The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-12-19

no ny q occupied at the time by sleeping
OF. frightened guests from abroad who
eouId not possibly have given any of
the chief Of the Brownsville nol i e' 10
again on duty from hospital, and car
shot by federal soldiers from the ad-
Jacent, garrison in the course of their
m n II foray; and not far AWAY is
tne fresh grave Of an unoffending citi-
zen OF the place; a boy in years who
was Wantonly shot down by these
United States soldiers while unarmed
and attempting to escape.
Gross Absurdity.
The effort to confute this testimony
SO SO far has consisted in the assertion or
lmphcatlon that the townspeople shot
one !. another in order to discredit the
s 9 absurdity too gross to need
discussion af als5 and ~ unsupported by shred
u evidence. There is no question las
to the, murder and the attemrted mn I1s
ders; there is no question that some of
the soldiers Were guilty thereof; there
Is no question that many of their com
rades prlvy to the deed have combined
70 shelter the criminals from iustice
These comrades of the murderers, Nv
their own action, have rendered s. nee
essary either to leave all the men. in
cludlng the murderers, in the army. or
TO. turn them all out; and under such
circumstances there was no alternative.
Tor the usefulness Of the army :Won]d
he at an end were we to permit snch an
outrage to be committed with impunity.
By my direction every effort was
made to persuade those innocent of
murder among them to separate them
selves from, the guilty by helping bring
the criminals to Justice. They werc
warned that If they did not take adj
vantage OF the offer they would all
pe: alscharged. from the service and
Of the government. They refused to
profit by the warning. 1 accordingiy
mad them discharged. If any organi-
zation Of troops in the service, white
or. black, is guilty Of similar conduct
in the future I shall follow precisely
the same course aS72-a. rt5 e
| Under no circumstances will & con.
sent to. keep in the service bodies sof
imenEWhom the circumstances show Ia
De menaeeS;to the country Incident
ally may add that the soldiers Of
longest service and highest position
who suffered because Of the order, SO
far from being those who deserve most
sympathy, deserve. least, for thew are
the very men upon whom we Should
be able especially. to rely to prevent
mutiny and murder.
What Case Merits.
;, People have spoken as if this dis
charge from the Service was punish.
Is the case, because as punishment it
IS utterly inadequate. The punish.
nient meet for mutineers and murderers
| such as those guilty Of the Browns.
vile assault is death; and a punish.
ment only less severe ought to be
melted out to those who have aided
and abetted mutiny and murder and
treason by refusing to help in their
detection. I would that it were pos
guilty men. I regret most keenly that
l have not been able to do so.
There are plenty Of presidents for
the action taken. I cali your attention
to the memoranda, together with a let
ter from District Attorney James Will
kinson Of New Orleans. The district
attorneys letter recites several, cases
in which white United States soldiers,
being arrested for crime, were tried,
and every soldier and employee of. the
regiment, or in the fort at which the
soldier was stationed, volunteered all
they knew, both before and at the trial.
SO as to secure justice.
In one case the soldier was ACQUITTED.
In another case the soldier was con-
victed Of murder, the conviction result
ing from the fact that every soldier.
from the commanding officer to the
humblest private, united in securing all
the evidence in their power about the
crime. In other cases, for less offenses.
soldiers were convicted purely because
their comrades in arms, in a spirit of
fine loyalty to the honor Of the service,
at once told the whole story Of the
troubles and declined to identity Them
selves with the criminals.
Precedents for Action.
During the civil war numerous pre-.
cedents for the action taken by me oc-
Cured in the shape of the summary
discharge of regiments or companies
because of misconduct on the part of
some or all Of their members. The
Sixtieth Ohio was summarily dis
charged on the ground that the regi-
ment was disorganized, mutinous and
worthless. The Eleventh New York
was discharged by reason of general
T