New-York tribune., 1919-07-27
Col. Kinkuid Insists
On Full Investigation
Former Judge Advocate Of The
27th Dirision Issues q Reply
to Representative D0llinger

Lieutenant Colonel j. Leslie Kin
caid, formerly judge advocate for the
2sth Division, gave out statement
yesterday in reply to a letter from
Represcn tativc Fred W Dallinger, in
which Colonel Kincaid offered his se~-
vices to the Congressional committee
estigatiDg charges Of brutality in
American military prisons il France
Colonel Kincaid urged thorough
inquiry into arm conditions and said
that he feared General Pcrshing's
staternent as 20 The hard characters
among thr military prisoners might
tend to cause Il relaxation Of The in
vestigntion. He said, in part:
General PershiDgs statement,
Some of those men were among the
hardest Characters IN the American
ExpediiioDary Force while IN
denbtedly truc, IL hardly fair to tnc
many gallant young soldiers who were
confined in these Institutions, guiltless
OF any offence, or al the mos. Of the
few days in Paris after the armis-
tice was signed I sincerely trust
that the American people will not be
rnislead into thinking that the jor-
ity Of prisoners confined in the Paris
prisons and at Prison Farm No. 2,
were hardened criminals or old Of
tenders ] do not think that General
Pershing had any idea Of throwing
dust in the eyes OF the special investi-
eating committee or the American
people, but his statement unexplained
might result in doing so.
he Donaldson report, an emerg-
ency affair trotted out on July 19, can
hardly be considered as a timely
answer or reply to Colonel Vain
wrights first report, which !, as we'll
as General March cannot locate. This
report, however. was dated along in
the early part of September The more
than noticeable absence in the Donald
son report Of any mention as to the
date on which this matter was brought
to the attention Of the Inspector Cen
eral of the American Expcdtionary
Forces or to the General Staff, is only
surpassed IN cleverness by Colonel
Donaldson's opinion. paragraph 10,
that all was done by the proper mill
tary authorities that could be done,
and that no good can be accomplished
by now publishing in the press the de-
tails Of what has happened at the
places referred to-
at is my honest belief that the de-
sired result Of the special commttee's
investigation, the desire to prevent a
recurrence OF just such cases in our
army can best be pormoted by bring
ing out into the light of day every
fact connected with the matter ir-
respective Of who may be involved.
Colonel Donaldson carefully states that
Prison Farm No. 2 was not under the
jurisdiction Of the commanding gem
eral, district Of Paris, nor the COM
manding general, service of supply.
"Thc colonel unfortunately has failed
to report on the important matter of
who the commanding general was who
exercised jurisdiction over Prison Farm
No. at the time of the unfortunate
occurrence under the investigation.
beheve that the American people have
the right to know the name of the gem
eral officer who occupied this position
as we'll as the namc Of the other gen
eral officer who exercised general
court martial jurisdiction over Lieu
tenant Smith, alias Hard Boiled
Smith, who, in his discretion, commu-
ted the sentence in Smiths case from
confinement at hard labor for three
years and dismissal from the service
to simple confinement for eighteen
months.'