The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-26
COURTS OF HONOR.
The Curse of the Continental Code.

The Curse of the Continental Code.
From the New York Tribune.
The congress of the German mobiles, at
the annual meeting just a week ago. enact
ed that 1t should no longer be regarded as
a brand of dishonor for notfeman to de-
cline to duel, if the grounds of his refusal
were honorable This may be considered
as a step in the right direction, yet 1t is
doubtful whether it will contribute in any
way to check or arrest the mania for duel
ling which is raging at the present mo-
ment throughout the length and breadth
of Europe. The means decided upon by the
convention as a remedy, namely, the or
ganization of courts of honor for the reg
ulation of differences hitherto settled by
single combat, already exists in the case
of the army, and, far from diminishing
has, on the contrary had the effect of in
creasing their frequency.
These military courts of honor, compos-
ed of officers belonging as far as possible
to the regiments to which the disputants
belong, were first established by old En-
peror William, who, unlike his grandson,
was sincerely honest in his endeavors to
diminish duelling, and he decreed that no
fight should be permitted to take place
until the point at issue had been submitted
to the court. and the latter, after due de-
liberation, had decided whether the mat
ter was one of sufficient Importance 10 war
rant a meeting on the field of honor.
One of the first things which, however.
the present emperor did after ascending
the throne was to deliver speech at one
of the universities lauding the system of
the duello, and pronouncing it one of the
most cherished Institutions of the educa-
tional. and incidentally Of the social, sys-
tenn of Germany. This speech gave a
tremendous flip to duelling, and served
to undo all the good that had been effected
in the direction of its abolition by the old
emperors pronounced aversion to the GUS
tom. A few months later the minister
of war OF Bavaria, Gen, Won Asch, was
encouraged by these imperial utterances
to declare in the national legislature at
Munich that under no circumstances could
duelling be done away with In the army:
or the so-called code of honor modified;
this, too, in spite of the fact that duel
ling is strictly forbidden by the criminal
code of Bavaria, as well as in any other
country OF Europe About the same time
Baron Won Bauer declared in the Reich
srath at Vienna that the condition of So
ciety' did not permit of the abolition OF
encounters of this kind in the army, while
his colleague, Baron Feverjary minister
of war for Hungary, possibly with a view
of demonstrating how cordially he ap-
proved Gen. Won Bauer's remark, chai-
lenged deputy who had denounced in
the Diet the frequency of duellng in the
army, and fought him with sabers in the
garrison church at Pesth on a Sunday an
hour after the close of divine service, the
marble floor of the sacred edifce bein.
nate legislator, who was badly wounded
II may be added, by the way, that Baron
Fever1ary is still in Office.
These courts of honor, which have been
adopted in the armies of every continent
tai country in Europe, have entirely lost
sight of the object for which they We're
originally created, and have in recent
years developed into a means of promot-
ing the frequency of the duello instead
of diminishing it. That is to say. thew
constantly order duels TO be fought in
cases where, If the matter had been left
10 the care of conscientious and trustwor-
thy seconds. the point al issue could have
been easily settled without any combat
taking place. Indeed. these courts an
pear 10 have usurped inquiqsitorial prerog-
atives of an almost increditahle character
and actually 20 out OF the way to seek
In the private lives OF officers IN active
service and even on the retired list for
points which could be construed as az
fecting their honor. Inasmuch as almost
every well-to~dO German OF any education
IN the army with the rank Of aficer Of