The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-18
DEFENDS NEGROES
FORAKER GIVES, STAT ;MENT ON
 BROWNSVILLE INQUIRY.
So Far, He Says, the Evidence Does Not Show That the Soldiers
 Figured in Texas Shooting,

Washington, June 11.--Senator For aker. of Ohio. tonight gave out a writ ten statement summing up the testi- mony taken by the Senate Committee on Military Affairs in the Brownsville in ouiry and declaring that it fu.ils to show that any soldier took part in the affair.
 The statement, which the Senator says he made as plain duty to the truth. as well as to the accused sol- diers." and because he Is more fa- miliar with the testimony than any, body else, is an answer to a published statement that the testimony conclus- lively showed the soldiers of the 25th battalion did the shooting.
 MT. Foraker says:
 The testimony given by the sol- diers in their own behalf is not, in my opinion. shaken by the testimony given by the citizens of Brownsville. That testimony, in the nrst place. is but a repetition of what was first talk en by the citizens committee and aft erwards more elaborately retaken by Mir. Purdy. No important item of new evidence has been brought forward against the soldiers in this excmina- tion. Ninety per cent. of what the cit izens have testified a out. had rela- ton to matters over which there was
 
 body comedies that the town was shot up; that somebody did 1t; that these people who did 1t passed tn ugh the streets and alleys where the shooting was done and that they had guns or re- volvers or firearms of some sort; and that one man was killed and another wounded. The only dispute is as to whether the raiders were Identified as soldiers.
 There are two kinds of evidence relied upon to show the soldiers did 1t. One consists of shells and bullets that were secured from the streets and houses of Brownsville. The results of microscopic investigation interpret, ed in the light of other testimony of the case completely disposed of this pArt of the case. The only other tes- timony is that of people who claim to have been eyewitnesses to the shoot ing. This consists of statements by various people that, when they heard the firing, they looked out of their windows and houses and down dark al- leys where there were no lights, at distances varying all the way from thirty feet up to 150 feet and recog- nizeda the men who were doing the firing as negroes wearing the uniforms of the United states soldiers.
 "The officers of the battalion testi- fled generally and specifically as to the darkness of the night By spe- cifically I mean they have given spe- cific incidents coming within their per- sonal experiences that illustrated how dark the night was. According to this testimony. in the language of Major Penrose the night was so dark that he could not distinguish one of his officers, who were all white men, from one of the enlisted men, who were all negroeS. at a distance or ten feet, nor AbAN kAII thing about how a man was dressed.
 All these officers have testified that the claims of citizens who testified that they saw the raiders and recog- nized them as soldiers az the distance and under the circumstan, es stated by them, are utterly impossible. These of ficers are intelligent, hign- minded, hon- orable men. At one time when the case was only partially investigated. they were of the opinion, and frank ly stated it, that their men were bull ty but that fact only strengthenes their testimony as they now give 1t, that the testimony of the citizens by which they claim to identify their sol- diers is utterly unreliable. untrust-> worthy. and by them unpelievable.
 q do not know whether any more testimony will be taken. and. of course, do not know if any should be taken, just what 1t will be, and cannot, therefore. with propriety. predict ulti- mate results, but have no hesitation in saying that the testimony taken down to this time utterly fails in, my opinion to show that the soldiers or any of them had anything whatever to do with the shooting up of Browns vile. I shall take occasion when I speak at Wilberforce, next Thursday. to deal with this subject at some length"