The Washington herald., 1906-12-27

Senator Culberson. Of Texas, fully ap-
proves the action Of the President in the
Brownsville case. He made statement
40 a representative of The washington
Herald last night which effectuaIly dis
posed Of all doubt as 10 his position in
the premises
1T is my opinion" he said. that the
President was authorized by law TO dis
charge the negro troops without honor,
as he did, and that moreover. he was
wholly justified by the facts.
SO far as the matter OF a further in
vestigation IS concerned continued the
Senator, 1t should be understood that
the people OF Brownsville are not only
willing 10 have the incident thoroughly
probcd. but have been demanding that il
be looked into by the Federal authorities
ever since the night of the riot. There
should be no misunderstanding on that
score"
While Senator Culberson did not out
line his plans for the future it is under
stood that he may have something to
say on tae floor OF the Senate when
Senator Foraker calls up his invesiiga-
ti0n resolution after the holidays 1t
is known that he has a considerable
amount OF testimony. which is additional
10 that in the hands of the President
and the War Department, and should
Senator Foraker make any assertions
which will call for the production Of that
testimony, it is reasonable 20 assume THAT
the Texan will bring it forward. Secre-
tary Taft has been apprised Of the
nature Of this additional testimony, or a
part Of IT, but it has not been filed al the
War Department
Have All Facts Been AscertaIned:
The position Of several leading Demo-
Gratis who. Ike Senator CulbeTson, are
inclined 10 act rather than talk. ana who
invariably fortify themselves with facts
before taking any step of Importance, is
that the only grounds on which opposi-
ton to the Foraker resolution can be
justified is the assumption that all the
essential facts in the Brownsville affair
have been made public The circumstance
that Senator Culberson has in his pos
session testimony which does not appear
in the reports sent 20 Congress by the
President and Secretary Taft would seem
to Indicate. therefore. a probability that
these Senator's of the minority side will
not oppose the resolution. They desire to
have the truth of the matter brought
out. and are OF the opinion that while
the facts already ia evidence Justify The
President in discharging the negro
soldiers as he did, nothing can be lost 10y
placing on the records the data in the
hands Of Senator CulbeTsOn. as well as
that which Senator Foraker has collected.
The attempt 10 make capital out Of tho
failure of the Brownsville grand jury 90
return indictments against any Of IN.
negro soldiers does not appeal to Sena-
tor Culberson and other Texans It is
pointed out that the district judge. Stan
ley Welch, who conducted a personal in
vestigation Of the riot, made the un-
vanished statement, in his charge to the
grand jury. that negroes from the mill
tary post were guilty Of the riOting- But,
he went on 10 say, no indictments should
be returned by the jury unless its mem
bers had indUbitable proof as to the
identity Of the individuals composing the
party which shot up" the town. Judge
WelCh held that it would not be just to
turn wholesale indictments unless the
individuals who caused the trouble
were known. The shooting was an
outrage, in his opinion, but that wrong
was not to be Tighted by another wrong.
such as the indictment Of persons whose
guilt was not proven. Texans assert that
this action on the part of the judge, and
the subsequent failure of the grand jury
to indict any of the negroes. indicated
only a desire to do exact justice
Conferred with Secretary Taft
Senator CulbersOn conferred with Secre-
tary Taft, at the request Of the latter.
last Saturday. 1t was on that occasion
that he informed the Secretary of the
additional testimony in his possession, and
offered some suggestions regarding the
visit of the assistant to Attorney General
Purdy to Texas, which had already been
decided on.
Mai. BIocksOm. one of the army officers
who conducted the original investigation
on which the Presidents order of dis
missal was based, has been ordered 10
Texas again for the purpose. it is under
stood, of looking into certain phases of
the matter In which the administration is
particularly interested.
The President discussed the Brownsville
case with one or two of his callers yester-
day. He did not deny the published story
of the plan he will follow If Congress
passes a bin reinstating the discharged
soldiers, and nc information was forth
coming at the White House offices which
would indicate that the President had
taken any cOgnizance of the statement of
Senator Foraker, published in The Wash
ingtOn Herald yesterday. that the story
was too silly TO talk about. In the alb
sence of an official denial of that story.
it is obvious that Senator Foraker viii
go on record as being of the opinion that
the Presidents plan is silly,
SpOOner Not to Defend President.
The fact that Senator Spooner called
at the White House and the War De-
partment yesterday gave rise to the sus-
picion that he was having conferences
with the President and Secretary Taft
in regard TO the Brownsville affair. and
that be would defend the President by
replying to Senator Foraker's expected
attack. Direct inquiry of the Wisconsin
Senator quickly dissipated this suspicion
Mr.. SpoOner said he had been at the
White House not 10 discuss the Browns
Vile case with the President, but ON
other business.
It Is understood that the President has
counseled with Senator Spooner in re-
gard to his action in the discharge of
the men Of the Twenty-fifth Infantry. but
CONTINUED on THIRD PAGE.