miles in the
New York Journal. dated December g.
whether or not II is not the first duty
OF a gentleman, an honest man, an hon
orable man. to deny. such faIsehoods as
are TO be found in the article I refer to,
II they were not made by him
This interview was headed as follows:
Miles makes grave charges against the
administration; pois0ns used in beef made
soldiers i'll; tons of bad beef sent 70
troops in Porto Rico
Continuing. General Eagan said: when
I was cOmmiSSary in May last General
Miles had already selected for his STAFF
as chief cOmmissary one Of the abIest
commissartes OF the regular army. Major
H 3 Osgood- Judge of my surprise when
one day General Gilmore, the adjutant
general for General Miles, told me il was
General Miles wish 10 have Major John
y: Black. recently appointed from civil
conmissary on MS staff. I expressed nv
surprise that the senior officer of the
army should select volunteer totally
devoid OF experience to the Subsistence
department and therefore wholly fnc0ul-
petent for such an important duty. Short
" after and about June IS General Miles
sent very ordinary, commonplace tele-
gram 70 the adJutant general at Wash
ington tnquiring what subsistence stores
the subsistence department had at Tam
pa and somewhere else, some such SINH
n
and the chief OF ordnance
made formal written reply 10 this
and 10 my amazement the next morning I
saw IL published in the press of the coun-
try that General Niles had sent or had
found II necessary TO send a serious repri-
mand 70 the quartermaster general the
ComTnIsSary general and the chief of ord
nance Tor conditions that he found there.
No such reprimaud was ever received
and General Miles has no authority in his
commission or his position under the law
or regulations to send reprimands TO me.
Ihls uncontrddlcted story or reprmand
10 the heads OF three OF the most import
ant departments of the army aided as
much as anything in exciting the yellow
journal press, the knayes of so-caHed
Journalism, 10 harass and vilify and libel
the conscientious, able and hard-woTklng
officers on duty in Washington Since
asking that an investigation be made 10
learn who gave out this garbled and al
legged reprimaud, 1 have instituted in
quirieS 10 find my requests, with the
newspaper clippings inclosed- The ad-
jutant generals department has reported
their inability TO find it,"
Inspector General Breckenridge" he
said. has recently addressed letters di-
rect TO officers OF my department calling
for reports 10 him about the various arti-
cIes Of food furnished during the past
year TO the army. He does this without
the authority OF the Secretary Of War.
In effect We have in these two officers Of
the army-General Niles and General
Breckinridge-WhO take upon themselves
10 investigate matters pertaining solely
and exclusively TO the Secretary Of War;
TO call for ex parte reports, and 10 do
this directly, not through the adjutant
general OF the army, but direct and with
out the knowledge OF the Secretary Of
War or the adjutant general of the army
General Eagan said il appeared from
the seeking Of these reports that the sub
ordinates We're inspecting their superior.
trying him by ex-parte reports obtained
q their own instance. He referred 70 the
reports from officers and submitted by
General Miles as irresponsible statements,
and said that few army officers would
take advantage Of the situation TO make
statements which they knew there was
no power nor means 10 disprove.
because the substances they speak
OF have passed out of existence the
proofs are gone One Of these officers
goes outside 10 tell you about COMPETE
ton for contracts and what was used in
canning. both things without his possible
knowledge. II General -41les had inform
q
ton as he pretends 70 have informed him
self about refrigerated beef, which he
falsely calls 'embalmed beef then he
should have been enabled TO inform you
that this very timed beef We are speak
ing Of has been part of the army ration
since February 8, 1883 Whether General
Miles is ignorant Of this I do not pretend
TO say, but he takes 1t upon himself when
asked who fixed ii as a part OF the army
ration 20 say, You will have 10 ask some
one here in Washington This implica-
ton shows how reliable his statements
are"
Having traversed General Miles state
ments. he said:
Having shown him TO you as having
been liar, having demonstrated the ami
mus which pervades this whole matter.
go back TO his statement that in his judg-
ment food was one OF the serious causes
Of so much sickness and distress OF the
troops The design 10 say, TO imply. 10
assert, 70 instnuate, that sickness was
caused from such reason in Porto Rico
is TO make an assertion wholly untrue. de-
void Of any facts and devoid of truth,
and can only be prompted by a base mo-
tive and under cover OF the qualification
in my judgment.
Questioning General Miles course IN
submitting briefs of reports from regimen
tai commanders, General Eagan said the
course is unprecedented in the history OF
the army, not within his province, nor
contemplated by law or regulation, and
there would be just as much justice in
the President or Secretary of War send
ing out circular letter inviting critl-
cisms on the conduct OF General Miles
during this war
His own (Eagan's) conduct and work
had been looked into; ne saw no reason
why General Miles conduct and work
should not be looked into on this show
ing. adding: 1T is high time and proper
that this commission should examine into
the truth and falsehood Of the statements
and examine into his conduct of the war
He charged that il Chief Surgeon DaIy.
with General Miles, had ever made an
expert examination of the beef, then he
.'willfuIly and deliberately falsifed the
facts.
General Eagan concluded as follows.
IF | have used harsh language before
this commission in dealing with the sub
ject ask the commission to bear in mind
the grouping together the statements
made by General Miles means that I
have furnished or allowed to be furnished
to the army enbalmed beef and that a
great deal of sickness arose from its use.
that have furnished meats to the army
under the pretense OF experiment meats
that made the soldiers sick
Nearly all the press of America he
cause Of General Miles high position in
the army, has accepted these views and
his statements. and many OF them hava
called for my disgrace, court-marrfaI and
dismissal from the service. Although that
these statements of General Miles were
held back by him. not furnished IN the
Government for its appropriate action and
use, but sprung upon you and the conn