New-York tribune., 1906-12-20

were full grown men. in the uniform of the
United States army, armed with deadly weapons
sworn TO uphold the laws of the United States
and under every obligation of oath and honor
not merely to refrain from criminality, but with
the sturdiest rigor TO hunt down cIiminality, and
the crime they committed connived 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-com-
missioner olhcerS are primarily responsible lot
the discipline and good conduct of the men; they
are appointed TO their positions for the very
purpose OF preserving this discipline and good
conduct, and Of detecting and securing the pun
ishment of every enlisted man who does what
is wrong. They fill, with reference to the dis
cipline, part that the commissioned oi1lcers
are of course unable to FILL although the ultimate
responsibility for the discipline can never be
shifted from the shoulders of the latter Under
any ordinary circumstances the first duty or the
non-commissioned officers. as of the commis-
stoned 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
higher duty, so obvious that it is not undei
ordinary circumstances necessary so much as to
allude to 1.-THE duty of training the soldier
that he shall be a protection and not menace
TO his peaceful fellow citizens and above all to
the women and children of the nation. Unless
mere dangerous mob; and If conduct such
that of the murderers in question is not, where
possible, punished. and where this is not pos
sibe, unless the chance OF its repetition is
guarded against in the most thoroughgoing
fashion, it would he 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. and above all, the officers and
non-commissoned officers. feel it matter of
highest obligation to discover and punish, and
not to shield. the criminal In uniform.
CONSPIRACY AMONG MEN
Yet some Of the non-commissioned officers and
many of the men of the three companies in
question have banded together in a conspiracy
TO protect the assassins and woud-be aSsassins
who have disgraced their uniform by the con-
duct above related. Many Of these non-comrnis-
stoned officers and men must have known. and
= ~ n
which would have led TO the conviction Of those
engaged in the murderous assault. They have
stolidly and 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
10 separate themselves from the guilty by help
ing bring the criminals TO justice They were
warned. that If they did not take advantage of
the offer they would all be discharged from the
service and forbidden again 10 enter the employ
Of the government They refused TO profit bv
the warning. I accordingly had them dis
charged. If any organization OF troops in the
service white or black, is guilty of similar con-
duct IN the future I shall follow precisely the
same course. Under no circumstances win I
consent TO keep in the service bodies of men
whom the circumstances show to be menace
TO the country. incidentally l may add that the
soldiers Of longest service and highest position
who suffered because Of the order far from
being those who deserve most sympathy, de-
serve least. for they the very men upon
whom should he able especially to rely to
prevent mutiny and murder
People have spoken If this discharge from
the service was a punishment. l deny en-
phatically that such is the case, because as
punishment il is utterly inadeduate. The pun
ishment meet for mutineers and murderers such
as those guilty OF the Brownsville assault Is
death; and punishment only less severe ought
10 he meted out to those who have aided and
abetted nlutinY and murder and treason by
fusing TO help in their detection. I would that
1t were possible for me to have punished the
guilty men. regret most keenly that have
not been able to do so.
Be il remembered always that these men were
all in the service of the United States under
contracts Of enlistment. which by their terms
and by statute were terrninable by my direction
commander in chief of the army. It was
my clear duty TO terminate those contracts when
the public interest demanded It; and II 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
a body OF mutineers and murderers.
NO COLOR DISCRIMINATION
Any assertion that these men were dealt with
harshly because they We're colOred men is utterly
without foundation. Officers enlisted men,
white men or colored men, who were guilty Of
such conduct would have been treated in pre-
cisely the way. for there can be nothing
more important than for the United States
army. in all its membership. to understand that
its arms cannot 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 secre-
tary's Office OF the War Department, and a
memorandum from the military secretary in
closing piece by ex-Corporal Hesse now chief