The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-22
CARTER CASE NEAR AN END.
ATTORNEY GENERAL GRIGGS PRE-.
PLRING HIS OPINION ON IT.

WAsHINoToN. Aug. PA decision by the
Attorney. General IN the case OF Capt. obsrlin
NJ. Carter Ia looked for within o very short
time. Attorney General Griggs has concluded
his exhaustive review OF the case and 10 now
preparing his opinion. He has spent consider
able time In reading tho reply OF Col. Thomas
y. Barr. the Assistant Judge Advocate Gen.
eral Of the Army. who had charge Of the trial Of
Capt Carter. Col. Bars brief 10 q severe ar
rsiRnmont OF the convicted man. 1t is address
ed to Attorney General GriEes. and says In
opening:
Tho argument Of counsel appears to be
largely devoted to the dement's Of the Judge
Advocate OF the court N atrial rather than to
the merits OF the case. Its discourteous cal
umniatory character 10 such a. TO demand
specific condemnation and such condemnation
II shall receive with O refutation OF ito un-
truthful statements.
I'm the introductory remarks OF counsel II 10
recited that the members composing a court
martial are necessarily not learned In the law.
nor accustomed 10 weigh evidence 1t 10 diff
ncult to comprehend such o didactic state
ment 1t 10 not possible to conceive OF class
OF men more competent to Judge OF the weight
and credibillty OF testimony than educated
army Officers OF mature years. The court APP
pointed by the President for the trial OF Oapt.
Carter was composed OF thirteen members,
oil officers Of high rank and advanced
years. The President OF the court Ia a
trained lawyer as well as o tneuiahod SOL
der. more intelligent. conscientious and
attentive court martial never sat In this or any
other country. 1t 10 giving the Judge Advo-
cate credit for greater powers OF persuasion
than he or any other of1eer possesses 10 assert
that he could lead such court into errUr OF
Judgment. even had such q desire actuated
him. The ability OF the members OF the court
to form correct judgment will DO considered
further on.
1T is alleged on page OF the brief chat the
judge Advocate rendered In evidence letter
known as the Cooper letter. and after the court
had ruled II out he again offered 1t at a subse-
quent stage In the trial. and urged upon the
court that its admission was legal and proper.
and the court was at last persuaded to allow
this paper to be filed with the record as sub
stantial part Of the evidence This 10 true. and
Il 10 also true that the way for the legal admis-
sion OF this letter was paved BY the counsel for
tho defence in the cross-eIamination Of
Cooper
1t is complained on the other hand. that
when letter from Il. = Westcott to the accused
was offered In evidence by the defense theJ Judge
Advocate strsnuously objected to It's introduce
ton for practically the same reasons which
were urged by tho counsel for the accused
against the ad mission OF the Cooper letter. and
the court. yielding again to the influence OF his
position as adviser OF the court. ruled It out
In other words. q letter 10 letter. There can
be no differentiation between them. The
statement that the objection OF the Judge
Advocate to the admission Of the West
colt letter was based upon the same
grounds urged by the counsel for defense
against the admission OF tho Cooper letter is
doceivlng. The facts OF record disprove 1t.
Cooper was In tho hands OF counsel for cross
examination. Westcott was alive and could
come before the court. make his statements
under oath. and submit to the test Of cross
examination. That was the ground OF the
Judge Advocates objection. and his contention
was properly sustained By the court as q SIM
liar condition would have elected like ruling
from any civil court in the land"
Replying further to charges against the
Judge Advocate. Col. Barr says:
The case under consideration Is without a
parallel in the history OF courts martial in our
Army or in any other. The allegations touch
ing tho incom potency OF the memb ers OF the
court martial and their lack Of knowledge Of
business Is like the wall OF an infant. II would
not be possible IN civil courts to secure Jury
Of like special fitness to determine the issues
which were submitted for their judgment"
Referring to Witness sterly he remarks:
He was the instrument in transmitting ac-
counts for merchandise into pay rolls for per-
sonnl labor. He was tho disburser OF the Tile
gal 'slush funds created By the accused and
under his direction. He was intrusted with
the secret cipher code OF the accused for use in
teleGraphic correspondence. To sum up. their
relations were OF the moat con adential charac-
ter. In whose hands Is It reasonable to sup
pose that this witness was 'plastic2'"
In summing up the facts In the case Col.
Barr adds:
THE following is o brief summary OF the
OF tho prosecution and what 1t
endeavored to establish before the Court and
which. It Is confidently asserted. 1t did sstab-
lish.
1t is claimed that Capt. Carter. almost from
the first OF his long tour OF duty in Savannah.
was In collision with D. D. Greene and John F.
Gaynor. and others. to dsfraud the Govern
ment by managing so that they would get as
many contracts as possible the specifications
OF which were to be so loosely drawn as to
put all possible power into the hands OF the
engineer officsr. so that large profits could be
made; or. II an outsider got a contract,
he could be subjected to totally different treat
mont and thoroughly discouraged from try
ing 1t again. 1t was the belief and theory Of
the prosecution that In carrying out this plan
things were arranged so that the shortest pos
sible period should elapse between public
knowledge OF the proposed work and the
opening OF bids: that while sall the forms OF
the law should apparently be observed. every
possible unobtrusive obstacle should be put
In the way OF prospective bidders; that
persistent ones should be bought on by the
Gaynors. or given minor subcontracts whose
execution should be made as uncomfortable
as possible II there was any chance Of their be-
ing future bidders; that the authorities at
Washington should be kept In the dark as to
the fact that one concern was getting all the
contracts by letting them In the names Of
relatives or Of employees Of the Atlantic Con-
tracing Company or. which was the Same
thing. to the firm OF Greene l. Gaynor. or. In
the theory on the prosecution. to tho frm
OF Greene. Gaynor 4 Carter: that In the
execution OF their contracts. whenever
Greene d Gaynor were the contractors, the
loosely drawn specifications were interpreted In
the loosest possible way. using invariably the
cheapest materials that could possibly be per-
mttcd by any Interpretation OF the specleaa-
tons; and that whom an outsider got a con-
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