New-York tribune., 1901-12-22

cfaI proprfety, necessary &c the effective DIS
cipIfne of the service, impose lfmitauons
upon the public expressions of military om-
GERS. with which your long experience
should have made you familiar. Your duty
Il O express your opinion ofhcfai "atse
when called upon by your official supertors'
a due course of your officfhi rePo'',
and recomm e N dafions, and not other"se'
The first article of the regulations sofef"
ing the army the United states proNioes'
Deliberations discussions among qark IF sp
oonEeyng praise or IN The military service
prohibited
This provision has been part OF the army my
regulations for at least half a century, ana the
highest Obligation to observe il rests upon the
officers whose high rank should MAKE mem mem q ~
arnpies to their subordinates ANY other rue
Of 5crfon in the military service would be sub
yersive Of discipline
Ii would be tolerated in sUbal.erh'
and d. will he tolerated i'm any omcer
of rank.
The present facts that for several years
there HAD been an unfortunate and bitter con-
troverSy in the Navy Departments contro-
versv generally deplored even by the parucl-
ra,ts as tending TO bring the service into
dIsesteem al home and abroad, and to destroy
those relations of mutual confidence and IrieIau-
ship between naval officers Which lhe ihteieoNS
Of effective service require
In this controversy the army had not been in,
volved and no bar had been raised to that gooQ
feeling and friendly relation between an .Lle
officers of the navy and all the offcers OF the
army which is essential to the successful anu
harmonious cooperation of the two services In
preparation and in action. A court OF inquiry
had been held the matters in controversy
and a report had been made IN Whlch one Iiieiii-
her of the court had dissented In some partcu-
lars from the majority, and the report was peIld-
ing before the reviewing authority. At this
point you. the lieutenant general of the army,
saw ht make a public expression OF your
opinion as between the majority and the minor
fty of the court, accompanied by criticism OF
ne most severe character which could not fail
10 he applied by the generality OF readers 10 tle
naval officers against whose view your opiiiioii
was expressed.
1t is of no consequence whose side your
opinion WAS what 1T WAS lou hain n"
business in the controversy, and no right,
holding the which you did, to express
anv opinion. Your conducE WAS I'm violation
of regulation above cited. and OF the
rules of official proprfety and You are justly
EinI,ie o censure. which L now express
z-a,-,- raenactfuIIv FIIHU ROOT,
Secretary Of War.
Lieutenant General Nelson a. Miles
Headquarters OF the army.
p SYour second letter of explanation. dated
to-day and received since the above was writ
ten does not change the case The necessity
for repeated explanations but illustrates the i'm
portance OF the rule which you have violated.
ELIHU ROOT Secretary OF war
A SENSATION IN BOTH SERVICES
When the interview with General Miles ap-
peared it attracted considerable attention offi-
ciallv but after the lapse of two days without
any sign of official action the conclusion becahe
general that il would be ignored Therefore, the
publication this afternoon of the full corre-
Epnndence created a sensation in army and naval
circles. What the result will be cannot be fore
told. although it is assumed that General Miles,
will submit without further comment
The nearest parallel to this case of late years
excluoing the incidents connected with the cele-
brated beef inquiry, was that OF Rear Aoiiiii ai
Richard W. Meade, who, upon returning from
cruise in Venezuelan waters with the "hite
Soua dron gave an interview to The Ir1puhe at
lacking the administration Of President C4eNe-
land for lack OF vigor in dealing Win '"e
Venezuelan question. The outcome Of that case
was the early retirement OF lhe ieoi
from active service
r-ba+ General Miles appreciates the situation Is
shown by the deep concern he manifested To-Day
and his frequent visits TO the office OF Secreldis
Root 1t was necessary for him TO WRITE '"O
letters to meet the demands Of the department.
and even then there no expression Oh sdlio-
faction on the Secretary's part at the secoiu
exclamation. However, Secretary Root hlillseli
regards the incident as closed. AT least. ne GOES
moi nropose to take any further action unless
obliged to do
General Miles was at the Secretary's door al
most as soon as the office opened He had
verbal explanation to make, ana TINS ne ac0oiI-
ranied bv a letter. Secretary Root took the lel-
ter 10 the White House and talked with Presl-
dent Roosevelt with a view TO decldlng "helhel
or not the explanation was satisfactory "heh
tbe Secretary returned 10 the War Department
General Miles called upon him again, ana sup
nlemented his first letter with further explain
atorv note This also sent to the White
House.
THE PRESIDENTS PURPOSE
The fact that. simultaneor -ly with the publ
.ton of the Aile- correspondence, Secretary
,1oo+ eox-a ont 2 COPY Of Secretary Longs letter
directing that Maclay's resignation be requested
taken in connection with the pubncatloh lnls
morning of the final chapter OF the ochiTy as
60 far as il has figured before the Navy Dtpdtt-
mont IS taken as indication OF the "a,
dents purpose to clear the ofhclal recorus go 0a a.
nendine issues in that matter. secretary hoot
pIblication of the Maclay letter is explained 3 "
the fact that he left the White House some tiIie
eftar Secretary Long had been there. ana thus
was IN a position to carry out the Presloeh'
latest wish.
GENERAL MILES HERE.
lieutenant General Nelson A Miles arrived last