The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-07-18
TRY. WOTHERSPOON.

Ii regular army discipline he more than
farce, there ought % grow out OF the Carroll in
cident at Gettysburg d general court-martial up
ON which the lowest rank represented will be thar
OF Brigadier General
That is 10 say that every circumstance con
nected with the outrage by which the commission
Of a capital otfense was given into the hands
OF summary court for trial, By which this
mary court was evidently influenced and directed
by the general commanding at Gettysburg TO
return a verdict contrary TO the evidence, by
which a blow was struck at The very root OF
the discipline and esprit da corps of the National
Guard demands that the high officer responsible
for such miscarriage of justice carrying in
ctement to mutiny should himself be held
answerablc to the law by which the military is
supposed to be governed.
We lay no claim 10 cxpertness in military
court procedure. but we do know enough con
cerning il to know that III theory it is analogous
to the civil and criminal practice obtaining under
the operation of civil law. 1t is a form of jus
tice based upon legal experience simplifed to
meet military needs and to be practced and exc
cuted by military men. Under such theory, il
il certain that it is an oense calling for court
martial that an officer should either purposely
ignore breaches Of discipline, or that he should
intentionally permit gross offenses against mill
tary usage to 60 unpunished As an executive
civil officer is subject to indictment, removal, on
Impeachment for misfeasance in office, so ii
follows that military officer who aids and abets
the commission Of crime, or who is purposey
blind to its commission. or who fails to take the
steps necessary TO his position to insure its ade-
quate punishment, is himself as guilty if not
more guilty, than the offender whom he pro
tects. To protect IN crime is everywhere, under
every system of justice, TO commit crime. Car
roll may 60 free. The man responsible for his
being turned loose ought certainly 10 be pun
ished.
Carroll, negro trooper, drew deadly weapon
upon an officer. According TO all military usage
this an act of INSTRUMENTATION punishable
by death. OF course, except i'll Nme of war the
actual death penalty is not imposed, but pun
ishment adequate 10 the crime ought to have beer
forthcoming. Instead, the commanding general
Wotherspoon, treated the matter lightly, ordered
summary court "a court Of justice OF the
peace and, having gone through the form OF
trial in which all the testimony as to what
actually occurred either suppressed or g
nored, caused an acquittal which serves as q
standing repFoach 10 all that has come to be con
sidered the foundation of military standards.
Under these circumstances, we trust that the
/ State Of Virginia will not only protest to the
I War Department against approval of the
findings Of the summary court; that it viii not
only demand that Carroll be placed his trial
before court competent TO pass upon the charges
which should be preferred against him. but that
by representation to the department and to Con
gress, if necessary, it will demand that the man
whose strange prejudices and whose assinine mis-
conception of the duties of his position were re-
sponsible for the scandal be himself put upon
his trial as one who treated his own high com
mission with contempt impossible even TO a
geod private.