Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-23
THE EXPOSITION COMMITTEE.
Arrangements Made for the Convention
and Banquet next Month.

The convention, followed by banquet to be
held in this city December 4. under the
auspices Of the board of promotion. was dis
cussed last evening at a meeting Of the execu-
tive committe. Commissioner Webb presided
and encouraging reports we're made Of The re-
sponses received to the invitations sent out to
attend the convention. Governors of states,
mayors of cities, representatives of boards of
trade and other representative men will be
present to urge the importance of the worlds
exposition. N. NJ. Parker, chairman of the
finance committee in charge of the arrange
ments called attention to the Importance Of
having full representation Of the citizens of
the District at the convention. He thought
that 1t would demonstrate to the visitors that
the people here were in earnest about the mat
ter. MIR. Parker said the committee favored
the plan OF having each member of the general
committee pay ten dollars for the banquet
which would be sufficient to meet all of the ex.
Penses and entertain the one hundred and fifty
invited guests expected to be present. There
are two hundred and seventy-fve members of
the committee. This report was adopted.
The chairman, Mr. Webb was authorized on
motion of Gen. Ordway to appoint committee
for each delegation in Congress so that thor
ough canvass can be made and the sentiments
of the members on pending legislation affect
ing this subject be ascertained.
The Judge-Advocate-G eneralship.
AN ANOMALOUS CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN THE
ARMY-THE APPOINTMENT CAN BE MADE FROM
CIVIL LIFE.
To the Editor Of THE EVENING SrAR:
1t has been stated that if the President in
tends to make an appointment Of judge
advocate-general of the army and decides to
follow precedents regulating the appointment
OF civilians to high military posts, he would
first appoint to the rank of major and then
nominate such appointee to the Senate as
observation-disclosures This practice, be-
believe. has not been observed in the appoint
ment Of Acknowledgement am quite
sure that neither Holt nor Dunn was so ap-
pointed. Rather, the practice has been to
nominate and appoint directly to that rank.
The Office of udge-advOcate-general was Gre
ated by the act Of July II, 1862, with the rank
of brigadier-general and one assistant judge
acknowledgements, with the rank of colonel of
cavalry. The act of June %, 1874, repealed by
implication the Office of assistant judge-advo-
cate-generaL.
The act of July 5, 1884, consolidated the
bureau OF military justice and the corps Of
judge-advocates of the army, making the bu-
reau consist of one Observation-Disclosures,
with the rank and pay of a brigadier-general;
one assistant judge-advocate-general, with the
rank and pay Of a colonel; three deputy judge
advocate-generals, with the rank and pay of
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS anu tuTeo JuuSe-dQvO-
Gates, with the rank and pay Of majors, the
colonel and ieutenant-colonels to be selected
by seniority from the present corps of judge
advocates.
The Office Of the udge-advocate-general is
not in the line of promotion, and the rule laid
down in section 1904 of the Revised Statutes
with regard to promotions in the military serv-
ice has no application to it. No subordinate
can be promoted to the Office, nor can the
Acknowledgement be promoted to
higher rank in the army. Nor can his Office be
filled by detail from any other branch of the
military service. Not only is he not in any
regular line Of the military service, but he is
not on the staff of any superior officer except
perhaps, the President himself. 1t is a cogent
argument in favor of the exceptional and
quasi civil character of the Office that it was
first filled by a civilian lawyer, the Hon. Joseph
Holt, and that after the close of his distin-
gulshed official career of thirteen years of
merito-ious and eventful service he was sue
ceeded by another prominent civilian lawyer,
the Hon. William Mckee Dunn From the
nature of the duties of the Office it is clear that
Congress intended it should be filed by a per-
son trained in the science and practice of the
law. 1t Is true the statute does not prescribe
that the judge-advocate-genera shall be
lawyer. Neither does any statute require that
the justices of the Supreme Court of the
United States shall be lawyers. Nor does the
statute require that the Attorney-Generalsh shall
be member of the legal profession, though it
expressly requires that the solicitor-general
shall be Learned in the law
The appointment and the relation to the civil
and military service Of the judge-advocate-
general Is not more anomalous than the pres
sent exceptional and extraordinary status of
the present incumbent. LAWYER,