The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-05-10
The Army lnqdiry
and lis Lesson.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer.


From the Philadelphia inquirer.
Q07E PRESUME that no war was
MIAMI ever yet conducted without SER
WNVj ious criticism, and 1t was i'm
lnI possible to hope to escape from
inquiries and Investigations con-
cerning our war with Spain. The report
of the court of inquiry organized by the
president is being discIsse from various
standpoints. Those who believe that
General Miles was right ard that our
forces in Cuba were fed on embalmed
beef will denounce the report fer not
sustaining Miles. Those who have been
chasing Alger will find little in the re-
port that will satisfy them
And yet on the whole what could the
court of inquiry do other than 1t has
done? 1t has not been able to find en-
balmCd beef, that is, fresh beef treated
with chemicals. 1t therefore reports
General Miles chat ges in this respect
as unfoundcd, or rather as not proven.
On the other hand the much-talked OF
fresh canned beef while Il was of the
quality sold to the general public, was
not fitted for extensive use in Cuba. "
was practically an untried ration, and
| the purchase by CommisSary General
Eagan of seven million pounds of an ar
| ticle of diet unfamiliar to the soldiers is
declared to have been colossal error
| for which there is no paliation. The
court finds that the methods for trans
| porting beef were faulty; that the meat
| was handled too slowly when landed, anu
| that the men had no knowledge of how
| to use the canned stuff. The climate
was against this particular raticn, bat
| il would have been palatable had 1t been
cooked with fresh vegetables.
| In considering the circumstances ii Is
| necessary to take into consideration the
| fact that we were wholly unprepared Tor
war when hostlities broke out. There
were about $4,000 men in the regular
| army. In a few weeks We had more
than doubled that army and added 100000
volunteers. The machinery for taking
| care of such vast body of men was
| notoriously defective. We had not had n
! war on our hands for more than thirty
years, and the wa" department and the
| bureaus corrected with il We're sudden
ly called upon to face problem for the
solution of which they We're unprepared
This fact unquestionably was the one
| great trouble and IL is a trouble that
never should be permitted to occu-
again. The volunteers, with some not
able exceptions, had had no experience
| In the hardshipS of real camp life, Many
Of the regiments had been play soldiers
Useful principally on holiday occasions
and vet the men who went to war ol
went into camp were, as rule, men OF
intolligence and OF bravery. We have
heard no reports of embalmed beef and
poor rations from the Philippines, and
the manner in which that army has beeI
handled has met with nothing but popu
lar applause. The experience Of Manila
has proved that there are no better sol
diers anywhere than are our volunteers
Had We had transports in sufficient
numbers fitted for the carrying of proper
provisions, and had red tape given away
10 practical common sense everywhere
there would have been no sad storie!
from either Santiago or Porto Rico. |
was lack Of knowledge, we say, that Wal
the root of the evil.
| And how can this evil be remedied
Only through the creation OF genera
staff, formed on the plan of the staa
of the European armies. The report o
the court Of inquiry mas much 10 sa,
of the climatic conditions in the Wea
lndies. our men are still in those isl
auds, and the same climatic condition
are present now and will continue to b
! present as long as We maintain armic
of occupancy. We ought &c learn, ther
with tolerablc accuracy, the kinds q
rations that are most acceptable. Iha
, ! would be one great point gained. Tn
need during the war was for officer
grounded in sanitary science-oitcer
: who could protect their men from dis
; | ease, keep the camps free from con
tagion, and teach the troops how 10 nrt
2 | pare nouTishng meals This can i
e | learned only through experience, and
! general stan will give that experience
| Officers should be detailed TO serve
c certain length tf time. They shoul
4 | learn how TO handle large todies c
I mon. how 10 transport them provid
food foI them, and TO overcome th
problem of warm climates. Only b
!