MILITARY INTERFERENCE WITH CIVIL RIGHTS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 148, 23 June 1906, Page 15

MILITARY INTERFERENCE WITH CIVIL RIGHTS.

The following, from the Berlin correspondent of The Times, in a letter dated 26th April, illustrates the independence of the civil Courts, one of which has had the courage to declare a Cabinet : order of the Emperor null and void : — Great interest has been aroused by the prosecution of the well-known war correspondent and miiltary critic, Colonel Gr.r-dke, for continuing to use the title and ptylo of "colonel" and for wearing his unifo m after he had been deprived of thcic privileges by the finding of a military Court of honour and by a special Cabinet order of the Emperor. A singular feature of the case was that the original pro6ecution was instituted by Colonel Gaedke himself in order to test the legality of the actior- of the army authorities. Colonel Gaedke had already been acquitted by the civil Court of first instance, and to-day trial was consequent upon an appeal against that verdict! by the Public Prosecutor. On' behalf of Colonel Gaedke it was contended that as a retired office!* he was no longer subject to the jurisdiction of military Courts nf honour. Against this view it was urged that a Royal order of the year 1874 extended the, jurisdiction of miiltlaTy Courts of honour to retired officers, but the civil Court to-day upheld the view that this order was of no constitutional effect, as it was not countersigned by a Minister of State,. There was, indeed, a Royal order of the year 1843 to the same effect as that of 1874, and the order of 1843 held good because at that date the 'King of Prussia was an absolute monarch. But Colonel Gaedke had been tried by the Court of honour under the provisions of tihe^ unconstitutional order of 1874 and not under those of the absolutist order of 1843. ■ The civil Court likewise gave no effect to a special Cabinet order of the present Emperoi dated 27th February, 1904, confirming the verdict according to which Colonel Gaedko was deprived of the right of wearing Prussian uniform on. the ground that by his newspaper criticisms upon the duties >of officers he had violated his military oath, and on the further ground that he had "recommended a book published by a female Social Democrat." Colonel Gaedke contended that) he could find nothing in the Prussian Constitution which prohibited, retired officers from writing in newspapers. When the Emperor's Cabinet order condemning Colonel Gaedke was read out to-day the Court and the public stood up in their places. The verdict of the civil Court of second instance was an absolute acquittal, but the case will doubtless be taken by the Public Prosecutor to thts Supreme Court at Leipzig.