The Washington herald., 1906-12-20
President Replies to Senate's
Brownsville Resolution.
SENDS IN SPECIAL MESSAGE
Negro Troops Guilty OF Blacklist
Crime in Army Annals, Declares
Nations Chief ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
He Hadn't Power TO Order Execu-
tiOn-Demands support.


August.
The President said in substance:
An effort has been made to discredit
the fairness of the investigation into the
conduct Of these colored troops by point
ing out that Gen. Darlington is a South
erner. Precisely the same action would
have been taken had the troops been
white-indeed. the discharge would proba-
bly, have been made IN more summary
fashion. Gen. Darlington is a native of
South Carolina; Lieut. Col Lowering is a
native Of New Hampshire; Mai. Blocksom
is native Of Ohio. As it happens. the
disclosure Of the guilt Of the troops was
made in the report of the officer who
comes from Ohio, and the efforts of the
officer who comes from South Carolina
We're confined TO the endeavor to shield
the innocent men Of the companies in
question.
Maj. Blocksom's report is most care
ful, is based upon the testimony of
scores of eyewitnesses-testm which
cOnficted only in nOnessenuals. and
which established the essential facts be-
yond chance of successful contradiction.
Not only has no successful effort been
made TO traverse his findings in any es-
sential particular, but, as a matter of
fact. every trustworthy report from out
siders amply corroborates them, by far
the best OF these outside reports being
that OF Gen. A. B. NetuetOn.
Account of the Attack.
The attack was made near midnight
on August %. The following facts as TO
this attack are made clear by Maj. Block
SONS investigation, and have not been.
and in my judgment, cannot be. success
fully cOntrOveTted.
From nine 10 fifteen or twenty of the
colored soldiers took part in the attack.
They leaped over the walls from the bar
racks and hurried through the town.
They shot at whomever they saw moving,
and they shot into houses where they
saw lights. In some Of these houses
there were women and children, as the
would-be murderers must have known.
In one house IN which there We're two
women and five children some ten shots
went through at a height OF about four
and one-half feet above the floor, one
putting out the lamp upon the table.
The lieutenant Of police of the town
heard the firing. and rode toward II. He
met the raiders, who. as he stated, were
about fifteen colored soldiers. They in
stantly started firing upon him. He
turned and rode of, and they continued
firing upon him until they had killed his
horse. They shot him in the right arm
Git was afterward amputated above the
elbow A number of shots were also
fired at two other policemen.
The raiders fired several times into a
hotel. some Of the shots being aimed at
a guest sitting by a window They shot
into a saloon, killing the bartender and
w0uuding another man. At the same
time other raiders fred into another
house in which women and children We're
sleeping. two of the shots going through
the mosquito bar over the bed in which
the mistress of the house and her two
children were lying Several other houses
We're struck by bullets
II was at night. and the streets of the
town are poorly lighted so that none ef
the individual raiders were recognized.
The shattered bullets, shells. and clips
Of the government rifles which were
found on the ground. are merely cor
roborative. So are the bullet holes in the
houses, some OF which ii appears must.
from the direction. have been fred from
the fort just at the moment when the
in any of the structures Of the fort.
The white officers OF the companies were
completely taken by surprise. II was not
until or o'clock in the morning that
any Of them became aware Of the truth,
There is no question as TO the murder
and the attempted murders; there is no
question that some of the soldiers were
guilty thereof. there is no question that
many Of their comrades privy to the deed
have combined TO shelter the criminals
from justice.
So much for the original crime A
blacker never stained the annals Of our
army. 1t has been supplemented by an
ether, only less black, in the shape Of a
successful conspiracy Of silence for the
purpose OF shielding those who took part
IN the original conspiracy Of murder.
by my direction every effort was made
10 persuade those innocent OF murder
among them to separate themselves from
the guilty By helping bring the criminals
TO justice They We're 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
10 profit by the warning. 1 accordingly
had them discharged.
He Would Do IL Again.
service, white or black. is guilty Of sim
liar conduct in the future, I shall follow
precisely the same course. Under No
circumstances will consent to keen in
the service bodies of men whom the cir
cumstances show to be a menace TO the
country.
incidentally. I may add that the sol
diers Of longest service and highest posi-
ton who suffered because Of the order
so far from being those who deserve
most sympathy. deserve least. for they
are the very men upon whom we should
be able especially to rely to prevent mu.
tiny and murder
People have spoken as if this discharge
from the service was a punishment.
deny emphatically that such is the case
because as punishment il is utterly iri-
adequate The punishment meet for niu-
tlneers and murderers such as those
guilty Of the Brownsville assault is
DEATH and punishment only less Sc
we're ought to be melted out TO those vino
have aided and abetted mutiny and muir
der and treason by refusing 10 halp If
their detection ] would that f. were
possible for me 10 have qua -sae1 tht
guilty men. ! regret most keenly that
/ have not been able TO do so.
Any assertion that these men were deal
with haTshly because they were coloret
men is utterly without foundation off.
GERS or enlisted men. white nen or col
ored men, who were guilty OF such con
duet would have been treated in precisely
the same way.
There are plenty Of precedents.
call your attention TO the memoranda
from the military secretary's Office Of
W. In. r-frraart MN,