The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-20

dinary circumstances the first duty of the noncommissioned officers, as of the commissioned officers, is to train the private in the ranks so that he may be an efficient fighting man against foreign foe But there Is an even high CT duty, go obvious that 1t Is not under ordinary circumstances necessary te much as to allude to it--the duty oy training the soldier so that he shall be protection and not a menance to his peaceful fellow-citizens. and above all tol the women and children of the nation Unless this duty Is well per- formed, the Army becomes a mere dan gerous mob; and If conduct such as that of the murderers in question is not, where possible, punished, and, where this is not possible. unless the chance of it's repetition is guarded against in the most thoroughgoing fashion, It would be better that the entire Army should be disbanded. 1t is vital for the Army to be imbued with the spirit which will make every man In It. ana above all, the officers and noncommfs- stoned officers, feel it matter of high est obligation to discover and punish, and not to shield, the criminal in uni form.
 Yet some of the nopcommissioned of- flcers and many of the men of the three Icompanies fin question have banded to- gether in conspiracy to protect the Iassassins and would-be assassins wac have dIsgraced their uniform by the lconduct above related. Many of these noncommissioned officers and men must have known, and all of them may have known. circumstances which would have led to the conviction of those en- gagged in the murderous assault. They have stolidly and as one man broken their paths of enlistment and refused to help discover the criminals.
 By my direction every effort was made to persuade those innocent of murder among them to separate them selves from the guilty by helping bring the criminals to justice. They were warned that if they did not take advan- tage of the offer they would all be dis lcharged from the service and forbidden again to enter the employ of the Gov ernment. They refused to profit by the warning. I accordingly had them discl rged. If any organization or troops in the service, white or black, is guilty of similar conduct in the fu- ture I shall follow precisely the same course. Under no circumstances will ] consent to keep in the service bodies of men whom the circumstances show to be menace to the country. Inci- dentally 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 to rely to prevent mu- tiny and murder.
 Pupnishnent Not Adequate.
 l PeOpte nave spoken as 1T Ilib us charge from the service was a punish ment I deny emphatically that such is the case, because as punishment 1t Is utterly inadequate. The punishment meet for mutineers and murderers such as those guilty of the Brownsville aS- sault is death; and a punishment only less severe ought to be meted out to those who have aided and abetted mu- tiny and murder and treason by refus- lthat it were possible for me to have punished the guilty men. regret most keenly that have not been able to do so.
 Re it remembered always that these men were all in the service of the Uni- ted States under contracts of enlist ment, which by their terms and by statue were terminable by my direction as Commander In Chief or the Army. It was my clear duty to terminate those contracts when the public interest de- manded it; and it would have been a betrayal of the public interest on my part not to terminate the contracts which were keeping in the service Of the United States body Of mutineers and murderers.
 Any assertion that these men were dealt with harshly because they were cOlored men is utterly without tounda- tion Officers or enlisted men, white linen or colored men, who were guilty nf such conduct. would have been treat ed in precisely the same way: for there can be nothing more important than for the United States army, in all it's membership. to understand that it's arms can not be turned with impunity against the peace and order of the civil community.
 There are plenty of precedents for the action taken. call your attention to the memoranda herewith submitted from the Military Secretary's office of the War Department, and a memorau- dun from the Military Secretary en- la1a v,fA gnxra -fNG now chief of division in the Military ISecretarys office, together with a letter from District Attorney James Wilkin- son. of New Orleans The district att In winch white United States soldiers. being arrested for crime were tried, and every soldier and employe of the regiment, or in the fort at which the soldier was stationed, volunteeded all they knew. both before and at the trial, so as to secure justice.
 In one case the soldier was acquitted Tn another case the soldier was con victed of murder, the conviction re- sulting from the fact that every sol dier. from the commanding officer to the humblest private. united in secur- ing all the evidence in their power about the crime. In other cases for less offense. soldiers were convicted purely because their comrades in arms in a spirit of fine loyalty to the honor of the service at once told the whole story of the troubles and declined to identify themselves with the criminals
 Cites Precedents.
 During the civil war numerous pre- cedents for the action taken by me oG- cured in the shape of the summary dis charge of regiments or companies be- cause of misconduct on the part of some or all of their members The 60th -..iO was summarily discharged on the ground that the regiment was disorganized, mutinous, and worthless The 11th New York was discharged by reason of general demoralization and numerous assertions. Three compa- nies of the 9th Missouri Cavalry and one company of the 4th Missouri Caval- ry were mustered out of the service of the United States without trial by court-martial by reason of mutinOus conduct and disaffection of the majori- ty of the members of these companies Gan almost exact parallel to my actton). Another Missouri regiment was muster ed out of service because it was in state boardering closely on mutiny. Other examples, including New Jersey, Maryland, and other organizations, are given in the incloSed papers.
 I call your particular attention to the special field order of Brigadier Gen eral United States Grant, issued from the headquarters of the Thirteenth Ar my Corps on November 16, 1862, in reference to the goth Illinois. Members of this regiment had broken into a store and taken goods to the value of some $1.240. and the rest of the regi- ment including especially two officers, failed. ia tEe words of General Grant, to exercise their authority to ferret out the men guilty of the offense4"