Show EUROPEAN RULERS washington D C nov 10 1897 general miles is very indignant at the statements which have been published extravagant quarters on his to his as an steamship team ship across the atlantic this fact came out in a chat which I 1 had ith him last night I 1 asked him about fals state room putting the question as to whether that was not a high tor for uncle sam to pay for one irate general miles replied passage 1 boans that story was made out of whole it was a lie from beginning to cloth it has seem seemed ed to me too silly but end nd contradiction the truth is to need deed I 1 was ordered to go to europe I 1 when hen ordinary first class state an engaged when I 1 stepped on board the wom boorn I 1 found my room occupied by home ship hip mist mistake ake it had been assigned to iler her baggage bagcal e was in the room lady I 1 could not insist upon her leaving ted of the steam the managers of M one happened to be on board up p company generously gave me strod d he very which happened to be room another nother without any additional nt charge state room did not cost then iltgen your t the emphatic was dia not no it t ply cost you did it general miles it did replied no nothing like it the actual sot pot and the ordinary that of was tate c charged h arged and no more jurat class passage trouble with ad about your how it is said that toural ral M miller iller general bucking of the him out crowded eded yon u brov in london 1 I k M palace hotel not a word of truth in is y 1 there 1 general miles I cant at replied ed but I 1 the story ori originated original ginat abak k how the rounds of the has gone it that admiral I 1 and myself were the SUB english govern of 01 the eh guests accommodations were ar our that hotel we had for us at ed the ar making with ing to do were names and our ants of our rooms be doors the ed over there the other guests we went in the same ass assigned ignec yssa their rooms the posted was aay y over one room of siam prince beame of the c iown crown e that of the duke of another ther bore that of the grand third Urt emburg a with all it was russia and so R tee ke of which I 1 was the roo rooms ms to guests at the small all parlor were a sn ened apartment in the mt and a sleeping windows opening out up having sar r millers name was admiral 1 A court and mine the door of his rooms aver I 1 never saw the w w over my rooms rooms and I 1 dont think he W saw mine the story was as a 9 mis statement tta ement from beginning to end nr mhd conversation here drifted to gen l fiche expert experiences ces during his tour waw ag visited nearly every great army of Hi hhope ope and saw more than inars in the maneuvers and in the the different countries he ched 1 1 abor ia military factories and in 0 things Ina in arnob rift V he came into con tact with the chief generals of europe and I 1 found his stories of his interviews with some of the great monarchs mon archa exceedingly interesting during the conversation I 1 asked him to tell me something about the sultan he replied my first view of the turkish troops was the friday after I 1 arrived in con stantin ople I 1 saw the sultan the same day and at the same time it was upon the occasion of the sultans go ing to worship at his favorite mosque near his palace he does this every friday the mosque is a beautiful marble structure not far from the banks of the just opposite the mosque there is a small palace I 1 was given a place in this palace and from its windows I 1 could see the regiments as they massed themselves about the mosque there were I 1 think about soldiers on duty each regiment of cavalry had horses of the same color and nearly every eve regiment was uniformed differently there were troops of with black caps they wore european uniforms but their breasts were covered with cart ridges there were troops of turks in turbans and there were other troops wearing caps and brilliant uniforms there were long lines of infantry some dressed in green the favorite color of the prophet mahomet and others in uniforms of blue trimmed in red the cavalry were all mounted their horses I 1 were ere not large but they were well formed and most of them had arabian blood in them did the sultan ride on horseback I 1 aided no his majesty rode to the mosque in a carriage which was driven by a coachman in a red velvet suit embroidered broi brol dered in gold he had a large escort with him and the procession was a most impressive one As he appeared the soldiers all faced directly and looked toward him here was a great cheering from the crowd and this conti continued until his majesty had entered the mosque but general it was not at this time that your interview with the sultan took place no replied general miles my MV audience was shortly after this the sultan received me in his palace and I 1 had some conversation with him about militar arv and other matters the conversation was carried on through an interpreter how did his majesty impress you 11 he seemed to me a man of considerable ability said general miles he Is shrewd cunning and adroit and he has one of the most influential positions among the rulers of the world T tte he te is you know not only the head of the edans of europe and asia bait of all the edans on earth thare are som something thang like gnp on hundred hundis d ard sixty million edans who ook look upon him althair as spiritual head VP has bm been apen on the ine throne for twenty six pix years ardit and it would adem to me that he must be pretty much of a man to be ablo abl to maintain clr himself self for that length of time surrounded surround ea as he is is by the great powers of europe who are ready to take advantage of at any mistake he may make k 1 1 did you hear anything of the brother whom he succeeded during your stay in constantinople only gossip replied general auest 4 the sultans brother you know wax was deposed on the ground of he was taken from the throne am imprisoned he is now believed to b in one of the palaces on the and there is a military guard of about four thousand soldiers about this palace it is supposed to contain th theeb sultan but the world does not lado know 2 whether he is there or not whether he is is alive or dead whether he is insane or sane 1 I have heard it said th that atthe the present ek ai sultan is afraid of his life and hat f he is a nervous wreck on this account v n did you see anything that m might hatm firm this opinion opinions 9 no replied general miles ail to tl his being afraid of his life I 1 doubt whether there is a monarch in E europe 0 who has not a greater or less f fear 0 g 1 assassination you remember there have been recent attempts to kill king of italy the emperor of austria and the president of france I 1 dovea doert believe the sultan is more afraid of his life than any of the other monarchs are of losing theirs does the sultan really understand mili military matters 9 said 1 I yes indeed said general miles i he knows all about his troops and their equipment he spoke of his army 1 having some american guns and nd apparently patently ly had a good knowledge of the different kinds of firearms he Is v very ery proud of his army and when I 1 remarked that he must have had good generals in order to be able to mobilize men in forty five days day he replied that he knew he had w good generals and that he had made mad e the thettye 5 meaning I 1 suppose that he be had ch the generals himself I 1 did he say anything about twe the W wara ar f 1 not much replied general anbu miles save when I 1 referred to the success of the turks he replied J that god 0 on the side of the right that the greeks had made war upon him etith out cause a and nd that through goda dis pleasure they had beon been ansue cess ful where did yon go after leaving turkey general 9 1 I 1 went to see the greek and tw ish armies in the field I 1 sailed through the dardanelles Darda nelles and saw the fortifications there and thence I 1 salted sailed to athens and went to the field the a advance lines of the two armies were within yards of each other I 1 vent along the picket line of the greek arrn army under a flag of truce As I 1 did so I 1 could see the turks and could hear their bugles the turks were then living in the tents which they had cap turned from the greensand Greek sand the greeks were without shelter in the rain were the greeks at all ready for war general generald 9 no thy they were not was wap the reak re I 1 they were carted away by popular enthusiasm and they were outnumbered outmaneuvers outmaneuver od and outgeneraled by the turks do you think there to is any good military material in the greek nation yes they might make good soldiers if they were properly handled and under skilled generals how are you impressed with the russian soldiers general very favorably indeed replied general miles the russians have one of the best armies of europe and their population is so great that the other nations tear fear them napoleon you know once said that europe would at some time be all cossack or all republican the russian empire has now a population of more than now at the rate of one soldier to every five inhabitants russia has a possible army of the russians are a military nation the czar expects every man to be a soldier his people have long been accustomed to war and his army as far as I 1 could see is well armed well officered and well equipped I 1 have never seen finer horses anywhere than those used by the russian cavalry 41 please tell me about your audience with the czar general 1 I met him at the summer palace at Pe not far from st petersburg and had a very pleasant interview with him our conversation was in english and we were alone at the time the talk was largely devoted to military matters his majesty was very enthusiastic over the prospects of he road which will be of great political commercial and military importance to his empire the czar is you know president of the road he has I 1 think been over the line himself and he says it will develop a wonderful country it goes through some of the richest soil on the globe and the climate of the lands through which it passes Is much like that of minnesota prom from what he said I 1 judge that it is his ma bestys idea to develop siberia as r rapidly as possible where did you go from st petersburg 1 I did some traveling before I 1 left russia replied gen miles 1 I was the guest of the government and was given E a special car to go to moscow where 1 was entertained in the palace near the kremlin Hr emlin near the palace grounds where I 1 saw a long row of cannon lying against the wall and was told that those guns were all that re bained of napoleons famous army that invaded russia according to the russians napoleon came into the country with men and when he went out his army was reduced to 2000 the russians burned the magnificent city of moscow to defeat him they destroyed all the provisions along his line of march and conquered him more by starvation and cold than by firearms the conversation next turned to germany and gen miles described for me the discipline of the german army he says that germany to is one great military camp and that the soldiers seem to be more in there than in any other country he chatted for some gome time about the young kaiser of whom he saw much during his stay he next talked of the french sol diem end and I 1 could see that he co considers holders the french fully the equals of the germans and that he evidently believes that a war will some time break out between the french and the germans the germans he says have been trying to conciliate the french ever since the close of the franco prussian war when they forced the french to pay them tl and to give them alsace lorraine the french will never forgive that said gen miles and the battle will have to be fought over again sooner or later general miles was much impressed with president faure whom he described as one of the most dignified and one of the ablest rulers of europe in talking of the english troops the general said saad he saw of them in the maneuvers he describes them as well equipped and well officered while looking at the maneuvers of the army queen victoria called general miles to the carriage and asked him what he thought of her troops the general says thearty th the earmy army has great admiration for the queen and that he found amstrong ai a strong royal sentiment among the english people As the queen appeared before the soldiers they manifested their devotion in every way the men put their hats on their bayonets and swords and cheered with wild enthusiasm thusia sm this so affected queen victoria that tears ran down her face As the general said this I 1 asked him as to whether there was much republican sentiment in england he replied the english people may want a republic and I 1 think they would like a liberal government they are however devoted to the queen and they have a right to be proud of her wonderful reign during the past sixty years did you see the prince of wales general I 1 asked yes replied general miles 1 I had some conversation with him he was very civil but he had changed considerably sider ably since I 1 saw him on the boston common in 1860 he was you know then visiting the united states general miles said 1 I you have just seen all the armies of europe suppose there should be a war tomorrow what would be some of its new and characteristic features there would be a greater use of the telegraph than ever before replied general miles the telephone would have a part in it and steam power would be largely used in moving troops and supplies there would be many improved arms and long range guns smokeless powder would be used while the principles of warfare would be the same there would be a change in tactics battles would be fought at a longer range strategy would be more important than ever the great wars of the future will probably be of shorter duration than those of the past there will probably be fewer lives lost how about the increase of our army general do you still hold to your opinion that we should have more troops yes I 1 do da replied the general 1 I have held that opinion tor for many years our army is too small tor for our wealth and population I 1 think the army and navy should grow as the nation grows but are not the european countries loaded down with soldiers 9 yes they have more than they can comfortably support they are at one end of the extreme we are at the other we should have a fixed ratio for the increase of the army I 1 think we should have at tile the maximum one trained soldier for every thousand of our population and as a minimum one in every two thousand it if we had one to every thousand this would give us an army of about three times the size of the present one this ratio should be kept up the number of troops to be determined by the census to be taken every ten years tell me general do you think your trip has paid yes I 1 think it has replied gen miles there have been a number of statements concerning it which are not true I 1 did not originate the idea of my being sent to europe to examine into the condition of in military matters there I 1 did not ask to go the secretary of war and the president grave gave the orders and I 1 went the occasion for sending me was not altogether the greco tur kish war and the danger of a general european war though that fact hastened my departure the tour was taken to investigate the condition 0 of military affairs at the present time i this has been the policy of the government from the beginning we hav have now officers at nearly all the great courts of europe sent there to report and to keep the war and navy departments posted upon the latest military airy development the nations of europe do the same thing you will find their agents in this country now nearly every year some general to Is sent abroad to examine into military conditions general winfield scott was sent there at the |