The age-herald., 1902-03-21
Makes Sensational Statements Before Committee on Mi-
 itag Affairs
WOULD DESTROY UNITY OF
 THE UNITED STATES ARMY
Measure Provides That Senior Gen. eral General Miles) Command Such Division of the Army as
 the President May Direct.

Washington, March 20.-Gen Nelson A. Miles today told the Senate committee on military affairs that if the bill intro duced by Senator Hawley at the instance of the War Department for the organi- zation of a general staff for the army should become a law he would decline to longer hold his commission The reason he gave for the statement is that the bill is utterly subversive of the military es- tablishment, and he said that he would not be party to such a proceeding to the extent of even continuing to hold his place. The statement was made in the course of a prolonged hearing by. the committee, which was conducted behind closed doors and in which General Miles touched upon a variety of subjects con- nected with the army.
 His Special Objection.
 The portion of the bill to which he di- rected his especial criticism is that con- tained in section z, reading as follows:
 That from and after the passage of this act the senior general officer of the army shall be assigned to command such portion of the army as the President may direct or be detailed to duty in the general staff corps. All duties prescribed by law for the commandant general of the army shall be performed by the chief of general staff or other general officer designated by the Secretary of War, pro- vided that so long as the present Lieu tenant General of the army continues on the active list he shall be chief of the general staff and upon the separation from active service of said Lieutenant General of the army, said office, except as herein provided, shall cease and de- termine."
 Would Destroy Unity.
 General Miles said that if this provision should become law it would have the effect of destroying the unity of the army and he read numerous authorlCes, h- cluding Napoleon, Wellington, Washlns- ton Cass and Grant to show the neces- sity of having one head to the army and of controlling authority. His own experl- ence and observations had, he said, had inc effect of confirming these views, and he gave an illustration of Its beneficial effect in the time of emergency, instanc- ing the beginning of the war With span. "I heard at midnight" he said, that the Spanish fleet had been located defl- nitely at Santiago and l hastened 10 tbe home of Secretary Long, where the news was confirmed. Shafter was then at Santiago and I sat down there In the Secretary's house and wrote dis match directing him to start Immediately for Santiago, with the result that the army was soon on it's way to the point where its presence was needed.
 "suppose,' he added 'I had been com pelled to get around to dozen or more ole md atlp1 of generals, constituting general staff.
 Would Have Been Useless.
 'Then. he added, in all probability the senior general of the army would not un- der the provision he had quoted, have been in position to do anything, and he called attention to the clause relieving him (the senior generaD of command and making 1t possible for any other officer to be appointed He declared that under section ' he would be competent one day to promote a captain to the position of a brigadier and the next day make him chief of staff, thus practically placing a captain at the head of the army. Warm ing up somewhat he asserted that the bill was calculated to accomplish no pur- pose except to allow the secretary of war and the adjutant general to promote the interests of their personal favorites.
 General Miles was questioned as to the
 
 of occupation at Tampa and holding 1t there so long with the resulting conges- tion. Replying to the first question he said that it was because of an order to oc- cupy Havana.
 Lack of Ammunition.
 The delay was due, he said, to the fact that the American army was supplied with only sixty-four rounds of ammuni- tion, which would not have been sufficient for more than half hours fighting. Con- sidering that Havana was one of the best fortified cities in the world, he said to have attacked it would have been fool hardy in the extreme. He declined, how ever to criticse the secretary of war, Alger for the condition of affairs, saying propably anyone else in the position would have done about what he did. He laid the general blame of this condition and un- preparedness at the door of Congress-
 In the course of his remarks General Miles told the committee In confidence with the bill law he could now name the men who would hold the places of honor provided under 1t, but the commit tee did not ask for the names.