Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1906-12-20

| They fill. WITH nee 10 tne uise'p
line. a part thu commissioner OF
ficers are OF cl< unable to I'LL. al
! though the ultimaN. responsibility for
! the discipline can never be shifted from
| the shoulders OF the latter. Under any
I ordinary circumstances. the first duty
/ OF the non commlssioned officers. as OF
the commissioned officers. II To train
\ the private In the ranks 30 that ne may
be an efficient fighting man against a
foreign foe. But there IL an even high
or duty. so obvious that II is not under
I ordinary circumstances necessary no
much as TO allude to 1.-THE duty OF
training the soldier so that he shan DO
a protection and not n menace % his
peaceful fellow-cltizen. and above all
To The women and children OF the ma
ton. Unless this duty u well perform
ed. the army becomes "A mere dangerous
mob: and n conduct such as that Of the
murderera In question Is not. where
possible. punished. and. where this Is
not possible. unless the chance of It's
repetition IL guarded against In tho
mot. thoroughgolng fashion. IL would
be better that the entire army should
be abandoned. II Is vital for the army
To DO imbued with the spirit which
will make every man In II. and above
all. the officers and non commissioned
officers. feel {; matter OF highest OBJ
legation TO discover and punish. and not
to shield. the criminal In uniform.
Yet some OF the on-commissioned
officers and many OF the men 81 the
thre companies In question have band
ed together In n conspiracy TO protect
the assassins and would-be assassins
who have disgraced their uniform by
the conduct above related. Many OF
these non-commissioned officers and
men must have known. and all OF them
may have known. circumstances which
would have led TO the conviction OF
those engaged In the murderOus as
sault. They have stolidly and as one
man broken their oaths ~ enlistment
and refused to help discover the Grim
inals.
by my direction every effort was
made TO persuade those innocent ~
murder among them To separate them
selves from the guilty by helping bring
the criminals TO justice. They were
warned that n they did not take advan-
tage OF the offer they would all be dis
charged from the service and forbidden
again To enter the employ Of the gov
eminent They refused To profit by the
warning. 1 accordingly had them dis
charged II any organization OF troops
In the service. white or black. IL guilty
Of similar conduct In the future / shall
follow precisely the same course. I'm
der no circumstances Will consent To
keep IN the service bodies Of men whom
the circumstances show to be a menace
to the country. Incidentally may add
that the soldiers OF longest service and
highest position who suffered because
OF the order, so far from being those
who deserve most sympathy. deserve
least. for they are the very men upon
whom we should be able especially Ia
rely 20 prevent mutiny and murder.
People have spoken as n this dis
charge from the service was a punish
ment deny emphatically that such
IL the case. because as punishment -
Is utterly inadequate. The punishment
meet for mutinsers and murderers such
as those guilty Of the Brownsville as
sault IN death. and a punishment only
less severe ought To be melted out To
those who have aided and abetted mu-
tiny and murder ana treason by refus-
ing To help In their detection. ] would
that II were possible for me To have
punished the guilty men. ! regret most
keenly that I have not been able TO do
so.
he Il remembered always that these
men were all In the service ~ the Uni
ted states under contracts 81 enlist
INIT. which by their terms and by stat
ute were terminable by my direction as
commander Ina chief Of the army. II
was my clear duty TO terminate those
contracts when the public interest de-
manded IL. and Il would have been "A
betrayal Of the public interest on my
part not No terminate the contracts
which were keeping In the service %
the United States a body Of mutineers
and murderers.
ANY assertion that these men were
dealt with harshly because they were
colOred men Is utterly without founda-
ton. Officers or enlisted men. white /
men or coiored men. who were guilty F,
OF sucn conduct. would have been /
treated IN precisely the same way. for |
there can be nothing more important
than FOR the United States army, In all |
its membership to understand that its /
arms can not be turned with impunity J
against the peace and order ~ the civil {
community.
There are plenty 81 presidents FOR I
the action taken. ! call your attention 1
TO the memoranda herewith submitted I
from the military secretary office CO J
the war department, and memorandum /
from the military secretary enclosing 4
"a piece bv ex-Corpoml Hcsse. now I
chief % division in the military secro- /
tur's office. together with letter from I
District Attorney James Wilkinson OF /
New orleans. The district attorneys .
letter rccites several cases In which .
white United States soldiers. being ar
rested for crime. were tried. and every I
soldier and employe ~ the regiment /
or in the fort. az which the soldier was
stationed. volunteered an they knew.
both before and al the trial. so AS % I
secure Justice. In one case the soldier
was acquitted ~ another case the I
soldier was convicted Of murder. the
conviction resulting from the fact that
every soldier. from the commanding Of
ficer 10 the humblest private. united m
securing all the evidence In their power
about the crime In other cases. Tor
less offense. soldiers were convicted
purely because their comrades In arms,
in a spirit 81 fine loyalty 10 the honor
OF the service. at once told the whole
story ~ the troubles and declined %
identify themselves with the criminals.
During the civil war numerous pre-
cedents for the action taken by me oc-
CURED In the shape VI the summary \
discharge OF regiments or companies
because 81 misconduct on the part ~
some or all Of their members. The Six
teenth Ohio was summary discharged
on the ground that the regiment was
mutinous and worthless.
The Eleventh New York was dis
charged By reason 81 general demorsli-
zation and numerous dcsertions. Three
81 the F1fth Missouri cav
airy and one company ~ the Fourth
Missouri cavalry were mustered cut 81