The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1899-04-21

made i'll, and that hundreds have died
in consequence of eating this beef, is
most lamentable. This would not per-
haps have been as sad as it actually was
if the stern lesson which it had taught
had been appreciated by the admins
tration and by the army authorities,
and had induced them to attempt some
reformation in army methods, at least
tending to prevent anything of the kind
occurring in the future, and to give
generals in the field the power to COM
mand. Unfortunately, however, that is
not the case. The exact contrary is
the fact. They charge the suffering
they cannot deny 'tO the inexperience
of the volunteer officers" as if the San
tiago expedition was not almost wholly
composed of regulars. No one in
authority has been willing to admit
that there was the slightest thing
wrong, or the least need for improve
ment in his department. On the con-
trary, Secretary Alger, in his testimony
before the ''White-washing Investiga-
tion," stated that he had found no cause
for complaint with any of the officers of
the different departments, quarter
masters, commissaries or anybody else.
Commissionary General Eagan, Quar-
termaster General Luddington, Surgeon
General Sternberg, and the other chiefs
of the different bureaus, all testified
that the administration of their various
departments had been perfect. Even
the cOmmissaries who issued this
detestable mess to the soldiers who
were fighting in Cuba were not willing
to admit that there was anything the
matter with it. One testified that the
cause for the complaints was s'that
everybody in Cuba had enlarged livers. I"
Major Frederick A. Smith, the COM
missary on General Skaters staff, tes-
titled on March II, 1899, "there were
never any complaints received with
respect to the canned roast beef, so far
as my knowledge goes. I saw it used
frequently, and I ate it myself on ship
board and on shore" Upon being
asked if he considered it satisfactory to
the troops he said: ST did not state
that. I said that so far as 1 knew, no
official or written complaints were
made" Lieutenant Taylor testifies
that when he personally reported to
Commissary General Eagan that the
canned roast beef was unfit for use as a
ration and had made the men ill, the
reply was that the reports from General
Eagan's officers were to the contrary.
This is another of the hundreds of
examples which have occurred in our
past war, and which will continue to
take place in the future until the whole
staff system of the army has been secti-
fed, of the reign of that hide bound
bureaucratic spirit which induces the
head of department in Washington to
decide in his Office what should be used
by the troops in the field without prac-
tical experience on the subject, and to
stubbornly close his eyes and ears to
everything which will tend to show
that it is possible that his department
has>made, a mistake.
just think of the position taken by
Major Smith, that it is a sufficient
excuse for his continuing to furnish
food which the soldiers of his division
were unable to eat, that ''no official or
written complaints were received!''
How long would any man hold posi-
ton in a business firm who sought to
excuse himself for not rectifying a
serious error in its management because
he had not received any "official OF
written" complaints? Yet most OF
these various officers who refused to see
what was going on before their eyes
have been recommended for promotion.
On the other hand, General Miles's
request for proper food was refused.
After the war he has been loudly
threatened with court martial for
telling the truth about the matter, and
endeavoring to protect the men of his
/
selves to complain. The matter has been
carried to an absurdity by the recent
order of Secretary of War Alger, pro.
hibiting the Inspectors Department
from making any Investigations except
by his own authority.
What spectacle does this present te
foreign military men, if not to our OWE
people,! The Inspector Generals De
partment is organized for the express
purpose of ascertaining that the various
branches of the army are properly
administered; that the camps are prop
erly located and kept; that the foo6
which is furnished is sufficient ani
healthful, and generally that everything
is as it should be. 1t was designedly
separated from the rest of the army 81
as to make it independent, and it il
upon its reports that the commanding
general is able to know what the condi
tion of the army is which is under him
in order to enable him to use it intelli
gently. The Secretary of War, on th'
other hand, is a mere civilian. Yet W,
now see this civilian choosing to con
slider that he is so identified with tn,
issue of certain rations, justly alleget
to be unfit for use, that instead of seek
ing to aid an effort to show that tn,
Government had been defrauded il
their purchase, or that there hat
been a mistake on the part of tn,
officers of the Commissary Department
who selected them, he publicl,