The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-04-30
DRUNKENNESS
and FEAR ARE
TROUBLESOME
Two-thirds of Court Martial
Cases Due to These
Two Causes.
GALLANT CONDUCT.O ON
FIELD ONE DEFENSE
Few Soldiers Exempt From
Fear, Prominent French
Attorney Finds.
(By Associated Press. )

Paris, April 30.-Two-thirds of tn,
court martial cases at the war from
and Immediately behind the front hav,
developed from either drunkenness o.
rear, sometimes from both, accordin,
to Monsieur Rene de Planhol who ha.
had more. than two years experienc,
as counsel for the defense in srcl
cases. Drum-head court martiels, will
| summary executions OF spies and
ceserters, have been far less frequen
than might be imagined. Not only
have sentences to death been infre.
quent but. extraordinary as it appears
the Verdtcts of justice at the front are
seldom executed.
The general in command of the Sec
tor has the power of suspending al
court martial sentences until the end
or the war, and he exercises tnn,
prerogative nearly always, even in
cases of second offenses. The only
penalties Immediately applied are those
or death and punishment that involves
military degradation. Even in these
cases the condemned man usually begs
TO be sent back to the battle line and
his request is sometimes accorded
after certain lapse Of time.
Prison Sentences Few.
Sentences to prison and hard labor
are few. 1t is considered absurd to
lodge in prison rugged soldiers whose
relieving them from fighting while well
behaved soldiers are risking their lives.
That is why military Jurisdiction at
the front has become essentially a
jurisdiction of honor.
The changed conditions of warfare
have developed suituations to which
old martial laws are not adaptable. A
much disputed point is: When has an
infraction OF discipline or a crime been
committed hn oP
enemy" an aggravating circumstance
under military jurisprudence. In
trench warfare the old definitions of
presence of the enemy" have become
obsolete; great latitude is now given
for leniency on this point and it is
exercised in all but most fragrant
cases. -
Under the old martial laws the sus-,
pension of sentences for first offenses
was not obligatory, but was simply a
matter of discretion on the part of
the general commanding. Amend
ments passed by parliament in the
course of the present war make such
extensions of sentence obligatory for
all cases excepting those of capital
offense.
Drunkenness, the most FREQUENT of
all attractions of law and discipline is
punished by imprisonment from two
months upward.
Gallant Conduct Defense. ia
A frequent and effective means of
defense invoked by counsel for accused
soldiers is the citation for gallant con-
duct on the battlef1elds. 1t often hap
pens that a soldier refractory to army
discipline is great fighter and, be-
tween court martials, accumulates
honors and decorations that it is dini-
cult to ignore.
One of the most obstinate drinkers
and most insolent men Of his regiment
when under the influence of LIQUOR,
went back to the front by favor of
sentence and won the signal
honor Of an individual citation in an
engagement in which his regiment was
collectively cited. He appeared before |
the court martial with a new bar on |
his war cross ribbon and his Judges |
couldn't refuse his request for IAN |
other chance at the Germans"
Few Exempt From Fear.
Cases OF desertion with downright |
fear as the cause are not uncommon, |
and Monsieur de Planhol concludes |
that very few soldiers are totally ex-
empt from fear. Men who have fought |
finally give way to what he calls |
nerve wear; their normal courage is |
no longer sufficient to overcome
physical fear and they run away from |
danger. Their number. though, is |
small in comparison with those who
forget their duty in the stupefaction of /
drinking. Even these, con-
'idering the millions Of men modified,
ire so small a percentage as to consti-
ute no reflection on the army as a
whole.
Anyone from private to a colonel
nay act as a defender Of the court
nartialed soldier. Civilians also are
allowed to represent them and some
sminent French lawyers. such as
Maitre Demange who was the chief
counsel for Captain Dreyfus, Maitre
Michel Pelletier, and Maitre Henri
Ierand have acted as counsel for the
defense of soldiers at the front