St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-22
WAS 4 HOT AFFAIR
THE MEETING OF BATTERY q
AT THE ARMORY LAST
NIGHT.
COOL COUNSEL OVERRULER
AND RESOLUTIONS PASSED THAI
MEAN THE DEATH OF THE
BATTERY
CAPTAIN-ELEcT KELLY RULES
And by n Vote of Thirteen tn
Twelve Has His Way-Commit-
tee to Wait on Governor,

nlSflI AT the afInOry was a rdIner not
affair. It finally broke up in a dis
agreement of the members, and the
old-time battery was split in twain
and all chances of q, peaceful ad-
justrnent are practically at an end,
If ST. Paul has a battery in the fu-
ture, it will be a new organization.
There were but twenty-five of the
sixty members present, and the
small ma jority of one vote succeeded
in doing that which plainly puts the
organization outside the pale of rec
ognition Of the military authorities
of the state of Minnesota.
In vain did the cooler heads of the
battery try to stem the tide and
counsel moderation and caution. The
meeting wound up as an affair de-
voted to the cause of captain-elect
Kelly, who came prepared for the
emergency. 1t was no longer a Ques-
ton of seeing the battery reinstated
upon its own merits, but the supports
ers of Kelly went so far as to de-
the adjutant general, which seems
to be a bone of contention.
When the meeting convened the
committee appointed at a previous
meeting to wait upon the governor,
Of which Sergeant Wallace was
chairman, made its report. Mr.. Wal
lace stated that the committee had
seen the governor and had presented
the petition of the battery to him,
but that the governor had desired
them to see the adjutant general on
the matter. The committee had
done SO, and Gen. Muehlberg had
informed him that the battery could
be reinstated if it would select three
good men as officers, who should be
acceptable to all, that Kelly should
forego his rights to a commission
and that Lieut.. Allen should resign.
Sergeant Rooch said that the adju-
tant general had written out his
propositions under which the battery
might be reinstated, and among
these was. the demand that the Off
GERS all tender their resi- gnations.
This was as fellows: THE battery
must be reorganized under a new
regime, that is, it must reorganize
under an entirely new set of officers.
The late officers as well as Sergeant
Kelly mus. step aside and out. Se4
lect for your officers men of cflarac-
ter, fitness and respeotability, hand
their names to Major Libbey, who
will forward them through the reg
ular military channels, and if satis-
fn nfn -
difficulty in reinstating the battery"
Then came a desultory discussion
OF the subpject. Mr. Wallace sug.
gested thar the battery proceed to
elect three new officers. This would
be the only thing for it to do.
Kelly replied that so far he had not
signed any document as demanded
by the adjutant general and he
wished to know what disposition
was to be made of him. CORPORAL
Bisbie held that the battery at pres
ent was not a military organization
and that there was no need for any
one to sign any designations Kelly,
however, stood pat and refused to-
comply with any such summary dis
missal from even the rank and file
of the service. He had prepared a
set of resolutions and an address to
the governor, which he desired to
read, and permission being granted,
he read the following:
THE RESOLUTIONS.
To His Excellency, David NJ. CIougb.
Governor Of the State of Minnesota.
Battery A. First battalion artillery
\. q. ). M, stationed at st. Paul,
mas been IN the honorable service OF
thls state for about fifteen years. and
mas always borne excellent character.
Ihat these conditions still exist is
conclusiyely shown by the files of the
aa9qlutant generals office of the state of
ton of 1885, made by Lieut.. A. B..
Johnson, U S. A, appointed to such
duty by the honorable the secretarN
OF war, Lieut.. johnson certified to the
adJutant general of the state that he
found the condition of battery A VERY
good in matters of drill, discipline.
efflciency of its officers, condition of
uniforms and equipments, records. re-
ports and files, attendance at drills.
and IN all respects said report was es-
pecfaliy complimentary to the mons
commissioned officers and privates i'm
said command.
Thereafter Capt. W. J. Murphy re.
signed the service. and the command
devolved upon Lieut. Allen. UndeS
MS command the battery reported for
duty and did service in ali respectS
satisfactory (as will appear from the
official reports now in the adjutanH
generals office at the. encampmenI
held at Camp Lakeview in July last.
While in camp, and pursuant to or
ders, and in conformity to section
ils, laws OF this state. the battery
held an election to fill the vacancy oc4
casioned by. Capt. Murphy's resigna-
ton. At this election, in all respects
properly conducted, First Sergeant
Kelly was elected captain Sergeant
Kelly thereafter reported before, the
examining board appointed by law,
lhed TO be captain of the battery. His
commission was duly recommended by
all his superior officers having legal
cognizance of such matters. All these
matters were duly, and according to
military rules and practices, reported
Under the facts and the law the caps
tain-elect was entitled to be commis-
stoned, and the battery, entitled to the
officer 1t had chosen; but the adiutant
general, without. any legal or just ex-
; euse; without any charge having
elect, or, if any has been preferred,
without daring to bring him to trial
thereon, arbitrarily refused to issue
said commission, but did Issue, upoTz
his own motion, MS now famous Spe-
cial Order No. 6, assuming to muster
men of the battery. Your excellence
has doubtless read 1t: If not it can
be easily obtained.
1t requires no argument to show that
this order is absolutely without war
rant of law, entirely unjust to sixty
faithful soldiers of the state. prejudi-
ciel to the integrity of the National
Guard and subyersiVe of all discipline.