The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1906-12-27
is CLAD He Did IT
The President Sends His Reply to
Senate Resolution Regarding
Discharge Of Negro Troops.
HAD DISGRACED UNIFORM
Was Well Within His CohstitutionaI
Rights and Action Was Utterly
inadequate rs Punishment '
for Their Conduct. 81;

for Their Conduct. s
Washington, Dec. 20.-In reply. to-
resolution of the senate dated De-
cember s, the president Wednesday
transmitted to that body the report
Of Secretary Taft regarding the dis
charge Of three companies Of negro
troops of the Twenty-fifth infantry for
completely In the Brownsville, Tex,
affair OF last August The commune
cation accompanying the report was
in part as follow:
II ordered the discharge Of nearly
all the members Of companies B. G.
and d Of the Twenty-fifth infantry
by name, In the exercise Of my con-
stkuti0nal power and In pursuance
Of what, after full consideration, /
found to be my constitutional duty
as commander In chief Of the United
States army.
by my direction every effort was
made to persuade those innocent Of
murder among the troops to separate
themselves from the guilty by help
ing bring the criminals to justice.
They were warned that If they did
not take advantage Of the offer they
would all be discharged from the
service and forbidden again to enter
the employ Of the government. They
refused to profit by the warning. /
accordingly had them discharged. II
any organization or troops In the
service, white or black, is guilty Of
similar conduct in the future shall
follow precisely the same course.
Under Mo circumstances will con-
sent to keep in the service bodies Of
men whom the circumstances show
to be menace to the country. Incl
dentally may add that the soldiers
of longest service and highest posi-
ton who suffered because Of the or.
der, so far from being those who de-
serve most sympathy, deserve least,
for they are the very men upon
whom we should be able especially
to rely to prevent mutiny and muir.
der.
People have spoken as If this dis
charge from the service was a pun
ishment. l deny emphatically that
such is the case, because as punish
ment 1t is utterly inadequate. The
punishment meet for mutineers and
murderers such as those guilty of
the Brownsville assault is death; and
a punishment only less severe ought
to be melted out to those who have
aided and abbetted mutiny and MUIR
der and treason by refusing to help
in their detection. | would that 1t
were possible for me to have pun
ished the guilty men. regret most
keenly that have not been able to
do so.
TT is of the utmost Importance to
all people that We shall deal with
each man as man, and not deal
with him merely as a member of a
given race; that we shall Judge each
man by his conduct and not his color.
This Is important for the white man,
and 1t is far more important for the
colored man. More evil and sinister
counsel never was given to any peo-
pie than that given to colored men
by those advisers, whether black or
white, who, by apology and condo
nation, encourage conduct such as
that of the three companies in ques-
ton. If the colored men elect to
stand by criminals of their own race
because they are of their own race,
they assuredly lay. up for themselves
the most dreadful day of reckoning.
Every farsighted friend of the col
ored race in its efforts to strive on
ward and upward, should teach first,
as the most important lesson, alike
to the white man and the black, the
duty of treating the individual man
strictly on his worth as he shows 1t.
In reporting to the president on
the several senate resolutions of in.
qulry, Secretary Taft enters into an
exhaustive discussion OF the law and
the evidence in the case. He quotes
the authority for the presidents &C
ton and with regard to the new evil
dence presented says he has exam
ined it with care and that he does
not find anything contained in 1t
which should lead to a different con.
clusion of fact from that already
stated in his annual report.