Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1884-07-12
SATURDAY, JULY IL. 1884.


Washington, July 2.-The president
this afternoon returned the Fitz John
Porter bill to congress with his objec.
tons. He takes the same view as the
Attorney General regarding the uncon-
stitutionality of the bill, and says:
"There are other causes which deter
me from giving this bill the sanction of
my approval. The judgment Of the
court martial by which more than TWEEN
ty years since Gen. Fitz John Porter
was tried and convicted was pronounced
by a tribunal composed of nine general
officers of distinguished character and
ability. Its investigation Of the charges
of which 1t found the accused guilty was
thorough and conscientious, and it's find
ings and sentence in due course Of law.
approved by Abraham Lincoln, then
President of the United States. Its legal
competency, its jurisdiction Of the ac-
cused and the subjects Of accusation, the
substantial regularity of all its proceed
ings, are matters which have never been
brought into question. It's Judgment,
therefore, is final and conclusive in its
character. The supreme court Of the
United States has recently declared that
a court martial such as this was is the
organism provided by law and clothed
with the duty of administering justice
In this class Of cases. It's judgments,
when approved, rest on the same basis
and are surrounded by the same consid-
erations which give conclusiveness to
the judgments Of other tribunals, includ-
ing as well the lowest as the highest"
1t follows, accord ngly, that when a law
fully constituted court martial has duly
declared its findings and its sentence,
and the Same has been duly approved,
neither the president or congress has
any power to set them aside. The evi
dcnee Of such a power is not openly as
serted, % perhaps, is it necessarily i'm
piled in the provisions Of the bill which
is before me, but when its enacting
clauses are read in the light Of the reci-
tation OF It's preamble, it will be seer
that il seeks in effect the practical an
nulment Of the findings and the sentence
of a competent court martial. A con-
clusion at varianprswith these findings
has been reached after investigation by
a board, consisting of three officers OF
the army. This board was not created
in pursuance Of any statute or authority,
and was powerless to compel the at
tendance of witnesses or to q
Judgment which could be lawfully ex.
ercised. The officers who composed II.
ia their report TO the secretary of war
dated March Is, 1879, state that in their
opinion justice requires = = y "such
action as may DC necessary 10 annui and
set aside the finding and sentence Of the
court martial in the case Of Mai. Fi,z
John Porter, and to restore 10 the posi-
ton Of which their sentence deprived
him, such restoration to take effect from
the date Of his dismissal fio,n the SER
vice." The provisions of the bill now
under consideration are avowedly based
on an assumption that the findings Of
the court martial have been discovered
TO DE erroneous, but it viii be borne in |
mind that the investigation which it 10
claimed resulted in this discovery was
made many years after the event to
which these findings related and under
circumstances that made it impossible
to reproduce the evidence ON which
they based.
1t seems to me that proposed legisla.
ton would establish u dangerous prece-
dent, calculated TO imperil in no small
measure the binding force aud effect Of
judgments of the various tribunals estab-
lished under our constitution and laws.
have already, in the exercise of the
pardoning power with which the presi-
dent is vested, RENTED the continuing
penalty that made II impossible for Fits
John Porter to hold an Office Of trust or
profit under the government Of the
United States, but / am unwilling TO
give my sanction to any legislation
which shall practically annul and set
ct naught che solemn and deliberate con.