MILITARY COURTS 226 MILITARY EDUCATION cept when they have a manifest bearing upon the case. Under the law, general courts-martial are called into existence by an order from its President, the Secretary of War or Navy, or the commander-in-chief of a military or naval force. Officers of rank below a commander-in-chief may be vested also with this authority by special order of the President, Courts-mai'tial differ from civil courts, first, in the fact that their existence is temporary only, and, second, in that their findings and sentences have no validity until approved by the authority which convened the court. The cases sent to the court having been completed by the court and acted upon by the con- vening authority the same authority dis- solves the court, which thus passes out of existence. Every member of the court takes an oath to try the case be- fore him according to the laws for the government of the army (navy), the evidence which shall be adduced, and his own conscience. Voting on the finding and sentence is by secret ballot. The convening authority having re- ceived the record of the trial, considers it carefully and approves, disapproves, or approves "in part." He may, if dis- approving, return all the papers for re- consideration, giving his reasons for disapproving; upon which the court may modify its original action or adhere to it. In the end, the convening authority may disapprove this sentence of the court, or reduce it. He cannot, however, increase it. Following the final action by the con- vening authority, the papers in the case go to the judge-advocate of the army or navy, who goes over the papers and com- ments upon the trial for the benefit of the Secretary, who, as in the case of the convening authority, may set aside the sentence, or reduce it, but cannot increase it. A sentence of death cannot be carried into effect until approved by the Presi- dent of the United States. Military laws must not be confounded with onartial law, which in time of great emergency is put into effect by a govern- ment over a certain clearly defined part of its own territory. Here we have the case of a goverament dealing, not with its own military forces, as in military law; not with the territory and the sub- jects of an enemy government, as in the case of a military occupation, but with its own territory and its owm citizens. The occasion for the exercise of martial law will more frequently arise in time of war than in time of peace because of the unsettled conditions naturally existing at such times. Its most frequent employment is in territory which is in revolt against the government. There were many examples of the establish- ment of martial law in the Southern States during the Civil War of 1861- 1865; in some cases by a pi'oclavfuxtion of the President; in others by the declaration of a commander in the field. While martial law gives wide powers to the military officers charged with its enforcement, and while it necessarily takes precedence of the local government normally exercising authority in the territory affected, it does not in ordinary cases set aside either the executive or the judicial authorities of the civil gov- ernment or interfere with the normal life of the citizens. It is only v/hen its de- crees are resisted by the civil authori- ties, that entire control is taken over. Perhaps the most interesting chapter of military and martial law is the treatise drawn up in 1863 by General Francis Lieber, of the United States Army, and issued by the Federal Govern- ment for the g-uidance of its armies in the field. While the principles and the rules laid down in this treatise had long been recognized in theory by the military forces of enlightened nations, they had never before been gathered into a man- ual for the guidance of all concerned and given the formal sanction of a great power addressing its own armed forces while in the midst of a great war in which the passions of both sides were intensely and violently aroused. So logical, temperate, and humane were these rules that they have formed the basis of treatises promulgated in the last half century by all military powers, and observed by all with the single ex- ception of Germany. MILITARY EDUCATION. The chief institution for military education in the United States is the United States Mili- tary Academy at West Point, N. Y. This school equals the best in Europe in thoroughness of preparation and in the wide range of the training given to mili- tary officers. After four years of inten- sive work the cadet begins his practical training when he is assigned to his regi- ment, but his schooling does not cease, for there are officers' schools at every military post. In addition to these there are schools for the further instruction in special branches of the service. (1) the Engineer School, Washington Bai*- racks, D. C,; (2) the Mounted Service School, Fort Riley, Kansas; (3) the Army Medical School, Washington, D. C; (4) the Coast Artillery School at Fort Monroe, Va. At Fort Leavenworth,
