New-York tribune., 1906-12-20
THE DISMISSED 8ATTALION.


THE DISMISSED BATTALION.
The Presidents message on the dismissal of the
Brownsville troops. though it presents no addi-
tional evidence regarding the occurrences whlch
led TO that action, is a sngularly effective docu-
ment 1t rings with moral Indignation at the
conduct of the Negro soldiers and at the spirit
which would sacrifice the discipline and integrity
of the army for partisan Quibbling. IL Is full OF
the consciousness of the absolute justice of the
order. There is nothing 10 take back, nothing
TO regret, nothing 10 compromise. The President
writes like soldier. with a soldiers love of
his craft ana pride in its honorable name. He
stands for the nation and for the army and he
is sure of his ground and confident of the good
sense OF the people. for he says: Il challenge as
"a right the support of every citizen of this
country. whatever his color, provided only he
has in him the spirit of genuine and farsighted
patriotism" No one who reads the message
and who has a mind above bubbles. who is
capable OF looking at Justice in a large way and
can see that the interests Of the army transcend
those OF any individual soldiers in it. will easily
withhold the support which the President conf
IDENTIFY challenges as his right.
II is a good thing TO have the matter pre-
sented from a soldiers point of view. Much
honest confusion regarding the Brownsville incl
dent has arisen from judging military duty &C
cording 10 civilian standards. "A blacker
Tcrimel never stained the annals Of our army,
writes the President of the original murder.
But the shielding of It was hardly less black
Here many have been mised by civilian ideas.
The man who refuses to peach" often has pub
lie sentiment with him in civil life. But these
soldiers were not schOOlboys on frOlic." They
were in the service of the United States and
under the strongest obligation TO hunt down
criminality. They perverted the power put
into their hands to sustain the law" says the
President "intO a deadly violation Of the law"
They had voluntarily made themselves amenable
TO discipline. 1t was their sworn duty TO turn
over their criminal companions to the law, Il
duty which college students on lark or town
ruftians have not assumed
The President head of the army had GER
tain military obligations which this message
shows he felt keenly. as a soldier should. The
discipline OF the army is the first concern Of its
chief: indeed. il may be said that without dis
ciplne there is no army. Unless it is so trained
that It is protection, not q menace, to the pub
lie, "the army becomes a mere dangerous 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
''its repetition is guarded against in the most
''thoroughgoing fashion, it would be better that
''the entire army should be disbanded." Under
no circumstances" declares the President, will
''I consent to keep in the service bodies of men
whom the circumstances show TO be a menace
ito the country" There are the motive and the
justification OF the dismissal Of the Brownsville
troops The principle SO set forth needs no argu-
ment for its support. To attempt to controvert
ii Will be an invidious undertaking.
The President denies that he has punished
the battalion. Dismissal from the army is no
punishment for murder nor for mutinous shield
ing Of crime. He has merely protected the
country from q body Of men whose continu-
ance in the service would be a menace to the
country. Again we meet with civil standards
1T is better that one hundred guilty men should
escape than that one innocent man should be
punished" We suspect that idea TO he at the
bottom OF much misguided sentiment regard
ing the battalion. In the first place, the SOL
diers have not been punished; but in the sec
ond place, if they had been, it would be better
that many innocent men should suffer such
punishment is involved in dismissal from
the service without the right of re-enlistment
than that the army should not be protected
against a repetition Of the Brownsville riot and
mutiny. We have already discussed the right
of the President to discharge a soldier. 1t is
absolute whenever the good of the service
demands its exercise, and here was a case
where the good Of the service imperativeIy de-
manded Il
Criticism Of the Presidents action has lately
retreated 70 the position that the evidence of
the Negroes guilt is insufficient. It strikes US
as conclusive. There is the direct evidence Of
the police lieutenant that the men who shot at
him repeatedly, wounding him in the arm, were
Negro soldiers He is sustained by a vast
amount Of circumstantial evidence The motive
for the crime is obvious. The absurd sugges-
ton that the shooting was done by citizens OF
Brownsville, dressed as soldiers, conspiring to
create the impression that the Negro troops
ties. We shall call attention 20 only one thing.
which. TO our mind disposes of the theory
finally. The shots were fired with deadly in
tent They were fired into lighted houses, where
there was a presumption that persons were up
and about They went through doors and win
dows at height Of from four to five feet, at
which height they would presumpdvely strike a
person moving about the room. Every one seen
IN the streets was shot at, one man being killed
and one wounded. This was too murderous for
play. An elaborate conspiracy Of townsmen
would have taken good care that the shots
should cost no lives.