The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-05
RlNKERS WON'T TESTIFY.
-rp MARTIAL FAILS TO
clHErr DESIRED ACCOUNTS.

,...rc. tho Witncssc. In Contempt but
g, No Power 10 Punish TheH-SudEr-Ad-
hn' ur,r.. ndlgnntion-some financial
'-.,to,, or CAPT. Cnrtcr's Fnthcr-in-LNw.
~, ,hc trial Of Capt. oberlin NJ. Carter OF
rs,jrccr CORPS OF tho United states Army,
nc yo. continued before n court martial
Nn. ma. at the Army building, the refusal OF
'oss,hc- OF BANKERS and brokers to give tes-
- was the most interesting feature OF the
'"..oainps. The court was unable TO punish
W. ~, for contempt, ard finally Col. Barr, the
LOO. Advocate, said Indignantly:
"I cannot rcprcss my Indignation. Here Is n
-, .rnoiptci by the Secretary OF war OF tho
,",,,d states. which has tho power to adj
". cven the death penalty. and which has
-. .u.r ~ send the accused to the pcnitentiary,
"a 20, when We try to bring before this au'
N., court the testimony upon which 1t shoulc
gu' 4. form n propcr Judgment. we arc lmpo.
,.r, That men occupying high positions in
~. should refuse to give the court their
,.lr coward arriving at the truth seems TO mo
ne.p s,,, and vet when we try to force them
>" a,,,,Ige those matters Of which they have
.D.w,cdgs We fail utterly, for. although we
80, have them adjudgcd in contempt. by the
u.,,,o of an Attorney. General OF the United
States, we are lh'o'"''" '""' "
70 punish th'm' c,u ..,
A.. ,sIkips for the array OF counsel represent
Wv ran, carter, jumped TO his feet as soon as
81 Psrr had finished and protested holly
.s.,r.t the coupling of his clients name with
~. n.niten,iary. Col. Barr explained that he
IA uscd the words together only by way Of
mrstrating the power of the court. -.
mTbs nroceedings began with the recalling Of
,,.is,ant United states Treasurer Conrad \.
Jordan to the witness stand py noi. t'arr' oa aae
W drawn upon the United states Treasury by
c.nt. Carter TO the order OF Arson Nj. bangs
.nS Maid by the Sub.Treasury here through the
s nv Exchange National Bank, upon an
1nSorsement which expert Carvalho declared
vas an Imitation of Mr.. BanEs's signature writ
,.n nv ey.Capt. H.. ID. Greene. This check, it
yen AZ was first sent. to tho s~ub-Treasury for
Collection and returned unpaid because the in.
Sorssment was written with an IN" instead OF
~ M" for the initial OF the middle name.
Tbe check went back to the American Exchange
National Bank. whose cashier wrote upon it q
guarantee of the signatures In Endorsement.
Then the check was paid by the Sub-Treasury.
Had you known that the signature 'Anson
N Hangs was not written by Mr.. Bangs, would
You still have paid the checkf' asked the Judge
NO, Sir" said Mr.. Jordan. Nor would I
authority to make the signature
Then demanded, Mr.. Blair, i'll cross,eKam.
Tben YOU paid that check"
in ignorance | did" said Mr.. Jordan.
"But. continued Mr.. Blair, "did.not the guar.
sptee Of the American Exchange Bank OF the
renuineness of the signatures protect you and
he Treasury from any possible loss upon the
Eyes" said Mr.. Jordan after a moment of
thought. .
the Knickerbocker Trust Company, was the
next witness. lie had been summoned to pro-
ducet the books and papers OF the company which
contained accounts with b. d. Greene. He de-
clined to do so.
II have been advised by counsel" he said.
mot to reveal any of the business Of our clients
without their consent He added he had ap-
piled 10 Mr.. Greene tor consent, but he knew
The request had not yet reached Mr.. Greene.
and the Executive Committee of tho Trust
Company, had the matter OF producing the pa
pers still under consideration. Perhaps he
might produce them on Tuesday, he said.
Is your declination of to-day based runda-
mentally upon the advice of your counsel. that
this court has no power to punish for con-
Tempt, asked Col Barr.
"Nay t please the Court" said Col. Barr. "un-
fortunately this court has no power to punish
for contempt, but it has tho power to adjudge
in contempt, ami ! ask the court to SO order
concerning this witness
The court 20 orders" said Gen. Otis, the
President. 1T regards this witness in con-
tempt but i has no " to punish"
Dum0nt Clark, President OF the American
Exchange Bank, was called next. but he proved
not 10 know anything regarding the payment
Of tho check and he was followed by Edward
Burns, cashier Of the bank. The substance of
burns's testimony was that he did not remem-
Der anything about his Endorsement of the
check. Mr.. Burns had been ~subp9naed to
bring papers and books with him. He did not
bring them and said he mad no intention of
doing So and he, too. was adjudged in con-
The last witness was William H. Flagg of the
Grm OF Reed Il Flagg. brokers in Wall street.
He% produced a copy OF he only account. he said.
that his books contained in Capt. Carriers
name, and the entry of this account in that
name, he declared. was a mistake. 1t should
have been entered in the name of Robert +.
Westcott., Capt. Carriers father-in-law. The
6ccount showed that on Oct. s. 8 and 10, 1895.
Gapt. Carter employed the firm to buy 400
shates OF Delaware, Lackawanna and Western
STOCK and 100 shares of Delaware and Hudson
s ,S at a cost OF S6o.2s3.67. The stock was
pia lot IN three payments of $4,000. $4,000
ana VI .2s3.67 on the three dates mentioned,
ahd Mr; flagg SAID the $4,000 was paid in
CASH. lie testified that he knew the transac-
SOns we're for MIR. Westcott's account; that
capt. Carter held a power of attorney from Mr..
Mestcott and that he had made many other
transactions for him.
Gould you ascertain from your books what
ggrcnases had been made by Capt. Carter for
mr. M%esIGotts account asked Col. Barr.
! could, but | should decline to answer. 1
nave been advised by Mr.. Wcstcott's attorney
not p give such Information"
ND you ever buy or sell for him any Empire
company stocki'
! never did, but l should decline to answer
mere Mr., Flagg was declared to be In con-
:, mmR. put he was permitted to say in answer
~ an. blair,s questions that he did not know
se seen one of them in his life to kno " him
Tna never even knew OF the existence # the
HHapIe and Atlantic companies until recently.
= Shafe OF their stocks.
Monday. un'A vi