Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-07-29
PROBE FOR THE
| MARINE CORPS
CONGRESS MAY TAKE PEEP IN
AFTER SUTTON CASE HAS
ENDED.
MANY SHOCKED AT CONDITIONS
MRS. PARKER TO BE A STAR
WITNESS.

| States marine corps, which Is POW I'M
der way at Annapolis, will reuslt in
a congressional investigation Of that
branch of the naval service next fall
is an opinion held here by many mem
bers of both houses.
In spite of the attention the tariff
bill has lately required, both senators
and representatives have kept close
track of the testimony that has come
out before the board of inquiry. They
have read the full accounts of the
testimony of the young marine officers
mixed up in the affair, and several
have openly expressed their surprise
that such conditions could be possible
in The government service.
Thorough Pro:e.
At a private social function one of
the powerful Western senators de
clared that he had read every line of
the testimony that the newspapers re-
| ported and that the laXness of disci-
pline shown surprised and shocked
him.
Il believe thai congress will take up
this marine corps situation in the fall,
no matter what the verdict of the
present board of inquiry may be.
There appears to be among the young
err officers a spirit utterly foreign to
that which should mark the men who
have charge of our sea police. 1t may
be necessary to thoroughly reorganize
the system of appointing and training
marine corps afficers.
THE unfortunate case of Mr.. SUIT
| ton can be cleared up by the present
| board of inquiry with perhaps few
courts martial for the officers who
have on the stand confessed to viola
tons of the regulations, but the root
/ of the evil-the system-can, to my
mind only be corrected by thor
ough investigation by congress"
Don't Like Brutality.
In discussing the question of brutal
! ity another senator said:
There is a disposition on the part
of legislators here to frown upon any
form of brutality in any branch of the
government service. 1t may be all
right for the Germans to encourage
fighting among their cadets and Off
GERS, but we will not tolerate 1t III
this country. The idea prevails that
the Sutton incident is only unusual III
that it resulted in death. ! trust we
will find time to go thoroughly into
the matter"
1t was largely through the influence
and hard work of Senator Jonathan
Bourne, Jr., of Oregon that the SUIT
i ton case was reopened by the navy
department. The Suttons have lived
in Portland for many years, the ia
Their being prominent in railroad al
fairs on the coast.
After spending Saturday in Wash
ington, Judge Advocate Henry Leon
] ard and the attorneys of he Sutton
! family, Henry E. Davis and Van Dyke
! Brothers, returned tonight to Annap
oils. where the inquiry will be re
sumed tomorrow morning.
Four More Witnesses.
The government has yet four wit
nesses uncalIed. The two most impor
tant are Lieut.. Uttley and Surgeon
Cook. who are re urning from a Eu
ropean cruise on he battleship New
Hampshire. They cannot reach An
napolis before Aug / and will prob
ab'y he the last witnesses heard.
Uttley was one of he officers who
rode out from the Carvel hall barroom
| in Sutton's automobile. He had
hands according to testimony, in the
first fight near the College Greek
brodge and was on the scene of the
death fight, which occurred a few
minutes later.
Surgeon Cook performed the autopsy
the morning after the young marine
died. His testimony is wanted partlc'
ularlv to determine the number OF
wounds on Sut. ons' body and their ma.
| ture.
| Another government witness is En-
nest Fogg, a Washington club man,
who saw much of Sutton when the
latter was at the capitol waiting for
his designation to the school of appli.
cation at Annapolis Young is said TO
be in poor health and may be unable
to attend.
Mrs. Parker the star Witness.
Mrs. Rose Sutton Parker of st.
Paul. sister of the dead lieutenant,
promises to be the star witness for
their side. She hurried to Annapo-
lis after learning of the tragedy and
soon heard rumors that caused her 10
doubt the suicide verdict of the first
board of inquiry, which was begun
few hours after Suttons death and
ended before the people of Annapolis
and the outside world knew thu, the
young marine was killed.
She talked to Mai. Doyen, in COM
mand of The marine barracks at An
napoiis and in charge of the student
officers. She Sent for the officers who
had been concerned in the figh-. She
talked particularly with Lieut.. Adams,
interviewing him alone in her room at
Carvel hall. She declares hat he dis
cUssed the death of her brother in a
most brutal fashion and told oryl
h@t differed materially from, that
which he tod on the stand As a
hoard Of inquiry reed not hold strictly
o rules of ev. dence. At crney Davis
hores 70 brng ont Mrs Parkers YER
sion II this conFersa ion.
Mrs. Sutton viii be called chiefly to
IN il evidence certain letters and