The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-21
Giving Him Authority to Keep the
Regular Army Up to a strength Of
Sixty Thousand Men.
DAILY AND "EMBALMED" BEEF
MILES's CHEF SURGEON REITER-
ATEs PREVIOUS CHARGES.
He Says SOM of the SO-CaIIed RefriG-
Was Preserved with Chemicals.
special to the Indianapolis Journal.

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
WASHINGTON. Jan 20.-The House will
begin consideration of the army bill next
Tuesday, and after three days devoted TO
general debate, will proceed under the five
minute rule until final vote is reached
which will probably be the following Sat
urday- The measure to be considered is the
bill prepared by Chairman Hull. OF the
House military committee. 1t provides for
an increase of the permanent military es-
tabmshment, but in other respects is far
from satisfactory measure. Our present
system is antiquated, and the Hull BILL 1t
is said. will perpetuate it's weak features in
stead of correcting them. Many representa-
tives who recognize it's faults will, neverthe-
less, vote for it, because in this way only
is there any chance of getting army legisla-
tion at this session. They argue that the
weak points of the measure can be elimi-
mated or amended in the Senate. A great
deal of the legislation that is enacted by
Congress. and which is required to originate
in the House, is rushed through that body
in any crude form, in order to get it be-
fore the Senate, where it is put in the shape
in which it finally finds it's way on the stat
ute books. 1t is SO late in the session that
it is doubtful if any measure for army reor-
ganization be enacted. Indeed MEM
Der of the Senate military committee told
your correspondent to-day that that COM
mittee would not report an army reorganiza-
tion bill to the Senate at this session. A
failure 10 do this would preclude legislation
before next winter, unless there is a special
session of Congress earlier. He said the
matter was too important to be disposed of
in the brief life left to this Congress. He
said further that there was no necessity Of
haste hppanSa the VO1nptpppS in the
service could be held to the close of their
two-year term of enlistment. For this rea-
son he did not think any special legislation
would be needed now.
Representative Mcclellan, son of the late
Gen. George b. Mcclellan, who introduced an
army reorganization bill in the House. thinks
that, in the absence of permanent legislation,
Congress should, by joint resolution, author
ize the executive to maintain the regular
army at $4,000 men, as temporarily provided
at the beginning of the recent war. Indeed,
it is understood to be the purpose of the
administration in event that Congress fails
to act upon the Hun bill, after ratifying
the peace treaty, to ask the passage of a
joint resolution in the nature of an emer-
gency measure, continuing the authority
conferred by the war legislation to keep the
regular army up to a strength of 10000 men.
So far $500 men have been got into the
ranks of the regular army under the author
ity thus conferred. This force of 60 900 would
have imposed upon it the duties now per-
formed by about 10000 soldiers. The entire
Second Army Corps, now at Augusta, Ga,
however is for the time being idle, and the
indications are that the number of troops
required to garrison Cuba will be much
smaller than was anticipated