The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-20
BoEDWpR1GAGE GUARANTEED

"In short, the evidence proves oonclusively
that a number of the soldiers engaged in a
deliberate and concerted attack, as cold
blooded as il was cowardly; the purpose
being to terrorize the community and 10
kill or injure men, women and children
in their homes and beds or on the
streets, and this at an hour OF the night
when concerted or effective resistance or
defence was out of the question and when
detection by Identification of the criminals
in the United States uniform was well nigh
imDossible.
$50 much for the original crime. A
blacker never stained the annals OF our
army. II has been supplemented by an
other, only less black, in the shape OF a
successful conspiracy of silence for the
purpose Of shielding those who took part
in the original conspiracy of murder. These
soldiers were not schoolboys on a frolic.
Thew were full grown men, In the uniform
If the United States Army, armed with
deadly weapons, sworn TO Uphold the laws
of the United States, and under every obll-
CATION Of oath and honor not merely TO
refrain from criminalitv, hut with the
sturdiest ri9or TO unit down crimlnality;
and the crime they committed or connlved
at was murder. They perverted the power
put into their hands to sustain the law into
the most deadly violation OF the law. The
non commissioned officers are primarily
responsible for the discipline and good con-
duct of the men,: they are appointed TO
their positions for the very purpose OF pre-
q NllA NllAS NhHNiBlAlO "A0 49,
and Of detecting and securing the punish
ment Of every enlisted man who does h
is wrong. They fill, with reference to the
discipline, a part that the commissioned
officers are, Of course. unable TO FIJI although
the ultimate, responsibility for the dis
cipline can never he shifted from the Shout
ders of the latter.
Under any ordinary circumstances the
first duty of the non-commissioned off1cers,
as of the commissioned officers, IL to train
the private in the ranks so that he may be
an efficient fighting man against a foreign
foe. But there is an even higher duty,
so obvious that il is not under ordinary
circumstance necessary so much as to
allude to it-the duty of training the soldier
so that he shall be a protection and not a
menace TO his peaceful fellow citizens,
and, above all, to the women and children
of the nation. Unless this duty Ia well
performed the army becomes a mere
dangerous mob; and IL conduct such as that
Of the murderers in question is not, where
possible, punished, and, where his Is not
possible, unless the chance OF its repetition
is guarded against in the most thorough
going fashion, it would be better that the
entire army should be ~disbanded. II is
vital for the army TO be imbued with the
spirit which will make every man IN 1t,
and. above all, the officers and non-com-
missioned officers, feel it a matter OF highest
obligation TO discover and punish, and not
to shield, the criminal in uniform.
Yet some Of the non-commissioned officers
and many of h men OF the three COM
panies in question have banded together
in a conspiracy to protect the assassins
and would-bea ssassins who have dlsgraced
their uniform by the conduct above related.
Many of these non-commlssloned officers
Nand men must nave known, and all OF them
may have known, circumstances which
would rave led to the conviction OF those
engaged in the murderous assault. They
rave stolidly and as one man broken their
oaths 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 themselves from
the guilty by helping bring the criminals
TO justice. They were warned that II they
did not take advantage OF the offer they
would all be discharged from the service
and forbidden again to enter the employ
of the Government. They refused to
profit by the warning. l accordingly had
them discharged. II any organization OF
troops in the service, white or black, is
guilty Of similar conduct in the future shall
follow precisely the same course. Under
no circumstances will / consent to keep in
the service bodies of men whom the circum-
stances show to be a menace 10 the country.
Incidentally l may add that the soldiers OF
longest service and highest position who
suffered because OF the order, 80 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 mutiny and murder.
People have spoken as II this discharge
from the service was A punishment. L
deny emphatically that such is the case,
because as punishment IL Is utterly made
quate. The punishment meet for mutineers
, and murderers such as those guilty of the
Brownsville assault is death, and a punish
ment only less severe ought TO be meted put
70 those who lave aided and abetted mutiny
and murder and treason by refusing to help
in their detection. L would that it were
possible for me to have punished the guilty
men. Iregret most keenly that have not
been able TO do so.
men were all in the service of the United
States under contracts of enlistment, which
by their terms and by stat ute were ter
minable by my direction as Commander
in Chief Of the Army. II was my clear
duty to terminate those contracts when
the public interest demanded IL; and it
would rave been a betrayal OF the public
interest on my part not to erminate the
contracts which were keeping in the ser
vice Of the United States a body OF mutt
reers and murderers.
ANY assertion that these men were dealt
with harshly because they were colored
men is utterly without foundation. Officers
or enlisted men, white men or colored
men, who were guilty Of such conduct
would have been treated in precisely the
same way. for there can be nothing more
important thanfor the United States Army,
in all its membership, to understand that
Its arms cannon DC JuIucu WIN HHpunAJy
against the peace and order OF the civil
community
The President said there were plenty
of p~recedents for the action taken and he
cited several cases which occurred during
and since the civil war. He added:
so much for the military side Of the case.
But | wi h to say something additional
from the standpoint of the race question.
In my message at the opening OF tn Con-
gress | discussed the matter of lynching.
In It / gave utterance to the abhorrente
which all decent citizens should feel for the
deeds Of the men Cn almost all cases white
mem who take part in lynohings, and at
the same time l condemned, as all decent
men of any color should condemn, the
action of those colored men who actively
or passively shield the colored criminal
from the law. In tNe case of these COM
panies we had to deal with men who in the
FIRST place were guilty Of what was practically
the worst possible form of l~ynching-for a
lynching Is in its essence lawless and muir
derous vengeance taken by an armed mob
for real or fancied w~rongs-and who H. the
second place covered up the crime Of lynch
ing by standing with a vicious solidarity
to protect the criminals.
1t Is OF the utmost importance to all our
people that we shall deal with each man
on bis merits as a man, and not deal with
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