The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-11-10
COURTS MARTIAL.
GERMANY's REMARKABLE IN
N0vATION IN THE MATTER. /
Introduction of the Element OF
Civil Law Into Her Military
Jurisprudence.

Ignorance of the elementary pr1ncl-
pies of law on the part of the offlcers
who composed the court martial that
convicted Alfred Dreyfus of the crime
of treason in 1894 has had the result of
plunging the whole of France into one
of the most hideous scandals of the
nineteenth century, a scandal which
has been a source of greater harm to
the nation than the disastrous war OF
1870 and here in the United States
some of the leading lawyers OF the
country say that similar disregard OF
the simplest rules OF evidence would De
responsible for a gross miscarriage OF
Justice in the case of Captain carter
We're the President to yield to the pres
sure brought to bear upon him TO ratify
the verdict of the court martial which
declared that officer guilty OF vast
frauds at the expense of the Govern
ment Moreover, during the court mar
tia1 that has been in session at Rennes
for several weeks the proceedings nave
been characterized by such an extra
ordinary failure to observe any of the
statutory provisions relating to the ad-
mission of testimony that the ordinary
citizen, accustomed only to the pro-
cedure of civil and criminal courts,
finds himself completely at loss to I'M
derstand the rules of its President. Col.
Jouaust, and quite naturally taxes
him not merely with unfairness to the
prisoner, but with a partially toward
the latters foes that is almost criminal
in it's character.
If, however, military men are ignorant
of even the elements of those laws which
have been devised for the protection
of the citizen, be he soldier, sailor or
civilian, a similar ignorance may be
said to prevail outside the pale of the
military and naval professions concern
ing court martials, and under the cir
cumstances few brief notes on the
subject may prove of timely interest
all the more as Germany, whose pre-
eminence in military matters is uni
verSally recognized, has recently in
augurated some very remarkable rules
for the guidance of these particular
tribunals No greater mistake can be
made than to imagine that there is any
contradiction between the rules regu-
lating the procedure of courts martial
and the ordinary laws of the land, and
neither in France nor in the United
y
any warrant whatever for disregarding
the statutory provisions regulating the
admission of evidence. 1t must be
thoroughly understood that the funda-
mental basis of the jurisdiction exer-
cised by courts martial is the ordinary
law of the land, and if the civil and
criminal procedure is modified in Ques-
lions of detail and in minor particulars
lf1o rrr, Of hn
so-called articles of war, and likewise
because the army and navy do not care
to lose sight entirely of the fact that
courts martial have taken the place
of the oldtime courts of chivalry, and
as such are called upon to determine
questions not merely of law, but also
of honor But the predominant feature
OF the courts martial of the present
day is a strict observance of the Ordin-
airy laws of the land in conducting the
trial. the idea being that these laws
have been devised for the particular
purpose of protecting the citizens from
any abuse of authority.
Probably this view will be questioned
by some military readers, but in re-
Spouse to any arguments that they
may bring to the contrary their atten-
ton should be called to the very re-
markable laws which have just been
put in force in Germany in connection
with the procedure of military and
naval tribunals. If there is one country
in the world which one would be in
clined to consider disposed to favor the
military at the expense of the civilian
element lit is assuredly Germany. And
yet the main object of the new legisla-
tion on the subject-legislation devised
by the Kaiser in person and by the War
Department at Berlin--is the prevention
of any miscarriage of military justice
resulting from the ignoranc of common
law on the part of the members of the
court martial. And there is such a de-
sire to act fairly toward the offender
manifested in these new laws bearing
the signature of Emperor William that
they deserve careful consideration on
the part of the military authorities of
the United States with a view to their
adoption.
CIVILIAN JUDGES OF MILITARY
COURTS.
Starting out with the idea that the
average officer of the army and navy
possesses no knowledge whatever of
ordinary legal procedure and the pro-
visions of the civil and criminal code
the German Government has organized
what may be described as a judicial
division of the War Department. Its
members are not officers, although they
rank as such. They are members OF
------"-