The Nenana daily news., 1918-05-04

I in the front line trenches in France, were saved from the laws extreme penalty by General Pershing's action in sending the records of their cases to Washington for review. General Pershing has authority to carry out the sentence of a court-martial, but it is only on foreign soil that such power lies in the commanding gen. erals hands, for by an order of Dec. 29, the war department, at the sug- gastion of the President, ruled that no death sentence in the army forces in this country could be executed before review of the case by the department So far as is known here, the only execution of an Ameri- can soldier in France up to the pres ent time has been that of Private F. Cadue, hanged in November for assault and murder of a French girl.
 Under the laws of the American military organization, eleven offenses are punishable by death, although these are variously subdivided. Spies must suffer the death penalty, and theirs is the only offense for which ie dot For murder and rape, punishment must, according to the ruling, be either death or life imprisonment; ; if the death sentence is imposed it is by hanging. Spies are usually hanged also, because, to quote the manual of regulations, death by hanging is considered more ignomin- ous than death by shooting" Hang ing, the rule continues, " is the usual method of execution designated in the cases of spies, persons guilty of murder in connection with mutiny, or sometimes for desertion in the face of the enemy; but in the case of a purely military offense, such as sleeping on post, such sentence, when imposed, is usually to be shot to death with musketry.' For the sake of example and to deter others from committing like offenses, the death sentence may, when deemed advisable, be executed in the pres ence of the troops of the command" "1 The other eight offenses, or groups of offenses, listed as punish able by death leave the penalty to the discretion of the court-martial. "Death or such other punishment as the court-martial may direct" is the usual wording of the army regu- lation. The offenses are cowardice, in any one of variety of ways; sleep or drunkeness on sentry post; desertion or the incitemen to or assistance in desertion; attack upon superior officer or insubordination; mutiny or sedition; making known the countersign; forcing safeguard; relieving the enemy with ammuni tion Cor any other thing" or har- boring or giving intelligence to the enemy.
 In the offense of "neglect of sen- , try duty" which is betrayal of responsibility whose seriousness has made it an almost unforgivable crime against military law, the letter of the regulation recognizes no differ ence between being asleep and being intoxicated. The ruling reads: "Any sentinel who is found drunk or sleep ing upon his post, or who leaves it before he is regularly relieved, shall, if the offense be committed in time of war, suffer death or such other punishment as court-martial may decree" It is further provided taht "the fact that the accused had been previously overtaxed by ex- cessive guard duty is not a defense, although evidence to that effect may be received in extenuation of the offense." The point is distinctly. made that the sentry who neglects his duty has jeopardized no one knows how many thousands of his fellows, and it may be a cruciil posi- tion to his country's cause. Whether he was intoxicated or merely asleep