ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY. JUSTICi .

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with respect to military justice?A. As I remember that memorandum it read
something like this : " Until further orders all matters, except those pertainin g
to military justice, shall be routed through Gen . Ansell . Those pertaining to
military justice shall go direct to Gen. Crowder . "
Q . Did this take place before or after Gen . Ansell appeared before the Senat e
committee?A . This I could not say .
Q . Do you know why this change was made by Gen . Crowder?A . No ; I do
not know why he made the change . I think he said something about expeditin g
the business of the office.
EXHIBIT 27 .
WASHINGTON, D . C ., March 26, 1919 .
Lieut . Col . Samuel T. Ansell, Judge Advocate General's Department, bein g
first duly sworn, was interrogated by Maj . Gen . J. L. Chamberlain, Inspecto r
General, as follows :
Q. The draft of the order of November, 1917, designating you as Acting
Judge Advocate General contains this statement : " The verbal orders of the
Secretary of War under date of August 11, 1917, designating Brig . Gen .
Samuel T. Ansell," etc . Can you tell me anything about those verbal orders?
A . General, I feel that as a matter of self-protection I have the right to decline ,
and-I ought to decline, and I therefore do decline to answer this question o r
any other question asked me by the Inspector General in this investigation ,
inasmuch as I believe the purpose of it is to lay the foundation for disciplinar y
action against me .
EXHIBIT 28.
MARCH 31, 1919.
Q . Give your full name and rank.A. Maj . Andrew J . Copp, jr. ; Judge Ad-
vocate General's Department .
Q . State briefly the duties upon which you have been engaged since you hav e
been in the Judge Advocate General's Department .A . My commission is dated
July 30, 1918 . My first assignment to duty was at Camp Dix, N . J ., as camp
judge advocate ; on duty there one week ; then transferred to the office of th e
Judge Advocate General's Department, at Washington, D. C ., and was on duty
there for one month, reviewing records of trial by general court-martial . Th e
six months following I was camp judge advocate at Camp Sheridan, Ala ., and
on March 5 I was transferred again to the office of the Judge Advocate Genera l
and have served as a member of the special board of review.
Q . As a result of your experience, what are your views as to the protection
given to the accused by the military code, as it is administered at the presen t
time?A. I consider the administration of military justice entirely adequat e
to meet the needs of the Army in times of both war and peace, and it is entirely
adequate, in my opinion, to afford the accused protection at every stage of the
proceedings, but because of its flexibility there is the possibility that the accused
may be not afforded the protection he is entitled to . It is like any other ma-
chine which is capable of being operated either for good or for bad . There is
one criticism, however, I think I wish to make, and I know that my views ar e
concurred in by many of the officers at Camp Sheridap, with whom I was i n
close touch during my tour of duty there, and that is that there is frequentl y
too long a delay between the time of confinement of the accused, and the final
disposition of his case ; that is, the action of the reviewing authority . Under
the seventieth article of war, it is required that the charges be served upon
the accused within 8 days after confinement or arrest, and trial 10 days there -
after, meaning 10 days after his confinement or arrest ; or if that is imprac-
ticable that he be brought to trial not more than 30 days after those 10 days,
making 40 days in all as the maximum period of confinement . It frequently
occurs that this period is exceeded and there seems to be no remedy for i t
under the code as it now exists. I believe the remedy can be found in makin g
the seventieth article of war a penal article, and so that an officer who cause s
the arrest or confinement of an accused under charges may be brought to a
trial for his neglect if he allows those limits to be exceeded, but I believe th e
code in other respects is entirely adequate, if properly handled, and I am co n
winced that it should be flexible in order to enable a commanding general o r
reviewing authority considerable latitude in maintaining the discipline of hi s
command. From my experience at Camp Sheridan as judge advocate I con -
eluded that the accused was amply protected at every stage of the proceedings ,
13226519PT 79