Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-17
ONLY A PRIVATE
But Petitioners Think Gill Entitled
to Justice
ALTHOUGH NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. STRAPS
Comparing His Sentence With
Those Given Officers.
IN MR.. LAMoNT's HANDS

| The petition to the President for modi-
fcation of the sentence of Private Gill,
| who BACKED the eyes of Lieut. Birkhimer
| and knocked him down in the arsenal, and
| was sentenced to four years in the peni-
| Tertiary, has been forwarded to Secretary
of War Lamont
The petition was sent to Mr.. Lamont by
| an official high in the counsels Of the ad-
| ministration, whose influence. 1t is ex-
pected, will at least. insure the serious con-
sideration Of the case at the hands of the
Secretary. This official acted in a private
capacity in forwarding the petition, taking
care not to place himself in a position Of
an interferer in the affairs of the War De-
partment
1t has been stated that the Birkhimer-
| Gill case is being reviewed by the War
Department, but this action is not result
of the protests against the injustice of
Gill's sentence. In the case Of every SEN
tencc of a court-marttal the proceedings
are reviewed by various officers of the War
Department until it finally comes before
the Secretary for final action. This system
| of review is generally of perfunctory
character, seldom causing any friction ex-
cept in cases Of officers who have been
sentenced and who have enlisted their mil
itary friends to intercede in their behalf.
OF course, a private is without the advan-
tage of influence near the throne and If
there has been no dissension in the court
| martial there is little doubt that each Of
the successive reviews will result In an APP
prevail of the findings.
The Petition Sent to the Secretary.
The petition forwarded to Secretary La
| mont last evening was for the purpose Of
preparing The Secretary for the Birk-
himer-Gill case, When 1t should reach him,
and acquaint him with the fact that many
people believe Gilis sentence to have been
excessive and unjust. There were just
fifty signatures attached to this petition.
all of them representing men who at one
time or another have been subordinate TO
Lieut. Birkhimer, and who claim that they
were treated in an ungen;lemanly, bull
doing and dictatorial way by him. The
signers Of the petition are not all IN the
service of the government, but they IN
many instances are men prominent in the
business life Of Washington.
Leaders in the movement to have Pri-
waite Gils sentence modified were surpris-
ed at the result of the publication Of their
petition in The Star last evening. The re-
suit " as that many protests were received
from men who knew Birkhi1ner and his
style of manners, saying they thought they
were sighted in not being given the priv
ilege Of attestlng to their knowledge of
| Birkhimer. These men are scattered
through the government departments or are
engaged in private business here, but at one
time or another in their career they have
come in contact with Birkhimer. In order
against an execution of the full sentence
gwen Gill these men have clipped the pc
titiOn from The Star and. pasting it on
blank Sheets have passed 1t around. This,
it Is said. has been done in number Of
| instances, and the additional petitions SO
secured will in due time be sent to Mr..
Lamont.
GllPs Counsel.
When the Secretary of War considers
| Gilrs case he will look into the charge that
the counsel for Gill was a mere convenience
in the hands of Birkhimer, that he volun-
teered his services to Gill merely to betray
| him by advising that he plead guilty with
out having an explanation of the specially
aggravating circumstances under which
the fracas occurred. If the Secretary
should decide that the court-martial was
irregular Gill would be tried again. and II
that Is done he will be provided counsel
that can be trusted to conduct his case
with a view of his interests, and for this
| purpose number of subscriptions have al
| ready been offered. 1t is said that the
| business is to defend officers who are called
before courts-martial.
Not n Matter of Discipline.
ellis friends are anxious that it should
! not become generally believed that their
action is in an. way protest against hav-
/ ing strict discipline enforced in the con-
| duct of the army. They say that Birkai-
| mer could not be considered good disci-
plinarian because he showed his contempt
and hatred for all enlisted men so strongly
| that he really disorgcnized the service of
| the weather bures while he was connected
| with it, rather than increased Its efficiency.
Other officers who treated the enlisted men
| as equals and as gentlemen encouraged an
esprit du corps which did much to elevate
and improve the service. The enlisted men
work fas az
| skill and good education often wondered
why Brkhimer hated them so thoroughly,
as they say he did. They say that Birkhi-
| mer created feeling of terrorism and uE-
rest among the men that was extremely
| pretudicial to the service
| In protesting against the methods Of
Birkhimer they say they protest against
ruffianism and bullying in the army and
| not against discipline. They say that
while Birkhimer would bully the men
| under him and in his power he was willing
| to bend the subservient knee TO his SUI
periors if his convenience could be served
| by SO doing. They say that in order to
show true courage man should pick
quarrels with men who are in a position to
resent their acts and not with men serving
in a way that the slightest resentment
would bring down upon them the awful
consequences of military law. They say
| that Birkhimers attacks were always on
men placed by the law in his control and
consequently at his mercy.
The Secretary's own Precedent.
One reason that leads the men who ore
interesting themselves in Gill's case to hope
| that Secretary Lamont will take some
action looking to a recommendation to the
President for modification Of GilIs SEN
tence Is the recent reported action Of the
Secretary while on a western tour. 1t Is
related that at a military post presided
over by a martinez a man was observed
working in field near the fort chained to
an immense iron ball. Mr.. Lamont, it Is
said, wanted to know what court had con-
demned the man to be placed at work with
a chain on his leg. He could find no one
who would volunteer information, and
| finally inquired Of the commandant, who
| informed him that he had ordered the man
| to be so treated for some trifiing infringe
! ment of the discipline of the post. He said
that such punishment had become common
with him because of the precedent that
custom had furnished. It is SAID that Mr.
Lamont told the commandant to loose the
private at once, and to consider that the
precedent under which he had acted was
abolished, that such cruel treatment should
rot be resorted to and that the force of the
barracks would be sufficient to maintain
| order and discipline without resorting to
| such methods.
Two Kinds of Justice.