The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-12-14

mas Deen maze by the COMMISSIONED
officers and by competent military in
spectors sent for the purpose, through
crOss-exarnination Of each member of
h company who vas present in the
fort that night, to find some clue by
by which the enlisted men who com
mitted this crime could be detected.
and not the slightest evidence tending
10 convict any man has reen forth
coming.
The president then directed the dis
charge Of certain named members OF
the battalion, which included all the
enlisted men of the battalion who were
present at Fort Brown on the night in
question, without honor, and forever
dcbarred them from re-cnlisting III the
army or navy of the United States. as
well as from employment in any civil
capacity under the government. The
order Of discharge has been duly exc
cuted" He arpends to his report a
full opy of the proceedings and evil
dence.
Reasons For Drastic Order.
The order has attracted much at
tentiOn and has been severely criti-
cised AS unjust because 1t condemns
many innocent men to u~ndeserved
punishment. 1t is no improper there
fore in this report to review the case
and state the reasons which not only
justified it but made it necessary.
"First-Out of a battalion of ITO
enlisted men in the army Of the United
States from 9 to 20 men formed a pre-
concerted plan to revenge themselves
upon the people Of a town in which
they cit that the t~ownspeopie had
heaped upon them. IN accordance
with the plan they left their barracks
under cover of the darkness-about
midnight-and proceeded to discharge
their Wea IONS into the house of the
town for the purpose Of killing those
against whom they felt q grievance.
They came very near killing some n
or more of the three women and seven
children who were sitting or sleeping
in two of the lighted rooms into which
they fired. They, IN fact, did kin one
man. wound another, and seriously
in1urc the chief of police. They ac-
~connani~d their firing with express
siOnS Indicating the malice which
prompted their action. There can bc
emo doubt, therefore, that the squad Of
men who moved together from the fort
to the town and did this shooting were
guilty Of murder. and nsur'ier in the
first degree. and that if they were dis
covered they could be properly sub
JeCted to capital punishment. The
purpose Of one was the purpose Of all.
Shielded by Whole Battalion.
"SocOnd-Within 10 nut or
more after this crime was committed
when the whole garrison was aroused
~ the noise Of the fusiIade, and by the
call to arms which followed it, the
G1,iity men returned to their places,
ANA must have been among the last
iTf"n to take their places, for the "a
S"1 that the firing continued after the
Formation had begun. The absence of
the rides from the racks could not
have escaped the attention of the ser
%"aHtS who a the keys of the racks,
i. indeed. they nae the keys. and yet
all the SCrGeantS swear that the rifles
We're in the racks untouched. Before
the most morning all the guns were
clean. 1t is impossible that many of
the battalion who did o take part as
activ" members of the conspiracy to
murder were not made aware by one
circumstance or another of the identity
OF tn" persons who committed his
EcinOus Offrrse.
"Third-Instcad of giving 10 their
officers, or to the military inspectors
who We're directed to make the ex-
animation, the benefit OF anything
which they knew tending to lead to a
conviction of the guilty persons, there
was a conspiracy Of silence on the part
Of the many who must have known
something of Importance in this re-
gard. Thus h murderers were taken
back into the battalion and protected
entirely from punishment.
Partners III the Crime.
Inder these circumstances the ques-
q ton arises Is the government help
less? Must it continue in its service q
battalion many OF the members Of
which show their willingness TO con-
done q crime Of capital character COM
m,tted BIZ from 10 to 20 of it's members
and INT on q Of silence and ig-
norance which enables the criminals
to escape Just punishment? These en-
listed men TOOL the Oath of allegiance
to the government, n We're to be used
uNGer the law 10 maintain its Supre-
macy 2 the government properly
therefore keeps in It's employ for the
purpose of maintaining law anG order
any IOnger a body of men from 5 to
10 per cent of whom ear pla and
commit murder. and rely upon the ST
ience of 4 number Of their companions
to cap detection
1t may be that in the battalion are
a number OF men wholly innocent. who
know neither who the guilty men are
nor II circumstances which will aid
in their detection, though this cannot
be true of many. Because there NAV
De innocent men in the BATTALION must
the government continue to use il TO
guarG communities of men, women
and children when it contains so dan
gerouS an element impossible OF detee-
tom Certainly not.
"Wnen q man enlists in the army ne
knows that. for the very purpose Of
protecting itself. the government re-
serves to itself thee absolute righ, OF
d1scharge' not as a punishment. but
Tor the public safety Or interest. Ip
such a case as this the Inconvenience
and hardship to those innocent OF par.
~tlclpation or knowledge arising from
arbitrarily terminating the contract Of
enlistment in accordance with the
light which the government by stat
ute reserves must be borne by them
in the public interest.
Discharge tho Only Remedy.
IT goes without saying that if the
guilty could be ascertained they should