The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1901-07-26
TRUTH TO BE KNOWN.

1nOu7 ~ De NJ
The announcement that Admiral
Schley has decided to ask for a court
to investigate the conduct Of the battle
of Santiago harbor comes as a well
come bit Of news from the national
capital. The only matter of surprise
is that something of the kind has not
been demanded by him or his friends
long ago. Had this been done as soon
as the unfortunate controversy arose
between himself and Admiral Sampson
the country would have been spared
much annoyance and all the feeling
which has grown out Of it would prob
ably have been avoided. The real
merits of the cas- will now be made
known and the matter will probably
be settled for all time, unless it should
happen that another Fitzjohn Porter
incident will grow out Of the affair.
The fact that Schley has taken the
the matter, as it must be accepted as
first steps argues well for his side of
proof Of his belief that he has been
unjustly treated by his superiors, al
though %evincing a commendable de.
sire from the inception Of the affair
to allow it to die out and silently suf-
fer the disgrace which it has been
sought to place upon him. Had it
not been for the action Of the man
Maclay, who is the author of an al
lodged history of the United States
navy, in villifying and t%raducing him
to a degree more scandalous than ever
any irresponsible hack writer sought
to scandalize and SANDER the object Of
his venom, it is doubtful whether
Schley would have ever paid any more
attention to mouthings of those op-
posed to him than he has since the
beginning Of the trouble. But when
attacked in the manner that Maclay
saw fit to attack him and hold him up
to the scorn of future generations, he
decided that the time had arrived
when he must seek to vindicate him
self and clear his name Of the stain
sought to be placed upon it by his
enemies.
The country Is satisfied that justice
will be done to all concerned in the
case, for the high standing Of the
men who will compose the court is
sufficient guarantee Of the fairness of
the findings that will be returned and
of the impartiality of the investigation.
If Schley has been misrepresented by
Sampson and the others who are now
looked upon by the majority of the
people Of the country as his enemies,
the truth should be known. If, on the
other hand, the charges they have
made against him can be borne out
by unimpeachable evidence this fact
should also be known. While feeling
seems to be with Schley, the high
esteem and favor in which he is held
by a majority of the people Of the
nation will not prevent acceptance of
a verdict against him by the court of
inquiry which he has demanded should
that verdict be justified by the proper
proof and If he did indeed act in the
cowardly hammer charged against him
the popularity which is his now will
speedily take the form Of contempt
and Of an intensity as great as the re-
gard and admiration that Is cherished
for him now However, the country
has but little fear that its idol will
be shattered and also believes that he
will have the satisfaction Of securing
the redress he ia he will seek in a
civil court as soon, as the naval court
shall have returned its verdict.