Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1899-02-16
WAR BOARD REPORTS
BEEF FURNISHED SOLDIERS DE-
CLARED NOT BAD.
Invests ting Committee Sends Result
of Its Labors to the Presidential Man
acement and Conduct of the Army Is

The complete report Of the war inves-
tigation commission was submitted TO
President Mckinley Thursday. The re-
port is very long and would I'LL about
thirty newspaper columns.
Naturally the chief public interest IN the
report at this time attaches to the lnves-
tigation of the beef furnished the army.
Upon this point the commission finds IN
direct contradiction to Gen. Miles. The
commissioners devoted the last four weeks
of their labors to this subject, calling IN
experts, physicians, chemists and pack
ers, as we'll as army officers both favora-
BILE and opposed to Gen. Miles. The COM
mission called for and received reports
from nearly every command in the service
as to the character of the beef. Samples
were gathered from the commissary o1tl-
GERS from the various camps and depots
These were examined by chemists for the
alleged chemicals
1t is admitted that some of the beef was
spoiled when it reached the front, but
the commission attributes this to the eff
feet of the tropical climate, and finds that
most of the beef was wholesome and sat
isfactory for emergency. The great mass
of the testimony fails to corroporate the
CIdl SO VI 1SI. 4lIlSS ttild INC \oiAiiAii'
sion emphasizes the fact that Gen. Miles
failed to report the alleged faultlness In
the beef while he was in Porto Rico, or
even Immediately after his return. The
structures Of Gen. Miles made publicly on
the beef and his public expressions in 9th
er ways are subjected to criticism
The Military Camps.
The camps are reported upon with much
detail The methods of transportation and
distributing supplies are discussed. The
commission points out where some OF
these might have been improved, but it
finds that the War Department bureaus
did well under the sudden and eXtraordi-
nary demands upon them Secretary Al
gers administration of the War Depart
ment is commended. The commission calls
attention to the unpreparedness of the
country for war, which existed, not
through any fault of the War Depart
ment, limited as it was by Congress in the
way of keeping supplies for an army, and
points out the great work which was done
in brief period.
Under the circumstances, it concludes
that the department is deserving of praise
rather than censure. The camps in Cuba
are discussed a careful review Of the
management of the expedition against
Santiago is presented, and the conclusions
drawn from it are favorablet to Gen. Shat
ter. The evidence on which the findings
of the commission are based will fill a
dozen large volumes.
The commission was organized Sept. "a.
1t has worked continuously, as business
men work, has had three separate commit
tees conducting hearings most of the time,
and has taken testimony in twenty-three
different cities The commission was
made up of Republicans and Democrats
from the North and the South who were
in the Union and Confederate armies in
the civil war, and who were in politics an
tagonistic to each other These men are
unit in their report, which, written Iy
different members assigned to various
subjects, received the approval of all.
There is no minority report.