Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1848-05-18
The Court of inquiry.

MI FIedueT MuSldHS iie well hHo"ii COT
respondent of the New Orleans Delta, makes, in
letter dated in the city of Mexico OH the 7h ult.
some severe remarks on the proceedings Of the
Court Of Inquiry In order to the due appreciation
of what Mr.. Freaner says it is necessary to OBJ
serve that he is locofoco, and that the newspa-
per for which he writes though independent in pol
tics, is owned and conducted by locofocos. Now
hear what he says:
1t is the general impression that the Court
of Inquiry will get through examining all the
witnesses here in the course. of ten day or
two weeks, and will then adjourn to the Uni
ted States. l wish they were gone. You have
no doubt read the proceedings with degree
of interest: you have not, hope you will. The
proceedings of the Court are well worth the study
aid attention of all military and civil lawyers
The decisions of the Court remind me of the
story of a raw recruit, whom the drill sergeant
could not make recollect his right hand from his
left. In order to strengthen the memory of the re-
crut, the sergeant blacked one hand and told him
that was his right hand: then taking hold of both
hands, and turning them one over another in quick
succession, asked the recruit WHICH was HIS liSut
hand.
"Why," replied the fellow, "you have mixed
them up so, that | cannot tell t'other from which"
So it is with the Court-they have got the de-
cisions so mixed up, that do not believe they or
any one else eau tell what has been the rule car
rled out any two days in succession, unless it is
that Gen. Scott is always wrong, and the defence
always right, let the question be what it may. If
precedent were law, the decisions of this court
would support an attorney in argument on any side
of any question whatever. One day Gen. Scott
complains of the course of proceeding of one Of
his antagonists, and the Court says" 1t is mat
ter over which they have no control" In the
course of a few days complaint is made that Gen.
Scott had done what the Court had said they could
not control, and then the Court decides that it is
/" mdelicate and highly improper" Put peg
there, and save the mark !
"Gen Pillow asks witness for his opinions, or
the reasons for belief in a certain matter; the
Court at once decide he must state it in five min
utes after, Gen. Scott asks the witness what were
his opinions in reference to another matter. OBJ
jections are made-the Court is cleared land
after some forty minutes soise, kno,cing and Uery
honest (O consultation, decide that the witness
may state the facts which led him to conclusions
or opinions, but he must not state what those opin-
ions were So it has been from first TO last
have endeavored to find out what system or rule
has governed this court in their decisions, but
without effect; and l am sorry to say that look
upon it as an anomaly in military jurisprudence.
However, the evidence and documents brought
out in the course of the trial, show, most conclu-
sively, the determined and deliberate effort on the
part of the administration, to overthrow ard break
down Gen. Scott-to consgn to infamy and dis
grace the warrior Chief who has accomplished the
most wonderful achievements recorded on the pa
ges of American history--and who has done all
this, with the preudices and influences of the Gov
ernment at home against him. and the political as
pirants in his own camp playing second fiddle to
them. The private bureaus, and the confidential
correspondence of the departments at Washington,
and every paper that could be brought to BEAR di-
recty or indirectly on the questions at ISSUE have
been copied and sent to the defence, in hopes to
influence the decisions; private correspondence
10 the military bureaus, written at time when it
was impossible to forward regular official commu-
ncations from here, have been published in the
Onion, and the letters, with the names of the Off
GERS, sent to the Defence in hopes that 1t would
prove that persons belonging TO Gen. SCOTS gen.
era or personal staff had written letters for pub-
cation, or that it was the practice of officers to
write letters in order that they would find their
way into the public prints.
But the Administration have made a great
mistake When they aimed at the object of their
destruction they selected gun with too small a
calibre -"