Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1822-04-02
RICHMOND, APRIL ?, Ia2q.


C.4SE OF COMMODORE B.4KkON
We have received from W asiiin.tvn pam :
piiet of III pages, containing " Proceedings
of "A Cosrt of Enquiry held AT the Navy Yard.
Brooklyn, n. York, upon capt James Barron.
of the U. s. Navy."-It is int oduced by the
following note:
Nary Department, March 25ih 1922
The following proceedings published nj the re-
quest vi Capiain Barron and this requ, ST wonI,I
have been complied with at AMY time heretofore. had
II i'ecn made They have been withheld from il,.
public for other reason thar an iu,pression thar
publication without the consent of Capiain Barron
would he improper, until final decision was made
la his case.
The warrant for converting the court, after
specifying the alleged conv ersation with Mr..
Lyon mt Pernambuco as one of the charges
against Com. Barron, states the other charge
to be that " at the expiration of the said term
of suspension of the said j. Barron, to wit. on
the 9th day of February, 1918, the u. States
being at war with Great Britain, he, the said
James Barron, was in a foreign country, and
continued TO absent himself from the United
States, until the conclusion of the war, and
Tor a long time thereafter, contrary 70 his du-
~ as an oihctr of the navy of the u. States"
a variety of testimony is adduced on both
these allegations much more on tli. last thao
on the first-after which, the court make out
statement OF the circumstances of the
case, from which, as well from the testimony
from which Ii Is drawn, il sufficiently appears,
that no blame can attach To Com. Barron for
not returning to the u. s. during the war with
u B.-The period subsequent To this epoch,
Is dispatched in the following brief paragraph.
being the last one in the g statement -
No evidence has been produced to the court 10
shew what detained Captain Barron in Europe, after
the rat,tIcaton OF the ireay of peace between the
United STATES and Great Britain in 1915
al Ill,
pursuant to adjournment proceeded fur
ther to deliberate upon the case, and after ma
ture consideration thereof pronounced the
following
OPINION.
The court is Of opinion ihai the conversation al
legged To have taken place between Captain James
barion, aud Mr. Lyon, the British consul at Pernan-
huco, IN the year 1909, has NOT hern proved
AND the court is further of opinion that athoug
the evidence produced 10y Captain Barron establish
es ms sincere and earnest desire TO return 10 the
United States pcriods aud the difficulty of
accomplishing his wishes, We, the court Of oin ion
that the evidence of his inability 10 return sooner thu,
lie actually did, satisfactory and IL is there
lore The opinion oi the court, that his absence from
me United States, without the permission of the go
rernmeni, was contrary his duly as an officer in
| the Navy Of the United States"
Here the matter rests.-It does not appear,
that the President has passed definitively up
on this oplnlon-either dissented from il, or
called new court to try Com. &. for breach
of his Z" duty"
The statement ofthe court, we shall try to
publish IN our next-the opinion selfis vague
and equivocal. If the periods are certain, when
ne wished tn return TO the u. >. but could
not, why did they not specify them Why
ana they not say at once, promptly and frank
~, that 1t was during the war with g. Britain
he was unable to return PIT was that period,
during which his voluntary absence would
have been so reprehensible. Ii was that de-
lay which Com. Decatur selected as one ofth
great charges against him. They ought to
have distinguished that period, as the warrant
OF the Secretary of the Navy had done, from
his subsequent absence.-And when they
came To this last period, they ought to have
shoi0n that under all the circumstances of the
case llls absence was contrary to his duty
as an officer, in the Navy of the U. SHE
had applied by letter from Copenhagen to he
called into service but his application had
been passed by in silence, that bordersd on
scorn.
Even admitting him to have been thus far
guilty of a breach of the duty, yet is it So
great and unpardonable a sin as to doom him
| for ever To Punishment from active cmploy-
| ment Mr.. Monroe is too just man to lei
things remain in their present situation. A,
all events, some defnitive step ought TO be
| taken in the case