Evening star., 1925-12-16
MITCHELL IGNORED
LAW. WEEKS WROTE.
URGING REDUCTION
Continued from First Page.)

! U'ontlnued from First Page.)
! The first occurred in the form OF a
personal battle between Brig Cen IL
| Mr.. Reid. Gen. Drum elected 10
! answer questions propounded to him
/ on Cross-eXamination by Mr. Reid in
| his own way. and for many minutes
| Mr.. Reid made much effort To main
| tain patience.
The matter gradually approached
I IN" boiling point. il was evident To
every one present. and ths explosion
I occurred on Mr Reids 1uS SktioninE of
( Gen. Drums statements regarding
the efficacy OF 10 anu-aircraft guns
! acainst amy bomber
/ Drum Retort Is Sharp.
! Did YOU ever hear Of one bomber
! being sent out 10 perform a mission
over an important area? >"
/ Il don't remember" replied Cen
= Drum. DO YOU. Mr.. Reid 20
Yes" the counsel replied sarcas-
! tically
/ Then tell us your war experience
so we will he able To give weight 10
, Your statements" declared Gen. Drum
( and the courtroom literally jumped 10
it's feet
Il was as much in my line durin G
I the war YOU were in yours. snap
! ped Mr.. Reid and wasn't chief
| clerk of the general staff. either"
The courtroom was thrown into n
| turmoil. and Mai Gen. William 6.
Graves rushed into the situa ton de
! ma ndns the court be closed Order
( was restored Immediately rs the gen
erals filed ont into their own ConferE
/ ence room. And when they return ed
/ President Howe made this announce
ment:
The co,fi votes that its proceed
/ inSs he continued with proper de
, corum and that such occurrences
/ which have Just caused the court to
close will not rise again"
The matter seemed settled. and Mr..
, Reid pursued another line of ques.
/ tioning For each question he re
ceived comprehe nsive answers from
the witness and his efforts to inter.
! rlipt failed. Gen. Drum ignored
| them.
! Losing patience once more, Mr..
! Reid turned to the court and said:
! N the court please. II he wants 10
! make an address on every question !
put to him. III aft down until he
gets through AS far as the counsel
/ for defense is concerned. we have
nothing to do with these long answers.
! | insist the witness has violated every
! rule Of court
( Reid Drops Witness
! Col. Rlanton Winship. through Mr..
| Reid asked a broad question when he
| requested the witness To detail his
duties in France. and decided To al
: low Cen Drum to continue AT this
/ point. Mr.. Reid said Il want the
/ record to show ! am not interested
! in the further examination of the wit
/ ness In view Of his refusal to answer
direct questions proposed 10 him,
refuse to examine him further
No effort was made by any one "a
persuade Mr.. Reid 10 continue and the
: court then asked several question :
/ including one on the condition of pla ms
! for national defense AT present. Gen
/ Drum replied. The plans for the de
fense OF this country never reached
such a stage Of perfection as they
I now occupy.
Cen. Drum was ca He'd 10 the stand
this morning to enahl Mr.. Reid to
! conclude his examination begun yes
terday afternoon. Much time was
taken up in an endeavor to determine
! who directed Gen. Drum to represent
! the War Depa and give its
! views to various committees on air
craft.
/ Letters introduced.
| Mr. Reid Introduced many letters
| which he endea vored To esta hlish
: were written by Cen Drum and tC
prove that the witness himself initia &c
the move that he represent the Wal
| Department on aerOnautiCs. The wit
ness maintained repeatedly he was
ordered on this detail by Gen. Nolan
and when the latter took the stand he
! hot IN nti n cd fat
! Nolan. in his testimony. decla red Gen
Drum had been designated ''on my
recommends tinn' because he haG
heen member of the La ssiter Boa rd
had had a good background on avia
tion: was chief OF staff of the Firs,
Army. and had a good knowledge as
to the use of aviation in battle
Further. he was sympa thetic, To the
development of avia ton in the Army
Gen. Nolan also declar red the WaI
Department was opposed to a sepa ra te
! or unified Air Service and its views
on his subject We're clearly. defined
He stated Gen. Pershing was respons
ible for the present policy in the Wal
| Department relating 10 the Air Serv
ice that his views then represen &c
the War Depa rtment's attitude on the
question and still do. He read from
Cen. Pershing's final report on retir
ing from the Army, Wnlch gave SOnt
of these views.
Gen. Nolan also read the Weeks let
ter.
Weeks Explains Position.
The full text OF the Weeks letter
follows:
Dear Mr.. President
Because of the publicity given the
recent airplane hearings by the com
mittee of the House of Representa-
tives to which that question was re
| ferred. ! think ! should explain to voI
| briefly why ] am not reComme ndins
the reappointment of Gen. Mitchell
as assistant chief of the Air Service
"One of the main questions which
came before the committee was tn,
testimony of Gen. Mitchell that w,
| hod hut 10 airnla res fl for u.ar sarx