The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-12-06
BROWNSVILLE RAID
TREATED BY TAFT
Continued From First Page.

tering his arm so that it was necessary
to amputate it, and another killing his
horse. Other policemen were targets,
and a bullet tore a hole thru the hat
of one. The barkeeper was unfortunate
enough to preside in saloon in which
separate bar had been erected for the
negroes and at which they forced to
be served. He heard the raiders and
their threats and tried to lock the place.
He was met with a volley and killed.
Shot at the Lights.
A hotel was fred on, the window Of
guest in which a light could be seen,
presumably being the target.
Every effort was made to detect the
men guilty of the shooting thru the
ordinary channels, but the sleuths
were baffled. Then came the order
from Inspector General Darlington, adj.
vising all the enlisted men in the bat
talon that if evidence was not forth
coming leading to the Identification of
those who planned and committed the
crimes, it would become necessary to
discharge all The men present at Fort
Brown that night.
s'Inspector General darlington
examined every man who came within
the operation of the proposed order,
says the report, "and was entirely I'M
able to elicit single circumstance
leading to the Identification of the
murderers. This department concurred
tion, and the president then directed
the discharge Of the members of the
battalion. -
Secretary Taft, in reviewing the en-
tire affair, says: "Under these circum-
stances the question arises: Is the gov
eminent helplessa Must it continue in
its service battalion, many of the
members Of which show their. willing,
ness to condone a crime Of capital
character, committed by ten to twenty
Of its members, and put on front Of
silence and ignorance which enables
the criminals to escape just punish.
ments
Swore to Maintain Law.
"These enlisted men took the oath
Of allegiance to the government, and
were to be used under the law to main
tain its supremacy. Can the govern
ment properly therefore keep in its en-
ploy for the purpose Of maintaining
law and order any longer body Of
men, from to 10 per cent of whom
can plan and commit murder, and rely
upon the silence Of number of their
companions to escape detectiong
1T goes without saying that if the
guilty could be ascertained they should
and would be punished, but the guilty
can not be ascertained, and the very
impossibility Of determining who are
the guilty makes the whole battalion
useless to tho government as an instru-
ment for maintaining law and order.
The only means Of Kidding the mill
tary service of a band Of would-be
murderers of women and children, and
actual murderers Of one man, is the
discharge of the entire battalion.
1c toll 10
this order is in itself a punishment
either Of the innocent or of the guilty.
A discharge would be an utterly in
adequate punishment for those who are
guilty, whether of committing the MUIR
der or of withholding or suppressing
evidence which would disclose the per-
Petrators OF such a crime. The use of
Is a mere misnomer and is unfortunate.
The dismissal from the service of mem
bers OF this battalion under the cir
cumstances IS not punishment, how
ever great the hardship.
Not Dishonorable Discharge.
"There is dismissal technically
which is only imposed by sentence by
a court. This is a punishment. But
the members of this battalion were not
dishonorably discharged. They could
not have been SO discharged except af-
ter a trial. They were discharged for
the good Of the service, as the tech
nical phrase is. t'without HONOR It
IS not fortunate phrase, because SO
easily confused with a. dishonorable
discharge.
ct is said that the order forbids
re-entry by the discharged men into
Inc army or navy or civil service, and
this is penalty. When an employee
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 penalty in the proper sense
of the term. Should hereafter facts
be disclosed, or new state of facts
arise from which it can be inferred
that the public service will suffer no
detr1ment from re,,entry Of any one of
these men into the service, his ineli-
gibility can be removed by a. mere ex-
ecutive order.
Much sympathy has been evoked
for those who have been SO long in tn
public service as some Of the noncom.
1mlssloned officers and others of this
nattallon. 1t is to. be said with respect
upon them especially falls the duty of
maintaining the discipline Of the com
Pan1es and the battalion, and that bv
reason Of their long service and from
their official authority they have mora
influence over the men and more oppor-
tunity to learn the circumstances lead.
ing to the detection of the guilty in
this case 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 so
1t may be. that they were not derelict
in this; If not, then they have had the
misfortune to be associated with men
whose conduct and immunity from de-
lection require the government in the
public service to exercise it's reserved
contract right Of discharge against the
entire body of which they were mem.
bers.
The suggestion made in some quar-
tiers that this battalion has been treated
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
certainly not a justification, for the blot
to murder men, women and children :
but to this extent only in explanation
Of the circumstances is the fact Of
their eo1or a oil 49,