Los Angeles herald., 1890-06-12
ADJ. GEN. ORTON.
AN OPEN LETTER TO HIM FROM
COLONEL RUSSELL.
He is Hauled Over the Goals for Assum-
ing too Much-Papers to be Forwarded
to Governor Waterman.
Rooms l, 2 AND3 3, BRYsoN- -BoNEBRAKE
BLK, Los ANGELES, CAL, June 10. 40

BLK, Los ANGELES, CAL, June 10, 80. /
General r. II. Orton, Sacramento, Cal:
DEAR SIR-The decision of the court
martial, convened in the cause O
Colonel w. III. H. Russell, was approved
by General w. H. Dimond (the Officer
ordering the court-martial) on the 1st O
May, 1890. Official notice of this actor
on the part of the court-martial anc
General Dimond was received by Colone
Russell, for the first time on the 23d O
May, 1890, at which time copy thereo
was received by him through ''the regu
lar military channels"
Upon the reception of that official no
tice, three courses were open to him:
First. An appeal Ga sort of motion fol
rehearing) to the officer ordering the
court-martial, under subdivision 10, sec.
ton 2076, of the political code.
Second. An appeal to the comman-
der-in-chief, as provided in section 1Oc
OF the general regulations governing the
National Guard of California.
Third. An application to the COM
mander-in-c to revise the proceed
ings and disapprove them, as provided
by section 2079 of the political code OF
California.
The first course he did not desire to
avail himself of, as he deemed it useless
to appeal to an officer who had already
passed upon the proceedings. He de-
termined to avail himself of the other
two remedies, leaving it to the discre-
tion of the commander-in-chief as to
which proceeding he would take action
| in.
Having heard by rumor what the ac-
ton of the court-martial and General
Dimond had been in the matter. Colonel
Russell had prepared three copies of
notices of appeal-one he forwarded to
the commander-in-chief other two
were endorsed by igadier-General
+. 7. johnson; and one of them was
forwarded to General Dimond, the other,
| through General Dimond, to yourself.
The one forwarded through General
| Dimond was marked by him "dsap-
| proved'(?) and forwarded to you, and
was by you returned to Colonel Russell.
with the following endorsement thereon
Respectfully returned, for the reason
that no grounds for the appeal are
gwen herein-and for the further rea-
''son, that the appeal should first be
made to the officer ordering the court
''see section l72, regulations governing
''the national guard"
| This paper Colonel Russell returned to
you, as neither of your objections were
tenable, and as both points upon which
presumed pass were matters not for
your decision and action but for that of
the ommander-in-chief.
1t seems that you, in your hastv action
entirely overlooked the fact, that bv sec
tlon 100 of the regulations governing the
National Guard of California, an appeal
is permitted directly to the commander
in-chief.
Your second objection was equally un-
tenable, as strict technicalities are never
admissible in proceedings appertaining
to military trials-especially are not ad-
mlssable on an appeal to the COM
mander-ln-chief. And section 172 of
regulations governing the National Guard
of California refers entirely to an appeal
to the officer ordering the court, and not
to an appeal to the commander-in-ch
the latter being regulated by section III,
which simply contemplates broad APP
peal for revision.
Colonel Russell also, on the 18th of
May, without waiting for official notif-
cation, availed himself of the right of
application to the commander-in-c
given to him by section 2,079 OF the po-
litical code, and ON that day forwarded
to the commander-in-chief an applica-
ton, asking him torevise and disapprove
the decision of the court-martial and
| General Dimond's approval thereof.
AS the ecommander-in-chi was at that
time absent from Sacramento, it seems
/ that the paper did not reach him at
once, and that it came to your hands. as
his adjutant ON the Goth of Nav. You
endorsed upon the paper, appeal of
Colonel w. II. H. Russell from findings
and sentence of general court-martial. :"
This endorsement is incorrect, as the
proceeding was not an appeal.
On the same day you returned the
paper to Colonel Russell, with an en-
dorsement as follows:
Respectfully returned to Colonel w.
H. IL. Russell, to be made official bv
forwarding through the military chan
mel, as required by 355 and 362 regu-
"latlons governing the National Guard
''of California. Official notice cannot be
taken OF unofficial papers"
Though we are satisfied that sections
355 and 362 have no application what
ever to either an appeal to the comman-
der-ln-chief or to an application to him
Tor revision, yet we thought we would
advise Colonel Russell to comply with
your technical requirements, as he
wished the action of the commander-in.
chief in the matter, and was not par
ticular through what medium the appli.
cation reached him. Accordingly, an.
other application to the commander-in
chief was prepared, and was handed tc
Brigadier General Johnson, received his
endorsement on the 29th of MAY, anC
was received by General Dimond. anC
endorsed by him, on June I'd, 1890. ere
spectfully forwarded, disapproved. ,
Where does he find the law authoriz
ing him to pass upon this application tc
the commander-in-chief, either in an
proval or disapproval?)
On June Sd this paper was received
by you and endorsed as follows:
Respectfully returned, disapproved
for the reason that it does not appear
ito have been made within the twent,
days required by law"
The paper reached Colonel Russell
through the military channel" on Tn,
9TH of June
Here again we find you usurping tn,
province of the commander-in-chief ant
assuming to pronounce Judgment on ;
point OF vital Importance to Colonel Rus
a- fn yl,o@l H.. II