The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-17
MAKES REPORT
ON WORK OF ARMY
Inspector General criticisss Ab-
ssnteeism of Officers.
TALKS OF THE PHILIPPINES
DEFENDS THE COURSE OF SOL
.DIERs IN THE ORIENT.
TALKS OF THE PHILIPPINES

bIeckenIluBes inspector BeneIdl
OF the army is yoluminous document
and covers every phase of the military
establishment, department, bureau and
command in the army There are more
than fifty recommendations and sug-
gestions relating to improvements in
the army, most of which pertain to
technical matters and minor conditions.
Much Of the report necessarily has been
covered in the reports of bureau chiefs
and commanding officers. General
Breckenridge finds much to commend
In all branches Of the service and re-
ports progress and improvements
everywhere.
The most serious criticism is in re-
gard to absenteeism where officers are
on detached duty, leaving the regiments
short of officers. Thus. in the Philip
pines especially, it is found that many
companies are without captains and the
companies in command of untried Off
GERS. He attributes this to lack of Off
GERS in the army to fill the details and
detached assignments
General Breckenridge shows that in
struction in the army is progressing
satisfactorily He recommends the for
LITIGATION of Pearl harbor, in the Ha-
waiian islands. as a strategic point. He
says that water transportation in the
army is rapidly assuming stable and
economical methods
he has the following to say regard
iLg his inspection in the Philippines:
Army in Philippines
During my tour in the Philippines
1t was evident on all sides that the
army. as a whole, was labOring patient
" and faithfully to solve the many
veXing problems continually presented
to IL The difficulties encountered and
the hardships endured never can be
fully appreciated by any one who has
not been on the ground and observed
the daily life of officers and men, miles
away from home influences and assoc
Citations, living in communities either
openly or secretly hostile, depending
almost entirely for their subsistence
upon the cOmmisSary, where one is al
ways afraid to take even an ordinary
drink of water without ascertaining
first whether it has been cooked
Critics at home may search for cpl
thets to apply TO our general officers,
put these officers are not less kind
hearted than their critics, and are anX-
iously mindful of the sufferings which
necessarily fall upon the innocent in
warfare, as we'll as the guilty, and
are devising means by which the poor
may be cared for and fed. There is
reason for qualification that our fell
low couutrymen have confidence in
their army and many know what war
is; and the reaction has not been slug
gish-
That the army performed its duties
well and bore its hardships uncom-
plainfngly is well known to all who
nave kept in touch with it since the
opening of the Philippine Instruction
IN fact, il has done only the things
which we expect of it. and which we
VIII continue to expect Of American
soldiers. -
Soldiers New Quarters.
The crying need of the soldiers now
In the philippines is quarters and moth
ing VIII add more to the dfscipline To
the efficiency of officers and men sery-
ing IN that division, than the construc-
UOn as rapidly as possible of cOmmo-
dlous quarters and barracks for our
troops on sites which will afford ample
room for proper instruction of large
bodies OF men in drill and target prac-
tice"
Discussing the American troops and
the Fiipinos, General Breckenridge
says:
There has been a good deal of dis
cussion IN the public press and else
where concerning the treatment of rhe
native Filipinos by the American troons
and some rather serious charges have
oeen brought against the army. which
charges have not been substantjated
The conditions Of war in the PhiIiD-
pines have been unusual perhaps. and
from reasons arising from the cond11ct
the authorities agree. are sometimes
extremely cruel and treaeherous. In
the conduct of the American army to-
ward them the exercise of unexampled
patience Is claimed and the humanity
u the troops engaged has no parallel
N the history of dealing with Asiatics.
With what novel duties in both civil
ana military administration and in the
character and environment of the war
On the opposite side of the globe nave
our soldiers been brought in contact.
The world has felt the current of those
distant affairs and our nation may not
be fuliy conscious of the awakening.
Breekenridge's List of Honor.
Who among us on the day of the
battle of Manila bay was familiar with
the names of men who had faithfully
devoted long lives to our service, not
without some dangers by land and
sea-asnd now the character of the ma
ton has been weighed in the balance
according to their words and deeds
Merritt, with youthful fame in the
shenandoah and great plains appears
in his maturity on this last scene: Otis.
of honest judgment. far reaching in
sight and cormOrant for work bear
ing his honorable wounds with all
modesty; Bates, the gentleman and SOL
der, the right hand of his chief in
diplomacy or emergency; Wheaton. the
thuhderDoit ana embodiment of military
ardor; Macarthur, judicious. courage
Gus, masterful and broad minded.
Hughes. acute and resOlute amid an ar
tempted Moscow and in the rugged
places of Samar and the middle islands.
Funston, who won his fame amid the
hardships Of the farthest front: Youno,
forever in the lead and seeking the
vitals Of the enemy; Smith. tireless and
aggressive; Bell courteous and reck-
!essly audacious, the prince of the adj
vance guard: Lawton, 'droit ct loyale.' ,
who baptized that land with his blood
and wrought famously and kindly on
Doth hemispheres, doing easily and
without undue sacrifice whatever was
most needed or most difficult; Chaffee
whose sterling worth has been dis
played in the old and new worlds
Wherever American arms have brought
her principles and won success either
In the whirl Of repelling deadly tvran-
ny from the Antilles or in bri1eins-
safety 10 the beieaguered legions from
the bloody Manchur of the Forbidden
City; Davis. whose omniverous Industry.
has wrought & memorable monument
in. the form Of city government and
great memorial structures as well as n,
his profession; Grant, who carried from
Porto Rico to the far east a name
Americans regard as the epitome of