Evening star., 1939-04-02
Fifty Years Ago
In the Star
Court-martial proceedings against
Maj. Lydecker. engineer In charge OF

Maj. Lydecker engineer In charge OF
the water supply construc-
Trial Of Mai. ton project which ended in
lvd.-k.r scandal, began on March
Is. 1885, Each day there
after news stories in The Star tell of the
progress of the trial as the long list of
witnesses we're examined. The following
In The Star of April is from the news
account of the final day of the proceed
ings:
THE eighth session of the Lydecker
court-martial. and the last as far as ac-
tive operations are concerned, was begun
promptly at 10 o'clock this morning
There were a number of ladies present,
besides several we'll known military men.
The judge advocate announced that the
record of yesterdays proceedings, con-
sisting Of the arguments of the counsel
for the defense, had not yet been COM
pleted but that he was ready to proceed
with his argument in support of the
prosecution of Maj. Lydecker. He there
upon began to read his address, which
had been prepared, and occupied 80 or
more pages of typewriter matter. The
majors full, deep voice, in no wise i'm
paired by the severe tasks that have been
imposed upon it during the trial. seemed
in perfect condition and his utterance
was very clear
Gov Boutwell, was not present when
the judge advocate began to read, but Mr..
Smith and Maj. Lydecker sat in their
corner in patient attention
THE arguments of the defense yester-
day and the absence of any indication
of the line to be pursued by the prosecu-
ton caused considerable curiosity as to
how Maj Davis would handle the case.
The evidence, being to some extent frag-
mentary and not in any way rebutted by
the defense, did not show anything Of a
clue to its origin, and his course was
closely followed by both the court and the
visitors. The major was provided with
quite bulwark of law books in front of
him, and as he read he made frequent
references to the pages marked by little
slips of paper, reading his precedents at
length.
"The judge advocate began his argu-
ment with reference to the question of
the jurisdiction of the court. He said
that If the offense alleged is not an Of
fense according to the articles of war, or
If 1t be one over which court-martial
has no jurisdiction, further proceedings
in it would be in error. The accused is
an officer of the Army and as such amen
able to trial by legally constituted
court-martial. AS to the constitution Of
this court there Is no doubt.
1.-THE offense charged is neglect Of duty
to the prejudice of good order and mill
tary discipline The major took up IN
order the separate phases that go to
make up the offense. Any duty may be
required of an individual of the Military
Establishment which pertains to the
corps, department or arm of service to
which he belongs, by competent author
ity. There could be no doubt that the
construction of the tunnel was an appro-
pirate one for the accused to perform; he
is an officer of engineers and the duty
contemplated the construction of an en-
gineering work. It was also imposed in
accordance with section 1900, Revised
Statutes, placing the Washington aque-
duct under the sole control of the chief
of engineers. Further sections declare
the aqueduct to be public work for the
purpose Of supplying water to the public
buildings. These statutes give the work
the character Of a military duty and
neglect of such duty imposed upon an
engineer officer becomes a neglect Of
military duty, and, as such, prejudicial
to good order and military discipline"