Evening star., 1921-01-25
CONGRESS AROUSED
OVER 'HARD-B0|LED'
OFFICERS ACTIONS
Pleas for CIemency for Army
War Veterans Said to
Fall on Deaf Ears.
PETTY CHARGES RESULT IN
)ISHONORABLE DISCHARGE
Private Who Borrowed Sergeants
Shoes Gets Six Months and
Dreaded ID. D."
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


Dreaded ID. D."
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Members of Congress who lately
visited the War Department in oehaii
of soldier constituents who were dis
ciplined for trivial offenses have gone
back to Capitol Hill incensed and in
dignant over what they term hard
boiled" treatment by the officers OF
the Regular Army.
A smouldering controversy has just
come to tn surface which either Will
be cured in legislation pending be-
fore Congress or there will pc a
sweeping Investigation to apprise the
public Of the severity Of the punish
ment being meted out to men who
served with distinction in the world
war only to be given dishonorable dis
charges for unlawfully borrowing
blanket or a pair of shoes
Out of $4,000 cases, it develops That
the efforts of a reform element inside
the Regular Army have resulted IN
the restitution Of more than 1000 TO
the status of honorable discharge.
Just how many more of the remain
ing $4,000 are deserving of leniency is
hard to conjecture. Though both
sides in the controversy say the per-
centage will probably be small. 1t Is
to get Justice for that small percent
age which is agitating members or
Congress who are trying to wade
through the meshes Of red tape to
get at the bottom Of the Army sys-
TEN.
No Evidence Of Theft.
1t sounds incredible. but the stigma
of dishonorable discharge must be
carried through life by one man who
fought in France and whose offense
on his return to the United States con-
sists of taking a pair of-shoes from a
comrade., 1t develops that the soldier
wanted to go to a dance and asked
his sergeant Of his company II he
could borrow a pair Of shoes. The re-
quest was granted. A week later,
when the same soldier wanted to go
IA tfeabafraeks. and, naturally think
ing there would be no obteetbsn. the
private borrowed the shoes When
the sergeant came h6me he, reported
that his shoes were missing When
the Hftvate who borrowed them came
back from the dance he was locked up
and charged with theft.
q
to prove that the soldier intended per-
to deprive the sergeant OF
the shoes, nor that he was con-
nrmed thief His record was good.
he was given 81: months
in the barracks as punishment. In
civilian life, even II he were con-
victed of petty larceny. he might be
Instance. not only was he confined for
six months. but his record In the
world war was stained by a dishon-
orable discharge from the American
Army.
Regulations Are Rigid.
Instances of this kind can be found
in the records, and. while a number
of Army officers with kind hearts are
distressed over the pitiful pleadings
Of friends and relatives for justice.
they can't say word to anybody
but their superior officers. Under
rule of the War Department. no Of
ficer can communicate anything OF
this kind to a member Of Congress
unless the suggestion goes through
military channels. That often means
going through the same officers who
are defending the practice complain
ed of.
The whole trouble. however. seems
to lie in one OF those mischievous
ed to appropriation bills when no.
body is looking. 1t so happens that
in the act Of 1915 a rider was tackled
on declaring that all matters relat-
ing to prisoners in disciplinary bar
racks should be transferred from the
tant general. The provision of law
was ignored from 1915 until October.
1920, when it was suddenly applied.
And most Of the trouble has devel
oped since last October, because the
adjutant generals Office simply acts
upon statement of facts without
going into the record Of the cases or
the extenuating circumstances.
The adjutant generals office does
its duty as 1t sees it. and If mans
paper shows that he was convicted Of
thievery 1t doesn't make a whole lot
of difference whether soldier stole
a pack sof playing cards or a suit
of underwear or embezzled funds
The dishonorable discharge has been
given just the same.
Cases Date Back to Civil War.
Essentially. the Judge advocate gen.
erals Office is the place where mat
ters Of law and evidence and justice
are concentrated. A clemency board
in the judge advocate generals Of
fee constantly reviews cases and rec
ommends changes. The adjutant gen.
erals Office is huge clerical or
ganization, where no attempt is made
to inquire into questions Of penology.
If Congress will put the power to
handle dishonorable discharges back
into the hands of the lawyers of the
Army by repeating the rider that was
put into the 1915 act. much Of the
trouble will be eliminated. but mem
bers of Congress are wondering what
they can do to restore some Of their
constituents to an honorable dis
charge whose cases already have been
finally ruled upon by the War De-
partment. There are thousands of
ca ses hanging over from the civil
war. veterans who have been vainly
endeavoring for years to rid them
selves of the stamp of dishonorable
discharge, but without avail And it
is said that most Of the offenses are
lust as trivial as the borrowing of a
blanket or pair Of shoes. without any
idea Of theft.
Copyright. 1921