The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-05-16
STEVENS CHANCE.
Plume Court of Inquiry to
Hear the Hoboken Col
onel's Charges.
GOVERNOR WERTs SO ORDERS
Hearing Last Night-General Plume
Says He Reluctantly Issued
General Orders No. 8.

lu6 INJURY lutO IL AcOt kd1llc1ViOA Va SAN
First Brigade of the National Guard by
General Plume was continued last night at
the board room of the Fourth Regiment on
Newark avenue. Brigadier General Spen-
Ger aud Generals Representatives,, Meany and
Van Cleef, composing the Court of Inquiry,
were present, as was also Colonel Bernard of
Newark, and Colonel Abernethy of this city.
General Plume was accompanied by Judge
Stevens, as attorney, Counsellor Coult being
absent. Adjutant O'Toole of Hoboken, the
private secretary of Colonel Stevens, was an
interested listener. General Stryker was
present, but left early after giving some
little testimony.
Two important features of the hearing
were the announcement that Governor Werts
would tomorrow issue supplemental orders
ordering the Court to consider charge No. IL,
which was stricken out at the last hearing,
and which caused Colonel Stevens to with
draw, and the statement OF General Plume
that he issued General Orders No. 8 very
reluctantly.
The frst business transacted was the testi-
mony Of General Stryker that Major jack
sons election took place May %, 1893, a year
after the reorganization, and his commission
issued June Is, 1893. This testimony
completed the answer to charge Nos, II
went to prove that Jackson, as Plume
c~ontended, has been q member of a %lnutinous
company.
General Order No. 3, which was in refer
ence to acquisitions for clothing. having been
questioned, General Plume explained that
his attention had been called to the fact that
a different system of distributing clothing
would be muchJ,nore economical. Talked over
A. ~-,+L Az C4,&a hfs1;+nnD n vI
and everything done was agreed to by all.
He further said that the order was issued
December l6, 1891, long before the CONSOLE
dation of the regiment.
A CAD CoMMANDANT.
Consideration Of Section G Of Charge No.
10 was then taken up. The section reads:-
cat the time of tho election of field
officers of the First Regiment, after the or
ganization. the brigade was in command of
Captain Alfred Williams, OF the First Regi-
ment, the senior captain of the brigade. who
was by law authorized and entitled to issue
orders for such election, but that in disre-
gard of the rights of said Williams, Major
General Plume issued the orders for said
election, and the same was held under and
by virtue thereof
In answer General Plume said all the
field officers had, at the time, been retired.
CAPTAIN Williams, being the senior captain,
was the officer placed temporarily in charge
of the brigade. He was not the command
ant of the brigade. Had there been a riot
at the time, and the First Brigade been or
dered out, he would have ordered a colonel
to take charge of the brigade. When Colonel
Campbell was placed in charge of the brigade
last summer at Sea Grit, owing to General
Wauser's illness, he was only the temporary
c-ommandant.
The law governing the State Military
Board states that brigade commandments
shall be er-o6icio members of the State
Military Board.
General Plume here called General
Stryker, and, in effect, asked the following,
the questions being leading, and to which
General Stryker answered Automatically,
namely, that O discussion had taken place
at a meeting of the State Military Board,
on the subject of whether an officer tenn
porarily commanding a brigade could be
considered a brigade commandant. The de-
cision was that such temporary officer was
not a brigade ~commandant, and had no
right to sit at a meeting of the State Board.
Captain Williams was captain OF Company
D of the First Regiment, and temporary
c~ommandant only of the brigade. He had
no right to issue orders.
COMPANY LETTERS.
Section d of charge No. IL was then taken
up. 1t is as ~follows:--
In the assignments of letters to the com
panies IF the new organizations, seniority
was disl sgarded, and fol- companies OF the
old Second Regiment, whose officers were
senior to companies holding like letters in
the old Fourth Regiment, were deprived OF
their letters by general order No. 10, datea
June 10, 1890, issued by the like command OF
Maier-General Joseph w. Plume.
sThe charge is SO ridiculous" said Cen
eral Plume, "that / scarcely know how to
reply to it.n He said there was no organiza-
ton in the world today where companies
were lettered according SO the rank OF the
captains. 1t was obvious such a system
died, what theng In assigning the letters he
had tried to make as few changes as posi-
BILE. The change of letters involved a great
expense, and this he provided against.
3 PLuME'S STATEMENT.
Charge 13 was then read as follows
Major-General Joseph w; Plume used and
abused the influence and power OF his posi-
ton to elect Colonel Edward A. Campbell to
the office Of Brigadier-General and endeav-
ored to influence the votes OF myself and
other officers in favor of Colonel Campbell,
entered into combination with Lieutenant
Colonel Snyder and others for this purpose
of securing votes for Colonel Campbell;
formed and changed the consolidation OF
the organization and caused the election to
be hold by officers wholly under his control
for the purpose of making and securing votes
for Colonel Campbell, and this at various
times between March IL, 1892, and August,
1892.
1t was suggested that as the prosecution
had been dropped it was not necessary for
General Plume to answer. He, however, did
make answer to part, but failed to make
reference to the election accusation
Formed and changed the consolidation OF
the organization, y read General Plume twoor
three times. Then continuing he said that
he thought the documentary evidence intro
duced showed why Order No. 7 had been
issued, and also No. o, and thst not another
word was necessary. The testimony proves
the organization was not changed for any
Interior motives.
II want to say right here,"' said General
Plume, that ! issued Order No. . with