Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-11-30
IENIENT TO F0LKES.
The Sons COurt-Marllal HeedS his
Earnest Appeal Tor Mercy,
REDUCED TO RANKS AND SUSPENDED.
This Action Taken in Lieu Of EXpellinS
Him from the Camp.
,r PLEADS MITIGATING FACTS.
,hc Accused Makes n Long state
mont, Confesscs That lie Hes Done
wrong. and Asks His Comrades to
ueal NiercifuIIy With Him.

N- Minetree Folkes. the well-known
,...,rg lawyer and commander OF r. +.
. 81. camp. Sons Of Confederate veterans,
.,.-5ci guilty last night before a court
martial Of his comrades TO conduct un-
looming q gentleman and a comrade."
.c1 WAS reduced TO ranks, ordered to be
..-r.mandcd by the presiding officer Of
.,pe camp. and suspended from the or
s--rzauon for a period Of eighteen
months.
Thus was tho curtain rung down upon
.... final scene in the Sons OF Veterans
.,yestieation Of charges Of improper con-
.-.t made against the History Commit
... ~ the organization, and thus was
,f-. Folkes's plea for mercy, which no
,.-restly made Of his comrades. an
swered
The camp met last night, and resolving
t..f into o court-martial, received the
-.r,rt of its grand jury" committee, in
,.rf-b ON four counts out OF the six true
hills were rendered. To all of these
s,gr counts Mr. Folkes pleaded guilty,
and on a nth count the verdict Of the
court was guilty. The principal charge,
that Of bribery. was not sustained by the
--umittee. Mr.. Folkes pleaded not
nifty 10 IL. and the court sustained his
,lsa thereby generating him from this
,..n. but as TO the charges Of falsely
swearing and in an Illegal manner
giving out for publication resolutions
which the camp had ordered TO be held
irviolable, the accused pleaded guilty, and
threw himself upon the mercy Of the
court.
Afr. Folkes made a strong plea for
mercy He addressed his comrades, and
the great crowd Of spectators who were
gathered in Lee Camp Hall at some
length. and with great feeling, and with
,1gaI frankness admitted his transgres-
s.5ns and sued for forgiveness. His ap-
neal reached the hearts OF many Of those
who sat in Judgment upon him, and many
of those who had gone to the hall intent
uron voting for his expulsion decided
10 temper their justice with mercy, and
agreed upon the resolution, which was
adopted by a vote Of % TO p.
THE CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS.
The camp was opened with prayer by
the chaplain, Rev. James e. Cooke, and
after the usual routine business had been
disposed Of. Mr j. w. Lockwood, Jr.
chairman Of the Committee on Charges
arose and said:
Mr. President. As chairman of the com
lattice to which the charge and specih-
cations against Comrade Mineree Folkes
were referred for Investigation, l desire
on behalf Of my committee, to submit
few preliminary remarks in regard there,
To- bDpreciating the responsibility ana
Geicacy OF the duty assigned us, We hdNS
brought 10 the discharge of our duties
r-rSf,I and impartial discharge of the
same that the ends OF justice mlRnl pe
met Deeply conscious OF the lIHpoI 'dilCt
to the future welfare Of the camp llld'
1bia matter should be thoroughly sllleu,
and such action taken as the ENDS OF
ytistica demand we have not been uH.
mindful of the fact that In the lihidI Iiei .iti
discharge of our duties the same JustlCe
demands that the accused be given the
LsTIf+ 81 every reasonable doubt. There
fore with care and deliberatlOn we nave
scent hours in our study of the eVldehSc.
which seems 10 have been SO cdrei,ulIy
prepared ana relied upon 10 sustain uleSe
charges and specifications. 90,
The charge and specifications were 50
abIv prepared by the committee, CONSIDER
irq the brief time In which they accom-
rII1hal their work. that one not acCu-
f.f.iv familiar with all the evidence
v1uII az first sight naturally cohcluuS
that il would not be q dlihculJ tdsh LV - NJ -
euH1c.ent OF said evidence 70 susidLn III
frH the said charge and speclncduoHS,
Ne therefore. after a conscientious qls-
charge Of the duties assigned US, having
imp.rti4lly and thoroughly studleq an
tre evidence. have arrived at our decls-
ions which are embodied IN our iepoi|
which we trust will be accepted.
THE CONlMITTEE'S FINDINGS.
Mr. lockwood then submitted the re-
port. which is given in fun below, except
that the charge and specifications are
10. quoted twice. as is the case IN the
paper submitted by the committee:
Richm0uI Va. November p, 1870:
We. the committee ordered 10 lnNesu-
gate the charge and specifications against
Commander Mlnetree FOlkeS, after care
ful and thorough investigation or an lhe
evidence beg leave TO submit the lohO"
charge: We find that the charge that
the said Niinetrec FOlkes was guilty. OF
conduct uubecoming a gentleman ana d
C1wude' Is well founded.
Specification No !: We find that the said
Muetrec Folkes. while commander or TINS
camp. and on the Both day of August
l.I gave 20 a newspaper reporter, OIa-
fence Werner. the original MahOod reso-
Il,Iuus against Massey. contrary 10 the
wish " the camp. thus expressed, DuL
We DO not believe that the said Minetree
Foxes was solely responsible Tor delNeIy
Ot said resolutions. and such delivery was
made with no object or intent 10 delea'
same
Specification No. .: We find no conclu-
s.yg evidence convincing us that the said
MIleiree FOlkcs did receive the sum OF
81 tUr opposing on the floor Of this camp
tas MahOOd- Massey resolutions. There
l0re we find him not guiIty as charged
iA this specification.
s1ecidcation No. g: We find that the
sad Mnetree FOlkes did endeavOT 70 ana
procured appointment on the History
Committee of the Grand Camp, Sons OF
Confederate NctcTsn MS. while in the en-
lluy Of "a publishing company.
spechcatiOn No. 4: We find that the
said Miuelree FOlkes d!d conceal the fact
o. hIs said employment from the Grand
Commander, VINO held the power Of APP
ppirtment
speciucation No. 8: We ind that the said
Muetroe FOlkes Is not guilty as charged
In This specification. That the said
Mineiree FOXES did swear falsely before
the Investigating Committee that he had
not delivered the MahoOd-Massey resolu-
lions 10 Clarence Werner a reporter for
the Times newspaper but that in his
opinion the said reporter had 'swiped
Specification No. 6: We find that the
said Miuctree FOlkes "did swear falsely
before the Investigating Committee that
his Interview with Massey on the evening
Of the defeat OF the MahOOd Massey reso-
lutiOns. September g. 1897 was In a public
room I'm Mr. Massey's clearinghouse, and
lhat no other person was present az that
interview or on than occasion; whereas,
On the contrary. j. w. Womack well
known 10 be a representative OF the
American Book Company, was present in