The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-09-28
THE CARTER CASE.


pealtO the Attorney General for
Judicial Clearing ofthe Charges.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Sept. 27.-At-
tnruey General Grlsgs to-day gave
hearing to Hon. Wayne MaCveagh.
counsel In the court martial case Of
Captain o. II. Carter. of the army. Mr..
AIacVeagh asked for q judicial hearing
In the case, saying that II the President
amryned the proceedings he would be
guilty of an act of great cruelty and
wrong. The record was, he contended'
50 saturated with errors Of law that It
is impossible In the country governed
by law to affirm the finding.
Before proceeding with his argument
proper he corrected what he designated
as ERRONEOUS reports concerning the
case. The first of these to which he
gave his attention was statement
that Secretary Alger had allowed the
attorneys for Captain Carter to take
away and keep possession Of the record
in the case. This was, me said, abso-
luteiy untrue. The counsel for the ae-
cused had never seen the original re-
cord and had received no favOrs. 1t
Jyas also false that the representatives
az Captaln Carter had impOrtuned the
President in the captains behalf. ON
the contrary, the only pressure brought
to bear upon the President was from
the other side for the affirmation OF the
finding. He reclted eleven instances Oh
what he termed positive inventions re-
tailed to the correspondents OF the
newspapers during the past eighteen
months. Sooner or later he expected to
reveal the authors OF these representa-
tions and expose their motives and then
to hold somebody responsible for prov
ing their truth. He had thought OF
asking the new secretary Of war TO
siRnHlize his entrance upon his duties
by posting this notice over the doors OF
two Of the divisions Of the department:
'srSo falsehoods shall be disseminated
from this office during office hours" Mr..
MacVeaRh also denied that the finding
of the court had been unanimous, not
withstanding he said the war depart
ment had 80 stated.
In asking that the court martial Ver-
dict be set aside Mr.. MacVeagh urged
the unfitness Of such a court, composed
Of men unframed in the law, to deal
with questions such as those involved
CA6Es AlG uENA9A9h9 Va 9AS%- -
court have no validity and carry no
weight. The findings were based on
tumble OF incongruouS and discordant
charges, ranging from embezlement
and deceit in the smallest matters to
charges Of conspiracy Of immense
magnitude.
torney general, Mr.. hacVengh admit
ted that no objection to the misJoinder
Of charges had made IN the court mar
tinl. Mr. Griggs suggested that the OBJ
lection should have been made at that
time, adding that he was expressing
no opinion upon the merits Of the points
at issue.
Continuing. Mr.. Macveagh said that
only a fair trial was asked and fair
trial could not be had upon such col"
lection Of charges as had been made IN
this case. Mr.. MacVeagh also dwelt
upon the point that the charges were
brought notwithstanding the statute Of
Limitations. He COntended that the
f1agrunt violation Of this act OF Con-
gress was sufficient to vitiate the pro-
ceedlng. He had no doubt that Capt.
Carter WAS convicted from the time he
placed this statute before the court,
but this was done under advice and
was at least legitimate. With reference
to the checks Issued by captain carter
Mr.. MacVeagh contended that he could
not under the law, avoid their Issuance.
The sama was true OF every act per-
formed by him In this connections; not
one act was optional. Speaking Of the
high prices paid for services by Capt.
Carter, Mr.. MacVeagh said there were
paid on lettings after advertising;
hence the profits of the contractors
were not legitimate evidence against
the officer in charge. Moreover in
many instances the prices paid were
no higher than those paid for similar
service by other officers In like cases.