The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-06

WASHINGTON, Dec. Sin an extract
from his annual report. made public at
the War Department, Secretary OF War
Taft shows himself 70 he emphatically in
favor Of the action OF President Roosevelt
In ordering the dismissal Of three COM
psnies Of the Twenty-dfth Infantry, col
ored. because of the participation OF some
OF the members Of the company organiZa-
tons in the rail on Brownsville, Texas,
last August. The contents Of the extract
disprove absolutely that there exists any
difference of opinion between the Presi-
dent and his Secretary Of Var concern
ing the Presidents course.
When Mr.. Taft returned 70 Washington
from his Western trip a few weeks ago,
and while the President was in Panama,
he ventured, upon the urgent appeal of
persons interested in the dismissed troops,
TO suspend for "A time the execution of the
Presidents order directing the discharge
of the soldiers while he cable1 70 the Presi-
dent asking IL the case might not be re-
considered. This action on the part OF the
Secretary Of Var gave rice to many declara-
tions that Mr.. Taft was opposed to the at
titude Of the President, and by some in
fterested in the welfare Of the negro troops
he was loudly praised. His report proves
that he il in thorough accord with the
President, and the argument he presents
showing why the army should have rid
itself Of the three negro companies is re-
garded as very strong. The report will &c
TO Congress soon.
Mr.. Taft declares that the men who did
the shooting on the occasion OF the Browns
vile raid we're guilty OF murder in the first
degree, and that their comrades who were
not actually in completely with them en-
gagged in a conspiracy to shield those who
were guilty. He says, also, that II Is i'm
possible that many Of the battalion who
did not actually take part in the conspiracy
TO murder were not aware, through one
circumstance or another, of the identity
Of the persons who committed the offence.
Secretary Taft reviews the facts as known,
gives details of the raid, and continues:
under these circumstances the question
arises, Is the Government helpless? Must
IL continue in its service a battalion. many
of the members of which show their willing
ness to condone a crime of a capital char
acter committed by from ten 70 twenty
of its members, and put on a front Of silence
and ignorance which enables the criminals
70 escape just punishment? These en-
listed men took the oath of allegiance TO
the Government, and we're TO be used under
the law to maintain its supremacy. Can
the Government properly. therefore, keep
in its employ for the purpose of maintain
ing law and order any longer a body of
men, from five to ten per cent of whom
can plan and commit murder, and rely upon
the silence of a number of their companions
TO escape detection2"
Further along in his report Secretary
Taft presents a hypothetical case of treason.
He asks that il, during a time Of war with
Mexico, a dozen men OF a battalion sta
toned at Fort Brown carried plans and
ammunition TO the enemy on the other side
of the Rio Grande and returned under cir
cumstances showing clearly that q number
of the men in the battalion knew the guilty
parties, but would not tell, would a com
petent General hesitate for a moment to
disband the entire battalion and discharge
IL from the service in order to prevent a
repetition OF the offence? Can a real and
logical distinction be made" Secretary
Taft inquiries, between the crime Of treason
under the circumstances supposed, and the
crime Of murder in this case? Both are
capital offences, one perhaps more heinous
than the other, and more dangerous to the
Government itself, but in both cases it seems
clear to me that the Government must
DTOteCJ ISel1 anu the community 10 WDlCn
il is responsible, from a recurrence OF such
offences, not by furnishing guilty and limo
cent alike, but by separating both the
guilty and innocent from the service, so az
to deprive the guilty Of a second oppor-
tunity for such a crime, even though this
may result in inconvenience and perhaps
hardship to the innocent.
Secretary Taft declares that the sugges-
fiOn NADIA in Soma IN RI ora TINT tho aotipn
had been taken because the men in il were
black hardly merits notice. He says that
the only way the matter OF color enters
into the affair is the racial feeling aroused
between the oldiers and the citizens of
Brownsville, and may have furnished the
cause and the motive. but certainly not a
justification for the plot 70 murder men,
women and children
In speaking of the penalty Seer etary
Taft says that il is a mistake TO suppose
that the order of dismissal in itself is a
punishment either of the innocent or OF the
guilty. A discharge would be an utterly
Inadequate punishment for those who
were guilty, " he says, whether Of COM
hitting the murder or of wit hholding or
suppressing evidence which would disclose
the perpetrators OF such a crime. The use
of the word penalty in the proceedings il
a mere misnomer and is unfortunate. The
dismissal from the service of the members
Of the battalion under the circumstances
- not a punishment, however great the
hardship. There is a dismissal technically
known AZ a d~ishonorable discharge, which
il only imposed by sentence by a court.
Tins is a punishment. But the members
OF This battalion were not dishOnorably dis
charged. They could not have been so
discharged except after a trial. They
were discharged for the good OF the service.
as the technical phrase Is. without honor
II is not a fortunate phrase, because 80
easily confused with a dishonorable dis
charge. IL il called without honor to
distinguish the discharge from a discharge
with honor, or an honorable discharge,
which indicates the termination in due
course Of a satisfactory service. An
enlistment brought prematurely TO an end
for the good of the service cannot be an
honorable discharge. Hence the distinc-
tion must be made. The discharge without
honor Is merely the ending OF a con- |
tract and separation from the service under |
n right reserved in the statute for the pro-
lection OF the Government, which nav
work a hardship to the private discharged
bat which in the public interest must
sometimes be arbitrarily exercised |