, 1870-08-13
WASHINGTON.
Finding of the Court Of INQUIRY
in the Case of the Col. !.
ored Cadet.
Receipts and Expenditures of the
Government,
4 Good Showing for the Present
Administration,

a Good Showing Tor the Present
Administration.
sr<ciA Despatch to The Chicago Tribune
1HK CASE or TIE co1oREp CADET,
WAsH1S050s, Aug. Iq.-The Secretary OF War
has examined and acted upon the hndInps of the
Court of inquiry which was ordered TO investigate
the charges OF III treatment Of the colorcd cadet,
J. ". Smith, as alleged In his published letter.
The court considered each charge Sc, forth In tha,
letter In Its oTeF. and reports the charge Of bar-
assment bE examination as wholly unsoststne,I.
The charge Of hazssnent By insults and iii treat
mcnt By his fellow cadets IS general In lts narure,
aud gfoss'F exaggerated, he having. however,
hccn greatly lnsulted and annoyed in a number
of Instances BY certain OF the caletA The
charge that bis fellow cadets werr trytu:
TO run him on. though unsupported ty specific
tekumonJ. evidently refers to treatment received
1tom lew cadets In whose minds the Enseutlon to
eject his departure may be presumed TO have ex-
1sted. The charge that from the time Of going In
to camp, on the day preceding the writing Of the
letter, not moment had passed. without his being
cursed and abused by hts fe1loF-ca4iets, who were
around his tent cursIng and swearing at him ii.
night, Il admitted By Cadet Smith to have been
only nguraitye, and. from the testimony, was
greatly exaggerated, It being pruven
that he was annoyed for not more
than ten mtnufea, BY ITO cadets since discharged
for other causes. whose operations were such a
to lead him 10 btllere they Mcre preparing to
blow him up with gunpoWder. The charge tha.
he was obliged at the mess table to snasc.e1tkc
dog for Hhateyer be got to cat, waa founded up.
on the conduct Of some Of his fellow-candidates
for admission, and not get admitted a. cadets,
md that all trouble Of that kind has since been
remenied. The charge that one OF the cadets re-
fused 70 drill squad Of new cadets because Smith
WIS attached TO It, and that the corps Of cadets
Was tncensed at the degradation In rank
Of the cadet IS punishment Is true as to The tlrst
allegation but as to the second It l. proved by cyt
uence that the punishment Indicted ppon the ca
drt W4s approved hf the better members Of the
coF1s- The charge that the cadet then drilling
Ills squad hul shas morning in the profane anu
abusive language 1unt ed In the letter. cause,l him
10 Stand apart from the rest Of his squa,l, and sa-
sequentl5 falsely repr presenteu tu The luspect!ug
off3cer that Cadet Smith Was 81 p,aeed for the
purpose OF teaching him new move
ment, Is sustained bY evidence as to the
fist part, with the exception Of the
rpithets and oaths, but not Sustained a.
to The alleged imposition upon the inspecting o1-
GET, aud that Cadet Smith 1!sclaims nuy recoliec-
ton Of chaTactettzing the drill cadet the meanest
specimen Of humanity be ever saw, a. contained
In the published letter. The charges that It he
mad sast ANYTHING to the inspection ot11ccs On
the occasion Just nAtnesl. he woud have been
locked mp for tltsohedIence Of onlefs or dtsee-
sF+:ct TO superior officer or II he eotnplatne.lof Ut
cadets to the Commaa,iant, he must prove the
charges. or nothing could be done. are explained
hy Cadet Smith to refer only to remarks ulale lii
the ranks which are forbidden bs
regulations, and not complaints made
la the Commau,lant, concerning which the
charge ts 'llsprore, hy the testimony Of the CON-
1nantlans nnt former experience Of Cadet Smith
himself. The charge That he had borne insult
upon Insult I'LL compietely worn out ls Of genera
character, and 10 one OF the specific Instances
where Insults have lNen proven under it, The
charge that the academic board had prepared IN
eutTancc examination 10 suit coloted candidates
Is shown by the moss conclusive evidence 10 bc
entirely EEoandleas, and 1t appears that the sys-
TEN OF examination IL based upon the REQUIRE
mtnts Of Law as to the qualifications Of the canli
date. and that this law WAS adopted before It was
enown that auy colorcd candidate hA.i been ap-
pointed. The rtgor OF examination was In no man.
nes Intensified By the presence OF colored cantlI-
ttaies as by the Testimony Of Cadet Smith himself
b. Was examined In the same manner ani Ut tile
same time and ;'sact as other candidates. the ex-
aminers, as Cadet Smith believes, not knowing to
which candidate the written and numbered rxauo-
inatlon papers belonged, and Cadet Smith most
positively denies that be wrote such charges
against the board, and declared the paper br him
furnished to the Superintendent to :,e true copy
II his letter 10 the best Of his recollection and b
iief. He declined An Invitation to explain the
contradictions betwccn the present tes-
timoDy aud that OF the recipient Of his
letter. who swears that the letter,
a published, to the best ot his knowledge aud he
lief tthc manuscript being NOW dest1oyc,D is iicn-
ttca, with the letter received from Cadet Smith,
and also declined an Invitation to explain the dif-
ference between his present testimony aud his
letter OF July Il. TO The recipient Of his published
letter, stating that he thought cxpclent to draw
tack froRa Ills charge aRainst the Academic
Board, though he firmly believed that the facts
were a. stated. In view Of these nnd1n1s. thc
uourt expressed the opinion, first, tha, the eyt-
dence a1duce7l warrants 4 trial. hy court martial.
Of cadet Corporal Gilmore, who, while In
command Of hts company police squat!
is shown to have applied cross1y
abusive and insulting cpIthets to cadcs Smith.
Second. That the facts developed in regard to the
condnct OF Cadet Smith arc OF such character a.
10 require bis trial hef"sc court-marstal. Thrill
That the cases Of the other Cadets whose far for.
got themselves IS to use insulting eptthets 10 Co.
1et Smith, should be disposed of by the Super1n.
tendent- Fourth That the professors anu army
ofnccrs IN duff at the Acaaiemy hare treated Ca
'let smith with scFu0ulons fairness, recognizing
and enforcing the practical observance, 90 fur as
possible, OF his complete equality before the law
Fifth That the Superintendent Of the
Academy ana Conmandant Of Cadets have
taken especial pains to protect him
al alt times and in all places fsnm the anuoyaucrs
o1 thosc who might be pEcjutltccd against him
sixth That the cadet officers and many OF the
!eadtng cadets have sc1upn|ously respected hts
ofciai rights, while the pretuaices OF Others have
resulted To acts Of Injury and insults proven before
the court; that better feeling now prevails, ami
1t ta- believed that the measures adopted by the
academic authorities will prevent the recurrence
OF such Mistlcncanos.
rPon these findings Secretary Belknap, on due
consideration o! the subject, has, In the hons,
founded On the belief Of the court tn at there will
liz no recurrence OF similar m tSlelueanors On the
naFs OF the Cadets disposed OF It By ordering ca
diets Gilmore and Smith severely reprimanled by
the Superintendent Of the Academy. and assur-
Ing a!l concerned rhat II the reasonable e1pecta-
t:uEs OF the department be not realized, the most
r1gornns measures wilt he taken 10 bring to pun
ishrueut any ca.et who may be the cause Of fur
ther troubles ot this kind.
GOVERNMENT RECE!r7s AND ExrESn1TTREs,
The statement Of receipts and expenditures Of
the Tnttet States. during the usca1 year ending
June 20, 1870, agTeeab(5 to warrants ISSUED, WIS
made up, yesterday, II the Treasury Department,
and makes even better showing than the cst!-
mates in the address Of the National Republican
Committee The cxcesa Of revenues
OF tho fiscal year ending June,
$50. As compared With the preceding rear, shows
~ 1900 IN favor Of Grauitsadm!nistraton tn
stead Of nearly -, ,ooe po as gwen In the address.
The saving in expenditure for the nscal year OF
Grants administration over Last rear 1s ssg 1900
instead Of $s7.oIo, 900, As in the address, Sec
Tet4ly BOUTWELL, tn transmitting his report TO the
House OF REPRESENTATIVES. Iast December made an