The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1926-03-01


and the Shenandoah court of in.
quiry, the War and Navy depart.
ments evidently calculated that they
might be able to show we did not
have sufficient evidence to support
the allegations had made Of
neglect and mismanagement. AS
/ knew what this evidence con.
sisted of and where to obtain it,
there was no anxiety on my part
about not being able to fully estab-
lish the truth of every statement
1 had made
However. when fight is being
made for a principle, against a
system such as exists in the War
of time. labor. and expense is re-
CURED in the preparation.
Reid Selected as Counsel
The one thing Of paramount i'm
portance was to bring out the evil
dence in the case SO the people
might be acquainted with the facts
on which our criticism was based,
and in order to effect this. it was
necessary to obtain competent legal
| direction and advice, that would
| force the court to admit such evi.
dence-otherWise the court might
not wish to allow any evidence as
to the truth of the assertions, pre-
ferring to resort to the ordinary
military method of Judging a case
contrary to good order and mill.
tary discipline"
! Many able men had offered to be
my counsel but after considering
all of them came to the conclu.
sion that the Hon. Frank X. Reid,
Republican, Of Illinois, was the
one best suited to handle this mat
ter. Mr.. Reid represents an Illinois
district in our House of Represen-
tatives. He was q member OF the
Congressional committee that in
vestigated the aircraft situation
during the previous session of Con-
gress. This committee of the House
OF Representatives conducted the
most searching and impartial in
vestigation ever made in this
Icountry of the whole subject OF
aviation and our national defense.
Mr.. Reid is splendid lawyer.
thoroughly patriotic, and not one
| to be easily swayed from what he
considers right, either by pressure
from a political party. or by a
Dominating bureaucratic group.
IlIustrious Array Of Talent
Mr.. Reid brought Judge Plain
from Illinois to assist him with
certain legal phases of the ques-
ton. An old friend OF mine, the
Hon. Joseph e. Davies; of Wiseon-
sin, a Democrat, and formerly head
of the Federal Trade Commission,
assisted and advised in the prepa-
ration of the case. My father-fn-
law, the Hon Sidney T. Miller. of
Detroit, Mich. gave us his valuable
opinions on matters at issue. vii
liam Webb. the secretary of the
Congressional Committee for the
Revision of Laws, superintendent
the preparation of the evidence and
of the record, and was custodian
OF all the papers connected with
the handling of the case.
Our military counsel consisted CT
Col II. A. White, J. A.. generally
conceded to be one of the best ex-
ponents and authorities on military
law in the United States Army,
and Lieut. Clayton Bissell, of the
Air Service. my former aide and
one of the most accomplished air
officers in this country, or any
other, acted as technical adviser on
all aeronautical matters that arose.
Force Worked Day and Night
No better body of assistants was
ever gotten together for the hand
ling Of such case and during the
more than six weeks duration of
the trial, these men worked night
and day, under conditions Of great
stress and nervous strain. My in
structions to them were to bring
out the evidence to establish the
truth Of every statement made, as TO
show the actual condition Of our
national defense, irrespective Of the
finding of the court, as this we
knew would be only one way.
The War Department assigned to
the case the ablest prosecutors they
could get, but. soon the general
staff, not being satisfied with the
way things were being handled, be-
gan to take over the prosecution.
When they found they themselves
did not make much Roadway in that
respect, they obtained a member of
the judge advocates department in
the Army, and, / believe, instruct
ed him to proceed with a campaign
which had nothing to do with the
| facts involved in the case and only
| tended to confuse the public on the
| issues. This was the old bureau u
cratic game of obscuring the main
facts by a mass of irrelevant and
| inconsequential detail.
Mr.. Reid. in his able manner,
showed that the Army bureaucracy
| had taken the case out of the regu-
lar military channels and had forced
the President to become both the
accuser and the reviewing authority
(which corresponds, in civil proce-
dure, to acting as jury, prosecutor,
and judge.
Court Wanted Quick Verdict
Mr.. Reid contended that the truth
! of the statements made was an alb
solute defense. On this the court
refused to rule, but allowed the
| testimony to come in to see what
| it was worth The mass and posi-
| tiveness of this testimony was so
| overwhelming, and it came so
straight and so fast, that the bu-
reaucrats of the War Department
were at loss as to what TO do.
| 1t showed beyond question that
| our whole National defense had
been mismanaged-how there was
no unity of action between the
| Army and Navy how they had
been fighting each other for years
| over aviation and stopping its
progress; how there was no defense
| provided for Alaska; no adequate
defense for Hawaii, not even war
| plans for the handling of air
] forces there: how foreign aircraft
interests had been allowed to es-