New-York tribune., 1900-12-29

deny under oath; and as he was unable to do so,
part OF his statements in it were used by the
Court OF inquiry as a basis for investigation.
quote two paragraphs proven to be part Of the
/ statements made by General Miles to the re-
porters:
l have overwhelming. evidence that the en-
n halmed beef was treated With chemicals in order
saw the beef undergoing treatment or embalming
process. Now, as to the canned roast beef,
canned roast beef was the beef after the extract
had been boiled t out Of it You have seen the
the & 3f from foIr to i've Pounds of prime
been taken from it. They put this beef pulp up in
cans and labelled It canned roast beef The sol
If swallowed, it could not be kept on the stomach.
It is proposed to treat General Miles's allega-
tions specifically and in detail. His charges with
respect to canned roast beef WERE that it was
not part of the Army ration and Cby inference)
! had been issued to the Army by the Secretary
! OF war ana the Corninlssary-General without
/ authority Of law; and that it was the meat resi-
| due-a beef pulp which left after the extract
I had been taken from it, With respect to re-
! frigerated beef he alleged that it "em-
balmed beef" which had been artifcially pre-
! served by injecting chemicals into it, that he
had overwhelming evidence that the "embalmed
| beef treated with chemicals to preserve it;
and that the refrigerated beef would not be
| good in any country in the stomach of any
man."
/ General Miles should have known that neither
! the Secretary of War nor the COmmissary- Gen
eral could legally alter or add to the ration OF
! the Army. The ration is fixed by law, ana IT'S
! compCnents be changed only by the Presi-
dent of the United States. An examination of
| the records of the War Department, or inquiry
! of the Commissary- General, would have speedily
! developed the fact that canned fresh beef (or,
| as it is known canned roast beef had been
! ~eooerizad nari of the ARMY ration for nearly
| quarter OF a century. If General Miles did not
/ know that canned fresh beef was part of the
/ Army ration then he displayed an ignorance In
/ an important matter of his profession that is,
TO say the least most remarkable; If he did Know
! that canned fresh beef was a recognized part Of
the ration then his allegation to the contrary is
! so much more reprehensible.
On the 1st Of August, 1873, canned fresh peer
| first became a part of the travel ration of the
United States Army, then under the command or
! General Sherman. and while the Hon. George
/ w McCrary was Secretary of War. This fact
was made known in a public order issued by the
| Canned fresh beef was again specifically re-
! ferred to in General Orders under dates of No
vember 1879; of September 2S, 1881; January
10 1888 and February s, 1888. The last mem
toned order changed the Army regulations and
| included in those regulations a reference to
| canned fresh beef.
NO EVIDENCE FOR THE CHARGE
/ The allegations of General Miles that canned
! fresh beef was not part of the Army ration
/ and that ii issued the "pretence or an
| experiment not only contrary to fact, but
! were made absolutely without a particle OF evil
/ dence or excuse If General Miles really be-
lieved his serious charges his conduct is all the
more blameworthy, in that he apparently made
no effort to assure himself of their truthfulness,
nor to report them to the Secretary of War be-
! fore publicly uttering them
! contrary il does not appear that General Miles
was even honest in making his dilatory charges
that the timed beef issued as the pretence
! of al experiment and that 1t was not a part OF
the ration. On June II, 1898, his most confiden-
tial staff officer signed a letter by direction OF
! the Maior-Ceneral commanding the Army" in
structing the Depot Commissary at Tampa to
I furnish to General Nunez 10,644 pounds Of
canned roast beef, to be issued from the sub
/ sistence stores of the Army" If we are to ac-
cept the reading of this letter as correct, II
proves that General Miles knew that canned
fresh beef was a part of the ration; that ne
knew there was large quantity of it at Tampa
for issue to the troops, and that he so far ap-
! proved of its use to direct that the ration be
! furnished in large quantities TO our allies
1t was never intended by the Commissary
! Department that canned beef should be used
other than as an emergency or travel ration.
General Eagans predecessors in offce mad tWea-
4 ty years before the Spanish-American War high
! ly recommended its use, and 1t had been OIL
/ ciay included in the regular travel ration.
! Canned fresh beef has ever since the Civil War
! been a part of the Regular Navy ration, ooO,OOO
! pounds of this food having been used annually
: in our Navy before the war with Spain. For
years large quantities Of canned fresh beef have
been shipped to the European armies, France
alone purchasing 22,oOO'ooO p0uh1s ron H. one
4 firm in the United States. while Great Britain
has secured from the same establishment Tor
/ her army and navy no less than from lo'ooo'oOo
| to 15,O00,OOO pounds. With legal warrant Tor
/ its use, the approval Of at least two previous
Commissaries-Gener it's general use abroad
and its large consumption in our own Navy
/ General Eagan was certainly fortified in his be-
/ lief that it could be efficacously used by our
/ II oops
| While General Miles's charges that canned
! fresh beef was not a part of the legal ration,
! and that il furnished as a pretence of ex-
! pertinent, could be and were so easily disproven
/ by records and incontrovertible facts-of which
/ he could have readily been made cognlzant had
! he been thorough in his prior investigations
as he had been positive in his chargeS-hlS al
! legation that the meat the pulp" from
which the extract Of beef had been taken, while
not believed, required painstaking and caretul
investigation. 1t was Immediately determined
that no expense or effort should be spared to
ascertain the truth falsity of this charge.
I The most expert and scientific men in the coun-
try were therefore employed by the Govern
ment to further the investigatlonnsuGh physio-
logical chemists as Professor r. H. Chittenden,
| of Yale and Professor w. o. Atwater, of Wes-
! leyan University. well as DR.. w. D. Bigelow,
a chemist in the Bureau Of Animal Industry in
the Department of Agriculture.
While General Miles's specifications did not
include any statements regarding the of
preserVatiVes in the timed meat, number of
/ cans sent to Havana Santiago and Porto Rico
with the Army were fuFnished py General Miles
and carefully analyZed. No trace of any pre-
serVatives or chemicals was found in them.
The imDutations with respect to canned fresh
beef were most carefully and thoroughly eX-
amined and reported upon by two impartial
tribunals one being composed Of eminent citI-
I zens. ex-soldiers, and distinguished general
officer Of the Regular Army q refer to the War
Investigation Commission); the other. the Court
of Inquiry, consisting wholly Of officers of the
Regular Army of high rank and unimpeac chable
integrity, especially assembled to investigate this
question There was subject TO which the
Dodge Commission devoted more time or which
was more thoroughly investigated than the asser-
tions OF the senior Major General of the Army.
The Commission personally visited many large
camps and numerous cities. receiving and