New-York tribune., 1921-05-11
!. W WIlitewash
I'm Bergsdoll
Case Charged
Court Martial of Former
(,omn,andaist at Govern
or's Island 'HaIf-Hearsed,
congressman lntimatcs
Prosecution an Apology
rudce Advocates Plea at
Trial of Colonel Hunt
Quoted at House Inquiry

WASHINGTON, May to.-The charge
ast Colonel John E. Hunt, former
.,,,mandant at the disciplinary bar
..ets at Governors Island, was white
sssasshed" by a court martial resulting
frar, his alleged failure TO take proper
s.rseariions to prevent the escape of
Eroyer Cleveland Bergdoli, fugitive
s,sft dodger, was made late to-day, at
~. end of long session of the House
nyestigating committee.
Called before the committee to tell
vsat precautions he had taken to safe
rnsrd pergdoll while on gold hunting
sssnedition to the Maryland mountains,
colonel Hunt had been on the stand
for pesrly five hours when he was
sssen in hand by Representative John
I'm Democrat, Of Kentucky, for grill
inc cross-examination.
Half-Hesrted Prosecution Charged
Same Of the questions put to the wit
,,ss were extremely blunt and of
nsrsonal nature. Then, after asking
far q yes or no answer as to whether
he had been given a fair trial and
whether he had been aggressively pros
s.uted, Mr.. johnson proceeded to quote
from the court-martial records certain
ststements by the prosecuting officer
directed st the good standing of the ac-
ensed.
snsech 81 Mr.. johnson asked, and Hunt
;n.tantly replied that it was a plea for
Ms conviction as he saw it.
At this juncture John Fl. Sherburne,
A Boston, counsel for the committee,
;uterposed that it was only fair to read
from the judge advocates address,
conrse which the committee approved.
at is my purpose to show, although
mav not have the full cooperation of
counsel for this committee" Mr.. John
son declared, ''that the court martial
rscord contains more than q suspicion
that this witness was whjtewashed and
that counsel participated only in half
hearted prosecution, And l think / will
show more as get further into IT."
'The Sorriest of ALP
Extracts from the Judge advocates
address quoted by Mr.. Johnson set
forth that the prosecution did not think
or-fntimate that Colonel Hunt wanted
Bergdoll to escape. or~-was in any con-
spiracy to that end, and that it was
realized Hunt was "the sorriest Of ali"
that the prisoner got away.
Sympathy was expressed by the
prosecutor for the Colonel, now retired,
and it was mentioned that he had
made "a magnificent record as all off,
GER" but that this was not the ques-
tion at issue, and there had been
technical violation OF military regula
tons in 6 way to bring discredit upon
the army.
Harris's Suggestion Ignored
The extracts, read at the insistence
Of Mr. Sherburne, related to the sug-
gestion of General Harris, the Adju-
tant General, that a commissioned
officer be placed in charge of the ex-
petition, d suggestion which was not
carried out The prosecutor asked for
verdict of guilty on the specifications,
Colonel Hunt, recently recovered
from long illness, took no part in
the discussion. In the course of his
examination he described plans for
BergdolI to leave unaer military guard
for Hagerstown, Md, in search of the
buried gold, and declared that no Off
Ger was available at the time and that
he had had the utmost confidence in
Sergeant 0'Hare, Who was directly re-
sponsible for the safe return of the
prisoner.