The times., 1899-01-15
PURE ALGERISM.
The Army Scandals the Fault of nm
Incompetent Secretary.

The Army Scandals the Fault of nm
incompetent Secretary.
(From the New York Hersid0
Aigerism is at the bottom of all the
troubles in the War Department. To the
failure of the Secretary of War to assert
his authority over all officers of the army
and the department has been due most oi
the friction and scandal that has arisen.
Under a proper organization of the army
this failure OF the Secretary to assert HIM
self would not have been so important but
under present conditions confusion is inev
liable. Commissary General Eagan by his
scandalous conduct has brought matters to
a climax and it is not believed the Presi-
dent can afford to delay longer a complete
reform in the War Department. 1t is con-
sdered that heroic action will be necessa-
ry a court martial for General Eagan is
believed inevitable but this alone would
not end the trouble.
In the opinion of ninety-nine out of ons
hundred public men. the first thing for
the President to do is to appoint a new
Secretary of War. with ability and as-
gressveness enough to manage the de-
partment instead of being managed by it
Such a man, honest. fearless and aggrts-
sive, could get the best results Iossib c
under the present defective system. a
permanent remedy can only be supplied
through the enactment of a law that would
change the system.
Ever since the Administration began
there has been friction between Alger and
Miles and between Miles and various other
officers. When the war came on matters
went from bad to worse. There were two
courses. either of which the President and
Secretary Alger could have taken. They
could have made Major General Miles the
real head of the army and held him re-
sponsible, or if they did not trust him
they could have relieved him and put some
other officer in command. They did
neither. They left the general nominaly
at the head of the army, but with no real
authority. His recommendations were
disregarded Friction and confusion were
the inevitable results.
Some officers of the army-notably In
spector General Northumberland to
think the major general commanding was
entitled to some consideration. He was
soon made aware that he had incurred the
displeasure of the Administration, though
it is said that politics also had something
to do with bringing about his discontinue.
Friction between the army headquarters
and the eommissary generals office devei-
oped early in the war. The charges of
General Miles that the army was supplied
with bad meat brought an open rupture.
The charges affected one OF the great in
dustres of the country, and the tremen-
dous influence of the meat packing estab-
lshments was thrown into the scale on
Eagan's side. Secretary Alger sided with
General Eagan, and the war commission
will report as result of investigation that
the beef was all right. Yet there Is poll
tics in the war commission also and there
will be a division on the beef question, a
majority sustaining the beef.
There is reason to believe that it is
largely on account OF the beef industry
that the War Department would like 10
tempOrize and would be glad If with the
withdrawal by Eagan of his yituperative
language the whole matter could be drop
ped.
With Congress lies the remedy for the
whole trouble. The remedy is legislation
that will give the War Department sensi-
BILE organization, placing power and re-
sponsibility hand in hand under single
head Under the present organization the
army has thirteen separate heads. The
President is the commander in chief of the
army and navy and is the first head. The
Secretary of War is the second head. The
major general commanding is the third
head, and then each of the heads of the
ten staff corps is supreme under the Presi-
dent and the Secretary of War in his own
department.
The remedy, as pointed out by General
Schofield, consists in doing away with the
nominal Office of general commanding and
creating the Office of general in chief or
chief of staff. with the same relation to
the staff corps that he holds to the line.
Advocates hope that Congress will nov
seize the opportunity to give this country
the nearest approach to the German gem
eral staff consistent with the differing in
stitutionS of the two countries. Yet only
the forces of enlightened public opinion
can bring this about. for the Hull bill
now pending before the House, proposes to
perperuate the present staff organization,
and even to engraft on it further defects.