The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-12-11

soldiers ana that t1e u..la~ were at-
e@eted to# ara .aa i..-Ia ~, 4'.
| could be faana iu th. barracks. and
| the great we "lt II In teet iuaHE H.
| dieales chat these N4Ene-ae, a,l@ mis-
taken.
The .fIai: Investigated.
THE facts as stated appear from
| the careful Investigation ouG report
Of Mayor Bloel.~Gm. 81 the n pee
| ,or-Generars corps 1T the Army.
! supplemented by a6Tdavits ana oral
| examination If many Witnesses. con
| ducted by a citizens committee At the
| invitation Of Major PaErose. and bE
the report Of Major Peurose. Major
Blockson began his Investigation three
days after the occurrence.
"Since the occurrence every effort
has been made hy the commissions
| officers and by Competeut military iH-
spectors sent for the purpose thrn
| croSs-eXamination Of each membe or
the who was present In he
fort that night, 10 find some clue ~
which the enlisted men who commit
ted his crime could be detected. and
not the slightest evidence tending -
establish the identity of a single mar
has been forthcoming. All the enlist
ed men Of the battalion We're ADVISED
that if evidence was not forthcoming
leading TO the Identification Of those
who planned and committed these
murders and attempted murders, i
would become necessary 10 discharge
all the men present At Fort Brown
that night without honor and TO bar
them from Te-enlistlncnt in the Army
or service III the Navy OF in the civil
service.
"Inspector-General Darlington then
examined every man Who came within
the operation Of the proposed order
and was entirely unable to elicit q sin
gle circumstance leading to the ident-
| EnatjLn 80 tho D411TIEralrG Tie he
came convinced that there was 4 con-
spiracy Of silence in the battalion -
protect the criminals, and while no
conceded that there might be a num-
| Der of men in the battalion ~1nnOCeu
both of the crime and the suppression
Of evidence, he deemed it necessary
i'm the interest and for the good OF the
service to recommend the issuing OF
the order which by authority he had
| told the men would be made and en-
forced. unless evidence pointing to the
criminals was forthcoming. This De
partment c~oncurred in General Gar
~lington's recommendation, n the
President then directed the d~ischar8"
Of certain-naned members of the bat
TALON. which included all the enlist
ed men of the battalion who were
present at Fort Brown on the night In
question, without honor, and forever
debarred them from re-enlisting IN
the Army or Navy of the United
states. as we'll as from employment in
any civil capacity under the Govern
ment. The order Of discharge has
been duly executed.
THE order has attracted much at
tenti0n and has been severely crit
cised as unjust because it condemns
many innocent men to undeserVed
punishment. 1t is not improper there
fore in this report to review the case
| and state the reasons which not onIy
justified it. but made it necessary.
I~reconcerted plan Of Revenge.
First. Out Of a battalion of ITO
enlisted men in the Army Of the init
ed States from 9 to 20 men formed a
p~reCOnCerted plan to revenge them.
selves upon the people of a town in
which they We're stationed for the
insults they felt that the t~oWnspeople
had heaped upon them. In accord
ance With the plan, they left THEN
barracks under cover of darkness
about midnight-and proceeded to
discharge their weapons into the
houses of the town for the purpose o.
killing those against whom they had
q grievance. They came very near
killing some on or more of the
three women and seven children who
were sitting o. sleeping in two Of the
lighted rooms into which they fired.
They, in fact, did kill one man, wound
another, and seriously injure the CHIEF
Of police. They accompanied their
| firing with expressions which lndlcat-
| ed the 1ldllCe Nillcn prompted lIltla
| action. There can he no doubt, there
| fore. that the squad of men who NOV
ed together from the fort 10 the town
and did the shooting were guilty 81
murder. m murder in the first de-
gree. and that if they were discovered
they could be properly subjected u
capital punishment. The purpose Of
one was the purpose Of all.
second. Within ten minutes or
more after this crime was committed,
when the whole garrison was aroused
by the noise of the fuSiilade and By
The call to arms which followed il. tn,
guilty men returned to their place.
and must have been among the last
men 10 take tie places. for the reason
that the firing continued after thc
formations had begun. The absence
of the rifles from the racks could not
have escaped he attention of the ser
geants who had the keys Of the racks.
if indeed they had the keys; and yet
all the SerSeantS swear that the rifles
were in the racks, untouched. Before
the next morning all the guns were
clean. II is impossible that many of
the battalion who did not take part
as active members of this conspiracy,
70 murder We're not made aware b.
one circumstance OF another. OF the
identity of the persons who commit
ted this heinOus ofrense.
Conspiracy Of silence.
"-hird. Instead Of giving to their
officers. or TO the military inspectors
who We're directed TO make the exani-
nation, the beneft Of anything
which they knew tending to \
conviction Of the guilty persons.
there was a conspiracy Of silence
on the part Of the many who
must nave known something Of
Importance in this regard. Thus tha
murderers We're taken back into the
battalion and protected entirely from
punishment.
Under these circumstances tba
question arises. + the Governments
helpless2 Must it continue in its SER
vice a battalion many of the members
Of which show their willingness to
condone a crime II capital character
committed by from ten TO twenty Of
rs members. and put on a front Of