The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-06
Mr.. PARKER'S GUNS
SOUGHT TO BE BUILT UP
AGAINST ScHLEY
NAVAL LAWYER IS SARCASTIC
Department Wanted Decisive Ac-
tien, and the Fighting Admirars
Answer Was SCATTERING of
the Spanish Fleet.

WASHINGTON. Nov 5.-The time of
the Schley court of inquiry was entirely
devoted today to hearing arguments in
the case of Admiral Schley. Mr. Hanna
. finished his argument in behalf of the
department which had been begun yester-
day and Capt. James Parker began. but
did not conclude his presentatio of the
case for Admiral Schley. Mr.. Hanna to-
Cay considered the retrograde movement,
the bombardnaent of the Colon, and the
charge made against Admiral Schley OF
d1sobedience of orders. Capt. Parker had
only reached the closing question when
the court adjourned He defended the
conduct of his client at all stages of the
campaign so far as he went.
1t is expected that Capt Parker will
conclude his speech tomorrow, when Mr..
.Rayner will begin.
Capt. Parkers principal contention to-
day was that with the information given
him Commodore Schley had acted wisely
In turning back to Key West. whether
he acted wisely and his judgment was
sound is for you gentlemen of the court
to say, not with the information that has
come since, but with the light that the
commodore had at the time'
Referring to the testimony OF Capt.
Sigsbee Capt. Parker said it was not
necessary to impeaeh anybody's veracity,
but slippery memory after all these
years is a, very unsafe thing to go BY
he continued, "and the memory of four
or five persons as to what SigSbee said
is better than that of Sigsbee. l think
we can be sure that Sigsbee did say to
Commodore Schley when he came aboard
the Brooklyn, the Dons are not there .
Quoting from dispatch, Capt Parker
read:
Decisive Action Was Taken.
The department looks to you to ascer-
tain facts
Did not the commodore ascertain
facts?" he asked.
And that the enemy therein does not
leave without decisive action he con-
tinued, reading. We'll. was there not
decisive action?'' he asked. The poor
old Spanish admiral, with his flags flying
gaily at his mastheads on that Sunday
morning, and before O'Clock of that day
he saw his ships on the beach, burning,
blowing up and all destroyed. He came
on board the American ship without shoes
for his feet or hat for his head, in a
pair of drawers and an undershirt. v, as
this decisive action? Was there any
thing that was more decisive than that?''
There is doubt" he went on, from
one end to the other. There is nothing
positive There were. injunctions about
coaling but they cut no ice whatever.
for. coal, but I do not believe it was ever
contemplated he should have gone off 125
miles for 1t. So there is nothing positive
or mandatory in that Harvard dispatch.
Now I say that Commodore Schley
never had any orders. 1t was merely a
suggestion as to what he should do. He
was<to, find out il that squadron was
there, and to see that it did not leave
without a decisive action Even if true
hot 6a n nnr,1r11 tad tp,-Ac ar
rors of judgment, which I do not admit,
he had no motive but to do his whole
duty, as from the beginning he had al
ways done it--no more, no less"
Concluding his remarks for the day.
Capt. Parker said: THAT brings US to
discussion of the so-called reconnois-
sance, which 1 think can be summed up
in a very few words. We have had the
information of all the gentlemen who
were clothed with no responsibility in
the case, that they could and they would,
ETC. They could have gone in all of them
with all the ships, risked all and been
called fools for their pains. If they could
have come out successfully they might
have done something to the Colon which
was not done. They might have sunk her.
l do not think that is in the least i'm
probable. There is one little doubt about
this matter. We are permitted to go up
to the 1st of June, and we see by the
log of the Colon that she was there until
1920. At Z in the morning the comman-
der-in-chief. Admiral Sampson. came
there, and the Colon was pointed out to
him, and there she lay for three hours
and half without asgun being fired at
her. am not faultfng anybody for this.
The exercise Of the slightest judgment"
the speaker was saying, when the clock
struck A.