The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-12-14

n they we're. but hat every man in
the battalion denied all knowledge of
it, and thus all means of detecting the
guilty were lacking. Would a COM
petent general for one ome hest
tate, in the Interest of the public, to
disband the entire battalion and dis
charge it from the service in order to
avoid a repetition Of the danger?
car a real and logical distinction
be made between the crime Of treason,
under the circumstances supposed, and
the crime of murder in this case?
Both are capital onenses, one perhaps
more hcinous than the other. and more
dangerous TO h government itself, but
in both cases it seems to me clear hat
the government must protect itself.
and the community to which it is re-
sponsible. from a recurrence of such
~offenses, not by punshing guilty and
innocent alike. but by separating both
n guilty and innocent from the ser
vice, so as to deprive the guilty Of a
second opportunity for such a crime.
even though this may result in incon-
~venience and perhaps hardship to the
innocent.
Can't Itc-Enter the Service.
But it is said that the order forbids
re-entry by h discharged men into
the army Or nav or civil service, n
this is a penalty. When an employe
is discharged for the good Of the SER
vice, it naturally follows that he can
not be taken back, and the president
in formally stating this result is not
imposing a penalty in the proper sense
of the term. He is only laying down a
rule of ineliGibility for the service with
respect to which it is his executive
iduty to prescribe the rules of admiS-
ision. Should hereafter facts be lis
closed, of a new state Of favts arise
from which it can be inferred that the
public service will suffer no detriment
from re-entry of any n of these men
into the service, his incligibility can
be removed by a mere executive order.
Much sympathy has been evoked for
those who have been 50 long in the
public service as some Of the non-com-
miSsiOne1 officers and others Of the
battalion of the TWenty-fth Infantry.
It is TO be said with respect to these
jnOn-cOmnliSsiOred officers thai upon
them especially falls the duty Of main
tanning the discipline of the companies
and the battalion, and that by reason
of their long service and from their
joffcial authorit: they have more in
;f1uence Owe the men and more oDpor-
itunity to learn the circumstances lead
ling to a detection of the guilty in his
lease than any others connected with
the regiment. Indeed. it was their
peculiar duty to find out and disclose
the facts, but they have failed to do
50. It may be that they were not dere-
lict in this. If not, then they have had
the misfortune TO be associated with
men whose conduct n immunity
from detection require the government
in the public service to exercise its re-
served contract right of discharge
against the entire body of which they
werc r~nhers
Their Color Not the Cause.
Tine suggestion made in some quar-
tiers that this battalion has been treat
ed in this way simply because the men
are cOlOreG hardly merits notice. The
fact OF their color and the racial feel
ling aroused between them and the cit
liens Of Brownsville may have been
the cause n furnished the motive,
but certainly not q justification. for the
plot to murder men. women and chill
ldren, but to this extent only in expla-
nation of h circumstances is the fact
iOf their olo at all relevant.
I'm q bCdy OF men sworn to uphold
the law, enlisted as the Instruments of
maintaining the supremacy Of the law,
mo obligation Of comradeShip which
would prevent n from telling the
truth and detailing the circumstances
that would lead to the conviction of his
associates Of murder can he recognize
ed by those in authority and charged
with the responsibility of maintaining
the discipline OF the army.
1T IS possible that evidences may b.
iadduced in the future which will tend
to exculpate entirely some Of the men
now discharged, both from participa-
ton in the crime and assistance in the
conspiracy of silence to prevent the de-
lection of the offenders; and whenever
such facts are shown in respect to any
lone affected bV the order thew will he
brought to your attention and, I un-
Qerstand, will render such persons eli
lgi5le to re-enlistnent.'