Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-20
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

stabilize ton Of personnel through
out the Army, Navy and Marine Corps
is considered in Washington to be the
principal effect of William Mitchell's
conviction. Military and naval au-
thorities declare that the resultant
good. in strengthening respect for au-
thority and in inforcing discipline. can
not be overeStimated. They say 1t will
be of lasting benefit in both peace and
war.
Commentators on the courtmartial
verdict even go the length of assert
ing that Mitchell's suspension from
the Army for grave breach of dis
cipline will ramify into American civil
life. Had the court-martial been a less
widely advertised affair. the results
would hardly have been felt outside
the narrow circle of the Army. But
Mitchell was national character. and,
in the estimation of millions, ma
tional hero for many months. Now
the country that watched his ordeal
with an ealgle eye has had brought
home to 1t that an idol was toppled
from at least his military pedestal for
established violation Of authority.
Believe Nation VIII Benefit.
Many analysts of Mitchell's fate are
positive that its lesson will not be lost
upon the Nation as a whole. They
foresee a reawakened sense of respect
for law and authority In general upon
the part of the people. So, salutary
as Mitchell's punishment is expected
to be in "stabilizing personnel" in the
Army and Navy. there are those who
believe 1t may be even more fruitful
in its effect upon lawless tendencies in
civilian life. The crime wave. includ-
ing the fouting of the prohibition
laws, is cited as the outstanding evil
dence Of American defiance of author.
ity.
This observer is informed there Is
Il possibility of action by the War De
partment, designed to secure the
greatest good from the Mitchell YER
dict. 1t Is within the province of the
Secretary of War to post" the YER
dict at every camp and garrison of
the United States Army throughout
the worid-from Maria to Nogales,"
as Maj. Gullion. Mitchell's hard-hit-
ting prosecutor. put it in kiplingesque
language. When an officer Is court
martialed under ordinary circum-
stances, It's the custom to post" the
result only within the corps area to
which he is attached. Then 1t is read
out at formations" a more or less
formal ceremony.
~
But Mitchell was subjected to a
national court martial that is to
say, away from his Texas Corps area
and in the full glare of pitiless pub
lefty at the seat of Army headquar
tiers In Washington 1t would be in
full accord with that procedure If his
conviction were now to be posted
on an equally widespread scale. The
Army authorities. resenting Mitchell'S
final charge that they were out to
get him. contend that the enforc
ing of discipline was their sole end.
Having achieved 1t, they may deem it
right and useful TO exploit the result
to the full limit of the regulations.
At one stage OF the Mitchell court
martial, when the ex-colonel was
tearing down the field and apparently
carrying everything before him, Army
and Navy men felt that national de
Tense was suffering heavily in public
estimation. They feared the effect
on military and naval appropriations
in Congress this Winter. They were
afraid the country had become con-
WINGED that inefficiency was en-
throned in both services.
Morrow Board Report Vital.
The tide in public opinion. they now
say, was suddenly turned III 1dNOT OIL
the Army and Navy by the Morrow
Air Board report. Had not this calm,
considered and cautious survey been
completed in the midst of the Mitchell
trial and given out at the very mo-
ment when Mitchell was pouring his
deadliest broadsides into the services.
their leaders concede public confidence
in them might have been irreparably
shattered. All concerned breathe
more freely now. The Morrow report
on the Air Service, and Mitchell's
conviction have, in their estimation,
saved the day. Once again. Ameri-
cans are expected to sing the refrain
from Columbia, the Gem of the
Ocean'-which reads, The Army and
Navy Forever!-with zost and old
time fervor.
John Wingate Weeks. former Sec
rotary of War, now recuperating in
South America, is acclaimed on all
hands in Washington as the man
who planted the final and des-
tructive depth charge under William
Mitchell. That letter of Weeks to
Coolidge, read into the court
martial record in its waning hours
by Maj. Gen. Dennis E.. Nolan,
deputy chief of staff, was an indict-