The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-01-30
STANDS BY THE PRESIDENT,
LATlMER APPROVES DISMISSAL
OF THE NEGRO TROOPS.

Junior Sc rntOr from South CRrOlIna
Declares that Mr.. Roosevelt Conld
Have Cakeu no Other .Course and
Preserved the Respect ofthe Conn
try fer the Army. that he wa
JustiAcd By the Law and the Facts
and he Has Called At white HOuer
and said a. Much-He Strongly
and Convincingly States the Case
News and Courier.
Washington, January I9.-Special
Senator Latimer, on the occasion Of q
recent visit to the White House, ex-
pressed to the President his gratifi-
cation that at last, in the Brownsville
case, the Chief Magistrate had done
something that he could agree with
him upon. There had been such q
wide difference OF opinion between
them on almost every other subject,
and especially the race problem, that
the South Carolina Senator said 1t
gave him great pleasure to declare bis
approval of this one act.
There was no hesitancy on the part
of Senator Latimer to give his viewt
on the Brow nsvilie tragedy.
IL am" he said, when asked as to the
matter, "in hearty accord with the &C
tion taken by the President in regard
to the Brownsville affair. 7 ha6
. thought of making short speech Oh
the floor Of the Senate expressiD ny my
views on the Presidents action In dis
missing the negro soldiers involved in
that unfortunate affair, but the matter
has been 80 thoroughly discussed and
the facts brought out 80 fully that
feel it would be mere repetition OF
what has already been 30 ably ex.
pressed by other Senators.
"As to the guilt Of those negroes no
one has expressed any doubt, except
the senior Senator from Ohio, and be
has not been able to present an argu
ment in favor of any other conclusion
that to my mind is wo rthy of con
sideration. I have no question as t.
the Presidents right to discharge the
troops. His right 10 expressly Sc,
forth in the 4th article of war, which
reads as follows: No enlisted man
duly sworn, shall be discharged from
the service without q discharge In
writing, signed by field officer OF
the regiment to which he belongs. OF
by the commanding officer when nc
uSIU ptCSCdS, ohu ho A'D
charge shall be given to any enlisted
man before his term of service has ex
pired, except by order of the President t.
the Secretary Of War, the command
ing officer of department, or by sen
tence of general Court.martial.' The
power Of the President, the Secretary
Of war, the department commande]
and the order of q general COurt-mar
tial to discharge soldiers before the ex
piration of their term of service is ab
solute. This is evident alec from
Article 69, which reads as follows
NO officer shall be discharged or dis
missed from the service except by or
der of the President or by sentence ol
q general Court-martial. etc, etc.
From the foregoing articles of war
which have just quoted, find am
pie authority given the President tc
discharge soldiers for the good of the
service under circumstances similar tc
those which occurred at Brownsville
I do not see what else the Presiden
could have done under the clrcum
stances He had either to discharge
the soldiers or do nothing at all, as tht
conspiracy Of secrecy was 30 complete
that had Court.msrtial been ordered
II would have resulted In mere farce
and the guilty would have remained
In the army to he ,raps erred to som'
other point and would have beer
followed by q repetition of tn
BroWnville outrage.
II, therefore, hold that the action o
the President in discharging thes'
troops was absolutely necessary t
hold the respect Of the American