The Washington herald., 1922-01-11
WAR VETERANS
in HOUSE URGE
new ARMY CODE
End of 'Prussian" Meth
DDS Demanded by Men
Who Fought War.

sE'ormer service men in the House
5e preparing to initiate a concert
eh effort to democratize admlnistra-
3Pn OF justice in the. army.
,fPrussianism' still exists. they
t9clare. despite the enactment OF
legislation aimed at liberalization
S1d the revision of the Articles Of
War.
The. administration of justice in
lhe army is just as bad now as 1t
Vas during the war" declared Rep
HfSentative Royal Johnson. Of South
Dakota. Men accused OF crimes
Fave as great difficulty as ever in
getting a fair hearing"
.sJohnson is one. of more than a
score or former service men who
nave held conferences during the
gAst several days to agree on a
15ogram designed to force the War
department to adopt more liberal
regulations These men served in
nfe war and saw how enlisted men
land even officers-are dealt with
When they are accused of some
urine. They came out of the war
determined to change the archaic
system of military law that has
Iersistsa In the American army
YitAl9tle change from the rules
that goveRed in Europe 100 years
Backed by Legion.
,,Their move has the backing of
uhe american Legion and other vet
Grans Organizations.
The fight goes back to war times
Trreally to the time four men were
sentenced to be hanged in France.
Gen. Crowder. then Judge advocate
yNnersl. of the army. is said to
have held these trials were illegal
However. the powers in France
Were-said to desire that the men
should be hanged. And. the story
goes. they would have been hanged
hQtSaS-the intervention of another
1fcer. who put the matter before
the President
81 night for the revision OF the
articles of War. the fundamental
sw of the army. was subsequently
hSEun. led by Samuel T. Ansell. who
gas at the time Judge advocate
asneraL The country was stirred
the revelations of how the army
administered justice.
p Bill Works Wonder.
eFinally, in 1920, a bill went
Rrough congress providing for
tie revision of the articles 1t
vas sponsored by johnson in the
louse. and Senator Chamberlain of
Oregon in the senate. The Cham
eflain-Johnson forces asked for
nuany things they didn't get. But
through compromise with the rul-
ing powers of the war department
Jtcles were revised.
And here is the gist of the pres
s2t situation:
nSeryice men declare the war de-
,sr ntent has nullified the effects
81 the revision through interpreta-
tEns which are contrary to the
SPIRIT Of the law, leaving the
ceurIs martial system as bad as
before
$50 bills will re introduced-prob-
sely score of them-by the
fprmer service men, in an effort
% force the war department to
i've up to the reforms which had
hsen sought m the previous law.
Court Of Appeals.
Zone Of the chief things accom-
plished by the revision of 1920
was the creation of a court of
mis- court is g board of review,
Which must pass on every SEN
tence. Previously. the approval of
the commanding general made the
sentence Of any army court final
and binding ESyond appeal. no
matter whether the trial was i'll
leGal or not.
rBuc the board OF review has not
fSnctiOned as II was intended by
congress- This is because a soldier
plIt on-trial and convicted in a
caurt martial is denied Informal
tEhn as to the verdict of the court.
Several charges and specifications
Ray have been made against the
accused: he may have been found
guilty on but one-but information
10 denied him
sThe result: is that when the
accused soldiers case goes to the
HpaTd O. review, he cannot speak
~ his Cwn behalf because he does
not know what sentence was i'm
ppSed on him. He can have coun-
eel. but the counsel is of no use.
He cannot know if the sentence
Jas illegal because he does not
know the sentence. If there were
several charges-and there usual
" are-he does not know on which
charge he was 'ound guilty
To Late for Appeal.
The accused will learL' the SEN
eence all right, but only after the
Hoard of review ha sacted and the
PRESIDENT has approved its findings.
Then il is too late for any appeal
before the higher tribunal
GThe law says a man shall have
the full record of his case. He can
set it-minus the verdict of the
Court. A service man compared it
70 a situation that would exist IL
OWL court passed judgment, and
kept the judgment secret wher the
case went to the Supreme Court.
rAncther complaint of the service
men is that suspended sentences"
similar to the civil parole, do rot
% up before the Board OF Review.
Me accused is kept in ignorance,
and IL the suspended sentence Is inn
pesed later by action of a superior
Cyhicer. it goes irto effect without
review.
.It is contended further that the
preliminary investigation provided
in the new law, as now conducted
~ the Inspector Generaps Depart
rHent, is not as it's designers con-
tEmpIated The law provided that
there should be an investigation
when charges were preferred. to
determine whether or rot a court
martial was justified. The proce-
dhre was somewhat analogous to
tie grand jury investigation in cfsil