Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1912-09-06
FORMER NATIONAL GUARD OF
FICER TAKES PUBLIC INTO
HIS CONFIDENCE IN SIGN
ED STATEMENT.
OUTCOME WAS EXPECTED
Declares Hearing Before Governor
Was Unjust and Packed BY Gen.
craI Staff Officers to Shield Them
selves; Says Officials Did Not Dare
Grant Inquiry.

! Giving his side of the alleged mu-
tiny in the National Guard at Gate,
Wash, which has resulted in his re-
moval, along with four other officers
from command in the Oregon Nation
al Guard, Captain Walter L. Tooze,
Jr., has issued the following signed
statement:
The action of Governor West is
no surprise to me. AS l said before
the hearing, l felt sure that West
would stand with the General Staff.
He could hardly do anything else.
His signature was necessary to make
the order of disbandment effective.
The main question at the hearing
was: Did the General Staff do
right in disbanding the battalion, and
dismissing the officers without grant
ing them the hearing they demanded?
Or, in other words, was the Gov
ernor's action right in signing such
an order? He called a hearing,
which has no legal or military stand
ing, and no precedent, and appoint
ed himself Judge, to sit on his own
case. Small justice to be secured in
such a tribunal. Our understanding
regarding the hearing in the first
place was that it was to be an op-
portunity afforded us to go before
the Governor in private and give him
our side OF the story.
"Cards Stacked"
When we got to Salem we found |
the cards stacked against u.s. There |
was the whole staff with attorneys
and Maus represented by the Gov
ernor and Captain How1and, u. S. A.
At the last minute We got Mr.. Nc
Nary to act for us. They had a num-
Der of witnesses subpoened. They
the reports of the officers
made to the staff before disband-
ment. We had never seen them.
What we thought was going to be
hearing in private, turned out to be
a trial upon oath, against our objec-
tion and without our consent The
whole thing simmered down to a de-
iberate attempt on the part of Cap
tain Rowland and the Governor to
use this opportunity for the protect
on of General Maus, who at the time
was trying to have the Portland
News indicted for libel. Whether
Maus was drunk or not had nothing
. do with whether we disobeyed or
iers. A drunken general is not an
thing in the army Whether I
Maus had been drinking was of no
but it was made so at
hat hearing. .
Whole Thing a Farce. /
''The whole thing was a farce; it '
las been a farce all along. We have {
never been accorded our rights as
oldiers nor citizens with reference
o military hearing; we have been {
made victims of a high-handed out
age. 1t was not proven at the hear I
ng that we had disobeyed orders. 1t {
vas proved that orders were issued, /
'ut there was no proof that we had c
eceived the orders, but there was an S
bundance of proof that we had not {
Me contention that 1 had been un- i
in my replies to General g
daus, was shown to be an untruth t
y uncontradieted evidence. We have a
een made the victims of the work. /
ngs of political combine, and that 7
5 the whole thing in a nutshell I
ely any member of the General a
taft, or any citizen standing with s
hem, or the Governor of this state /
0 meet me on any public platform K
n this state before an audience of h
Intelligent citizens and defend their a
ctions. Even Col. Sam White, the b
Olitical spellbinder of the General d
taft, and who is recognized as the /
5ading spirit of this crusade against b
he terrible mutineers." and who is il
opposed to be the chief Oratorical Z
erO Of the Guard, would not dare TO h
ccept this challenge s
Don't Dare Grant Hearing. n
We have been given an honorable n
ischarge. What nonsense. How
an il be figured that We are entitled s.
} an honorable discharge? It should o
e either a dishOnOrable one or moth Il
lg; but they cannot give US a dis b
Onorable discharge without giving F
S the hearing we demanded. and il
his they do not want to do: no, they p
o not dare grant this hearing, for in
they did. the very rottenness of
resent condition of affairs in the
uard would come TO light. and the
eople would surely do things to il:
OF only this. but many unfavorable N
lings concerning the regular army d
ould come to light. This must not +,
2 made possible. The doctrine Of h
es Majeste" is supposed to apply m
} the regular army. and particularly r.
its Generals cl
] never disobeyed an order. but III
lat is not 20 say that I would not o,
ave done so had I received the or g.
Pr to march back 70 Oakvflle car m
ing the rolls and equipment NJ b,
en- were in an exhausted condition m
ld unable 10 march with the rolls. dl
hen the rumOr came back. admit ii
felt pretty sore about H. It was m
utterly unreasonable. I may have cl
id that I wouldn't make my men ID