Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-11-30

JUDGE BERGMAN GREEN,
CTo Serve on Investigating Committee0
judge-advocate. Mr.. Lockwood accepted
the office, but said ne thought the camp
might have done better He took the
chair of the first lieutenant commander
and Mr. Lecky took the floor. After the
charges had been read seriatim. Mr.
Folkes made his statement. which was
listened TO with rapt attention. He said:
FOLKES'S STATEMENT.
As to the specifications and charges pre-
ferTed against me, l would submit the
following facts, if upon which the strict
est construction is placed, one cannot ar
rive at the conclusion that | have been
guilty of any conduct unbecoming a
gentleman and comrade.' | am frank TO
admit that | have acted indiscreetly ana
unwisely. but can truly say that ii was not
my intention to do this camp any wrong,
or in any way to reflect upon its delbera-
tiOns. The errors that ! have made have
been Of the mind and not of the heart
After / shall have gone over the charges
which have been preferred against me, /
shall then throw myself upon the mercy
of this camp, and feel certain that you
will not refuse TO temper justice with
mercy. >,
ITO error Is human: TO forgive divine" i"
With reference to Specltlcaton NO. /,
which states that /, while commander
Of the camp, on the 30th day OF August
1897. gave TO a newspaper reporter, MT,
Clarence Werner, the original Mahood
resolutions against Massey contrary 10
the wish Of the camp: As wen as can
remember ! do not think that the camp
passed-any resolutions prohibiting a com
rade from giving the resolutions 70 the
papers but / am frank 10 ADMIT tnaI II
was the understanding among the mem
bers that they were not to be gwen o9t
As 10 whether Mr.. 6. Werner sWlped
the resolutions or whether gave lHehl
to him is a question OF memory DetWeen
myself and the Times reporter i must
acknowledge. however, that should nave
been very cautious in seeing that they
were not published or .sWlped' Whic1
| did not do, and l deeply regret thaI at. i
reporter from getting them, although
some of my comrades seemed 10 rejoice
that they were published. l deny that II
was any prearranged plan on my part, ior
/ am stili of the opinion that they were
"swiped." II would have been only d
matter Of time when the papers Woulu
have had them, and | cannot see why my
action in this connection should be 50
seVerelv criticised and condemned. l Ger
tainly would not have arranged any pan
whereby the Dispatch would have Deeh
deprived OF any news, as they nave al
ways been very kind 10 me-
ON THE HISTORY COMMITTEE.
With reference to Specification No. Q,
that | endeaVored to get on the History
Committee of the Grand Camp OF the
sons Of Veterans. In this connection per-
nit me TO say that Commander r.. /. COA,
If I remember correctly, said that ms
mind had been made up on thls point pe-
fore l had any conversation liaar,tni WIZ mn
which conversation was purely incldehlal
While il is true that / said TO MN thdt
would consider ii an honor, YET am PP,- Pel-
fectly satisfied that CommahdeT (oN
would not have appointed me SIMPLY pc
70 I.
appointed on the committee Octoper q,
iSG7 and resigned November s, 1897, before
| had attended any meeting, ana wiz saS
that during the time ! was on tne o,ler oOilr
rnittee | never attended meeting, never
voted and never said anything 10 any
comrade regarding their vote on the his
tory Committee. At the time wa ap
nointed on the committee n,u ~ .Sttot
ne matter much concern. Inc Iact 'iId, ,
as counsel for a publishing mouse my
dutv was inconsistent with that Oh
member Of the committee dlu hol ,nSIt 9 -,
cur 10 me; but after the mater ny tbot
broughf TO nv attention, thought tilht IN
~ US nossible that my intentions mIsIi'
ha misconstrued, and resigned beloIe az, a.
tending any meeting. regret M
that / should have ever peIInIt,.t.u ~ ~,
ranoa 70 go on the History Commlttee. IN
,Lis acted unwisely and indiscreetly,
but with no intention TO commit any
wrong. A. cbaroe that
concealed the fact Of my empl3}y,rhenv td.,
go, the Grand Commander, / VIII sly
.,,i I'm ioc,nversatjon lasted but a few MN,
,tae was purely incidental; but IL uiu
not occur to me in the light IN Whlch II
bos since occurred | mad not, given VI. the
matter proper consideration, puI IeOOs
nizinR my error. | resigned.
4 QUESTION OF MEMORY.
with reference to Specification NO. o.
nat aid swear falsely before the lnVes-
Lifting Committee that | did not ue-
liver the MahoOd resolutions TO MT. Wer-
ner. bat that 'in my opinion the sai9 grllS. re-
norter cwiped them" do not retire from
mis- posltion, that in my opinion nv ~
snlT s.nliii,,od Them" l do not remember giving
fbem 10 him at all. and IL is question OF I
memory between Mr. Werner ana nySeli
as 10 whether he did swtpe them; bu! b!
after the Times had gotteh the 49, n
on the Dispatch, Mr.. Duce, VINO was 10
Iave reported this meeting, saw me thS
nevt day after they were published anu
reouested that l make some sApIaha' a',Iti ~ u
Tor himself and Mr.. West (whO was t@he @
actinp~ city editor at that time) as 10 now
s,S q. Ih,,a'16nened that the Richmond Dispatch
eaiIed 10 get the resolutions. In that con-
,,ersation, being more than anxious 10 ue-
fand NV friends, MeSSrs Duce ana MtSl'
t'asore Colonel Chesterman, | did tell the
Coionel that Mr.. Werner swlped them.
TttS matter. as | have stated before, Is
= question of memory between MT. NeI :
neT and myself. / am guilty, however, Oh Oh
0..p,e,ined ~ win admit that l did not 90
ali IN my power TO keep the Times & onS, ana
an,ispatch from getting them, but deny
Disp"t. upas any prearranged plan that
M Werner should nays 5ssR aeem 9Ht to 6aRT haTs
II an iho,bi ON this line | am very sorry
som som I should have acted with indisere11
ton ion and lack Of proper thought wnen "a nxl
caIte" 20 him why his reporter had failed
' to get the resolutions my Se i6ea .re %as con, no
deIen44 ,,,th the paper, but summing up
nee,eJis nee fhe camp feels that II has been
sa1ggrieyed, hope my action VIII not ee
FOO severely dealt with
WHERE HE MET MIR. woMAcK
win reference TO Specification No. 6.
M.rain a. is charged that ! swore falsely
IN regard 70 the interview nS cay naq septemSar w,h Sr
sat Mas9qsa sasssre 10 say that Il Is utterly I'M
g.m noss,ble for me TO remember eyery, Incl, ,
aent connected with this analr. as l ha9
lcoNrINUED ON SECOND PACED