The National tribune., 1906-11-29
THE NEGRO SOLDIERS.
Public Interest Increasing Be an
Issue in Congress.

Public furore over the discharge
without honor of a battalion of Negro
soldiers of the 25th Inf. increases in
intensity. The President and Secretary
Taft are having important conferences
about it this week 1t was one of the
first things the President asked abou,
after he had reached the White House.
There are no big newspapers down IN
the quarter of the world where he has
been. He has travelled days at n time
without any newspapers at all, altho
he is an omniVOrouS reader of the pub
lie prints. The wireless telegraph car
ried to him meager reports of what
was doing, but he wanted Secretary
Taft TO tell him all about it. The Sec
retary has had lot to tell.
1t will take the President hours to
read the newspaper clippings, saved for
him, with reference to what is now
called the Brownsville. Tex, incident
But he will hear from Secretary Taft
why the latter suspended the execu-
ton of the order for the discharge of
the Negroes. The voluminous testi-
mony, given out during the past week,
is an old story to the President. He
had it in his Office before he sailed for
Panama. But protests by the hundreds
from citizens and organizations have
been piling up in his absence The
President will not try to read these,
altho he will skim the big bunch OF
manuscript sufficiently to catch the i'm
port of what the protestants are say
ing.
AS Northern Congressman with negro
constituencies are laundering at the
Presidents door to know the reason
why, it is certain that some interesting
chapters of the affair are yet to be
written. Secretary Taft will be very
glad to hand the hot poker over to the
President. The President undoubtedly
will see to it that the country has a
clearer understanding of the case from
his viewpoint He will naturally ascer-
tain whether the Shooting up of
Brownsville was the work of agents
provocateur and not Of the colored SOL
dierS New York Negroes have insisted
that the grave of the saloonkeeper re-
ported to have been killed cannot be
found, and that the Lieutenant of Po-
lice, whose arm the Negro soldiers Were
reported to have shot off. is modest
about showing himself. They claim
that the Negro soldiers could give no
evidence about the shooting because it
was all put-up job by the Negro
haters of Brownsville. The political
statisticians have been telling in the
meantime how, had the President pro.
mulgated the order the day before
election. rather than the day after
election, it would have resulted in the
election of a Democratic House of Rep
resentativeS. Congress Is plainly pre-.
pared to make trouble over the matter
and it may become the real live topic
of what otherwise promised to be a
very dull session of Congress.
Whatever happens the incident is
likely to increase the army of Roose,
welt critics. The Negroes will never
forgive him, altho they will probably
keep on voting the Republican ticket
IF he should take a step backwards or
should 1t be proven that tn. Army off,
GERS did not thoroly Investigate the af.
fair. the President VIII BE sssaiied anew
for acting with haste and IA insufficient
information.
The House will be aon :ed with petit
tions and resolutione for, Congress
sional inquiry. That Is the way mem
bers have of -voicing sheir interest and
squaring themselves with their con-
stituents. Probably there are so Con-
gressional districts in the North where
Democrats are kept from slecting their
candidates by the Negro voters. 1t has
been shown many times that but foi
the Northern Negroes. who have been
voting with the Republicans solidly for
years. half dozen Democratic Presi-
dents would have been elected since the
civil war. The black vote has held the
balance of power in States like New
York. Ohio ard Indiana. 1t is a big
factor In several other Northern States
1t is therefore plain why the politicians
as well as the lovers of justice and
square dealing. even tho there may be
much misapprehension about the affair
abroad, now vociferate for a modifica-
ton of the order.