The Court-Martial That Dismissed Itself
Colonel Haines walks free after a military court decides it had no authority to try him—leaving Governor Ferry to answer for the expense.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The court martial of Colonel Haines has ended precisely as The Tribune, on Friday, said it would end: no jurisdiction. It also ended differently from what both General O’Brien and Colonel Haines expected. The latter thought the court was organized to convict him, while General O’Brien supposed it would … It was a great farce. Both the general and the colonel shook hands before the colonel’s squad took up the line of march for Seattle, with their vouchers in their pockets, singing:
“Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths; Our bruised arms hung up for monuments; Our stern alarms changed to merry meetings; Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.”
Nearly every officer of the National Guard spoke in the severest terms of the action of Commander-in-Chief Ferry in not allowing the accused to be made acquainted officially with the findings of the court. Why was this? Some say simply because when the court decided it had no jurisdiction, General Ferry did not want to acknowledge that he had called together at great expense a military court to determine that question alone. The commander-in-chief evidently did some serious thinking as to how he should solve the puzzling question which confronted him. He had great experience in military matters during the war, and it was looked upon by the National Guard officers as a pretty bad break for an old veteran military man like the governor, who had served in Tennessee, to make. The guilt or innocence of Col. Haines was not touched upon by the court. After General Ferry determines the question as to whether the court has jurisdiction or not, he will inform the members whether or not they will be called together.
“It was a great farce. Both the general and the colonel shook hands before the colonel’s squad took up the line of march for Seattle, with their vouchers in their pockets.”
A governor convening an expensive tribunal that promptly decides it has no power to act is an old story in Washington politics. The episode is a reminder that questions of jurisdiction—who has the authority to decide—can embarrass a government more than the original accusation.
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