Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-26
18TH INFANTRY CULPABLE
LEP0RT OF SENATE COMMITTEE

REPORT OF SENATE COMMITTEE
Three Republicans Vote With For
aker in Behalf Of the Color
ed Troops.
That the shooting in the ARRAY at Browns
Vile, Tex. the night OF August 1914, 1908,
was done by some Of the negro soldiers Of
the 25th United States Infantry and that
the testimony taken before the Senate
committee on military affairs fails to
identify the guilty parties is the opinion
Of eight members Of the committee. -Four
members OF the committee voted against
this decision and one member did not
vote. The resolution declaring the guilt
Of the negroes was submitted by Senator
Lodge and was adopted after five resolu-
tons by Senator Foraker, one by Sena-
tor du Pont and one by Senator Scott, all
Of which were offered as substitutes,
had been voted down.
The vote was reached after prolonged in
| vestigation extending over two sessions Of
| Congress and evidence had been taken
covering thousands of pages. Practically
| every negro of the three companies Of in
! fantry dshonorably discharged by Pres
ident Roosevelt testified in his own behalf,
while evidence in support Of the President
| was given by many army officers and
| citizens Of Brownsville. Throughout the
entire controversy which in many Sec
tions Of the country has been made a po-
litical issue. the anti-administration side
has been directed by Senator Foraker
In the final vote in the committee a ma
jority Of the republican members came to
his support. The Ohio senator expressed
himself as gratified at this. as it was ap-
parent from the outset that all Of the
| democratic members were convinced that
the negroes did the shooting.
The fight again will be carried to the
| floor Of the Senate. The reports from
the committee will not be made for about
ten days. as Senator Warner who con-
| Quoted the examination of witnesses on
behalf OF the administration. will be alb
sent from Washington for that period.
| Action by the committee. therefore, will
be postponed until his return.
| After the reports have been made to
the Senate 1t is expected Senator For
aker will press the matter to a vote there.
If he should secure the same proportion
Of the Republican members Of the Senate
as he had in the committee the vote will
be closer than has been anticipated. The
| Ohio senator purposes also to introduce
a bill to restore to the military service
such Of the discharged negroes as were
shown beyond a reasonable doubt to have
| been innocent Of any offense connected
with the ARRAY.
Various Propositions Submitted.
The committee was in session for. nearly
three hours. It was in the main har-
| or 1lx, he
arms were of a parliamentary nature.
The lineup was defined so clearly that
the senators wasted no time in trying tc
change each others views. Senator Lodge
offered a resolution as follows:
THAT. in the opinion of this committee.
the shooting in the ARRAY at Brownsville
on the night OF August 1914 1906. was
done bv some of the soldiers belonging to
the 25th United States Infantry, then
stationed at Fort Brown. Tex"
| Seantor Foraker offered as substitute
the following:
THE testimony wholly fails to identity
| the individuals. or any of them, who par
ticipated in the shooting ARRAY"
The Foraker substitute was defeated by
vot Of to ). the Affirmative votes being
Scott, Foraker, Hemenway. Buckley and
| Du Pont. The negative votes were War
rem. Lodge Warner. Taliaferro, Foster.
! Overman, Frazier and McCreary. The last
1
| subst antially was the same on most OF
| the substitutes offered. The Lodge reso-
luton finally was adopted by the same d.
vision, except that Senator Du Pont did
not vote. making three republicans and
| five democrats In favor of supporting the
discharge Of the negroes and four repub-
Hcans on record against it.
| The other Foraker substitutes were as
follows:
'"The testimony wholly fails to show
| <1,A ~ fhn h
| United States Infantry or any of them
entered into any agreement or so-called
| conspiracy of silence or that they had
among themselves any understanding OF
of which they or any OF them might be
possessed concerning the shooting ARRAY"
| Five senator's voted for and eight
against the resolution
1.-THE testimony is so contradictory and
| much Of it SO unreliable that it is not suf-
ficient to sustain the charge that soldiers
| of the 25th United States Infantry or any
Of them participated in the shooting af-
! fray"
| The affirmative votes were four and the
| negative nine, Senator Du Pont Joining
| the latter.
Innocence Of the Troops.
1.-The weight Of the testimony shows
that none Of the soldiers of the 10Th
! United States Infantry participated in
| the shooting ARRAY"
Only Senators Foraker and Bulkeley
| voted for this resolution, eleven senators
| opposing it.
The final substitute offered by Senator
Foraker declared that the testimony
showed that the discharged men had
good record as soldiers ana that 1t is the
| duty of Congress to pass legislation pro-
viding for their reinstatement in the
army. 1t was defeated yeas and nays.
Senator Du Points substitute declared
| that the testimony showed the shots were
| fired from Springfield rifles issued to
Company B, 25th Infantry. In effect it
asserted the innocence Of Companies c
and D, both of which were discharged
with Company B. Only the author of the
resolution and one other senator voted
| for its adoption.
Senator Scott's resolution declared the
evidence insufficient to hold guilty any
particular person or persons. and the
| identity of the guilty parties unknown.
1t was defeated to 4.
There being no further substitutes Of
fered, the original resolution was adopted.
Senator Warner then offered the fol-
| lowing resolution:
THAT the testimony fails to Identify the
| particular soldier or soldiers who par
! ticipated in the shooting ARRAY"
1t was agreed to by a vote Of yeas.
| ) republican senators opposed to the
| Lodge resolution not voting.
| Policeman Resigns.