OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11400, 18 April 1899, Page 6

OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

(From Our Own CcmitEsroNDENT.)

CHICAGO, 11., March 18.

The commission appointed to investigate ■the charges made by Major-general Miles against Commissary-General Eagan and the conduct .of his department has been in session in Chicago and Kansas- City, the two great packing centres of the country. The', outburst' of passionate denunciation which General .Eagan visited on the head of ■ liis commander as the result of the latter's insinuation that the Commissary General had caused " embalmed" beef, unlit for human consumption, to be sent to the ■ troops in Cuba .was touched upon in a former letter: This resulted in the enforced retirement 'of General Eagan. The controversy did not come up until the. close of actual hostilities in Cuba, j and General Miles's accusations were made ! public through newspaper interviews instead of m the form of reports to the War department. It now seems altogether probable that his failure to take-prompt oflicial action in a matter involving the welfare pf hundreds of thousands of his soldiers" and his unofficial conduct in exploiting the i matter in the' newspapers instead of communicating directly with the Secretary for War will result" in calling down upon him the censure of the commission and possibly of the President. National interest in • the affair is strong, as'the commanding general of the army has contrived to make many powerful enemies by his course. But the intensity of public feeling is not to be accounted for on the ground of -personal partisanship or the blame attached to the charge that General Miles may have: imperilled the health and lives of the .soldiers by his failure to take prompt, and. proper action. The affair has struck' a heavy blow at the packing industries Of America. J. P. Keenan, a prominent) official of the - Stockyards, makes this statement: " General Miles's charges against the beef industries of this country has cost the meat interests of the United States, from the producer to the packer, more money than the whole war cost 'the General Government. As an effect of these charges, against which General Miles knew little, if anything, the price of canners (the cheaper beves used for canning) has gone off 50 cents a hundred. All prices for' beef in any form have declined; and the trade, from the farmer who raises the cattle to the packer, has received a blow which it will take years to''recover from." This but mildly expresses, the feeling which , obtains throughout the cattle industries regarding the trouble, that has arisen from the statements of. General Miles. From the viewpoint of the cattle-man the affair amounts to a national calamity. The evidence brought out by the investigations of the commission is of a nature to compel the conclusion that" the commission will report . that no ." embalmed" beef was sent to the army. On the other hand, the evidence warrants the conclusion that the findings will not hold General Eagan blameless of having sent to the troops immense .quantities-of canned beef in a form that ;can scarcely be regarded as less than experimental. '". There has, however, been nothing to reflect on' the integrity of General .Eagan, ..so far as the investigation'has thus far disclosed.' A lack of a thorough understanding of the problem in hand, the taking of too many chances, are probably the worst reflections on his' administration of the commissary department that may result- from the searching investigation that is now being conducted. The general impression prevails among those whe have followed the'evidence with great care that the commission found the packing business conducted on a much higher basis .Njpf iiitegrity than was expected. However, the scandal has done almost an incalculable damage to the cattle industry of America.. It is no secret that General Miles cherishes an ambition to some time become President of the United States. In the event that he should i become a candidate for this high office "iie is sure to find the cattle-raising States arrayed solidly against him and the " embalmed beef", incident • will not be forgotten.

Joseph Mcdill, the most celebrated newspaper editor in the West, died on Thursday at his"summer, home in San Antonio, Texas. He has Been'the chief editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune since' ,1855, and made that paper, one of the most powerful and profitable journals 'in America. He was 75 years of age, and took an active part in-the'management-of his journal up to the day of his death. As one of the earliest anti.slavery advocates and a member of the little group of celebrated men who founded the Republican party in 1854, his place in American history is secure. Mr Medillwas born in New Brunswick in 1823^ but his parents removed to a farm' near Canton, Ohio, the home of President M'Kinlev. when he. was a child. There young Medill received his education, and then/- studied ■ law.. After three years of practice at the bar. he found the tendency to observe technicalities rather than simple justice very distasteful, and concluded to 'change to newspaper work. In the pursuit of this plan he bought a small country weekly, and entered the field of journalism, fully intending to return tc the law at some future. time. But his. bold editorials on the subject of the slave power attracted attention throughout the country. With'the increase of this sentiment, he was brought into contact with the leading aiitisVivery men, of the country. In 1851 his talents had become so thoroughly demonstrated that ho felt equal to a broader field, and went to Cleveland, where he established the Cleveland Leader. His. bold championship of the cause of the slaves contributed much towards making Ohio the hotbed of anti-slavery sentiment. The next step in his career' was one of great importance to the country at large. A canvass of his State convinced him that the old Whig and Democratic parties had outlived their usefulness, and'that the time had. come for the birth of a new party, to be composed of the disaffected radicals of these organisations. This conviction, together with the 'personal advice of Horace Oreeley, influenced him to dispose of his Cleveland paper and strike out for broader fields in the then "far west." He came tt> Chicago and secured an interest in the Tribune." then owned by Horace White, also a celebrated American journalist. Just before making this important move, however, be called together the lending antislavery men of the country and held a consultation, in the deliberations of which the first principles of the Republican party were formulated! and the great political organisation was ushered into history. Shortly after his arrival in Chicago he met. Abraham Lincoln, and at once discerned the real greatness of the uncouth " railsplitter." This first impression was abiding, and from that time he lost no opportunity of pushing the future Emancipator into ' prominence. The Tribune gained rapidly in power under the guidance of the young man from Ohio, and it is universally conceded that no other influence did more than Mr Medill's pen to bring about those conditionsi which made Lincoln's first Presidential nomination possible. Since Mr Medill's death the American press has placed great emphasis on this service, and has given him the high praise of being the "discoverei" of Abraham .Lincoln. When Chicago was .desolated by the great fire in 1871. and the business and fortunes of practically all its citizens were swept away in a night, Mr Medill was chosen mnyor. To his wise and vigorous administration of public affairs is to be attributed in lnxge measure the wonderful resurrection which made Chicago historic. The only other political position winch lie ever held was that of delegate to tlie Constitutional Convention of Illinois. Not until 1874 did he. secure full control of the Tribune, which his genius had built to a degree of prosperity that made it yield him an annual fortune. While he wx<3 in feeble health

for several years before his death, he never < relinquished }is active part in the conduct [.'.,. of the paper. 'j The wild utterances of the" more sen- ( sational portion of the American press on j the difficulties in Samoa are well calculated [ . to inspire in the minds of foreigners, and 'j particularly those who are not able .to I understand the character of such journals, ( and mistake their ravings for the real senti- ( ment of the American people, the impres- 1 sion that this country is eager for a quarrel j with the other Powers concerned in the \ joint protectorate of the unhappy island. 1 To the end of showing the real attitude of the Conservative element in the United States on this subject, I reproduce an editorial which appeared in the Chicago Evening Post of March 17. This paper is ultraConservative, and the people of New Zealand will be able to appreciate bettei tharr most Americans the discrimination of the following utterance: — : ■ .' ' • ■ "An ainfortunate feature of the sensa- '' tional stories sent out from Samoa is. the evident desire to aggravate the feeling against Germany ! and her officials at Apia. Probably this arises from a mistaken notion that it is the popular thing just now in America and England. The Germans may have made mistakes, but . certainly they have not been guilty of one-half the hostile deeds attributed to them. . "After all, it would seem not difficult to. establish peace arid a' stable government in Samoa if England and the United States would but recognise the admitted truth. Mataafa is the choice of at least five-sixths .of the Samoans, and oven,his opponents confess that he is the most kingly native on the islands. He has had long years of experience in dealing with the white residents, both in peace and war, and can be relied on to promote the prosperity of the kingdom ■in every way. possible. Whether or not he is barred from the succession by the protocol • of. the Berlin Treaty is a matter for the three Powers to decide, not the Chief Justice of Apia; and' since Germany is now Ma-.1 taafa's friend and supporter, why cannot . England and America join in recognising the one Samoan who is fit to rule over the island realm of the South Pacific? '■''::■; Announcement of the ratification of the peace treaty on the part of Spain has ' created little comment-or interest, arid the news has been received with general public apathy. The resumption of diplomatic, relations with the defeated country will no doubt attract more attention, but the public mind has already accustomed itself to; think of the incident as closed. ■ ,

Forrest Crissey.