754 ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY JUSTICE .

there were times when the court was made up of field officers in its entirety.
One court contained two colonels, five lieutenant colonels and six majors. The
unavailability for detail for courts-martial duty of more officers of exper-
ience has been advanced in many instances where the court has been com-
posed almost entirely of lieutenants . While it would be impossible, eve n
were it thought advisable to do so, to detail a court such as the one las t
mentioned, except in a large command, nevertheless the right of an accused
certainly should not be prejudiced by failure to provide a competent tribunal
for the consideration of his case. For the trial of officers, only 40 .2 per cen t
of the composition of the court was below field rank . This is accounted fo r
by the fact that, where the accused is an officer, the court is invariably com-
posed of officers senior to him in rank .
The right of challenge was exercised 257 times, and in only 26 instance s
did the court fail to sustain the objections . Frequently officers arose in court
and stated their own disqualifications to sit, although this fact was unknown t o
the accused: The Judge Advocate also from time to time challenged for caus e
in behalf pf the accused, the latter being unaware of the disqualifications .
The following table will indicate the pleas and findings in the 1,500 case s
referred for trial :

Officers' trials . Trials of enlisted

men .

Pleas . Findings. Pleas. Findings.

Guilty 26 117 784 1,769

Net guilty 165 69 1,579 488
Guilty minor included o'Menses 5 220 328

It is interesting to note that the court returned a finding of guilty to 1,76 9

specifications, and that the accused pleaded guilty in 784 of them, which is
nearly half. In serious cases the court called for the evidence in spite o f
the accused ' s plea of guilty . In 15 instances the court returned a finding o f
not guilty, although the accused pleaded guilty to the offense charged . Th e
accused was found not guilty to 488 specifications, and in 326 instances th e
court returned a finding of guilty of an offense of a similar nature to, bu t
less serious than, the one charged . Certainly the charge can not be mad e
that the courts do not give careful consideration to questions of fact, eve n
though they are subject to the criticism as above stated, that they are in man y
instances incompetent to pass upon questions of law.
Two officers and 480 enlisted men were charged with desertion . Of thes e
201 enlisted men were found guilty, 15 enlisted men not guilty, and tw o
officers and 264 enlisted men guilty of absence without leave .
The periods of confinement awarded by courts and approved by reviewin g
authorities were as follows :

Approved
Awarded by re-
by courts . viewing
authority

No con9nement 69
0 -3 months 202 210 '
3 monthsto 6 months 285 343
8 months to 1 year 158 132
1 year to 2 years 144 10 0
2 years to 3 years 108 88
3 years to 5 vears 166 12 0
5 years to 10 vears 108 75
10 years to 15 vears 19 11
15 vearsto 20 years 18 7
20 vearsto 25 years 10 7
Over 25 yea's 14 8
Number of cas es whe rein total con9nement was remitted 59
Number ofa'es wherein total con9nement was suspended 16
Number of cases wherein total confinement was set aside 58