Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-11-07
.L[NLY CLOSES CAS[
The Judge Advocate Addresses
Court in the schley In
quiry Case.
Answers Argument OF Rayner
and Parker in Behalf Of
Admiral.
SIMPSONS Request to Have Ger
tain Remarks Stricken from
Record Denied.

/ Washington, Nov. Judge Advocate
Lemly today made the concluding ar
gument in the Schley court of in
quiry. There was no forenoon session
! of the court and the judge advocate
did not begin his address until 2 o'clock.
| He read from manuscript and spoke in
! clear and distinct tones. The first half
of his address was devoted to con-
sideration of points made by Rayner
/ and Parker in Schley's behalf and the
| latter half to general review from
| the government point of view of the
evidence.
l The court declined to grant the re-
Iq0 st made yesterday by Attorney
Tneall, asking for Sampson that tho
remarks of Parker concerning the fact
| that the Colon lay in the harbor of
Santiago for some hours after arrival
there of Sampson, be stricken from
the record.
| Capt. Lemly said in part:
In entering upon my duties as judge
advocate, had in mind the advice Civ
len me by the secretary of the navy
soon after my appointment, as follows:
4
perfectly impartial court is constituted.
The judge advocate and counsel assist
ling are not in court to prosecute any
body nor find anybody guilty. but to
bring out facts and aid the court in
declaring the truth have endeavored
to follow this advice without fear or
favor. If had appeared to have failed
| in maintaining that impartial attitude
which l feel and have always felt to-
wards the applicant, 1t is because OF
aggression, however natural, ON the
part of opposing counsel. And for the
further reason that, in many instances
| thruout the investigation an honest diff
ference of opinion has compelled me
to be earnestly contentious in order
to adduce what / believed to be ma
terial facts. deem 1t not inappropri-
ate that l should here remark that the
navy department, in this matter, has
maintained an entirely neutral atti-
Itude: l have not been interferred with
| by it in my conduct of the case; am
confident the evidence adduced fully
I justified the views of the department,
set forth in its reply February s, SO,
| to the senate committee on naval al
! fairs where in its said of Schley, re-
ferring particularly to the naval bat
tie of July 3: Where SO much was
achieved in this eliminating battle,
where his ship was such q conspicuous
force in the fight, his conduct while
| in independent command prior to June
III, the record of which has been given
above, which by reason of it's unsteadi-
ness In purpose and in push and in fall
ure to obey orders did not meet the
IapprovaI Of the president and the de-
partment, was not yet permitted to
stand in the way of his nomination for
promotion to higher grade for the
part he took in the final triumph"
| Lemly then said the voluminous evi
dence had been so fully treated in all
Its bearings it was not his purpose to
enter upon detailed discussion. He
briefly referred to various incidents OF
the campaign in the controversy, his
deduction being in keeping with the
specifications of the precept and the
contentious of the government counsel,
as brought out during the inquiry
| Speaking of the retrograde movement
Lemly said the step had been underta-
ken without sufficient or decisive steps
being taken to ascertain whether the
Spanish fleet was actually in the har-
Dor Of Santiago, leaving the mouth of
the harbor unmatched and Cervera free
to escape, with the possibility of his
making a descent upon our coast, the
moral, to say nothing of the material
effect of which it is impossible to over
estimate" Continuing he said: 1T mat
tiers not what Sigsbee or the pilot told
Schley. If Nunez exhibited then no
- tlx,
court the information he supplied
should have been given little weight.
Whatever the opinion they may have
given the commodore as to the pres
ence of the Spanish squadron in the
harbor of Santiago (and ! believe the
captain never said the Sapnish fleet was
not therein) the Commodore alone was
responsible for the retrograde move
ment. 1t was his duty to ascertain to
certainty whether the Spanish ships
were in the harbor, an obligation which
no negative information of Sigsbee's
could remove or even modify, and 1T is
inconceivable that the positive state
ment as to the contents of harbor of
the well known conformation of Santi-
ago could have been made by Sigsbee."
The details of the retrograde move
ment We're rehearsed as were those con-
cerning the delivery of the dispatches
by the Harvard and the proffer of
Lieut.. Beae to go ashore and commun-
icate with the Cuba insurgents. Lem
ly contended that the dispatch convey
ing the positive information of the pres
ence of the Spaniards must have been
delivered to Schley, notwithstanding his
denial. because he considered it, ncon-
ceivable that having it Cotton should
have been consulted as to its contents
by the commodore Here Lemly quoted
in full Schley's Can not obey orders"
dispatch to the department and COM
mented upon it, saying: Whether the
departments instructions definitely di-
rected, in positive. terms, that the
squadron remain off Santiago, or
whether It's desire that this should be
done was simply indicated, appears to
me, under all circumstances to be Inn
| material. Disobedience of orders may
be an Imperative and glorious duty. but
| ii it be not justified by the facts IT can
not be condoned by terming 1t as an
error of Judgment. 1t was an error OF
conduct"
Referring to the testimony Of Schley