ARMY SENSATION.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 120, 19 May 1909, Page 6

ARMY SENSATION.

A WOODS CLAIMS ■c■^.:■^^ ;v /^^^:'je.7■s■,OoO■..^3AMAG?S; . '■' .."■'■■ ■ ''• '^ '■'. :..", ■/ ' :..'Y...'; ■; — r— ■ ■ •■'.'' ■■■''" A remarkable development,' which ■"■■?■ may provide a pplitical sensation,; nas ' taken place' in- the action .which ex- -!•■ lieutenant Woods is bringing against : ihe members of the Army. Council m connection with his removal. The , con- ■ •■fcention put forward on behalf or Mr •'4 {Woods'ir that-the Army Council actec^ I . »nconstitutipnally.in depriving him ol f%k ■commission,- ■... as they usurped powers tested Jby Act of Parliament only in the Commande'r-in-Chiei. It ' was clairded on behalf of the,authors v ifcies that the/duties of the Comm^nderi in-Chief, so far as they related to, the ■case of Mi* Woods, were transferred in 1904 by an Order-in-Council, :To ■■'■ this the /legal ;advisers of.- Mr Woods ■[ replied jthat no'Order-m-Council »:an ■"override an Act of ; '; Parliament. : iWhether the Government * have come ; Vound ; toY ihis view or not is not :known,but it is a significant fact that > 'in the Army (Annual) Bill -recently f published they have inserted a clause' ': jto transfer to t>he Army Council: ; ' '■'■'(!);; All* powers and duties eonj' ■':":! ferred or imposed- on\ a Secretary of i-.:,,State undor the provisions of 'the ' ' •Army Act specified in Part 1 of the .".I- 'sefeond schedule fco this Act; and; '•f"}"'h '- ~ (2) iAll powers and duties eon- ■-.."■'' • ferred or imposed on Com-V ; v vmand'er-in-Chief and the adjutaat- ■/-;■■ general - under the Army Act. ; . ■ v,' ;They al|so; seekrr-and this is the ; really injibortant point in relation to ;!' ■ the ; Wodtts case—to indemnify the ■;■'■',' Army Council against any action they ■' may have taken in the past. There .is reasfiri to believe that the Bill as originally drafted^did not contain the clause. Mr Ascfuith, in'reply to Mr Balfour, said ■: • .. ; :> As regards the Army (Annual) ■■;'; Bial, I very much regret that^ ; 'as i...,.:■■ has just been broiightHo my notice, copies were 'not circulated in due ; timel The delay was in no way the * fault of the Goyeriinient, but was \:■;■";■',. Jdae. to circumstances that occurred; t,- -a'fiber^the'BilUeft.our':hahds. It is said that the "circumstances" ,<;. referred to by M^-Asquithwerre coni" ■ mepted; with: the; lodging: of >tlie.;sta(te-: %. ment of ■ claii^f-on-ibehalfpf Mr. Woods. ? ' • BIliL TO.BE OPPOSED. . ■■';. This action on the part of the Gov- ? ernment has brought the case, in the opinion of several Members of Parliament, into the political arena oncel more, and the matter is tp be raised in the House of Commons when the : Army (Annual) Bill comes up in committee. A movement has already been started- to y prevent the further progress of the Bill until the clause; to \ which strong exception is taken in its E resent form, on the ground that it as been inserted with the deliberate object of. non-suiting Mr. Woods, is either deleted or amended. Members on both sides of the House aro associating themselves -with the opposi- ; , tion which is to be offered, and they are determinel if possible, to bring a majority of the House into the divi-| sion lobby against the Bill if the i Government do not give way. The re- i jection'of the Bill, it is unnecessary! to say, would be, a very serious matter, las no money can be spent on -the Army during the next financial year sunless ! r it is passed. ... PARTIES IN THE CASE. If the action which ex-lieutenant iWoods is bringing is allowed to proceed, it is likely to be.pne of the,most 1 remarkable ever brought into court. The defendants named in the writ'are,: Right Hon; R. B. Haldane, K.C., I •..' m.p. ; . , ■■. '■ . •,' General the Hon. Sir N. G. Lyttelton, G.C.B/ Lieutenant-Geueral Sir C. W. H. Douglas, K.e.B. . General Sir W. G. Nicholson, K.C.B. . Colonel Charles Frederick Had den, C.B, - ? Right Hon. the Earl of Portsmouth. ' Mr T. R. Buchanan. Colonel Sir E. W. D. Ward i K.C.B, , . All wer^ members of the Army Coun- ',: pil at the time oi ex-Lieutenant \ [Woods's compulsory resignation. .:..-,>:: STORY OF'THE CASE. lieutenant.in the > Grenadier.Gnai'ds. From the time he \. was gazetted as .a -second lieutenant1 ,in 1900 lmtil;March, 1907, the reports upon his military an^" regimental efficiency were always favorable. He was . entrusted with several missions of a confidential character, and served with credit in South Africa. For a time he assisted Colonel Henderson in the preparation of the official "History of the South African War." It was reports by Colonel Cavendish, Major Gathorne-Hardy, and Major :'■'-, Corkran, wlio declared that the plaintiff was not capable of commanding! ; either in the field or barracks, that led to the demand for his resignation! : Against this view there were the pre- •■/,- yioug good reports. It was stated, on

behalf of the plaintiff, that he was r.npopular in the regiment, partly because of'liis studio,us tastes, temperate •habits, and his disinclination for athletics. ■ WHAT? PLAINTIFF CLAIMS. ■ VThe plaintiff is claiming £75,000 damages. He also asks for declarations that the defendants had no right or< authority to . act. as an examining and directing authority or to appoint anybody to act as such within section 42 of the Army Act, and that they had no power to remove him from the position of an officer in the Army, -ection 42 6f the Army 'Act says: — If -an officer, thinks liimsejf wronged by his commanding officer, ; and on due application made to him ;. does riot 'receive the redress to which he may consider himself entitled, he may complain to "one Com-mander-in-Chief in order to obtain justice, who is,thereby required to examine into such complaint, and through^ Secretary of State make his report to his Majesty, in order to receive .the directions of his Majesty thereon. ,-,''. • ' i It is contended that the Army Council cannot' possibly claim to be the Gomniander-ih-Chief, because tlie Act defines a commander-in-chief as "ia field-marshal or other officer conimanfiing in chief his Majesty's forces for the time ;being. M The counsel who are to represent Mr Woods are Mr Healy, K-C, Mr Bpwstead, and Mr A. Clement Edwards, M.P r ■'.;•, , --■ -."i .--.;. '■ /