The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1902-01-02

L
Schley and General Miles are to
have a conference and agree up
on some joint action. As mat
ter of military law Admiral Schley
has no further step to take, ex-
cept a formal appeal to the presi-
dent, which, of course, is entirely
useless, as Mr.. Roosevelt per-
soually Endorsed the finding of
Secretary Long. General Miles
has the right, if he sees fit, to ask
for a court of inquiry. He can
demand this as right. and the
president probably would be only
too glad to order the converting
of the court.
The difficulty is that the presi-
dent himself personally censured
General Miles, and SO. If
the court of inquiry exonerated
the acknowledgement, it would
be forced by inference to COZ
denim the president, which is OF
of the question. because the coin
mander-in-chief could not pos
sibly be made the de dart in a
military court necessarily com
posed of his own subordlnates.
1t Is believed t h t General
Miles will break out somewhere,
but he court of inquiry. convened
by the president, who censured
him. would have to be reviewed
by the presidentas well, and such
a proceeding could hardly exist
anywhere outside of a comic
opera.
In addition to his censure
of General Miles the president
has let the fact become positively
known that, so far as he is con-
cerned, he proposes to consider
the Schley case at an end.
Ordinarily he would censure
Lieutenant Hobson and Rear Ad-
mirals Belknap and Brown. be-
cause of the interviews they gave
out, taking sides in the Schley
case. Each of them has been
asked unofficially to affirm or de-
ny the interviews credited to
them. If they admit the correct
r.ess of these interviews they will
be warned and informally GEN.
sured. 1t is not the presen, in
tention to make any such censure
public, and it may not go further
than a friendly and personal tip
warning them of the impr opriety
of their course.
The principal object of the
chief executive is TO put a stop TO
the Schley controversy so far as
he himself can do so. With this
end in view he will see to it that
Maclay is discharged from the
service at once. The civil SER
vice gives each employe of the
government a specified time in
which to accept or decline an in
vitation to resign. The secretary
of the navy has been instructed,
and, in tact, commanded, to dis
charge Maclay at once.
Having stopped this hole, the
president proposes, it is said, to
prevent revival of the contro-
versy in congress as far he can
do so. That is to say, he has
given it out that he will veto any
resolution or act of congress pro
posing to revive the grade of vice
admiral for Schley or to give him
the thanks of congress, or in any
other way to recognize Schley by
statute. In taking this position,
the president is not Influenced in
any way by his own personal
feelings in the matter. but mere
~ by his desire to put an end to
a disturbance which has scan
dalized both the army and the
navy.
An investigation by congress
into the finding of the naval court
of inquiry canpot be prevented
by any executive action, but it is
quite we'll understood that the
president desires the whole mat
ter to be dropped just where it is
There is one exception to this
rule. Neither the president nor
the administration will do any
thing at all to prevent Admiral
Schley bringing a suit for libel