Bisbee daily review., 1919-04-16
COURT MARTIAL LAWS NEED NO VISION,
 DECLARES GENERAL
Commander of Rainbow Di- vision Gives Views to
 Bar Association
CRv Review Leased wirel


 WASHINGTON, April 15-The pres. ent system of military justice needs no radical alteration in the opinion of Maj Gen. Charles T. Menoher, commander of the 42d (Rainbow) di- vision, throughout it's active service durin gthe war. Appearing today be- fore the committee of the American Bar association, which is conducting 2 an inquiry, General MenOher said that with some elaboration of regulations to make the system more easily un- derstandable to officers serving only for a war emergency, he saw no neces- sity of changing court martial prac- tice and procedure.
 T do not recall he said, that in this controversy it has ever been claimed that any innocent man was founds guilty. With regard to the length of sentences, however, it is an other matter We always felt that ad- justment of sentences would be made after the war"
 General MenOher was asked what objection he saw to creating a sys- tenn of enlisted juries to try cases of enlisted men.
 Approves Suggestion
 'I believe it would work" he said, adding that he had never heard the suggestion before and was not pre- pared to present a studied reply. T have great confidence in the enlisted man. But l should not want to see any bolshexiki ideas get into the minds of the enlisted men. We have some evidence now in Russia of what happens in that case"
 The officer also approved sugges- tion that offenses of a common law character might be referred to the fed eral court except in actual war zones. The army would be glad to get rid of all trials for anything but military of lenses, ke thought.
 So far as the existing military jus tice system goes, General MenOher said, there is no escape from the per sOnal element among the officers ap- plying it. It is so bound up with the question of general discipline, he add ed, there are no means of divorcing authority over courts martial from the functions of military command.
 System Declared Adequate
 Col. Charles T. Heron, who com the 313th Field Infantry and later chief of staff of the 18th di- vision, also told the committee that the present military system was ade- quate but that it's success depended upon the intelligence of the officers. Courts martial, he said, were much ! like whippings for children, at times they might be necessary but often l they reflected upon the intelligence and ingenuity of the parent"
 Army officers felt it essential that 1 justice be given the men, Colonel Her l ron said, because morale depended l upon it and morale was what won bat 1 ties Some cases of seemingly exces- l sive sentences, he added, were easily ] explained by the facts. Ten or 15 l years Imprisonment for a weeks ab- l sence without leave certainly appear ed heavy. he asserted, but cases of this kind he had noted in France were | hose of men whose week of absence | kept him out of a fight into which | heir unit was going The rear lines of | all armies, he said, were filled with | ne nwandering up and down in search 1f their companies, but never quite | finding them. These were "skulker" :ases which formed a separate prob em, he thought
 General Menoher said he believed he number of these cases actually vas small.
 We had practically none of them in he 42d division" he added.