Evening star., 1915-01-22
Arraigned for Desertion Alleged
to Have Been Committed
Before the Enemy"
ONE QUERY PARAMOUNT
WITH HEAD OF TRIBUNAL
Wants to Know, First, if Accused
Soldier Had Previous
Good Record.

Foreign Cores spondcnce Of The Star.
IN BELGIUM. January SIN an old
tapestried room. with a mantelpiece of
the fifteenth century, etchings of price
less value and the most exquisite
Beauvais tapestries, reminding one OF
the interior of the chateaux of the
Loire. but belonging to one of the pic
turesque old Belgian town halls which
escaped the attention of the German
artillery, a Belgian Court-martial held
session pnd dispensed justice among
a numbet of Belgian soldiers accused
of "desertion before the enemy.
Seldom have been present at a
trial which WAS conducted i'll n fairer
and more impartial manner, There was
one question which the president. Col.
-, through whose courtesy l was
able to be present. put before every
thing-viz. is the accused n good
soldier or bad one"
IF the answer was favorable, he
fought as much for the man his
lawyer, and in several cases. in fact,
the lawyer for the defense simply rose
and said:
Monsieur le President. l have moth
ing to add. You have already pleaded
my case"
But if the man was proved bad
soldier he was numerically grilled.
Court a Curious Body.
But let me first say something about
the court itself Indeed it was a Gu
rious body. In the middle of the room
there was a large table covered with
a green cloth, and around it sat the
president, on his right civil judge
and a captain, and on his left cap
tain and a lieutenant.
On the other side of the table were
tn "auditeur militair," who acts as
pros, Cutor. and two lawyers for the de-
fense. The judge and the two lawyers
Were in cap and gown one OF the
lawyers wore a toga over tie UNIFORM
of an ordinary private. He wrangled
continually with the prosecuting attor-
nty. ma jor.
Every soldier who was brought in
was critically regarded and inspected
by II, colonel, and then his pet Ques-
tion followed. Woe TO the young officer
who, on cross-examination, showed
that he was in any way uncertain or
uniformed of any facts. one of them
began by trying TO explain that it had
interrupted by the colonel with: We
= not here to learn of your inten-
tions. Just tell US the facts
Another young officer came with e
man short. Why isn't he here?" the
colonel demanded to know. Il told
him to be here at 10 o'clock the leu
tenant replied. "'Tis your duty to see
TIT your men are here at the set
iime." the colonel roared at him, and
then, turning aside. remarked to his
aid: Please see to it that this lieu
tenant is properly punished. N'xt
case. please.
Accused of Running Away"
tt. first case on the calender was
that of three men who had left the
trenches one night and gone to sleep
IN a haystack about 100 feet in the
rear. In the morning. when they
thought of rejoining their company
they found it had gone. They tried
for TWO days before they found their
unit.
so, you run away, lou fellows,
thundered the colonel; you leave your
comrades to fight it out alone in case
they should be attacked at night. and,
like chickens. you crawl into 4 coop
and go to sleep. Ihat splehald
conduct for a Belgian soldier What
have you to say for yourself?'
They had no excuse to offer. and the
case was held under considera tion.
subsequently all three Of them were
punished with five years military
prison All penalties, though, are post
poned until after the war, and there
is every chance that by that time, if
their conduct has been good, they Will
be pardoned.
The second case was a Young sol
dier. a volunteer, and evidently well
educated. He, too, had got lost" but
as his company was in reserve, there
fore not literally before the enemy
there were eXtenuatiug circumstances
in his case. He conducted his own de
feuse, but because too voluble. the
colonel interrupted him, with: Hey.
there, what do you think YOU are, :,
phonogra ph? ?' sun he got off.
In the third cas-" there We're three
rU"u accused Of stealing q pound OF
hutter and "a shirt from i deserted
house at \icUport. They also had
,,traycd from their troops. Bu. tn.
colonel did not like the evidence III the
c4 50. ard the men assured him tha I
they would have been perfectly Will
ing 20 PAY for both shirt ard the butter
If there had been aE, on" I'm the house
to pay il to.