The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-11
FORAKER OPENS
1903 CAMPAIGN
Continued from Page 1.

| president as to comforting the rate-mak-
| ing power upon the interstate commerce
commission, as provided in the Hepburn
law, passed at the first session of the
/ Fifty-ninth congress. / was not opposed
/ TO that proposition, however. because
cid not want governmental control and sup
| erVisiOn of railroads engaged in interstate
commerce, Tor L was among the first to
! advocate such a measure, but because |
/ thought the Hepburn law in that parti-
cular was both unconstitutional and un.
1 necessary and that it was a long and ser
| ious step in the wrong direction as
| matter of public policy
| I did not believe either that If con-
gress had the power to make rates, it
mad the right to delegate that power to
| an administrative body Whether 1 was
night in entertaining this opinion will be
| determlned when the supreme court of
| ule United states passes on the question,
/ as sooner or later il must"
! Mr.. Foraker said all the prosecutions
against the railroads, the sugar and beef
trusts and the Standard Oil company and
/ other corporations have been brought un-
ger the Elkins law, and the government
secured convictions speedily in all cases
! except where its own testimony failed
put that no suit of the kind has been
| Lrought under the Hepburn law.
Case of the Negroes.
Another session of congress has Just
| closed" he continued. There were num-
eTous measures pending and acted upon
] VIII WHICH NLt president was DrOm1nent-
| ly identified. So far as can recall L sun
! ported every one of them. There was on.
matter however, about which / have TAX
en- different view from him. / refer to
| the discharge, without honor. of the
/ members of Companies B, c, and d of the
| IWenty-flfth infantry, on account of the
shooting affray at Brownsville Texas
| rms was an incident, not policy. But
It was an incident Of such character that
/ 1 felt II my duty as a representative of
/ the people of Ohio to do with respect 90
1t what | have done.
1t was charged-and the president was
/ made to believe-thaJ certain men of the
| IWenty-fifth infantry had made a muir
1 derous midnight assault upon the sleeping
/ men, women and children of Brownsville:
/ that they had shot up the town as the
| expression goes. and that they had killed
| one man. and wounded another. and nut
\ IN Jeopardy the lives of many He he
! lieved that this was done by a few, but
| that others of the battalion knew and
| refused to disclose the identity of The
/ men who did il.
As result he ordered that the whole
| battalion should be dismissed without
| hOnor, the innocent and the guilty alike.
| the guilty because they were guilty. the
/ innocent because they could not be dis
tinguished from the guilty.
Innocent Men Suffered.
! among these men were old soldiers
/ VINO mad seen many years of service
| Their services had been honest faithful
gallant and distinguished One of them
/ had served continuously for tU-entv-siv
years. In fifteen months he could have
| retired on pension for life. His serv-
| ice had been rendered not only on the
| frontier OF this country, but in Cuba ard
| IN the Philippines. 1t had covered bOth
war and peace. In all the long DeriO1
| rot one single black mark had been reg
| iStered against him. He never had been
/ Court-martialed; ne had never been pun
/ ished, he had never been even Tepri-
/ manded- On every one of his numerous
| discharges it was recorded that his char
| acter was excellent, and that his services
4 had been efficient.
| His case is but an illustration. in 4
! little stronger degree, of many others. 4
| number had served more than twenty
years; many Of them almost twenty
able rights, and all these rights were
swept away from them in an instant hv
sn executive order. which put them an
| ankle IN common disgrace, and sent them
adrift with their cOuntrymen, whom they
mad done so much to defend branded as
criminals who had either participated in
the shooting or who had become accessor-
les after the fact, by protecting criminals
Who had.
Right to a Day in Court.
These men had been given no oppcr-
tunity to be heard. IL seemed to me that
no man in this country was so humble
that ne should not be given a day in
| court somewhere, or some time or some
place to make his defense, confront his
aCcuSerS, and refute their Testimony
against him; and especially should sold
iers have the benefit of such a hearing
believed that this was their right
under the constitution. / did not bc-
lieve that even the president. as com
mander-in-chief of the army had power to
deprive them of this right
But without regard to that question |
felt that they should have this opportun-
ity. L secured it for them 1t was a long
hard contest in the senate which result ID
the adoption of a resolution ordering
an investigation. | spoke repeatedly i'm
favor OF the proposition, but the record
VIII be searched in vain to find one word
or dlsrespect toward anybody from the
president down to the humblest man fig
uring III any way in connection with the
matter.
1T was with me simply a great. broad
question of constitutional power on the
one hand and constitutional right on the
other 1t has been said that it was an
effort TO secure the negro vote 1t tries
the patience to answer such charges
but that claim mighe be disposer of. one
would think, by the simple statement that
for more than thirty years 1 have been
honoTed with that vote almost TO a man.
ana simply because, as on this case, 1
nave always upheld their rights under the
constitution and the laws.
Ample Justification.
The investigation has been in proeress.
1t has not yet been completed. l would
prefer not TO speak of the results until
they have been fully determined; but
challenged as L am l do not hesitate TO
say that the testimony so far taken iusti-
fles the investigation. / cannot here and
now analyze he testimony, but it is
enough to say that the evidence already
taken warrants the belief that not a man
in that battalion fired a gun. 1 do not
believe any testimony can be secured that
viii refute anything that has been es-
tablished.
nnf oil j.,
Officers of that command, who at the
Beginning were by circumstantial evil
denees made to believe some of their men
were participators in the shooting are
now of the opiniOn-and have testified
that all are innocent
But, however all may be, these men
have had a hearing. They have been
permitted TO state their defense; and
whether the defense prevails or not II
has been demonstrated that this is a
government of law, a government where