The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-01-15
DISPATCH: RICHMOND VA TUESDAY,

out lighted lamp on the dining
room table. Mrs. Cowen and her five
children were In the house; they ut
once threw themselves prone on the
floor and were not hit. They fired
into the Starck house. the bullets
going through the mosquito bar Of
bed from eighteen to twenty inches
above where little children were
sleeping. There was a light In tho
children's room.
Must Have Known.
The shooting took place near mid
night. The panic caused by the ut
terly unexpected attack was great.
The darkness, Of course, Increased
the confusion. There is conflict Of
testimony on some of the minor
points, but every essential point Is
established beyond possibility Of
honest question. The careful exetni-
nation OF Mr. Purdy, assistant to the
Attorney General, resulted merely In
strengthening the reports already
made by the regular army authorl-
ties. The shooting, 1t appears, oc-
cupied about ten minutes, although
It may have been some minutes more
or less. 1t Is out OF the question that
the fifteen or twenty men engaged IN
the assault could have gathered be-
hind the wall Of the fort began
firing, some OF them on the porches
OF the barracks, gone out into the
town, fired in the neighborhood OF 200
shots in the town, and then returned
the total time occupied from the
time of the first shot to the time OF
their return being somewhere IN tho
neighborhood OF ten rninutes-with-
out many OF their comrades know
ing what they had done.
Indeed. the fuller details as es-
taken since 1 last communicated
with the Senate make 1t likely that
there were very few, IL any, OF
the soldiers dismissed who could
have been ignorant or what oc-
Cured. 1t Is well-nigh impossi-
bic that any of the nom commits
stoned officers who were at the bar
racks should not have known what
occurred
The additional evidence thus
impossible to question the conclu-
sions upon which my order was
based. / have gone most carefully
over every Issue of law and fact
that has been raised. ! am now
satisfied that the effect of my order
diminishing these men without honor
was not to bar them from all civil
employment under the government,
and. therefore. that the part OF the
order which consisted of declara-
ton to this effect was lacking. In
validity. and ! have directed that
such portion be revoked. AS TO the
rest OF the order. dismissing the In
dividuals In question without honor,
and declaring the effect of such
discharge under the law and regu-
lations to be bar to their future
re-enlistment either in the army or
the navy, there is no doubt of my
constitutional and legal power. The
order was within my discretion,
under the Constition and the laws,
and cannot be reviewed or reversed
save by another executive order.
The facts did not merely warrant
the action I took-they rendered
such action imperative unless
was to prove false. to my sworn
duty
If any one of the men discharged
hereafter shows to my satisfaction
that he Is clear OF guilt. or of
shielding the guilty. I VIII take
what action Is warranted: but the
circumstances have above detail
ed most certainly put upon any
such man the burden OF thus clear
ing himself
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The White House. Jan. IA, 1907