Court Martial Farce

The farce which President McKinley has made of the Eagan case serves to call to mind the almost forgotten court martial of the notorious Captain Carter. Thirteen months ago a military court found Captain Carter guilty of fraud, corruption and embezzlement in connection with certain government contracts for the improvement of Savannah harbor. He was the ring leader in a gigantic steal of more than $3, 000,000 of government funds. There was no shadow of doubt of his guilt The court sentenced him to dismissal from the army, fined him $5,000 and recommended that criminal proceedings be brought against him. But he has a millionaire father-in-law and other powerful friends, among them Senator Platt, of New York, who have had sufficient influence to persuade Secretary Alger and President McKinley to hold up the report for more than a year. For thirteen long months the powerful friends of this monumental rascal have succeeded in suppressing the verdict and nullifying the findings of the military court. For thirteen long months these influences have secured to this convicted felon liberty to walk the streets a free man instead of gracing the penitentiary as he should.

During this time George F. Edmunds was appealed to, to review the evidence for the purpose of finding some loophole or technicality on which the conviction might be set aside. Senator Edmund did review the evidence but his rugged honesty could not be used for the disreputable ends which Carter's friends desired and he declared that the findings of the court were regular and legal in every respect. For his services he demanded $5,000 and Secretary Alger, it is alleged, wanted to pay this out of the $50,000,000 national defense fund. He was only prevented from doing this by the refusal of the comptroller of the treasury to allow it. Reflect on the moral sense of a secretary of war who would urge the payment of such a bill, incurred in an effort to overthrow the findings of a court before which the government was the prosecutor, from the national defense fund. It is not clear to the ordinary layman just what the relation is of that fee to the national defense fund. Such cold storaging of important court martial findings is making a mockery of these judicial proceedings. They are coming to have as little significance as a legislative or congressional investigation. In the meantime the good name of the American army is being dragged in the dust, and all for what? Apparently for the purpose of letting the public memory grow dim as to the criminal conduct of this precious rascal, thereby reversing the verdict of the military court which condemned him and relieving high officials of the direct responsibility for such a flagrant miscarriage of justice.