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MITCHELL SEEKS MISSING LETTER

Plan to Call President Given Up

Flier's Defense Counsel Says Letter From Davis to Coolidge Missing From Record

By WILLIAM J. McEVOY

Plans of the defenders of Col. William Mitchell to summon President Coolidge as a witness at the court-martial of the flying colonel were practically abandoned today and a new tack taken.
While Col. Sherman Moreland, judge advocate of the trial, which stood in recess until Monday, was examining three San Antonio newspapermen to whom Mitchell gave the statements that caused all the trouble, Rep. Frank Reid, Ill., chief counsel for Mitchell, prepared to demand from the War Department an important trial document he charged had been suppressed.
Can't Call Coolidge
Collapse of the plan to summon the President came when investigation showed that only Col. Moreland had the power to issue subpenas in the case, and an inquiry put to Moreland showed that he would refuse the defense's request if made.
The document which the Mitchell defenders now seek is the letter which Secretary of War Davis wrote to Maj. Gen. Eli Helmick, inspector general of the Army, ordering the investigation of the Mitchell charges.
Letter Missing
It was disclosed at the trial Thursday that this was omitted from the papers served on Mitchell and it whetted the defense's curiosity for "any papers and correspondence" which may have passed between President Coolidge and Davis.
Mitchell's defenders are thoroly [[throughly]] aroused at what they charge is the utterly irregular procedure of the War Department inn al the procedure of the War Department in all the pocedures leading to the ordering of Mitchell to trial and they intend to do everything to bring this out sharply.  

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[[caption]] Maj. Gen. Robert L. Howze, commandant of the 5th Corps of the United States Army, who is president of the court which is hearing the Mitchell evidence. [[/caption]]

COUNSEL'S FLOWERY APOLOGIES BRING ROARS IN MITCHELL CASE

Prosecutor Says He'd Like to Have Son as Able as Reid--Reid Returns Compliment, Including Whole Court in His Tribute.

The decorum of the high military tribunal which is trying Col. William Mitchell for his verbal attacks on the War and Navy Departments was completely shattered today by a sharp personal clash between counsel, with an extremely comical climax.
The small courtroom was thrown into a veritable uproar by the ludicrous ending, which came when Representative Frank Reid, Mitchell's special attorney, and Col. Sherman Moreland, trial judge advocate, not only apologized to each other for their remarks, but exchanged some most unusual and entertaining compliments.
The fiery repartee started when Representative Reid declared that the charges against the accused were so vague that he could not understand them, and asked for a bill of particulars, citing specific clauses from Mitchell's San Antonio statements alleged to be "prejudicial to good order and military discipline."
Repartee Is Fiery.
The judge advocate, his face ablaze, leaped to his feet and, turning to Reid, demanded to know why the prosecution should be held responsible for the length of Mitchell's statement.
"Am I to blame because your client saw fit to issue a 52-page typewritten document?" Col. Moreland shouted.
Before he had finished Representative Reid was on his feet, hurling back a stirring defense of his client, and vigorously waving his arms in emphasis of his point that the statement was long because it "dealt with momentous matters involving the safety and welfare of our country."
"Because the seriousness of the subject required so long a statement, does that mean you can bring in a basket full of papers and show them at us in the general guise of charges?" the Congressman demanded heatedly.
By this time the roomful of spectators and newspaper men was manifesting the wholehearted appreciation of the battle, and Gen. Howze, president of the court, was strenuously rapping the table for order.
"Counsel will address the court," the general repeated several times.
Two Lawyers Apologize.
The admonition of the court instantly changed the attitude of the two legal opponents. Col. Moreland arose and apologized, saying:
"If I had a son, I would wish for nothing better than that he be as able a lawyer for the estimable counsel for the defense."
Representative Reid arose with a bow and showed he was as able a diplomat as a lawyer, remarking:
"Oh, well, if that's the way he feels about it, I would like to say that if I had a son I could only wish that he was a military lawyer and belonged to the same crowd as all of you."
The general laughter that greeted the interchange was joined in by the staid members of the court. Later the judge advocate drew on the sympathies of his hearers by saying he had left a sick bed to take part in the trial.
The Alphonse and Gaston incident served to break down the reserve of the spectators throughout the remainder of the short session, and as Representative Reid continued launch sarcastic broadsides at the charges made against his client there was frequent giggling and chuckling from the rear of the room.
Court 100 Per Cent Tardy.
The court itself got the audience restless at the outset of its breach of military discipline in appearing 25 minutes late this morning. This makes its record for tardiness 100 per cent for the three days of the trial, as on each previous occasion they were a few minutes behind time in filing into their places from the little anteroom, where the "star chamber sessions" are held.
As the members of the court took their places this morning they spoke to Col. and Mrs. Mitchell and defense counsel, Gen. Howze and Gen. Douglas MacArthur being especially profuse in their greetings.
An interested spectator at today's proceedings was Representative Florian Lampert of Wisconsin, who was chairman of the special house aircraft probe committee at the last session of Congress, when the then Gen. Mitchell dropped a few verbal bombs preliminary to his later assaults on departmental administration of the air services.

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[[caption]] COL. SHERMAN MORELAND [[/caption]]

CASE IS UNUSUAL, MITCHELL SHOWS

Has Succeeded in Getting Before Country Exceptional Procedure Followed.

BY ROBERT T. SMALL.

Col. William Mitchell has failed to halt his trial by the many special please interposed on his behalf, but he has succeeded in getting before the country the fact that he has been treated in the most extraordinary rules of court-martial procedure were disregarded or violated in his case up to the hour the trial opened.
The explanation on behalf of the prosecution has been that Col. Mitchell is a sort of super-being, not amenable to the usual order. He did not even seem to have a commanding officer at the time the court-martial proceedings began. President Coolidge has been pictured as scanning the horizon far and wide in an effort to find a commanding officer for Col. Mitchell. He couldn't do it. He could not even find the prototype of such an officer. Therefore it has been made to appear in the record that Mr. Coolidge, exercising his constitutional rights as commanding officer of the Army and the Navy, ordered the court-martial on his own initiative and directed the filing of the charges, the arrest of the accused, the appoointment [[appointment]] of the court. It has been explained in court that Col. Mitchell's case "is not a normal one." Maybe that is why there is a large fire hose right outside the courtroom labeled "Rescue Hose No. 9."
Disregarding of Rules.
Through his counsel, Col. Mitchell has demanded to know why his case was so abnormal, why he has not been treated as any other officer would be treated. Counsel stated that military law and military procedure protect the rights of an accused in a more careful manner than is possible under the civilian statutes. But in Col. Mitchell's case all the rules were disregarded. The latest court-martial rules, by the way, were promulgated by President Woodrow Wilson.
Despite the admitted irregularities the court has decided to go on the bitter end. Col. Mitchell and his counsel are satisfied. They have felt from the first that they were trying the case before the bar of public opinion. They are looking beyond the time that Col. Mitchell will be a part of the military establishment. They also are looking forward to their final appearance before President Coolidge in the event of a conviction.
As to this conviction there is much speculation in and about the courtroom. There are ten members of the court left of the original thirteen. It will require seven votes to convict. Friends of Col. Mitchell say they believe he can count on four officers to vote for him. If Col. Mitchell wins an acquittal or even a Scotch verdict, it probably will be due to his attack which led to the reduction of the court from 13 to 10.
The observers at the trial are confident the court is divided, but just how far the division goes no one can say with any degree of certainty. 
There is evidently a standpat element in the court and a progressive bloc. Whether the progressives are strong enough to save the outspoken colonel is for future events to determine. Generally speaking, the "progressives" on the court are believed to be Maj. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the youngest major general in the Army, but second in seniority as the court is now comprised, Brig. Gen. Frank R. McCoy, Brig. Gen. Edwin B. Winans, and Brig. Gen. Ewing E. Booth. Gen. MacArthur is only 45. He made a wonderful record during the World War.
Gen McCoy's progressiveness may be understood when it is recalled he once was an aid to Theodore Roosevelt and afterward served on the staff of Gen. Leonard Wood. Gen Booth is one of the two non-West Pointers on the court. Col. Blanton Winship, a native of Georgia, law member of the court, is the other. Col. Winship has proved a great stickler for form.
Mrs. Mitchell is looking extremely snappy these days in a sort of blue tam which reminds one of the headgear worn by the "Blue Devils" of France, the famous Chasseurs Alpines.
Speaking of depriving a person of freedom of speech, the judge advocate of the court says absolute freedom would permit any fool to cry "fire" in a crowded assemblage and cause a panic. Just what his intended inference was no one seems to know.