The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-10-31
THE GROWTH OF EMPIRE
Steps by Which Liberties Are
Wrested From the People.

fnsf,itous Degrees by Which Military
Rs.Se Is Being Fastened Upon Citi-
! zeps cf the United States-Men May
! Re Imprisoned AZ the Discre-
I tIou of the Secretary of the Navy.
! 4.--l.1 z ormsby, who has large
T,aa5e q seafaring clients and who is
il:> o.-,ay %. persons in Porto Rico, Cuba,
aud ttts Philippines with, claims under the
! Spanish treaty, has practical knowledge.
> an5 his experience as commissioned
icer In the Navy, Of imperialistic posi-
hI1Ities. IN an interview yesterday he
said:
Much a. Imperialism has been talked
| of, few people realize how easy are the
steps TO suhjecting the people of the Unit
ed States to i military empire ruled over
! by the constitutional head or general Of
| the Army or Navy, as marked out in the
acts of Republican Congresses, the opin-
ions OF Republican Attorneys General, the
decisions of Republican judges. and par
| ticularly the rulings Of Republican Presi-
I dents and their subordinate heads of de-
= ..
/ that in 1862 carved the first persuasive
step in the shape of what is now Article
:, Section 1924, CT the Revised Statutes Of
the United States. This enactment plaus-
IDLY reads: All persons who in time OF
war or rebellion against the supreme au-
/ thority of tho United States endeavor to
/ corrupt any person in the Navy to betray
his trust, shall suffer death or such other
| punishment as court-martial shall
Judge
This subjects to arrest by military
! process and trial by naval court-martiai
| all persons in the navy or out OF it, who
| may be merely charged, be it understood.
! with an endeaVCT. however Indirect, TO
corrupt any person in the Navy to betray
his trust For example, LEI there be war
| between the United States and Cuba or
some Indian tribe; rebellion by the Sioux.
the Samoan, or the Philippine Islanders,
with any possible speech against the in
! iquity of that war, and publisher and
speaker become amenable 10 military pro-
cedure, on the allegation that such utter
ance tends TO corrupt commanders in the
| Navy 10 betray their trust to unnerve
| them in the execution of duty The num-
Der of DIRECTORS to this policy Of the I'D
ninistTation may be a very large proper
tion of the population of the United States
| However many they may be, if their az
ton in the alleged opinion of the Com
Lndnd6T- iu-CnieI OF the navy the IFSSl-
dent, tends TO corrupt any person in the
| Navy to hetray his trust all may be put
! by military process under military rule.
| How. and for how long?
In the first place. let it not be thought
that the power TO imprison a citizen by
the military is unconstitutional. War
must be net with war; and who are fight
ing with the enemy must be decided by
the discretion OF the military leaders
against the enemy. This very suggestion
was made in the Republican Washington
Evening Star" Now, how long are the
citizens of this country, over whom i'm
ponds a military empire liable to be ar
rested and imprisoned by that empire ?
Is notice gtyeE. of the accusation on which
one is held in arrest and in jeopardy of
death? One would think so from Article
| 43 Section 1924, Revised Statutes, which
| enjoins that the person arrested shall be
furnished with a true copy Of the charge
against him when put under arrest. and
limiting the jeopardy Of his trial to such
charges
THE Republican Secretary of the Navy,
! however in d recent letter to one of the
members of the Republican Naticnal Com
| mittee for 1900 announces that the Re-
publican Attorney General of the last Re-
, | publican Administration advised that this
, | statute should be construed as meaning
that there should be two successive ar
rests. that a person should be arrested il
|, | his cell just before being taken TO court
and that then only should he be informed
of the accusation against him. This dec
Iaration, that Congress in the stern and
serious business of war, on July II, 1862
stopped to enact the idle formality OF tive
arrests, was denied by the Attorney Gen
. erals Democratic predecessor IN state
ment in which he expressly said that this
enactment was intended to provide
against the accused being taken by sur
, prise The Republican claim CT today is
[ that they have a right to take imprisoned
/ seamen by SURPRISE Thus the first steI
in the direction of dictatorship is The
: right of military arrests of all persons
: the second, continuing such arrest OF
'lettres de cachet' Withholding precise
t information of the charges until trial
The third is 10 change the rule of speedy
trials into one of Indefinitely delayed tri-
| ais. This admits OF dangerous representa-
tives OF Democracy being shut up 'ad libi-
TIM and it hGs been attempted to be ac-
ton by no less crime than forgery of iu-
+ dicial records. LonP ago the Democratic
Attorney General Gushing. said of what i!
now Article 10, Section 1924 Revised Stat.
. utes. that this Article 45 was enacted il
the spirit of the Sixth Amendment to tn.
. Constitution. requiring a speedy trial fo
al under the American Government.
This Article 45 among other things re
quires eourt-martial to have continuous
daily sessions; and civil judicial rules com
pei : court-martial to record the fact tina
| il has complied with the statute rules TO