The Washington herald., 1907-01-09

soldier and the people whose uniform he
wears there should be sympathy and COM
mon aspiration. These he said did not
/ exist between the great bulk OF the Amer
I lean people and the negro soldiers. He
/ did not impugn their physical courage,
+ but in view OF the ineradicable race hos
/ tility, he did not believe it wise to arm
/ them.
/ Mr.. Slayden presented an array Of con-
flicts between negro soldiers and white
inhabitants at various places in the coun-
| try. cuIled from the records of the War
I Department, and then referred at some
length to the Brownsville affair, comment
ing on some Of the pleas put forward in
defense. The theory that the killing and
wounding was done by citizens Of Browns
vile masquerading in soldiers uniforms,
he said was. in the language Of Secretary
Taft. so grOJesque in its improbability
and absurdity as hardly to call for discus
sion OF comment"
Fortunately for the citizens OF
Brownsville. whose politics might be-
thought by some persons TO have caused
the trouble. Mr.. Slayden said. IN the only
two previous occasions on which soldiers
were personally assaulted. the rows were
with Federal Office-h0ideTs, who were Re
ipublicans.
1T seems to me-" he continued. "to be
too absurd that At this late day we should
be asking who did the shooting. I fail 20
see how there is room for honest doubt.
/ If the soldiers had been white and the cir-
Icumstances the same. If the same mass
Of clear strong evidenCs against them had
been supplied. and If the President had
dismissed them from the service In tho
same manner, there not only would have
/ been no doubt as to who were the mur-
[ a. Flrs4
would have been almost unanimously ap-
proved.
But then" he added, the whites are
not valuable political asset. handled in
bulk. which explains many things"
The suggestion that the shooting was
done by white citizens Of Brownsville. Mr..
Slayden said. was an insult TO the intelli-
gence Of the uation and sought 10 pat the
people Of Brownsville below the beasts
OF the field.
whites Would Have shot Better.
But" he said 'Tf II be seriously urged
that the people of Brownsville did this
shooting, I most solemnly protest against
the reflection on their craftsmanship. Had
they been armed with those rifles and
doing the shooting on that awful night,
the list Of casualties would have been
longer, and the dead and wounded would
/ not all have come from one side
/ Concluding. Mr.. Slayden said; After
a few incidents ike that at Brownsville.
/ Congress viii be really aroused to a dis
/ charge Of its duty in this matter Re
+ peat the Brownsville affair, with a change
of locus; let it occur in Michigan, New
I York. Illinois. and new light viii De
seen Until then we will be as patient as
/ possible, having faith that finally the
sympathy Of the whole country viii be
given to that section which has been 50
( tried in the school cf disaster, section
which stands face 10 face with the per-
plexities and dangers Of the most difficult
question any people on earth were ever
called on to meet and solve. When all
the States comprehend this question.
which now they barely apprehend. they
will help US Of the South TO make 1t GER
tain that the homes of white men in d
white mans country will be protected by
white men only