The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-30
DECLARE CARTER INNOCENT
ruIyEyT ESGINEHRs hsSIIb COURT
NtRTIAL's FINDINGS.

HnNt
, Tboy Say That tho Works Under
III, direction Were Both Economically
- slilifuIly Carried to Completion.
:, A.,,,s ,ppar,nt t Yesterday that the friends
.,C,nt Oberln NJ Carter. who Is at present
dar CON yiction by court-mnrtial on charges
=, dotroudinE the Government out OF a large
am, NJ money. while experimenting the i'm
royement. to savannah harbor. are about TO
be,,n n vigorous campaign in mis- behali. since
hi. conviction Capt. Carter has constantly re-
,,soJ N make any statements about his case.
oor, IN iterate his innocence. His position
an or,cer in the United states Army makes
=. i,,o.sible for him to enter into any con-
,,oversy on the matter. particularly at this
tima when the sentence OF the court
vhich tried him is before the President for
.onsideration. These were some OF the rea-
sons for his silence given by friends OF the
accused officer yesterday. These friends init
mat. that when his counsel. Wayne MacVeagh.
rsturns from Europe on Monday the real fight
for Cant Carter will begin. Mr.. Ma,Veash
n-.parsd the brief in Capt. Carter's case. the
,ubstance OF which was printed In THE SUN
y..tsrday. and 1t Is limited that he has baen
..ted to make staten ent giving the facts OF
an alleged conspiracy against Capt. Carter.
b.csuse OF his attitude some years ago on
matter OF international importance.
A.a preliminary 70 the efforts In Capt. Car
tsr's behalf his friends made public yesterday
four statements. all OF which they say came to
them unsolicited The first one Is from George
Wisner OF Detroit. a member OF the United
states Deep Water Way Commission and
director in the American society Oh oiVl Enei-
peerp. II 10 as follows:
81 went to Savannah to make an exhaustive
examination OF Capt. Carter's works. From
what had read in the papers 1 was some
what prejudced against his conduct OF them.
but after q thorough examination OF tho
rscords, OF the works in the place. their
cost ana the results obtained. know abso-
htely that the works under his charge wero
honestly executed. and that he is entirely inno-
cant OF the charges on which he was tried by
the court martial.
In the frst place. no charge was ever made
that any OF Capt Carter's funds were missing
or that the contractors were ever paid one
penny more than called for by the work per-
formed by them. The widely published alle-
cation as to embezZlement arose solely from
the fact that. technically. any money paid out
for work not done in exact accordance with
the spscihcations ola contract 10 deemed to he
embezzled. the prosecution claiming that while
the quantities paid for were actually those OF
the contracts, tho specifications OF those con-
tracts were improperly interpreted by Capt.
Carter. and that the money paid out. therefore,
was technically embezzled.
Tho overwhelming evidence at the trial
from such mon as Con. Craighill. ex-Chef OF
Engineers. Gen. Ludlow Major Mahan. Major
Handbury Major Marshall, Major Willard,
Major Rossel .Capts. Townsend and
Rees Of the Army Engineers. as we'll
as from all the eminent civilian
engineers. was that Capt. Carter's work was
done In exact accordance with the speciaca-
tons OF his contracts. Capt Carter's specifica-
A. l.
other engineering districts. notably in the
Rock Island District. whore they were
used by Col. A. Mackenzie. who 10 now
the Acting Chief Of Engineers. and
where work exactly similar to that done by
Capt Carter is still being done under them.
Capt Carter's works were advertised as re-
quired by law. tho contracts were let to the
lowest bidder at prices lower than the average
OF prices for similar work from the Capes OF the
Chesapeake to the Rio Grande River: his works
were successfully completed below the origin
ally estluated cost. being the only instance on
the Atlantic coast where such results have
been obtained.
Not one penny was ever lost to the United
States. but on the contrary. Capt. Carters
skilliul conduct Of the work at Savannah alone
resulted in saving over 81 900. 00Oto the Gov
ernment
III 1t can be claimed that the United States
has been defrauded where Capt, Carter exc
cuted successfully and below the estimates OF
the army engineers work for millions Of dol
lars less than similar work has cost elsewhere.
what must be said of tho records Of the other
members OF the Corps Of Engineers who have
expended millions Of dollars more than the
original estimates and whose works are still
incomplete and unsuccessful
Tho misleading nterpre tation put upon the
anaoinnotinpa nd raaulto ~ n md NJ
nations by the prosecution was sufficient Of
itself to render their whole contention I'M
worthy OF consideration II Capt Carter can
be found guilty on such evidence as was adj
duced At his trial. then any engineer in Amer
lea can be convicted OF any charge whatever
from tho records OF his own office when such
records are used by unsorupuous enemies.
Regarding the published statements that
Capt. Carter was found guilty OF fraud by a
board of three members OF his own corps and
that tho verdict OF the court martial against
him was unanimous. it can be said with
certainty that neither statement Is true.
So far as I know. no able. disinterested en-
Rineer. either civilian or member OF Capt. Car
tors own corps. however much prejudced
against Capt Carter. has ever examined his
work without becoming fully convinced Of his
innocence
THE President is fully justified in taking his
own time to examine the vast mass OF mis-
leading testimony given In this case. that he
mny protect his high Office and not be dra-
gooned into condemning an innocent man who
has never had a fair trial"
The following is the statement OF Capt, Our
ts Med. Townsend of the United States En-
gineer Corps, now at Rock Island. ILL.,:
i am to-day accepting. under specifications
similar to the ones in Capt. Carter's contracts
material almost identical with that which went
into the Savannah works My fasoines are
made OF brush, with the leaves and twiRs re-
naming on them: they are bound with one
strand Of tarred rope. commonly known as
lath yarn. though the specifications say tarred
rope and tholr binding is not unreasonabl
tight. am putting In multiple mai
whenever 1t Is considered necessary. anG
am leaving out all the intermediate
poles; not the half with which Capt
Carter was charged. I have let $4,000
worth OF work on fifteen day proposals
have sent one specification to bidders anc