The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-19

the value Of some $1.24O, and the rest of
the regiment, including especially two
officers, failed, in the words of General
Grant, to exercise their authority to
ferret out the men guilty OF the Of
lenses General Grant accordingly
mustered out of the service OF the Unit
ed States the two officers in question,
and assessed the sum Of 81, 240 against
the said regiment as a whole officers
and men to be assessed pro rata on their
pay. In its essence this action is pre-
cisely similar to that have taken: al
though the offense was Of course trivial
c -ipared to the effense with which I
had to deal.
Cites Precedents.
Ex-CorpOral Hesse recites what oc-
CURED in a United States regular regi-
ment in the spring of 1860. Corporal
Hesse subsequently. when the regiment
was surrendered to the confederates by
\ eneral Twiggs. saved the regimental
colors by wrapping them about his
body, under his clothing, and brought
them north in safety, receiving a medal
Of honor for his action) 1t appears that
certain members of the regiment lynch
ed a barkeeper who had killed one of
the soldiers. Being unable to discover
the culprits, Col. Robert f. Lee, then
in command of the department of Texas
ordered the company to be disbanded
and the members transferred to other
companies and discharged at the end of
lIElF enlistment WITHOUT auOI10T. HOWAi1S
to the outbreak. of-the- ciyil-war. and
the consequent loss Of records and con-
fusion, it is not possible to say what
finally became of this case.
When General Lee was in command of
the army of northern Virginia, as VIII
appear from the enclosed clipping from
the Charlotte Observer, he issued an or
der in October, 1864, disbandinga a bat
talon for cowardly conduct. stating at
the time his regret that there were some
officers and men belonging to the organ
ization who, although not deserving 1t,
were obliged to share in the common
disgrace because the good of the service
demanded it.
In addition to the discharges of or
ganiza tons, which are Of course in
frequent, there are continual cases of
the discharge OF Individual enlisted
men without honor and without trial
by court-martial. The official record
shows that during the fiscal year end
ing June 80, last, such discharges were
issued by the war department without
trial by court-martial In the cases of
$50 enlisted men of the regular army,
IS of them being on account of "hav-
through own misconduct" Moreover,
in addition to the discharges with
out honor ordered by the war depart
ment, there were a considerable num-
Der of discharges without honor issu-
ed by subordinate military authorities
under paragraph 148 Of the army
regulations, where the service has
not been honest and faithful-that rs,
where the service does not warrant re-
enlistment"
So much for the military side Of the
case. But wish to say something
additional. from the standpoint Of the
race question. In my message at the
opening OF the congress discussed the
matter of lynching. In it I gave ut
terance to the adherence which all
decent citizens should feel for the
deeds of the men Gin almost all cases
white men) who take part in lynch
fngs, and at the same time / con-
demned, as all decent men of any
color should condemn, the action or
those colored men who actively or
passively shield the colored criminal
from the law. In the case of these
companies we had to deal with men
who in the first place were guilty OF
what was practically the worst pos
sible form of lynching-for a lynching
is in its essence lawless and murder
Gus vengeance taken by an armed
mob for real or fancied wrongs=an1 /
who in the second place covered up |
the crime of lynching by standing with !
a vicious solidarity to protect the
criminals.
Judge Men by Conduct.
1t is Of the utmost Importance to all
our people that we shall deal with each |
man on his merits as a man, and not |
deal with him merely as a member of a |
given race; that we shall judge each !
man by his conduct and not his color I
This is important for the white man, /
and it is far more important for the |
colored man More evil and sinister
counsel never was given to any people I
than that given to colored men by those
advisers. whether black or white, who /
by apology and conformation, encourage /
conduct such as that OF the three com /
panies in question. If the colored men I
elect to stand by criminals of their own
race because they are of their own race, /
they aSsuredly lay up for themselves
the most dreadful day of reckoning
Every farsighted friend of the coIored /
race in it's efforts to strive onward and /
should teach first. as the most
important lesson, alike to the white man
and the black, the duty Of treating the /
individual man strictly on his worth as
he shows it. Any conduct by colored
people which tends to substitute for this
rule the rule Of standing by and shield
ing an evil doer because he is member
OF their race, means the inevitable deg
Of the colored race. 1t may and
,z1 ,1r - II