The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-15
FoRAKER INTRODUCES AN
 AMENDMENT TO HIS BILL
He Proposes to Establish Tribunal
 to Hear Evidence.
senstor Foraher Proposes to rake ths Case Out of Presiaent Rosne- velts Hands and Give It to
 Trabunsi Appointed
 by Congress.

q aker today introduced an amendment to the. blil providing for the re-enlist- ment of the negro troops discharged without honor because of alleged par ticipation in the affray at Brownsville, Texas. and addressed the Senate con- cernin@ the amendment.
 He proposes in his new measure to establish q tribunal consisting Of re- tired. army officers naming these offl- cers in the oill before whom evidence may be submitted as to the guilt of the defendants and before whom the de- fendants themselves might appear to answer to charges. The measure is So drawn as practically to take out of the hands of the executive and give to tribunal appointed by Congress, full authority to consider the Brownsville question and by it's findings. provide for the re.enlistmeut of the discharged negroes.
 m addressing the Senate. Mfr. Foraker said it was an elementary proposition in American law that the accused. may have an opportunity to confront the accuser and to appear in person and answer evidence with evidence. He said that he had not expected it would be necessary to enter in new tnves.' tigatfon of, the Brownsville question. but that during the summer letters have been eomtns-.t him from tlless
 
 that detectives were constantly en- gaging' them in conversation.
 .'sTl1ese Tnsn.s said Senator Foraf<sr. are not secret service detectives of course. for they would have no right under the law to engage inE such ser vice. x-5ef 2
 Continuing. the Senator spoke of the mnkfRttfes of tue detecttvasS aa ouflfned bv h1a correspondents. aayiuN that in znnny eases they went 70 Ear As to as ke ssp thair. dwelling with the alse haF seq ee1afers for the purpose of securing their eonndence and spying on their movements. The Senator read extracts from the letters, q large batch of which he held in his hand as he spoke One of the soldiers wrote to Senator Fora fxer that he was questioned by de- 1ectIve in respect to any letters he might have received from the Senator
 ssrhere seems to be a good deal of in- 6erest about my correspondence," add sd Mir. Foraker.
 The soldier told the detective that he had one letter from the Senator, and when-he showed it to him he remarked that there was nothing in it to hurt.
 Mir FoTaker approved ferrettng out the facts about the Brownsville affair, but declared that there was q right < way to do that The accused, he said, ought to have right to answer testt- fnony with other testimony.
 on the conclusion of MT. Foraker's remarks, MT Culberson asked that the residents message on the Browns vile affair be read, and Vice-President 2 Fairbanks directed that that be done. ail the Senators present remaining in their seats and listening attentiveiy to
 After the reading of the Presidents message, which was brief, the clerk read all of the statements and other evil deT1ce submitted to the War Depart nnent for which the Presidents message was merely letter of transmittal. This is contrary to the usual custom. Ordinarily, the general reports are sent to the proper committee without the formality of reading.
 Tn view of the Tact that the report contains what purports to be partial confession of guilt by one of the dis charged negro soldiers, much interest was shown In the reading.
 RoOseveIt's Message.
 The following is message of the Brownsville affair:
 gro the Senate:
 q inclose herewith a letter from the secretary of War transmitting rec port of the investigation made by Mir. Herbert J. Browne, employed by the pepartment in conjunction with Cap 4atn ". G. Baldwin to investigate as far as possible what happened at brownsville on the 1sth and 14th of August 1906. The report and docu- ments contain some information of great value and some statements that are obviously worthless, but I submit them in their entirety.
 sgFhis report enables us to fix witk tolerabie deiniteness at least some of the criminals who took the lead in the murderous shooting of private citizens al BroWnsvflle. It establishes clearly tha fact that the colored soldiers did fhe shooting; but upon this point fur finer record was unnecessary, as the fact that the colored soldiers did the shooting has already been established bevond all possibility of doubt. The investigation has not gone far enough 4o enable us to determine all the facts and we will proceed with it; but 1t has gone far enough to. determine with, stificient accuracy certain facts of enough importance to make t advis- ahla that I. place the report before you. Tt appears that almost all the mem bers oe Company B must have been actively concerned In the shooting, either to the extent sof being partici- pants or to the extent of virtually en- couragfng those who were participants. Az to companies c and D there can be no question that practicSily every man in them must have. had Knowledge that fhe shooting was done by some of the soldiers of B Troop and possibly by one or two others In one of the other troops This concealment was Itself grave offense. which was greatly az gravated by their testifying before the Senate Committee that they were igno- rant of what they must have known. Nevertheless 1t is to be said in partial axtenuation that they were probably nowed by threats. made by the more desperate of the men who had actually been engaged in the shooting. as-to what would happen to any man who failed to protect the wrongdoers. Moreover there are circumstances tending to show that these misguided men were encouraged by outsiders to persist in their course of concealnent and denial. feel. therefore, that the guilt of the men who after the event.