The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-03

strongly thoy may have favored him
heretofore. az. ~.
or course, Gen. MILES as the command.
ing General Of the Army OF tho United
States Is not required TO shield its short
comings, " any there arc. II Is rather
his duty to discover them and, more
especially, to bring to proper ni'itary
Judgment any officers against whom ne
can produce evidence Of conduct preju-
dicial to the good name Of the American
soldier, Of which his place should mako
him always a Jealous guardian.
Gen. MILES, in his report on the Philip
pines, however, lent the authority OF his
high rank to an assault on the good name
Of the army and OF all American civiliza-
ton without any precise evidence what
ever to sustain II and without doou-
mentary proofs to justify It. 1t was an
attack by innuendo. by malicious sug-
gestion. His accusations were implied
rather than made directly in straight
forward military fashion. They were
not supported by particular evidence or
by written statements OF those cognizant
OF the facts, but were simply stories
picked up by him loosely as he hurried
through his trip.
Gen. MILES, in spite OF his very extraor-
binary and most unmilitary treatment
Of the beef question during the Spanish
war and his other and subsequent Of
fences against military propriety and the
dignity and responsibilities Of his high
rank, retained many friends In the army
who assumed the difficult, IL not impos-
sible, task of defending him against the
very unfortunate impression his tone and
conduct produced on the public mind.
In Congress, also he found many apollo
gists who tried to make him appear
as a prosecuted man, the victim of jeal-
ousy and q combination to break him
down in military and civilian esteem.
Among his persistent and consistent
defenders and extollers was the Wash
ington military paper which is now
forced to join in his condemnation be-
cause of his continuance in the Philip
pines OF policy which he had been
pursuing without interruption since the
Spanish wharf.-the policy Of attacking the
army OF which he is the head not directly
and manfully, but by insinIation and i'm
plication to the delight of its defamers.
II Gen. MILES had found any specific
evidence OF misconduct by army officers
during his trip to the Philippines, it
might have teen obligatory for him
to present it in his report, with the par
ticular proofs to sustain each accusa-
ton. Instead, he reported only mass
of scandal and gossip heard or over
heard By him, and apparently grateful
to his ears. without presenting any
specific evidence on which charges
could be based and trials ordered while
other matters to which he referred had
already been made the subject Of official
investigation. If he had been a rowing
Anti-Imperialst in search OF material
for the roorbacks Of political cam
paign, he could not have gone about the
business with more carelessness Of the
truth and Of the good name of the army
than he displayed in his tour Of the Philip
pines, as it Is described in his report.
The Army and Navy Register Of Wash
ington interprets very mildly the feeling
which must prevail in the army and
among decent men generally when it
says that it deeply deplores the state
Of mind and form of expression with
which the Lieutenant General has dealt
with his subject
Gen. MILES will 60 on the retired list
next August, and. unhappily, it will be
with stain upon a name which he had
made distinguished by gallant and
efficient service during the civil war.
The hurt he has inflicted has been on
himself and not on the army.