Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-12-06
TAFT ON NEGRO
TROOPS TROUBLE.
Admits There May be a Few In
nocent Men in the Discharged
Battalion.
UPH0LDS PRESIDENTS ACTION
order in Itself Neither u Punishment
or the Innocent Nor tho
Guilty.

Washington, Dec. 5,---.An extract
from the annual report Of Secy o
War Taft, relating 70 the Brownsville
Tex, outrage by negro soldiers. was
made public today. Secy. Taft recites
the crimes of the soldiers. as already
described In news dispatches the fail
ure % the war department TO obtain
the names Of the offenders and the
discharge Of the battalion, SecS.
Taft iustihes the discharge, saying:
II may be that In the battalion
are number Of men wholly inno-
cent, who know neither who the guilty
men are, nor any circumstances
which will aid in their detection,
though this cannot be true of many,
because there may be innocent mon
In the battalion. must the government
continue TO use IL TO guard communi-
ties OF men. women and children
when 1t contains so dangerous an Gle
mcnt impossible Of detection? Ger
tainly not The only means Of Kidding
the military service Of a band OF
would-bc murderers OF women and
children, and actual murdcrers OF one
man, Is the discharge Of the entire
battalion.
III Is mistake to suppose that
this order Is ~ itself a punishment
either Of the Innocent or OF the guilty
a discharge would be an utterly In
adequate punishment Tor those who
are guilty whether of committing the
murder or OF Withholding on suppress
sing evidence which would disclose
the perpetrators Of such a crime. The
use Of, the word penalty In the pro-
ceedlngs is a mere minomer and Is
unfortunate. The dismissal from the
service of the members of this bat
TALON under the circumstances is not
q punishment. however great the
hardship There Is a dismissal tech
nically known az dishonorabe dis
charge, which is only imposed by
sentence by a court. This is a pun
ishment. But the members Of this
battalion were not dishonorably dis
charged.
They could not have been SO dis
charged except by a trial. They were
discharged for the good OF the service
as the technical phrase Is, without
honor 1t is not a fortunate phrase,
because 80 easily confused with a dis
honorable discharge. il Is called with
out honor 20 distinguish the discharge
from discharge with honor, or an
honorable discharge, which indicates
the termination, IN due course, OF a
satisfactory service.
An enlistment brought promaturely
to an end for the good OF the service
cannot be an honorable discharge.
Hence the distinction must be made.
The discharge without honor Is mere
~ the ending Of a contract and separa-
he. To-. a.
served In the statute for the protection
OF the government. which may work a
hardship Of the private discharged, but
which, IN the public interest, must
sometimes be arbitrarily exercised
The suggestion made I'm some quar-
tiers that this battalion has been treat
cd in this way simply because the men
are colored hardly merits notice. The
fact of their color and the racial feeling
aroused between them and the citizens
Of Brownsville may have been the cause
and furnished the motive but ceratinly
not justification, for the plot TO MUIR
der men, women and children; but to
this extent only In explanation Of the
circumstances Is the fact of their color
at all relevant.
In a body Of men sworn TO uphold
the law, enlisted as the instruments OF
maintaining tne supremacy OF the law,
no obligation of comradeship. which
would prevent one from telling the
truth and detailing the circumstances
that would lead 10 the conviction OF his
associates OF murder, can be recognized
by those in authority and charged with
The responsibility OF maintaining the
discipline OF the army.
IT Is possible that evidence may be
adduced In the future which will tend to
exculpate entirely some Of the men now
discharged, both from participation In
the crime and assistance IN the con-
spiraoy OF silence TO prevent the detec-
ton Of the offenders. and whenever
such facts are shown In respect to any
one affected by the order, they VIII be
brought to your attention and, | I'M
derstand, will render such persons eligi-
bic TO re-enllstment."