The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1906-12-06
SECRETARY OF WAR IN HIS RE.
PORT UPHoLDs THEIR DIS
MiSSAL BY PRESIDENT.
TELLS OF THEIR ATTACK
Upon Texas Town and Points
Out Why Whole Battalion
Was Ousted From Army


report Secretary Taft devotes cor
siderable space TO defense and es
panatiOn and course Of the war dc
pa,tment in connection with the ais
charge without honor from the mil
| tary service. of battalion of tn
Twenty-fifth Infantry, which was ia
toned at Brownsville, Texas, las
summer
The secretary deals with events o
| the night of August 18th, involving
the Shooting up of the town" OF
Brownsville by anywhere from nint
| to twenty members of the battalion.
Condemns Petty Officers.
( He is very severe in his condemna'
iion of non-commi-sioned officers of
The battalion for falling to discover
and report the perpetrators of the
outrage, and of the enlisted men Of
the battalion, who, by maintaining
silence when, as he asys, they must
have known the guilty parties, con
niyed with them at the time. He in
sists that obligation of comradeship
should prevent the men from telling
the truth but indictes that such Of the
men who are guiltIess may be- re-en.
listed
The first part of The report deals
with the details of the cowardly and
mWdelous attack on the town by the
negro soldiers and is followed with
an account of the investigation
which revealed the fact hat there
existed a conspiracy of silence
among a majority if not all of the
members of the battalion. The report
then talks of the presidents order.
dismissing the soldiers and in defense
of this order says:
The order has attracted much at.
tention and has been severely ciiti'
cized as unjust because it condemns
many innocent men 10 undeserved
1t is not improper there
fore in this report TO review the case
and state the reasons which not only
justified it but made it necessary.
Tells of cowardIy Attack.
First. Out on abattalion of ITO en-
listed men in the army Of the United
States, from 9 to 90 enlisted men
formed preconcered plan to re.
venge themselves upon the people of
a town in which they we've stationed
for the insults they felt that the
ownspeople had heaped upon them. |
In accordance with the plan, they |
left their barracks under cover of /
about mdnght-and pro
,eeded to discharge their weapons |
nto the houses of the town for the /
purpose of killing those against
yhom they had a grievance. They |
,ame very near killing some one or
more of the three women and seven
,hildien who were sitting or sleeping
n two of the lighted rooms into
which they fired. They, in fact, did
,ill one man. wound another, and
inquire the chief of police.
rhey accompanied their firing with
indicating the malice
which prompted their action. There
an be no doubt therefore, that the
quad of men who moved together
rom the fort to the town and did this
huoting were guilty of murder. AMI
murder in the first degree and that
they were discovered they could be !
roperly subjected TO capital punish
lent. The purpose OF one was the
urpose of all.
h ton afFlNHf ]
lore after this crime was committed.
hen the whole garrison was aroused
y the noise of the fusilade and by
le call to arms, which followed II.
le guilty men returned 10 their
laces. and must have been among
le last men to take their places, for
le reason that the firing continued
rter the formation had begun. The
bsence of the rifles from the rack
,uld not have escaped -tbe attention
the sergeants who had the keys Of
le racks. if indeed thsy had the
ays: and yet all the sergeants swar
Iat the rifles we're in the racks, un
Before tn next morning, all =
le guns were clean. II is impossible !,
ai many of the battalion VITO did :
)t take pat a. active members Of
e conspiracy to murder were not
aue aware by one circumstance or !.
lother of the identity Of the persons "
no commit I'd this he;nous offense-
Protected From Punishment.
Tird. Instead of giving TO their .
ficers. OF TO the military inspectors
ho we're directed to make the OK
the benefit Of anything
hich they knew tending to lead TO 7
conviction Of the guilty persons, -
ere was a conspiracy of silenuce :.
the part Of many who mu have :
lown something of importance in =