From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [291]
“That’s good,” Prew said.
“And if we work it right,” Lt Culpepper said, “we can make it even less. But they’ve got the goods on you right, and theres no doubt you are guilty. Also, you have gotten yourself on just about everybody’s shitlist in the Regiment. They’ve all more or less got it in for you and you’ve got a bad reputation as a bolshevik and a fuckup since you came to G Company. And of course that makes a tremendous difference, since its all politics anyway, you see. They’ve really got you.”
“I can see that,” Prew said.
“Well, thats why I want you to plead guilty,” Lt Culpepper said triumphantly. “We have to fight it the same way. Politically. Not with this legal crap. I’ve made a study of these things, Prewitt. I wrote a very radical term paper for that course in courts martial procedure that created a hell of a hullabaloo at the Point. Got me all sorts of recognition. I pointed out how legal procedure has always tacitly been concerned with human relations, rather than abstract justice, and that consequently in spite of legal codes it is really the human relations underneath that determine the verdicts in the courts. And that, of course, means politics. You see? You understand that?”
“It sounds reasonable,” Prew said.
“Reasonable hell!” Lt Culpepper exploded. “It was a veritable bomb. I proved conclusively that there just aint no such thing as abstract justice, simply because all legal decisions are influenced by the temporary inconstant of public feeling. For my best example. I used the imprisonments of Debs and the 101 IWW Wobblies during the last war, which could never have happened without the high public feeling because of the war hysteria, not only because it was legally unsound but because Landis would never have dared do it in ordinary times. Then I brought in the political angle by showing how Darrow, who had defended the Wobblies before out west, had suddenly developed business that prevented him from defending them this time. You see how it all ties in together?” Lt Culpepper said enthusiastically.
“Oh, it was a beauty of a paper, Prewitt. Why, I even prophesied the time would come—after this next war, and the resulting civilian army—when EM would be allowed to serve on courts with officers! But, I pointed out also, that it would actually still be the same thing as now because any EM who got on a court would naturally be a M/Sgt or Tech or 1st/Sgt, or even if he was a Private, whose human relations would be naturally on the same side as the officers.
“You can imagine what that did to them. It got me more publicity than the fencing championship did. None of them, not even the profs, could break the logic of it. You can see that yourself. The way to get recognition in this world is to startle people. Somebody once said that bad publicity was better than no publicity. But I say, bad publicity is better than good publicity. Shock people and they remember you. Any dumb son of a bitch can get good publicity.”
“I bet you felt good about it,” Prew said.
“Good!” Lt Culpepper said. “Why Prewitt, it was the thing that made me at the Point, thats all. After that paper, I was a made man. But thats what we’re working with here, you see? The same damn thing.”
Lt Culpepper took a deep breath. “And thats why I want you to plead guilty. Why, its a thing that I dont think has ever been done in the history of courts martial. Nobody ever pleads guilty at a court martial because the court never makes concessions for clemency.”
“Then it wont do much good, will it?” Prew said. “I——”
“You wait a minute. Let me lay it out for you before you go off half cocked. You dont see the implications yet.”
“In the first place,” Prew said, “I wasnt drunk. Not drunk enough that I dint know what I was doing.”
“Thats my whole point,” Lt Culpepper grinned triumphantly. “Whether you were really drunk or not doesnt