The Savannah morning news., 1904-10-30

or was undated, and public criticism
| still unchecked. Not only the press
of our own state but the Northern and
Z Eastern newspapers and magazines
| had taken up the matter and were
/ driving you along like straw before
| the wind. When the report of the
| court of inquiry was filed in your Of
| flee, consisting of over four hundred
| typewriter pages of testimony, with
| out reading a line of the evidence, you
| Immediately ordered a general court
/ martial, and on the same afternoon,
| that the report was filed, the full MEM
| bership of the court was announced
| from your office, making perfectly
! manifest the fact that the order for
! the court-martial was already prepared
| and the personnel of the court already
! selected, and that you had merely
i awaited the formal filing of the report.
| Had you read the evidence. you would
F.. have found, not only that your troops
/: had performed their full duty, but that
| they had been victimized and betrayed.
] and that the ordering of a court-mar-
| tial would be an outrage.
| "COurt Martials Convene to Convict"
1.-THE court-martial was a peculiarly
| favorable agency placed in your hands
| by the law for victimizing others in
| attempting to vindicate yourself. 1t
| is automatic that courts-martial con-
| Vene TO convict his LTulSnn mas us
| justification in the fact that the mem
bership of the court-the whole jury,
| so to Speaks selected entirely by
| the prosecution, represented in this
case by yourself.
! THE defendant is allowed no
| Strikes contrary to the rule which
| prevails in civil courts. Even the
right to challenge for cause is so re-
| stricted by the military law as to be
| practically vaiueless. A bare majority
J of the court fixes the verdict and SEN
! tence, a unanimous finding not being
| required The minority is not even al
| lowed to file a dissenting report And
last Of all, the prosecution, represent
| ed in this case by yourself, acts as a
reviewing authority to approve or dis
approve the findings and sentence. 1t
| would be almost a miracle that any
| defendant should escape in such a
| court where the prosecution really de-
sired a conviction. Give me the power
| to select the membership of a court
| to try you, as conlmander-in-chief, for
| your management of this affair. and
1 can dismiss you from Office to-mor-
/ row in thirty minutes, and on a dozen
| different counts.
Elasticity of Procedure.
"The charges and specifications pre-
ferred against me before the court
1
| striking illustration of that elasticity
of procedure allowed by military law.
| under which a man can be accused of
/ nothing and convicted of anything. The
| specifications against me consisted of
| the broadcast generalities. In a civil
court they would have been stricken as
| being vague, indefinite and uncertain.
There was not one of the specific
Particles of war that I had violated.
w1.@kn 81.
| or regulation that / had failed to OBJ
serve. There was not a single practice
or custom of war applicable to riot duty
that I had not followed. No specific
military offense of any sort could be
found chargeable against me under the
facts as developed by the court of
inquiry.
at was therefore, necessary ia. bring
all of the charges and specifications un-
der the Sixty-second Article of War
which is the general omnibus section
under which are embraced all other
disorders and neglects' now else
where specifically mentioned. My con-
duct could not be termed disorder
so 1t was charged against me as ne
glect,' and yet the undisputed testi-
mony shows that in every material re-
spect every step that took, and every
act that I performed, was done inten-
tionally and deliberately, and according
to my best judgement. How can in
territorial and deliberate action be term
ed 'neglect?
Under Civil Authorities.
1.-THE special order under which
went to Statesboro placed me under
the orders of any subject to the Judge
and the sheriff in every particular. 1t
was not alleged in any of the charges
or specifications that failed or re-
fused to take orders from the judge,
or the sheriff, or that l failed to act
in conjunction with the sheriff.
I'm civil court a general demurrer
based on this ground would have
caused every charge and specification
to be dismissed, as that order covered
the entire tour of duty. motion to
quash the charges and specifications
was made on this ground before the
court-martial, and IL you had read the
record your legal training would have
compelled you to declare that the court
should have sustained that motion
and quashed every charge and speci-
fication against me. because none of
them alleged that had in my respect
order which governed my actions,
namely. that | should take orders
from the sheriff. take orders from the
| Judge, obey their orders. and act in
conjunction with the sheriff
Was what Judge Wanted.
There was only one specification OF
a real military character preferred
against me. and that was with refer
ence to not having placed a Gordon OF
soldiers around the Court House. No
J doubt you, as well as my other critics
felt confident that ] would be con-
demned on that specification even
though I might escape on all the
others. and yet on that very accusa-
ton / was acquitted.
II admitted the fact that there was
no Gordon placed around the Court
House. and gave my reasons for A..
! namely. that when the suggestion to
clear the Court House was made by
me to the Judge az the very commence
ment Of the trial. he expressed a pref
erence for a public hearing. and de-
sire that the people be allowed to re-
main and hear the evidence.
my construction of my duty was.
that II the judge wished 10 have a
public hearing II was my duty to see
that he had II, and II he expressed a
wish for the people 10 remain in the
court House and hear the testimony.
Il was my duty TO let them remain
there. and place my guard around the
prisoners IN the court room. The an
Continued on sixtoonth Page.