New-York tribune., 1901-01-22
NEW ARMY COMMANDER.
,rErrTENANT- GENERAL TO SUCCEED
GENERAL MILES TO BE APPOINTED
UNDER REORGANIZATION ACT
IBT TELEGRAPH TO TEE TRIBUNE. ]

Ell
washington, Jan. 21.-The President is con-
.,onted with a vexatious problem, imposed upon
s,,n tv the new Army Reorganization act. which
zilI become a law IL day or two. perhaps to-
morrow. and which forces upon him the deli
cs+e necessity of making a choice between Cen
erals Miles, Brooke and Otis. for appointment
ss IJeutenant-General commanding the Army.
Under the new law, the moment il is signed,
General Miles ceases to have the rank. and al
,ovances Of a lieutenant general, which he has
held since last June. and the President must
nominate TO the Senate officer for that 20
sition
Ordinarily 10 the lay civilian. it would be pre-
suned as a matter Of course that General Miles
would receive the appointment, but that Army
officers and others think otherwise is manifested
bv the kilograms and letters that are coming
into Washington, especially to the White House
and the Capitol well to the War Depart
nent urging the claims of Generals Brooke and
Otis for the comparatively shortlived honor Of
active command Of the greater military or
eanization, and, what is much more to the point
10 provide for their retirement in the advanced
grade Of lieutenant-general with its increased
nav and emoluments for life.
The opening section of the new Act TO in
crease the efficiency of the military establish
merit of the United States" provides for "one
rank has been permanently put upon the stat
utes the grade appearing formerly in law only
for the use of some particular officer. in the
case Of Generals sherman. Sheridan and Scho-
field This provision replaces and repeals the
clause of the Act of June 6. 1900 under which
General Miles is entitled to the assimated
rank OF a Northumberland, the clause being
as follows:
That the senior major general Of the line
commanding the Army, shall have the rank,
pay and allowances of a Heutenant-general. and
his personal staff shall have the rank pay and
allowances authorized for the staff OF 4 reuten-
ant-general.'
NOT CONFINED TO SENIOR OFFICER.
Under this clause the rank of leutenant-gen-
eral was confined to General Miles, who the
senior major-general and TO his successor as
senior najor-generaI. but under the new section.
adopted by both houses of Congress, and there
fore not subject TO modification in conference,
the actual rank Of Heutenant-ge general, which
must be filed by Presidential appointment and
Senatorial confirmation, is not confined TO any
senior officer. but is open 10 the service, and
therefore as much to be scrambled for as any
other place governed by selection that exists
in the military establishment.
If seniority, which has now been directly
stricken from the law, were alone to count, Cen
came & major-general on April 3, 1890. General
Brooke following on May %, 1897. and General
Otis on June Is. 1900.
There are at least two other elements, how
ever which seem 10 be regarded by Army men
and others as OF essential bearing upon the
selection, as well as several influences which,
while Of some importance at other times, may be
neglected in the present competition, among the
latter being the possession OF any rank above
that OF captain. together with notable qualifca-
tions for command, such would fit the cases
Of Generals Leonard Wood William Ludlow
OF a number Of Spanish war generals. The two
which impress officers and their powerful friends
and which are being used to-day on the Presi-
dent and Congress. are those Of length Of SER
vice and date Of retirement, both OF which are
relatively disadvantageous TO General Miles,
whose service is only four days longer than that
OF General Otis and just III days shorter than
that Of General Brooke.
WHEN THEY MUST RETIRE.
The compulsory retirement dates when these
officers become sixty-four years old are as fol-
lows
Elwen s. Otis March % 1902; John r. Brooke,
July 81 1902, and Nelson A. Miles, August <,
1903
Il is pointed out by the antagonists Of General
Miles that if he were made Northumberland
at this time both Generals Otis and Brooke
would be forced off the active list next year as
Major-Generals, with annuities Of S5625 while
II they could each retire as Lieutenant-Generals
their annual retired pay would be $500 each.
This statement is not strictly accurate. for on
August s this year General Miles will reach the
age Of sixty-two. and at that time Section l,244
Of the Revised Statutes would become operative
in the discretion of the President, who would
have authority to summarily retire General Miles
and thereby create vacancies in turn for Cen
erals Otis and Brooke. who are both already
eligible for retirement under the same statute.
There Is more than q mere impression existing
in nigh Army circles that a recourse to this
seldom employed statute has been within the
contemplation Of the Commander-in-Chief OF the
Army for several months. and if this is wei
grounded one of the strongest arguments in
favor OF the immediate promotion Of Generals
Otis and Brooke is materially weakened.
But even this weapon in the hattie for the
highest grace. which began to-day is calculated
to force a compromise, if nothing else, by which
General Miles may, Of his own accord and IN
order TO win. give some satisfactory assurance
that he will voluntarily retire next fall or winter
in time TO give General Otis a chance AT the
place before he in turn would give way to Gen
eral Brooke
URGING GENERAL OTIS.
AS far as the fight developed to-day. all in
Huences that might be expected from various
motives 10 antagonize General Miles are ap-
parently concentrating in favor Of General Otis.
who is first to retire. and who has recently had
the most arduous service in the most response
ble position that has fallen an Army officer
since the Civil War. His candidacy is pressed
on these grounds, regardless OF any popular
criticisms that were made Of his discharge OF