The San Francisco call., 1895-10-11
JUDGE BRADLEY RULES
That the Lieutenant-Ge
Act Was Arbitrary and
Tyrannical.
DISCHARGE OF THE PRISONER.
There Is No Article or War for the
Indlgnities Heaped Upon the
Retired Officer.

WASHINGTON, D. c., Oct. 1o.-Major
S. 6. A. Armes, the retired army officer ar
rested some days ago on the order of Lieu
tenant-General Schofeld, while acting as
Secretary of War, was discharged from
custody this morning in Judge Bradley's
court on the prisoners application for his
permanent discharge on writ of habeas
corpus.
The courts opinion was read from a
carefully prepared written copy and con-
cluded with vigorous denunciation of the
order of General Schofeld. The quiet
criticism of some army officers concerning
the method of the arrest was transformed
by the court into severe structures upon
the commanding officer, whose personal
feeling" was held to be the only occasion
for the arrest and confinement of Major
Armes.
From the order discharging Major
Armes, ]. n. Morrison of the judge-adyo-
cate generals staff, the attorney for the
Secretary of War, gave notice of an appeal.
Judge Bradley's conclusion was az follows !:
"Being of the opinion that the arrest
and taking of the prisoner into custody,
carrying him away from his home quarters
to barracks not his own and holding him
in close arrest without any antecedent
charge of crime preferred in any way
aga inst him, was and is unjust, unlawful,
arbitrary, tyrannical and capricious on the
part of General Schoield in whatever
capacity he acted, whether as lieutenant
general or as Secretary of War, and that
the prisoner is entitled to be discharged.
1t is SO ordered"
The opinion en- tered largely into a re-
view of the army regulations and the rela-
tive standing of retired and active officers.
OF the 1861 regulations only one imposed a
duty on a retired officer, that of notifying
the department of his address every month
1t was true that the President was COM
mander-in-ohief of the retired officers, and
the Secretary of War represented him in
that capacity, but this command was not
accompanied by burdening care or weighty
responsibility.
The return of the writ, made by Colonel
Closson, in whose custody the prisoner
was placed, showed that General Schofield
was acting Secretary of War at the time
Major Armes' letter was delivered to him,
and the delivery of the letter was claimed
to be an offense committed in his pres
enee. Whether this metaphysical problem
could be maintained was, Judge Bradley
said, not material.
The court dwelt for some time on the
fact that punishment for the offense COM
mitted by Major Armes-if any offense
had been committed-was either by repri-
mand or dismissal; and this being true, his
arrest and confinement did not seem to be
essential
The statements made in the letter deliv-
cred to General Schofeld contained some
grave charges, but If they were true, or if
Major Armes believed or thought they
were we'll founded, was it. the court asked.
a breach of military discipline for him to
complain or seek justice for what he felt to
be grievance? The army regulations
provided for the investigation of grievances
or alleged wrongful acts committed on an
officer or common soldier in the active ser.
vice; and could it be possible, continued
Judge Bradley, that retired officer en-
gagged in private business, could not COM
plain without being arrested and i'm
prisonedP Ii such were the case an unjust
discrimination existed that should early be
brought to the attention of Congress.
Judge Bradley referred to the regula-
tons covering arrests of officers, stipu-
lating that they should be simply notified
to repair to their quarters, and called at
tention to the violation of that regulation
in this case.
Although without the power to assign
him to duty said the court, "yet. the
petitioner, at his residence having no bar
racks, tent or quarters, in violation of
regulation 991, which prescripes the man
ner in which arrests may be imposed, and
in violation of the sixty-ffth article of
war, without the existence OF the slightest
necessity for either arrest or confinement,
or any occasion therefore except the graft
fication of q personal feeling, the peti
toner was taken into custody by an officer
with q file of soldiers and carried to the
Washington Barracks under the order
which required him to be held under close
arrest, under guard if necessary. If he
were liable at all for arrest and confine-
ment, the only arrest and confinement
that could be lawfully imposed would be
such as is prescribed by the articles of
war;"