The Indianapolis journal., 1903-04-28


ties of rice which Were sold at profit.
The people who were in the RECOMMENDATION
camps were. says General Miles. "consid-
to buy food OF those who held IL at
a large profit" General Miles character
ICES this as unprecedented He speaks OF
the magnitude of the transaction, whlch
involved twenty-one million pounds OF rice
and other supplies at a cost Of $3O6.33O. he
says that IAN extraordinary feature OF TINS
transaction is the action which was dis
approved by division commander who
assumed command and who turned the
matter over to the civil authorities and that
IL has been carried on under an act or the
Philippine Commission.
GENERAL DAvIS'S REPLY.
A reply to the foregoing portion Of the
report has been prepared by Judge Advo-
cate General Davis, in letter to the Sec
retary of War. in which he says:
THE incidents which are set forth in the
inclosed special report have been made the
subject Of special investigations; in some
instances these have been conducted by
courts-martial and their findings and SEN
tences have been duly promulgated in or
ders: in others the inquiries have been in
trusted to inspectors, or TO officers desig-
mated for that purpose by the commanding
general In the Philippines. Where admin
result of such Investigations, it has been
taken by the proper military commander,
If the parties continued within his juris-
diction; in other cases the matter has been
submitted to the department with a view TO
a resort TO such punitive and remedial or
ders as were deemed appropriate, and these
representations have resulted in number
of court-martial trials. AS to some phases
of these inquiries, the Investigations are
not yet complete, and reference OF the
papers to the Philippine islands, or officers
who are now serving in the United States,
has been necessary. Whether the necessity
for any further administrative action, in
addition to that already taken, will be dis
closed as q result of such investigation,
can only be determined when inspection
reports are received at the department"
General Davis explains that the inquir-
les are especially difficult because the in
cidents complained of We're not made
known at the time and officers and soldiers
of the volunteer army have been named to
be discharged
He discusses at some length the distri-
button of rice in the provinces of Batangas
and Cavite, which is matter that has been
considered in the department. 1t is ex-
planned that in order to restore civil or
der and to provision the people In the con-
centration camps, ii was determined by
General Bell, with the approval of the
commanding general, that purchases of rice
should be made by the subsistence depart
ment, the latter TO be reimbursed by the
military government. On this point Gen
eral Davis says:
1.-The measures resorted to were dictated
by military necessity; they were undertake
en- with the approval of the local military
an emergency of impending famine in such
a way to relieve actual distress, with
out pauperiZing the native population and
without casting the burden of their sup
order had been restored and the provinces
relegated to civil control. AS the distress
terminated, and the demand for relief con-
tinued without substantial abatement, the
balance of profits accruing from the sales
of rice by the military government was
tran nSfa N nd a
piled by the civil government to the relief
of the widespread distress occasioned by
the prevalence of cholera and famine in the
provinces of southern and southeastern
BEEF SUPPLY.
General Miles IN his report strongly rec
commended that beef on the hoof be sup
piled to the troops In the Philippines. This
portion of his report was referred to Gen.
j. w. Weston, commissary general, who, In
| reply. states:
I'm my judgment it is not a feasible or
economical plan, and there will be no de-
p;H,n parture from from the the present system of sup
General Weston says his office has never
| received any complaint from frozen beef,
but, on the contrary. uniform commenda-
Native beef is out of the question, even
| IL 1T were possible to procure it, and there
would be danger in using it. besides its
| rinderpest practically destroyed the native
cattle The experiment of bringing In cat
| tie was tried. and, as stated by Colonel
| Woodruff, was an absolute failure"
General Weston sums up the objections
| to the plan in the following:
.'The supply of cattle on the hoof for
practicable; would involve enormous ex-
| pense and entail useless loss Of animal life
and would serve no useful purpose OF
either administration, economy or health
At least so per cent. of the cattle would
not survive the trip, so the government
| would not only lose half of the cargo but
would actually pay freight on what was
| lost"
NOTES AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
The more important observations and rec
concentrations of General Miles are as fol-
| lows:
the archipelago was creditable to them
selves and to the country. The officers and
soldiers made good appearance.
''The effect Of the climate ia a most SER
| ious detriment to the service. The men &c
there in perfect health and in the prime
| of manhood, but as body are seriously af-
fected In the course Of two or three years
service. Very few escape. The majority
are debilitated.
LAS the military stations, with but few
exceptions. are very remote. and the troops
are required to be in communities that are
neither beneficial nor congenial to them
| the service is depressing, and to some ex.
tent, mas a demorallz1ng effect. There are
| scarcely any amusements or recreations
| for the soldiers, and life under such cir
cumstances becomes very monotonous
! During my visits to the garrisons il sc
happened that did not see single soldier
under the influence of liquor The follow.
| ing statement shows the exact condition
of the troops at 122 stations in the Philip
| pine islands, being all but nineteen remote
stations, on Nov. q, 1902: Troops on duty
| 1854; sick, AIS.
LAS the result of my observations II i.
my judgment that the discontinuance OF
| the liquor feature of the canteen has beer
beneficial to the army. Now that the temp
tation has been removed from the immedi
| ate presence of the young men Of the army
they are less likely to indulge in the us,
of liquor
The number of troops that will be re
! quired to occupy the Philippine islands /.
still problematical. While Ii Is claimed
| that the people are pacified, evidences o.
hostility toward American sovereignty ar,
| apparent. The newspapers, In both Span
| ish and English, contain almost daily ac
| counts of hostilities, depredations or dis
turbances Of the peace. Against thes'
armed bands the civil government Is en-
| ployins the constabulary, a force of abou
| six thousand men.
II found large proportion Of the troops
occupying church property. monasteries
| colleges and converts. This l believe Il
be entirely wrong, and X should be discon
tinued without delay. 1t is serious det
riment to the property, and, while it ma,
prevent destruction by fire TO some extent
yet the damage done to the buildings will
for some millions of dollars being brough
against the United States, which will un
| doubtedly have to be paid"
OF the Moros General Miles says: ''Th