The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 22, 1901, Page 21

CL444444484434444434444494%0 Paves 2 1o 32 L4404 4444444440240 4 44 @esrr Ve Orit++++4 ¥ 2008 21 10 32 Grettsttstrertttrtttsdeees Gttt tee VOLUM XCL—NO 22, FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, DECEMBER : 22, 1901—FORTY-FOUR PAGES PRICE FIVE CENTS FCAETARY ROOT SFUERELY REPROVES THE ARMY'S COMMANDING OFFICER. otURETARY LONG CLOSES SCHLEY CONTROVERSY BY APPROV No MAJIRITY REPORT LIEUTENANT GENERAL MILES RECEIVES CENSURE BY ROOT REPRIMAND FOR THE 56 you ha ¢ cause of military discipline. have :made you familiar. Extract from Secretar COMMANDER. OUR explanation of the public statement made by you is not satisfactory. You are in error if you say that the same right as any other citizer to express publicly an opinion regarding the questions pending The established, invariable rules of official propricty nccessary to the cffective dis- line of the service impose limitations upon ihe public expression of military officers <with Your duty is to express your opinion on offictal matters uperiors or in the due course of your official reporis and recommendations, and ot It would not be tolerated in a subaltern, and it will not be tolerated ® any officer of whatever rank.”— Root’s letter of reprimand to General Miles. otherwise. which your long experience when ‘called upon by. your ' 71 ‘CAUSE OF THE REPRIMAND. AM willing to take the judgment of Adiniral Dewey in the matter. He has been a commander of a flect and as such has known the anxicties and responsibilitics which rest upen a man under these was instrumental in the destriction of one Spamish fleet and knows and realizes the feelings that enc circumstances. He 1pass an officer 0 under such conditions. I think Dewey has summed up the maiter in a clear and concise manzner, axd I belicve his con- clusions will be indorscd by the patriotic people\of the United States. I have no sympathy with the efforts which have the Schicy Court of Inquiry. been made to destroy the honor of an officer under such circumstances.”—General Miles' comment on the fis dings of SCHLEY CASE S DISPOSED OF BY LONG| Secretary of the Navy Ap-| proves Findings of the Majority. | Notifies Counsel on Both| Sides There Will Be No Further Action. g has disposed final- e Schley case, so far | Navy Department is acting upon the conclusions of he findings of fact and | e full court; he approves where there is a ; he holds that the ered into a con- n of command at ago, and, finally, he ao- dation that no further nto the question of notified Admiral fact as a reason lining t hem on that point. Appreves the Majority Report. - 1 of the major- | ng’s approv o bas read the testimony ents of counsel at | = of fact, opin- | s, the individual | president of the of exceptions to the on by the applicant, his assistant | submitted by coun- | Sampson, travers- g member's view as to and at the battle of San- r careful consideration the opinion of the As to the points g member differs ority of the court, the opin- is approved. further expressions of his y the same member with regard mand on the morn- | of the title to cred- | ictory, the conduct of | making no finding and ren- inion on those gquestionsg Is Indeed, it could properly take her course, eviflence on these ques- s @ wquiry having been ex- | 4 by X | No Further Proceedings. “The department approves the recom- endation of the court that no further oceedings be had in the premises. department records its apprecia- the arduous labors of the whole | “JOHN D. LONG, | “Secretary of the Navy.” The text of the Secretary’s letter to | Admiral Sampson's attorney and Admiral hley follows: avy Department, Washington, D. C., | 20, 190L.—Gentlemen: In view of the tment’s approval this day of the | endation of the court of inquiry | the case of Rear Admiral Schiey that ASHINGTON, Dec. 21.—A de- termination on the part of the administration absolute- ly to terminate further dis epar o further proceedings be had, and of the cussion of the Sampson- fon of command was Schley controversy took m by the court, | shape in the publication to-day of some jepartment will take no action upon | remarkable correspondence that has filed by you in behalf of Rear liam T. Sampson. Very re- “JOHN D. LONG, ecretary of the Navy. passed between Secretary Root and Lieu- tenant General Miles relative to the lat- ter’s interview, published in a Cincinnati paper, commenting upon the Schley case. Stayton, Campbell & Theall.” When the interview appeared it attract- @ ; ed much attention officially, but after the Adumirel Sehley. Alvincd lapse of two days without any sign of tary Long aiso sent the following | ,mcia) action the conclusion became gen- er to Besr Admiral Bchiley: eral that the interview would be ignored. y Department, Washington, D. C., | Therefore, the publication this afternoon 20, 1901.—Sir: Referring to the de- | of the full correspondence on this sub- s Jetter of the 13th instant, You | ject created a sensation in army and sed that action to-day has been raval circles. It is seldom that so severe upon the findings, opinions and re- | a reprimand is administered to an officer on of the court of inquiry in | of high rank in either service. What the nd upon the minority opinion | result will be cannot be foretold, although jaing member, and a copy of | it is assumed that General Miles will sub- sent embodying such action is | mit without further comment. The nearest parallel of this case of re- | cent years, excluding the incidents con- nected with the celebrated beef inquiry, was that of Rear Admiral Richard Meade, who upon returning from a cruise in Venezuelan waters with the white squadron, accorded an interview to a tiago and credit | New York newspaper, severely criticlzing that battle, you be | the administration for its lack of vigor sttty 6 sent | in deeling with the Venezuelan question. nsel The outcome of that case was the early : retirement of the rear admiral from ac- tive service. That General Miles appreciates the situ- ation 1s shown by the deep copcern he response to your request of the 15th | . heretofore acknowiedged, that if a be filed by Rear Admiral on relative to the question | of the American naval forces pr oral argument st, vou are advised that + such prote Continued on Page Twenty-Two. 4 Head of War Department Issues a Stinging Rebuke to the Ranking Officer of the Army. — s manifested to-day and his frequent visfts to the office of Secretary Root. It was necessary for him to write two letters to meet the demands of the department and even then there was no expression of satisfaction on the Secretary’'s part at the second explanation. However, Secre- tary Root himself regards the incident as closed. At least, he does not purpose to take any further action unless obliged to Go so. The text of the correspondence which passed between the Secretary of War and Genera! Miles follows: “WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHING- TON, D. C., Dec. 19, 1901.—Sir: ‘I-am in- structed by the President to call your at- tention to the incloged report of an inter- view with you, appearing in the Associ- ated Press newspapers of Tuesday, De- cember 17, and to inquire whether the observations upon the action of a co- ordinate branch of the service in a mat- ter now pending in the Navy Department were made as reported, and if so, to af- ford you such opportunity for explanation in writing 'as you may desire.. Very re- spectfully, “ELIHU ROOT, Secretary of War. “Lieutenant General Miles, Headquar- ters of the Army.” & Explanation Made by Miles. To the Secretary’s letter General Miles made this reply: “HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 20, 191.~The Honorable ‘the Secretary of War, Wash- ington, D. C.—Sir: Replying to your note of the 19th inst., I have the horior to state that my observations, as substantially | > \ % L @ L 3 PEOPLE WHO FIGURE PROMI- | | NENTLY IN THE SCHLEY- | | SAMPSON CONTROVERSY. L S % | General Cleary Violates the Regulations. reported, had no reference to the action, pending or” ‘otherwise, of co-ordinate branches of the service; they were merely my personal views based upon matters get forth in varfous publications which had been’ given to the world, and con- cerning which I conceive there was no tmpropriety in expressing an opinion the same as any other citizen upon a matter of such public interest. My observations were in no sense intended as a criticism of any action taken by a co-ordinate branch of the service, and the statement that I had had no sympathy with any efforts tending to disparage a distin- guished and gallant officer likewise had Continued on Page Twenty-Two. l “Historian” Maclay, the Traducer of Schley, Is Re- quested to Resign From the Service Sy A ASHINGTON, Dec. following order was public this afternoon: “NAVY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 1901. Rear Admiral A. S. Barker, Commandant Navy Yard, New York—Sir: I am directed by the President to ask Edgar §. Maclay, special laborer, general storekeeper's cffice, navy yard, New York, to send in his resignation. Very respes fully, JOHN D. LONG, Secretary Secretary Root was designated to make public the request for Maclay’s resigna- tion after a conference with the Presi- dent, and it was given to the press by him. The pesition of the administration is that nothing which tends to revive the Schley-Sampson controversy will be toler- ated in any officer of the army or navy. BALTIMORE, Dec. 21.—Isidor Raynor. Attorney General of Maryland and coun- sel for Admiral Schley, when shown the decision of Secretary Long to-day de- clared that “the whole proceeding is ar- bitrary and tyrannical,” and manifested great surprise and indignation. ““The court decided the case,” sald he, “without considering the testimony of Ad- miral Schley and his witnesses, and Sec- retary Long seems to have decided it without so much as permitting us to file a reply to the protest filed by Admiral Sampson’s attorneys. “This protest was filed late yesterday afternoon, and.just one hour.ago we fin- ished our reply to it and sent it to Wash ington. ” “Now I understand that the Secretary has declded against Dewey and adverse 21.—The made to Schley’'s being in command at San- tiago, and virtually in favor of Sampson, without even permitting us to produce be- fore him the conclusive proof, admitted at the hearing by consent, that the com- | ymand practically and officially devolved upon Schley. The whole proceeding is too arbitrary and tyrannical for me now to | discuss. I really wonder whether the people who live under free institutions will tolerate the exercise of such despotic measures, “You ask me what our next step will be. 1 do not know, unless the President intervenes. There is a power in the courts to compel the' Secretary to file the dis- senting opinion of Admiral Dewey, wheth- | er he agrees with it or not. We will de- termine next week what proceedings will be adopted.” Secretary Gage to Be Honored. WASHINGTON, Dec. 2l—Secretary | Gage has gone to New York. He expects to be at his desk in the Treasury Depart- ment next Monday morning. NEW YORK, Dec. 21.—Secretary Gage will be the specia] guest at a dinner at | the Metrapolitan Club to-night given by | Frank Vanderlip.. The dinner will be a | private affair. | Mrs. Roosevelt Holds a Reception. | WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 21.—Mrs. | Roosevelt held her second public recep- | tien of the season this afternoon at 3:15. Hundreds of ladies availed themselves of | the opportunity to call on her. The Ma- rine Band played throughout the recep- tion. FAMOUS NAVAL INQUIRY COURT IS DISSOLVED In Conformity With Secre- tary’s Order, Dewey Makes Announcement. st A S \Admiral Schicy Refuses to Comment on Action of Authorities. Wi ainiding ASHINGTON, Dee. 21.—Sec- retary Long this afternoon issued the formal order dis- solving the Schley court of inquiry. The order was communicated at once to Admiral Dewey, president of the court, who acknowledged its recelpt and said that in conformity with the order of the Secretary he had announced the dissolution of the court. Order Dissolving the Court. Following is the text of the letter sent by Secretary Long to Admiral Dewey this afternoon dissolving the Schley court of inquiry: “The court of inquiry, of which you are president, convened by department's order of July 26, 1901, for the purpose of inquiring into the conduct of Rear Ad- miral (then Commodore) W. S. Schley, U. S. N., retired, during the recent war with Spain, and the events connected there- with, is this day dissolved. You will in- form the other members of the court and the judge advocate accordingly. Very re= spectfully, “JOHN D. LONG, Secretary. “To the Admiral of the Navy.” Schley Has No Comment. ‘When seen at his hotel this aftermeon Admiral Schley stated that he did not care to make any comment whatever on the action taken by Secretary Long om the findings of the court of Inquiry. The admiral said that he would leave Wash- ington on Monday next for New York, where he will remain for an indefinite period. Rayner -and Teague, of counsel for Ad- miral Schley, were in Baltimore to-day and in their absence the admiral was not prepared to say whether any further ac- tion would be taken in his behalf at the Navy Department or in Congress, or whether or not a final appeal to President Roosevelt would be made. THREE MEN ARE KILLED IN A TRAIN DISASTER Freight Cars Jump From High Trestle and Fall in a Valley. NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 21.—A fast freight on the Loulsville and Nashville road jumped the track on a trestle near Ridge Top to-day and was precipitated 130 feet into the valley. Engineer Fitz- gerald and Brakemen Walter Anderson and Eskridge were killed outright and Conductor Mehan was probably fatally in- Jured. HELENA, Mont., Dec. 2L.—A freight wreck occurred last night on the North- ern Pacific twenty-five miles west of Gar- diner, and as a result twenty cars of mer- chandise are lying at the bottom of the Missoula River and trafiic is suspended, three overiand passenger trains being held at Missoula. The accident is supposed to have been caused by the breaking of a rafl or wheel flange by the cold weather, which caused the train to separate., un- coupling the rear portion, which tumbled down the mountain into the river. Ne one was injured. - el Death Calls Chinese Official. WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 2.—Th® United States Minister to China reports to the State Department under date of the 4th ultimo that Hsu Spoupeng, first vice-president of the newly-elected For- eign Office, died October 30, after a short {llness. The deceased was at one time Secretary of State for the Chinese Lega- tion at Washington. By reason of his foreign experience and his progressive ideas he was regarded as one of the best of the new leaders ‘of state, and his un- | timely death is very much regreted. —— New Command for Marine Officer. WASHINGTON, D. C.. Dec. 2L.—Colonel James Forney of the Marine Corps, who is now in command of the marines at the League Island Navy-yard, Philadelphia. has been ordered to Cavite, P. L, to as- sume command of the first brigade of marines. Transports for the Orient. WASHINGTON, D. C., Deec. 21.—Tke transport Crook safled from Gibraltar to- day for Manila and the transport Warren arrived at Nagasak! with troops from the Philippines for San Francisco.