Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1907-01-10
CONGRESS AT WORK
Both Houses of Congress Resume
Work After Holiday Recess.

Soon after the Senate met Senator
Foraker's resolution providing for
an inquiry by the Senate into the
discharge of the negro troops of the
Twenty-fifth Infantry on account cf
the Brownsville, Texas, episode, was
laid before the Senate and Senator
Culberson made an address on the
subject. He said that he would have
kept quiet but for the fact that great
injustice had been done the people of
Brownsville.
MIR. Culberson said that the con-
duct of the negro soldiers had been
very irritating to the Brownsville
people and especially so to the wom-
en-. He related that on August 4,
last, the day before the shooting
up' of the town, n criminal assault
had been committed by one of the
soldiers on the wife of n reputable
citizen and said that nc arrests had
been made for the crime. Mr.. Gull
berson defended Captain Mcdonald,
of the Texas Rengers, to whom Mr..
Foraker had referred because os
Major Blocksom reference to him
as a man who was $50 brave that
he would not hesitate to charge hell
with bucket of water" Mr.. Gull
berson also said that he knew Major
Blocksom to be gentleman.
Defends the President.
In defending President Roosevelt
Tor his dismissal of the troops. Mr..
Culberson said the fact that the
troops We're negroes had nothing
TO do with their discharge. Confu-
sion as to the legal question involved
was. lie said, responsible for the state
ment that the President had no au-
thority to make the discharge. The
President s constitutional authority
and the authority given him by the
articles of war clearly covered the
case and made his action legal, he
declared, He contended that dis
charges for criminal offcnses are COW
cred III the articles of war as are also
discharges made to effect punishment.
Mr.. Culberson said that there was
distinction between "dischargc
without honor" In the former case
the President could exercise his dis
cretion as he had done in the instance
only he made as the result Of 4 court
martial. He instanced several cases
to sustain his position.
Negro Soldiers Motive.
To establish the motive actuating
the negro soldiers III creating the al
legged disturbance, Mr.. Culberson
read resolutions recently adopted by
negro citizens of Boston, which adj
| mitted that the soldiers "shot up"
the town and said they "wcre de-
termined to do for themselves what
the uniform of their country would
not do-protect them from insults
and punish at the same time the
authors of their misery
Disclaiming any partisanship for
| the President, Mr. Culberson created
wave of merriment by saying:
|
| President in the matter. / care moth
ing about him. My personal rela-
tions with him are about as cordial
as those of the Senator from Ohio. -
(Mr. Foraker.)
| In all fairness, Mr.. CulberSon said,
the country ought to know that the
report made to the President was re
liable.
In the House.
Within Is minutes from the time
the gavel OF Speaker Cannon fell
calling together the House of Repres-
entatives, after the holiday recess,
the lower branch of Congress adj
| journed, the absence of quorum
bringing about the early adjournmeni
The House was trifle late in
meeting due to the absence from the
Speakers table of the badge of au-
thority, the gavel, and in conse-
quence the small membership of the
House present were kept standing Il
minute or two longer than usual I'M
til the Speaker obtained the cham
mer" But when the gavel was re-
ceived responding whack brought
the House face to face with what
bids fair to be busy session.
w. F. Englebright, of the first
California district, and Charles G.
Washburn, of the third Massachu.
setts district, were sworn In as mem
bers of the 59th Congress to take
the places of James n. Norris Gill
lett, of California, resigned, and