The Globe-republican., 1908-04-23
FORAKER ANSWERED.
SENATOR BoRAH OF IDAHO, UP.
HOLDS PRESIDENTS ACTION
IN BROWNSVILLE AFFAIR.
TESTIMONY PROVES NEGROES GUILTY
Conspiracy On the Part of Members of
Twenty-fifth Infantry to Shoot Up
Brownsville ConcIusveIy Shown,
Says the Senator--Also Takes
Shot at Harry Orchard.

Washington, Apr 21.-The affray at
Brownsville, Texas, again called forth
the most intense interest in the senate
Monday. Senator Borah of Idaho, TAX,
ing the ground that the testimony
showed" 'conclusively that the negro
soldiers of the Twenty-fifth regiment
shot up the town, gave careful analy.
sis of the evidence in the case. There
was an unusually large number of SEN
ators present on both sides of the
chamber and they carefully followed
the arguments presented by Mr..
Borah.
Senator Borah found opportunity in
his maiden speech in the senate to
express his disapproval Of any effort
to secure leniency for Harry Orchard,
the self-confessed thrower of the bomb
which caused Steunenberg's death. The
utterance was a part of speech by
the senator on the Brownsville affray
and was made in Connection with con-
demnation of all efforts to condone the
offense at Brownsville. 1t was as fol
lows:
"a cold-blooded, inhuman, incarnate
devil blows to pieces an ex-governor
upon the doorstep of his home, is
caught and confesses, and before the
grave of the man who died a martyr
to law and order is green, sentlmen-
talism puts halo upon the brow of
the blacklist spirit that ever escaped
the crypts of hell. Men wearing the
uniform of soldier of the union, the
insignia of government and the symbol
of law and order, in the quiet of night
while the homes are defenseless as
sault and attempt to murder whole
families and finally succeed in COM
mitting one murder. To compromise
with such an act or such a deed is
cowardice; it is betrayal of govern
ment; it is an insult to every intelli-
gent and right-thinking negro, for it
pre-supposes he is traitor to his
country and a criminal at heart"
The speech was made notable by
many striking passages of oratory and
attracted general interest. Besides
containing an analysis of the testimony
taken in the Brownsville case it was
in reply to Senator Foraker's recent
discussion of the same subject. Mr..
Borah made very clear his belief that
the evidence established conspiracy
on the part of some of the negro SOL
diers of the Twenty-fifth regiment, to
shoot up the town. Il consider" said
Mr.. Borah, that the evidence in this
case is simply overwhelming and con-
elusive against the colored soldiers un-
less you resort to the proposition of
a conspiracy which manufactured the
evidence, and that it is evidently the
view taken by the defense"
The morale of the army, he said, is
paramount to any mans right to re-
main in it. If any man in the Twenty
fifth regiment participated in the riot
and if others conived at the crime by
concealing knowledge of it to shield
the guilty parties, then both were
guilty alike, he declared.
Concluding he said: Let 1t be un-
derstood by them and by all that this
government is their government as
well as ours; that their hands, their
labor, in slavery and out, helped to
make it; that their valor and hero
ism helped to preserve it, and that
justice will be meted out to both in
protection and in punishment; that the
door of hope will not be closed nor
any escape from crime provided. Let
it be known, as every man must at last
know that if this republic is to endure
obedience to the law is to be the first
tenet of our faith, and that the great
army of the United States must be
one in which the women and children
can feel Derfectly secure when thew