The sun., 1908-05-20
MILITARY SUBORDINATE ANL
CIVILIAN SUPERIOR.


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To TEE EprroR or Tn. 5uN-Sir: There :,
was q tradition In the odd srmy' that way
back In the dark ages before the Mexican
War q Lieutenant In Washington on a
leave OF absence received q letter from the
Secretary OF War TO this effect;
II Ia reported 70 these headquarters that you
arc In Washington TO lnnuence Congressional
iegslatIon for the benefit OF the army. II so YOU
will AZ once give up your leave OF absence and
return 70 your station In the West.
The ofiicer promptly acknowledge TIA
receipt Of this letter. and wrote:
Had your letter stated or lntlmsted that sud.
den military emergency require my servicsee at
my station your Instructions would have been
promptly obeyed; but on the contrary. YOU direct
that I be Illegally punished.
Tho President OF the United States has the power
TO dismiss me from the army lin 1852 Congress
passed law deprlyng the President OF this pover|
But In that case he would be responsible 10 Con.
grcss and 10 the country that mis- action was Just
and correct. But even he cannot legally punish
mei even by reprimand, except In accordance with
the sentence OF general court-martial.
In matters of military routine ns military
man must communicate through certain military
channels, But In all matters not OF routine have
the right as citizen OF tho United States. born
fres and white" to communicates direct. orally or
In writing 70 any other citizen OF the United states
for me to petition 10 are the Cong rressrnen of ny
district and the two Senators from my state.
As Senators and members Of the House are not
military experts, they must therefore ascertain
from experienced Ofhcers of the army what laws
would Improve the efficiency Of the army and what
not.
Experienced ofiiccrs OF the arm OF tho service
to which have the honor to belong have care
fully studied and discussed for several years and
have finally decided on severallaws which, II passed
vtalv
cheney OF that arm. Whatever dement's ono
arm benefits the whole army and the country.
was selected to present these papers. as had
a kinsman In the Senate and several In the House,
and II was thought that their Introduction would
cause the Military Committee 20 give these papers
a more careful consideration khan II presented BY
an army ofYiccr who was stranger.
Ny brother ofncers subscribe the money to pay
my expenses. and cannot leave Washington tun-
less a military emergency requires my services
Vest. without having fully attended 10 the business
they sent me on.
Tho officer Was tried by general court
martial. The coart-martial found the facts
as stated, but attached no criminality thereto,
and did therefore acquit the off1cer
This practically decided what all officers
then believed and now believe. that every
citizen of the United States whether in the
army of out OF it, has constitutional right
to communicate directly with the Congress-
man from his district and the Senators from
his State; that an oflcer Of the army can be
legally punished only by the sentence Of q
general court-martial after fair trial
Another tradition from the dark ages
was that Colonel commanding military
department In the West on receiving gen.
eral order from the Secretary OF War, trans
mitted IL to his troops with an order Of his
own revokina the Seoretarys order. He
defended his action before q general court
martial by stating that he was responsible
for the disolp and efficiency OF his troops;
that the Secretary OF War wss civilian,
totally ignorant Of military affairs; that the
Seeretary's silly orders. II enforced. would
injure the discipline and efficiency OF his
troops. and IL was his tthe Colonelsl duty as
a military expert to prevent injurious orders
being enforced.
A general court martial sentenced the
Colonel to be reprimandsd by the Secretary
Of War, which was of course farce. for
neither the court. the Colonel nor the army
cared rap for the opinion lreprimand) Of
a civilian, who. as the Colonel expressed It.
did not know more than q bulls foot about
miitary affairs.
tradition was that our system was copied
from the British and so long as the Secretary
performed the same duties as the British
Secretary that 10, urged upon Congress the
bills army officer desired to improve the
army and ordered the general movement OF
tTOODsD ne was tTeateu WIN BTche Tespc'b
by the army But when he attempted TO
interfere with the technical manag cement Of
troops or their customs he was snubbed by
the officers. or. on their protest. the President
directed the Secretary to conhne himself to
his proper duties. which are political and civil
and not military.
What want in this communication to de-
| velop 10 the great underlying fact that Presi-
dents and Secretaries of War who are civilians
should not undertake to discipline army
officers on their own motion or even on the
| strength OF advice privately offered by mill
tary men and therefore irresponsible. or
course I have In mind the case of Colonel
| william r. Stewart OF the Coast Artillery.
| The President claims that he consulted GER
| tain eminent officers and was guided BY their
| counsels. but why did he not leave the General
| STAFF to act under the established rules and
| In due order instead Of getting their views
| in secret and assuming the whole burden Of
| the episode? 1t might have occurred to him
that army officers who do not act upon their
information when they have the necessary
| authority are poor guides In star chamber
proceedings. G.
WASHINGTON, May 10,