Evening star., 1925-09-09
MITCHELL INVITES
ARMY TO PROCEED,
RENEWING ATTACK
ourt-MartiaI or No Court
Martial, There viii Be No
Pleas by Me, He Says.
ASSERTS DEPARTMENTS
NEED THOROUGH PROBE
Conductor of Inquiry Is Member
of Artillery, Often Raped
by officer Under Fire.
BY the Associated Press.

SAN ANTONIO, Tex, September Q.
IF the War Department does not
like the statements l made, let Off
cials take any disciplinary action they
want court martial or no court-mar-
tial but there will be no inveStiga-
ton, no pleas, no defense on my part
covering a question of that kind" Col.
William Mitchell declared here today,
answering a question as to what he
intended doing if prosecuted by the
War Department for his statement
of last Saturday.
The investigation that is needed is
of the War and Navy Departments
and their conduct in the disgraceful
administration of aeronahtics,' ne
added
Although Col. Mitchell was silent
on the subject, fellow officers called
attention to the fact that Col. +. d.
Scott of the inspector generals de-
partment is stationed at Fort Sam
Houston. He outranks either Col.
Mitchell or Col. George \. Nuyent,
assigned by the War Department to
investigate Col. Mitchell's statement.
Col. Nugent is a member of the
Coast Artillery Corps. Col. Scott is
not. They point out, too, that rivalry
between the Coast Artillery and the
Air Service is keener than between
any other two branches of service.
Col. Mitchell often has pointed out
the superiority of air defense over
coast artillery to repel an invasion
from the sea.
Thinks Probe Right.
Again 1 have been asked to ex,
press my opinion on the so-called
disciplinary measures that are being
taken in my case by the War De-
partment," Col Mitchell said. $50
far, all l have to go on are the news
paper reports. 1t is entirely right and
proper that an investigation should
be made blythe War Department on
any question involving military juris-
diction."
Discipline is a difficult thing to de-
fine. Some people call 1t the unhesi-
tating obedience of a junior to a SUI
perior officer. If, however, conditions
that obtain are not properly estimated
by superior officers, and If superior
officers are not that in fact, but only
in name, then the discipline ceases
because the people that are forced un-
der them, recognizing that they are
incompetent for their positions, fail to
have the trust and loyalty in them
which should be the case in any un-
In time of war, conditions have
to be met squarely, willynilly, but
in time of peace, questions of great
moment to the country must and
will be investigated by all the people
of the country on their merits,
otherwise we would not have repre-
sentative government. To obscure
the issue in this case, which is the
fact that our aeronautics is in a dis
graceful condition and our whole ma
tional defense is little better. is
merely to delude the public 1t is
the old sea lawyers game of indulG-
ing in special pleading to obscure
the main issue or, as our friends,
the diplomats, would say, of 'enlarg-
ing the field of discussion so as to
hide the questions brought up What
l have said about the conditions of
our national defense hurts the bureau.
Gratis in WashinGton-it ought TO hurt
them, because it is true. When our
men crash in airplanes and are killed
it does not hurt them-it is all over
with.
Il also note With amusement the
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