The age-herald., 1898-11-01
TO SET ASIDE
 CARTER's SENTENCE
BY ARCHIBALD W. BUTT

BY ARCHIBALD w. BUTT
 Washington, October sO.-(Special. )--Ths Carter courtmartial case has gone to the president Which ever way the case is de- cided, it will have an important bearing on the morale of the army. The army, and especially the engineer corps, want to see Captain Garter convicted. He has already been convicted, but there is considerable anxiety lest the sentence of the judge ad- vocate-general will not be approved Back of Captain Carter is some of the most powerful social and political influence in this country. Secretary Alger has already been staggered under it, and now 1t threat ems to upset the sense of justice of the white house.
 Chief among those who are urging the president to overrule the sentence is that wiliest of all political intriguers, Senator Platt It is understood that he has gotten Ex-Senator Edmunds to declare that the proceedings were illegal, or at least not entirely straight, and that justice demands that the findings be set aside. The presi- dent is very much worried as to what to do. Should he overrule the findings of the court there is no doubt but that the engl- neer corps would be seriously injured there- by. For a long time the civil engineers of this country have claimed that the army engineers are, if not incompetent, at least behind the times in their profession, and that the government loses on its contracts This opinion has been held by large num- Der of congressman in every house. and congress has threatened often to authorize that army contracts be put up to bidders; that war contracts should be given to the public through the system of bids. Un- less justice is meted out in this case the engineer corps will suffer. There Is al- ready a belief prevailing that the army hides it's misdemeanors, and that the engi- neer corps especially conceals the weak nesses of It's members. This is not true in the case under discussion. Perhaps the in- timation was always unjust but whatever the engineer corps has done in the past, it is certainly anxious that Captain Carter should be dismissed from the army There is no doubt whatever that the sentence, as 1t now stands includes dismissal from the army, term of years in the penitentiary and the placarding of the dismissal at the home of the offender
 It Is the tragical ending of a romantic and remarkable career. Born of humble and obscure parents, Captain Carter pass- ed through the various stages of his life until he became pet of the government he has robbed, the social favorite of metro- politan society, and connected by marriage to some of the most important families in New York The government had heaped every honor 1t could on him, had trusted him with the most responsible biets in his line and had summoned him home from the court of St. James to bestow further dattering positions upon him, when he summarily called before the judge-advocate to answer the charge of swindling and rob- bery.
 His youth seems to be yelled in obscuri- ty. Even his most intimate friends have but hay idea of his early surroundings. It is stated by those who have known him longest that his father was cobbler or something of that sort; that he made West Point through competitive examination, and the same brlliancy that won him the appointment placed him in the first rank of his class at the military academy. He graduated with the highest honors, and from the moment of his graduation was marked for distinction in his profession
 His trial lasted four months, and every influence known to the rich and influential club men of New York was brought to bear upon General Lieber to shift the case and sidetrack the testimony. He not only has northern influence but the cities in which he has lived in the south refused, to be- lieve in his guilt, and did much to shield him. The men of Savannah, which city suffered most by his disposition to falsify accounts and dispose unlawfully of govern ment funds, pooh-poohed the idea that Oberlin Carter was corrupt. He had the same backing in Augusta, which was fur ther up the Savannah river. The men who had known him here from the first ex- pressed implicit faith in him. The only persons who doubted him from the first were the men or HIS own corps III the drITy. As soon as the charges were preferred three engineers of unquestioned ability made an examination. Before they had hardly begun to look into the case they astonished all concerned by declaration that the charges were well founded and could be substantiated.
 The court which tried Captain Carter was composed of men of the highest standing. Colonel Claus, the professor of military law at West Point was at the head of the court when it opened, but he afterwards retired because he was interfered with in his work by politicians and men holding high offices in the government. The other members have been dogged and harassed by Carter's friends. and the wonder Is that they had the courage to go through with the work As long as the casewas in the judge advocate-general's office nothing was known as to the findings but as soon as it was laid upon the desk of Secretary Alger 1t became public property, and then the friends of the accused and convicted began to use their influence to sidetrack justice.
 There is intense feeling here over the case It will hurt President Mckinley and injure his reputation should he mitigate the sentence The case is being watched with deep interest, but by no one with the same interest and anxiety as by the epei- neers of the army, to whom the decision means so much.