The age-herald., 1899-02-09
REPORT OF THE
 WAR COMMISSION Alg0r and Mics Each Will be
 Criticised. "EMBAlMED BEEF" EPISODE It Will be Shown That the Beef Vas Not
 Chemically Treated.
OF MISERABLE CAMPS
Will Partly be Laid at the Door of the Commanding General Breckin- ridge Will Also Be Se-
 verely Blamed.

New York, February s-A dispatch to the Herald from Washington says:
 "President Mckinley will receive on Thursday the war Investigating commits sons report on the conduct of the war. The commission has directly criticized the secretary of war for lack of firmness in his administration of the war department.
 "No specified Illustration of the secre- tary's weakness is given by the commits sion, but through it's representatives the evidences of this fault of the secretary will be found, particularly in the matter of his relations with General Miles. The mission has determined not to dwell upon matters of strategy, and for this reason has left out all reference to the action of General Miles in going to Santiago, of the secretary's permission of him to do so, and of his dispatch to General Shafter that he was not-to be supplanted In his com mission by the major general commanding
 General Miles Criticised
 'It will be found that General Miles is severely criticized, and the president will find ample material from the standpoint of the commission to take action against the major general commanding.
 "The commission will devote an import ant chapter of its report to General Miles charges concerning the beef meats gener- ally furnished to the army and will find that they are practically without founda- tion. It will report that the Def was not chemically prepared; that it was of good quality and that the charges of the use of chemicals in the beef probably grew out of the fact that four quarters of experi- mental beef were placed on board trans port at Tampa by MT. Powell inventor of a preserving process which he desired to test
 '"rhis meat was thrown overheard by di- rection of General Wood. No chemicals, &C., cording to the commission, were employed in the preparation of the canned meat, but 1t will be found that that meat was unfit for use in the tropics because of the eli matic conditions, which made 1t unappetiz- ing in appearance. though it was perfectly good except in those instances where the cans had been accidentally punctured or imperfectly soldered, thus allowing the air to enter.
 A APeculiar Fact
 "Attention will be called to the fact of the thirteen officers whose reports General Miles submitted as showing that the beef supplied to the Porto Rican army was bad, not one served on that island. It will also be shown that General Miles was responsi- ble for the selection of a number of camps at Chckamauga and Miami, and that this latter recommendation was adopted not withstanding the protests of the secretary of war.
 "According to the commission, the pri- mary trouble lies in the defective army or- ganization. A recommendation will be made that the inspector-generaps depart ment will be radically reorganized, and the report will sharply criticise General Breck- inridge for abdicating his office of inspector general to accept commission as major general of volunteers.
 '"rhe secretary of war will be cleared of responsibility for the transport horrors, but Col c. P. Humphreys, now on the staff of General Brooke, who had charge of the fit- ting out of the transports, and officers of the quartermasters department in charge of them will be held responsible.
 'The conditions which existed at Camp Thomas prior to its removal will be cen sured, and attention will be called to the fact that Major-General Brooke was in command of the camp at the time."