Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-03-10
MILITARY COURTS DE-
Tended FROM ATTACKS
HURLED AGAINST RECORD


.,-..<rcS1nrt1i1gedi-. Erom ,J Psse one2
fend it, but l am not responsible for
it.
Considering the charges from the
standpoint of the officers who assess
ed the sentences, let us see who they
are. They are men taken in a gen
eral dragnet through the nation They
como from every walk of life. There
are 100000 of them. They comprise
faithful cross section of our whole
people and our national life.
Information One-sided.
What is this charge of severity by
them? We have seen that it cannot
be an indictment of the system. 1t
is simply difference between the
opinions of well meaning and humane
critics far removed from .h4 scene
Of the offenses punished and with
only partisan, inadequate ana highly
colored statement of that case to
guide them, and the opinion of men
who considered the facts under the
solemn obligation of an oath TO be
honest, impartial and fair. Tho lived
in the environment of the offense and
were stepped in the reasons making it
grave and who assessed the sentence
on the performance of the highest
civic duty of mantle defense of
home and country.
These men cannot merit the in
dictment and diatribe that has been
heaped upon their action. To us at
home, in comfort and in present
peace, it is next to impossible to rec
oncile the almost unanimous view of
soldiers in the field or theater of war
on the gravity Of these and many
other, lesser offenses by their com
rades.
Death Sentence Approved.
Therefore, the execution of not one
sentence of death for these things has
been approved by me and not one
such sentence has been executed. Also
heavy sentences have been reduced
Complementary and uniformly. But
even with that sad, | can neither
condemn the 100000 officers who
assessed the sentences nor the law of
congress- nor the system under that
law that made them possible.
II come now. with the utmost re-
luctance, to few distasteful para
graphs of personal vindication. NV
motives and my actions have been
attacked, and l have been advertised
General Ansell. | have been set off
against him as a reactionary.
Reviewing his efforts to obtain a
complete revision of the old military
code, which finally were successful in
1916. General Crowder said:
During much of this time General
Ansell was one of the most promising
and trusted officers in my office.
During all the time that the code was
in revision he never suggested to me
nor so far as / can learn, to any one
else, any of the changes no is sug-
costing now. He participated in pre-
pairing the manual for courts-martial
which was based upon the code, but
he advanced none of these new views
Advanced New Ideas.
"Indeed the first time that was
advised of such view was in No
Vember, 1917, on the occasion of his
presenting to you-not through me
and entirely without consulting me-
the first of the elaborate briefs about
which so much has been made
1T has been charged that as q re-
suit of that brief an order designating
him as acting judge advocate general
was revoked, and further that he was
relieved from his duties of supervis-
ing the administration of military
justice. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. He was never re-
lieved from his duties of supervising
the administration of military justice
except to take a trip to France, which
he was eager to do.
But | deem it unnecessary to enter
this field of accusation further and
discuss the many issues of fact which
have been raised. as ] am informed
that the inspector general of the army
has been designated to conduct a
thorough Investigation and make all
the entertainments of fact that are
necessary to elucidate the adminis-
tration of military justice during the
war nprjOd ~