The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-10-19
No Bayonet Rule for America.

1t may not be generally known that the
gress, at the late session, saved the coun-
try the peril of having on its statute
books a law hardly less vicious than the
force bill. But such is the fact. And Red
field Proctor, senator from Vermont, is re-
sponsible for the attempt 70 place such a
law there. Proctor went into the Senate
upon the resignation of Senator Edmunds.
He entered upon his legislative duties fresh
from tbs administrative councils of Presi-
dent Harrison, and he was eager for bayonet
and military rule. That he did not succeed
would have exalted military power over the
civil powers Of the country is due solely to
the democrats of the House
The bill referred 20 was nomiu ally a
measure proposing some technical changes
in the arts of war. The first part OF 1t
related merely to penalties TO be imposed
on soldiers who sold or csrelessly lost equip
ments furnished by the government, and the
latter part only proposed changes in certain
technicalities Of procedure. But the
evil in the proposed leisiatlon was
contained in an article neatly sandwiched
in the body of the bill by Senator Proctor, as
an amendment, in such manner as to
attract the least possible attention. And
this was the article, numbered So: That
general oourt.nartial shall have the power
to punish summarily FOR contempt Of Its
authority such acts as would be punishable
summarily by the highest civil court Of
criminal jurisdiction Of the state, territory
or district in hich the court-martisl may
sit II committed in contempt Of It's au-
thority; provided, that the punishment Of
contempt of court by civilian shall not
exceed confinement for three months, or
fine OF s1OO and confinement until paid"
Had bill containing such an article be-
come law, the result would have been that
the personal liberty and private property of
any citizen would have been subject TO the
arbitrary acts Of a military court wholly
irresponsible to any other authority, aud
with no restraint upon its powers. The oiti-
zen who might incur the displeasure of
such military court could, without the right
of appeal, counsel or hearing, be fined and,
upon the non payment OF the fine, cast into
prison and kept there for an indefinite
length Of time.
This Ubiquitous measure was railroaded
through the Senate by Proctor without at
tracing much attention. 1t was under a
title that would seem TO indicate a harmless
military bill. which, with the so-called
senatorial courtesy" that prevails among
members of that body, possibly put the
democratic senator's Off their guard.
But when it reached the House it struck
a rock. Chairman Cultivate, of the mill
tary committee, which examined it criti-
cally aud discovered the insidious charac-
ter Of article SO, made a report recommend
ing that the article be stricken out. This
section OF the BILL" said his report, "pro-
vides for the punishment by impeachment
of civilians for failure to testify before
courts-martisl, which powers, in the opin-
ion Of this committee, should not be vested
in courts Of a strictly military nature. It is
the general policy of this government not
to submit civilians TO the authority of army
regulations. Where offenses are committed
by soldiers in violation Of civil laws there
is a civil recourse which might be resorted
to, and the testimony of civilian witnesses
could thus be had. Where the offense of
the soldier is only against army regulations
it is questionable whether circumstances
will arise of sufficient Importance to justify
the imprisonment OF civilian for refusing
to testify before a court-martial.
The House. Of course, sustained the re-
port, and when the bill went back to the
Senate Senator Proctor, seeing that the at
tempt to fasten military rule on the people
had been discovered and would lead to q
discussion in which his party could hardly
afford to take sides against the democratic
position. soquIesced in the striking out of
article &C.
The st. Louis Republic thus comments
upon Senator Proctor's bold attempt upon
the rights of citizens: stopping, as he did,
directly from the cabinet Of the President
to the floor Of the Senate, il lie a fair pre-
sumption that in the bill presented by him
Senator Proctor reflected the Presidents
views. That such twins as tine force bill
and the Proctor amendment did not get on
the statute books the country may thank
the democrats in congress"