New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-03
THE FIRST DUTY,

Tho air Is full of rumors of discipline for Gen
oral Miles. One authority predicts court-mar-
tal another board of inquiry. and still a thlrd
announces that he Is TO be removed from the
command of the Army and sent 10 depart
ment The offence for which all agree he Is 10
bo nunished Is the characterization and subvor-
sion Of discipline involved in his talking publicly
about the defects of the meat furnished to the
soldiers Whether or not General Miles or any
other officer. no matter how highly placed. i
guilty of such n fault is always proper sub
iect for investigation. Every soldier Is amcna-
hle TO military regulations and must he held
obedent TO them. or the whole Army VIII he
come dcmoralized. Nevertheless. the supreme
military question before the Administration and
the American people Is not the quality of the
conduct Of General Miles. hut the truth or
falsity OF his charge that embalmed beef ana
canned refuse from the beefeXtracting process
were palmed off on the Government.
The method employed by General Miles to
bring this food question to an issue may be open
to criticism or something more. His punish
ment for any military offences which he may be
shown TO have committed is one Of the proper
duties of the Government but It is something
aside from its chief duty in the present crisis
Its chief duty is to find out II the beef cOntrac
tors cheated the country and poisoned the troops
Condemnation of General Miles for saying they
did, or for saying so irregularly. will not vindi
cate the contractors and the Army authorities
who dealt with them and free the bcef-packers
of America from the suspicion of every foreign
and domestic consumer Of their products. Truth
or SANDER the charge is before the world
backed by the word not only Of the Command
i,,r, hut hos Of nm a "a l.
mental officers of the Regular Army. Simply TO
tell him who makes the charge that it was
breach of discipline to make It is not to set the
charge itself at rest. but to give it greater cur
rency than ever Whatever measure Of disci
pine Army regulations may require. any at
tempt to divert the beef inquiry into a nero
question of INSTRUMENTATION could have only
one result. For every one man who now be-
eves that chemically treated beef may have
been sent to the soldiers without anybody, even
the embalmers themselves, fully realizing the
extent or the harmfulness Of the embalming.
ten men would be convinced that there was
a horrible scandal which officers and con-
tractors had common interest in keeping COW
cred The best friends Of men in authority,
whose natural impulse Is always to avoid
stirring up anything unpleasant, will tell them
tndt no SCANDAL anu no ulsElHCc vi ti'll ou'
ordinates, or even their friends can he so
harmful as the public impression that greater
scandal and disgrace have been suppressed.
This is emphatically n case when sitting on the
safety-valve means the bursting Of the boiler.
General Miles may have done wrong in talk
ing. hut the public is slow to appreciate the
nceties of military propriety and will not lose
sight of the fact that his official and regular
IA
ccive much attention. They will not forget
that when Surgeon DAILY offered proofs OF en-
balmins official efforts were made to discrcdt
him. instead of impartially and vigorously fol
lowing the clew he furnished They will not
forget Colonel Roosevelts round robin of San
tiago.. which last summer was denounced as in
subordinate and declared by officials in Wash
ington TO have had no influence in bringing the
soldiers home. but which the Secretary Of War
told the Investigating Commission the Other day
made known the condition Of the troops and
FASTENED their return. Perhaps there was need
of extraordinary measures to save them from
poisoned beef as we'll as from yellow fever.
people will say And the only way TO convince
them that there was no such need is not to avoid
the embamed-beef charge. as has been done 50
far, but to meet it and Sift il 10 the bottom The
first duty Of an officer in such a case as this is to
look after the welfare of the common soldier.
Colonel Roosevelt did that. General Miles stands
for the common soldier in protesting against
bad beef. 1t is less important to inquire into
his motives and take account of his technical
offences, if he has committed any. than to
know whether he Is right or wrong in his belief.
Above ALL it is important 10 guard the common
soldiers from the dangers TO which the General
tho hoo Of tba Arm n rQ-
port Of multitude Of other officers, says they
have been exposed.