Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-12-21
SUPERINTENDENT TO DECIDE.
AND TO PROSECUTE ALL CASES
OF HAZING FOUND.
Hazers To Be tried By Court Mar
tial - Objection Made To
BOuapaTte's Bill.

power to dismiss from thc Naval Acad-
envy. without trial by couttt-martial,
midShipman guilty of hazirF Tic
Attorney General has decided in the
neyR,ivc
III uo.y becomes the duty Of the SUI
perrin tenGCnt ot tNu Naval Academy,
Rear Admiral James II. Sands. 10 con
vane court. martial foi the trial of
Midshipmau Coffin aud Naudcvcer for
the hazing of Midshipman kmbrough
The opinion Of Attorney General
Moody, which will have u reaching
effect upon tho discipline OF tho Ma
val Academy, was made public yester
day at the Navy Department, Wash
ington, by Secretary OF the Navy
Charles J. Bonaparte.
Mr. Moody first quotes tho law OF
1874, which mhdC it mandatory Tor
the superintendent OF the academy 10
convene a court. martial 10 try mid.
shipmen for hazing, aud then quotes
the later law of 1908, which ur0videa
that "any cadet found guilty of par
tioipatiug 10 or encouraging ur Couu
tenaucing such practice (hazing) shall
be summarily expelled from tho acad
emy, and shall not thereafter bo reap
pointed to the corps of cadets or hu
eligible for appointment as a commits
stoned officer ia the Army or Navy or
Marine Corps until two years after the
graduation of the class of which hu
was n member. y
The Attorney General, in his con-
struCtiOl of the several laws dealing
with haHiug, says positively that the
power summarily 60 dismiss a mid
shipmau for hGzing without trial by
court.martial does not lie 8ith tho
Secretary or tho supcrintondont OF the
4 10 Ira In
phrase found guilty" in the act of
1908, when considered in correction
with the act Of 1874, i'm bis judgment
has a technical and we'll defined mean
lug, and should not ba construed aa
authorizing the expulsion OF q mid
snipmau uPon tho finding Of the su-
poriuteudeut, or a board Of officers ap-
pointed by hin, that the accused is
guilty OF the oilenso Of hazinR. Tho
Attorney General says that in view of
! the specific provision for n trial by
court martial i'm the act of 1874. ~
would be going very far 60 hold that
the supoT intendent of the Naval ACad-
omy or 4 board Of officers other than
cuurt.martial would have the power
TO make "A finding of guilty of tho
offenso of lazing within the meaning
of the statutes. He, therefore, rules
| that TO be dismissed from hazing "a
midshipmau must have first been tried
and found guilty by court martial.
Regarding the second question, the
Attorney General says:
cit is difficult for me 20 perceive IN
what possible manner determination
Of this question will aid you or the
superintendent of the Naval Academy
in the administration or execution OF
the law in the case under Considera-
4 10. Fu re-
mains for the superintendent to order
court-martial for the purpose Of tr3
ing them. and, should they bO either
convicted or acquitted by such court
martial, the responsibility resting
upon tho superintendent under The
| law will have been fully discharged
| He iutimates, however, that thoIC
would be no improprietv upon tie par5
Of the supcriDtendent or the Secretary
in bringing all the facts in this case 10
the attention of the United States At
| t0rney for the District of Mary land
| He says it would then be for the De
partment of Justice to decide the SOC
ond question submitted by the Secrc-
| tary.
Rear admiral Sands has been in-
| formed of the ruling Of the Attorney
| General, aud a court will be convened
\ for the trial Of the accused niidsidp
meD. Tremor Coffin aud W. A. NandC-
veer. It is stated the court.martial
| Of these two midshipmen will not 10
convened until after tho Christmas
| holidays.
Tho Committee on Naval Affairs of
| the House does not take kindly 20 Gee
retary Bonaparte's bill TO give aa-
| thority TO the Secretary of the Navy
| 10 dismiss without court.martial mid
q e..
! hazing. The Naval Committee dis
cussed the matter informally yester
day, and decided that while they had
every confidence in Mr.. Bonapsrte
and his strict idea of fairness and jas
tice ia such matters, bill on The
statute books would give such pJwer
to every Secretary 0f the Navy, und
there might be one VITO in future
might abuse the power.
The committee decided that they
would so change the bill az 20 desig
nate certain offenses fer which tho
Secretary could dismiss midshipmtii
| without court martial, and to gain hiB
ideas and views on these amendments
the committee decided TO invite the
Secretary to come before Il. Chair
man FOss yesterday afternoon called
on Secretary Bouaparte, and had
1
| aud also as to time when II would
be convenient for him to come before
tie committee. Thisswill probably Re
after the holiday recess. IL is the
| general impression among the members
Of the Naval Committee that there IS
80 necessity for an investigation by
Congress or the committee of the
Naval Academy. They believe that
Secretary Bonaparte is most able and
| willing TO investigate and correct the
abuses and misconduct among the mid
shipmen which has recently taken
place at the academy, and the present
Intention of the committee is not 70
report favorably on any bill calling
for an investigation.
Chairman Foss, Of the House Naval
Committee, however, introduced Mr.
I3onaparts's bill, which provides
That the Secre taTy of the Navy shal
have the power and authofity ia his
discretion to dismiss at anytime from
the United States Naval Academy any
/ inidsiiipman whose continued presence
at the Academy he shall deem con
trary to the best interests of the ser.
vice. +" 1t is made to take effect upon
? its passage and to apply to all mid
! shipmen now connected with the
Naval Academy or who may hereafter
Ibe connected with it,