The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-25

capped with his life, and was commissioned in
the regular army He has been Judge
advocate since 1873 He is young in APP
pearance, and, although giving constant
evidence Of his ability to manage ever so i'm
portant a case he is nervous and eXcitable in
manner and watches with a Jealous care the
array of eminent counsel pitted against him.
Gen Grosvenor, of Swaim's counsel, is particu-
larly aggressive. His numerous COLLECTIONS
would do credit to Congressman Holman. be
has no fear of the imposing array Of warriors
before him. and talks to them as freely as he
would address country jury. No general Of
fcer of the army has been tried by courtmar-
tia for twenty years-since the celebrated trial
of Gen FitZ John Porter. No officer holding
the position of Judge advocate general has ever
before been tried. According to the army reg
ulations "a military court may consist Of not less
than five nor more than thirteen officers In
minor cases, for the trial of soldiers the usual
usual number is seven. In this case the full
thirteen were appointed. Two hrigadier gen
erals, Terry and Rochester were objected to by
the accused on the ground of personal prejudice,
and were excused, reducing the number to
eleven. In converting court for the trial
OF an officer great care Is taken that no
injustice may be done the accused and the selec
tons are made with reference to the rank of the
| latter If possible, majority of the members
are his seniors in rank Those Junior to him in
rank are chosen from such officers as would not
| be affected in the way of promotion by the con-
| victon acquittal of the accused. Promotion
in the army is not rapid enough to crafty the
average officer and it is desired to preclude the
possibility of any member of the court being laid
liable to the charge of being influenced in his
action by a desire to create u vacancy which
might result in his own advantage. In voting
on any question the roll of the court is called,
| beginning with the lowest in rank and ending
with the president instead of the reverse, which
would seem the most natural This Is done III
! order that the vote of no member may be in
| fuenced by the vote of a superior officer. The
members sit in the order of rank already
| indicated, the president in the center and the
others at his right and left alternately, accord
ing to their seniority. When entering the court
room there is tho same precise exactitude in the
matter Of rank. If two officers reach the door
together the junior in rank is careful to allow
the senior to enter first All members of the
court wear their swords, as officers are always
| required to do when ION duty" Away back,
| early in the sixties, when | was young and some
what immature, l detailed to serve on
court-martia down in Tennessee. l had never
| seen the inside of such a tribunal but was una
| Die to imagine what anybody could want sword
| for III such place. So / buttoned on my dress
uniform and marched grandly down to the tent
| in which the court was to convene | was some
what chagrined to find all the rest with their
swords buckled on. The major who was presi-
dent of the court, took me aside, and with a
laugh, suggested that l go back and put on my
sword l went.
DON'T ABUSE THE COURT.
Special to Chicago Tribune.
General Pleasanton commenting on the pro
cedure in the Swain court martial, says:
ut is a mistake to fight the court [ remem
Der when General Fremont was court martialed,
i'll 1913. The court met at the arsenal here in
Washington and Phil Kearney was the judge
advocate. Senator Benton, Fremont's fatherln
law, thought it would be good plan for him to
defend Fremont, and so he went down to the
| arsenal and made a tremendous fight, intending
to overwhelm the judge advocate, the court and
everybody there But when the end came the
court found Fremont guilty, all the same and
sentenced him to dismissal The President re
mitted the sentence, but Fremont then resigned.
swAIM's FAVOR TO LINCOLN.
There is one fact in regard to Garfeld's Cab
met that can give you" continued General
Grosvenor, "and that is this: Some one about
the middle of winter, in my Judgment, suggested
to Garfield the name of Lincoln for Secretary of
War and at the time which l have mentioned,
when l was at Mentor, about tho last of Janu-
ary-the exact date can not give-Iincoln was
the subject of discussion. At this time Garfield
spoke strongly against the appointment. q en-
eral Swain, on the contrary, urged that Lin
coin be chosen, and this to such an extent that
Garfield said: Swain, what is the matter with
youf This IS the only appointment in my Cab
met that you seem determined to control ,
Garfield then turned to me and said Swain
seems to think it would raise popular senti-
ment in my favor to appoint Abraham Lincolns
son to the Cabinet Swain replied: Yes, it
would be the most popular appointment you
could make. General Garfield answered L
don't know about that People don't care much
for sentiment these days There are plenty of
people living who have heard Garfield say that
Swain overruled him in the matter of Lincoln's
appointment. Wayne MacVeagh had been sug-
gested before Garfield left Ohio, and Levi P
Morton was on his slate for the Secretary of the
Navy when he came to this city, and all the
world knows how that was broken up"
1.-THE court yesterday took recess until next
Monday.