Edward Douglass White

“ The contention is that, as by the fourth Article of War one must be an officer in the military service of the United States to be competent to sit on a court-martial, and as retired officers and officers of the United States Guards are not within that requirement, the constitution of the court was void. ”

“ The fifth Article of War exacts that in any event a court-martial shall be composed of not less than 5 officers and must be composed of 13 when that number can be convened without manifest injury to the service. The court in this case was composed of 8 members, the order certifying that more than that number could not be convened without manifest injury to the service. The argument is that because the court was composed of less than 13 officers it was unlawfully constituted. ”

“ And as the authorities just referred to and the principles upon which they rest adequately demonstrate the unsubstantial character of the contention, that to give effect to the power thus long established and recognized would be repugnant to the Fifth Amendment, we deem it unnecessary to notice the question further. ”