The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1908-09-08
STARTLING EXPOSURE 7EzREA TENS
IN COL. STEWART CASE
BY MARLEN e. PEW

government that seems almost as
hot as the sun scorched sands of
the Arizona desert.
There is a document pigeonholed
in one of the great desks of that
department that seems to prick
like cactus spine.
There are threatening sounds
concerning the case of William F.
Stewart, army officer exiled by or
der of the president and Secre-
tary Taft, which seem to jar on
the senses of the swivel chair
brigade like the rattle of deadly
serpents.
In the war department the Sep
TENDER days seem to torture the
flesh, while the nights seem long
and gloomy, disturbed by such
sounds as the yapping of the fam
ished coyote and the weird mum
bling of the owl and the gopher.
Who shall explain the mystery of
the sudden change in the standing
of Colonel William F. Stewart, the
"temperamentally impossible?'
In May OF this year, according to
the president, this officer, ranking
second in the entire artillery corps
of the army, was nuisance fit
only for Punishment to a deserted
army post, unworthy of any consid-
Grafton whatsoever, court of in
quiry thrice being denied him, and
his application for leave of absence
that he might visit his family be-
ing refused.
In the last week of August.
Luke Wright, secretary of war,
summons the gray haired wife of
Colonel Stewart to his office, and,
taking the "prickly" document
from its pigeonhole, consults it
with indulgent eye and solemnly
announces that someone has de-
cided to relent and temper jus
tice' with mercy, and permit
Colonel Stewart, at his own eX-
pense, to take a four month leave
of absence from the rattleSnake
jungle post of Arizona, providing
that he, himself, will ask therefor.
OF course the leave is honestly
due Colonel Stewart. For five
years, until his Punishment a year
ago, he was so busy with his COM
mand that he did not even ask
for the months vacation that the
law provides for an officer each
year.
Why this sudden change of
heart? Why this magnanimous re-
spite?
Has the first Tuesday after the
first Monday of November any
thing to do with the case?
Whatever the cause it is certain
that the war department, in spots
is almost as hot a place in Sep
TENDER as is Arizona.
Friends ofColon ell Stewart are
advising him not to accept the
proffered leave at this time. They
point out that after November, the
prosecuted officer may be made tC
return to his exile, there to com
plete his term of three years when
according to the law, the president
may order his retirement through
the age limit regulation, and, these
friends point out, after November
there is a possibility that the mo
tive to temper Justice" with
mercy will have been removed.
The recent order from the de
partment which directed Colonel
Stewart to submit to the 80 mile
horseback test to demonstrate his
physical fitness, does not worry
his friends here. He has spent
most of his life in the saddle and
unless reduced by his hard life in
exile, will be able to ride the 90
miles in three days without diff
Guilty.
There are reports in army cir
Giles of impending sensations in
illt SOlOIICl CtCNd NdSCs NlllNl
General Nelson Miles, Major Bell
chief of the general staff and man!
others we'll informed, have con
demned as an outrage" These
reports indicate the possibility o
an exposure of a certain officer Of
officers high in the service, ant
also high in the personal favor 0
President Roosevelt. 1t is hinteC
that if such an exposure were
made daylight would be thrown
upon a military cabal against ;
fellow officer, which would have ;
parallel in the Dreyfus case
These rumors may foretell nothing
but certainly they have generated
unusual heat in the department.
Here are some interesting fact
IN the Stewart case that may have
significant bearing on the reports
of an impending army scandal:
Colonel Stewart was eXiled, ant
the president admits punished,
though there is no charge agains
him other than that he was item
peramentally unfit to command.
The records of the department
show that he has remarkabl.