Military Justice Administration Overview
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EsLebeDeutschlandMilitary Justice Administration Overview
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EsLebeDeutschland'742 ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY JUSTICE.
thority or initiation which Gen . Ansell had previously exercised as senior officer '
in the office .
Col . E . G . Davis, Chief of the Military Justice Division, testified before the '
Senate Committee on Military Affairs (p . 204, Hearings before the Committe e
on Military Affairs) that Gen . Ansell's statement that he was relieved from '
responsibility in connection with the administration of military justice was no t
correct, for the reason that all cases connected therewith continued to pass
through Gen . Ansell's hands. The latter signed many of them himself as Act-
ing Judge Advocate General and actually exercised the discretion of deciding .
what, if any, cases were to go to Gen . Crowder for his action . Col. Davis
further stated that Gen. Ansell exercised final authority in all such cases fro m
November to April, except where he did not wish to take the responsibility of .
determining a particular case himself. He had the discretion in every instance '
to determine whether a case was to be disposed of finally by himself or whethe r '
it should go to Gen. Crowder. Col . Davis, testifying before the Inspector .
General, said :
" As I said before, every court-martial case that left my desk for highe r
action went to Gen . Ansell . * * * The only exception that could possibl y
exist to the statements I have made is this : That during the period when we .
were working in the office over the establishment of General Orders No . 7 and,
formulating the rules for carrying it into effect I frequently consulted directly .
with Gen . Crowder, and frequently placed the result of investigations I ha d
made on Gen . Crowder's desk. These (lid not go through Gen . Ansell's hands, ,
for the reason that he was entirely out of sympathy with what we were tryin g
to do and Gen . Crowder had directed us to make the investigation, and we felt .
this had nothing to do with Gen . Ansell's position in the office and we did no t
consult Gen . Ansell about anything we did in connection with that order, i n
getting it established or the rules for getting it into effect . But as to actua l
action on cases, no ease went to Gen . Crowder that did not first pass throug h
Gen . Ansell. There were certain cases in which I assumed the right to act ;
for instance, when I found that a court-martial record was incomplete ; tha t
the record did not show that the judge advocate had been sworn, etc . . I exer-
cised the authority of sending it to the reviewing authority for correction ; bu t
all matters where correction action was taken or where clemency was recom-
mended, or where anything of that larger nature was involved, those matter s
passed through Gen . Ansell to Gen . Crowder, according to office memorandum ."
(Exhibit 20, p. 11 . )
Col. Davis further states (Exhibit 20, p . 4), referring to Gen . Ansell's
statement that, from some time in November until the time he left for France ,
about the middle of April, he had nothing to do in connection with th e
administration of military justice and that the proceedings did not come
over his desk, " that statement is not correct * * * As a matter of ,fact ,
Gen . Ansell was the senior assistant in the office of the Judge Advocate Gen-
eral but, in this capacity, he signed possibly 50 to 75 per cent of all papers
signed in the office, and signed as Acting Judge Advocate General, even
though Gen . Crowder was present and at the head of the office ."
Col . A . E . Clark, Judge Advocate General's Department, on duty at tha t
time as assistant to Col . Davis, and for a portion of the time during th e
absence of Col . Davis, Acting Chief of Military Justice Division, state s
(Exhibit 24, p . 8) :
"When I was acting head of the section for a short time in March, I fol-
lowed the practice of signing these opinions, returning the records in accord-
ance with the practice that Col . Davis had established . Everything wa s
routed over Gen . Ansell's desk except the opinion returning records unde r
General Orders, No . 7 . Everything that went up to higher authority, to The
Adjutant General, the Chief of Staff . the President, or the Secretary of War ,
was routed throu gh him and over his desk. "
Maj . William H . Keith, chief clerk in the Judge Advocate General's Office -
until September, 1918, in his testimony to the Inspector General confirms th e
statement that, during the period November, 1917, to April, 1918 paper s
intended for the action of higher authority passed over Gen . Ansell's desk.
(Exhibit 23 . )
On April 10, 1918, a memorandum, subject "Office Organization . " was issued.
by the Judge Advocate General's Offit e . After prescribing the duties of th e
various divisions, there appears the following (Exhibit 107) :
"Upon receipt of papers in the Chief Clerk's office they are stamped, num=
tiered, precedents attached and charged to the officer handling them . When