The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-04-30

members OF the companies in quesuon,
and as to the conspiracy by which many
Of the other members of these companies
saved the criminals from justice, to the
disgrace of the United States uniform"
IN that same message, in another
connection he said:
"As to the noncOmmisSioned ofncers
and enlisted men. there can be no doubt
whatever that many were necessarily
privy, after if not before the attack, TO
the conduct of those who took actual
part in this murderous riot.
81 refer to Major BlOcksOm'S report for
proof of the fact that certainly some, and
probably all, of the noncommssioned Of
ficers who were in charge of quarters,
who were responsible for the gun racks
and had keys thereto in their personal
possession, knew what men were en~
gagged in the attack"
Further along in that same mes
sage he said:
"There is no question as to the murder
and the attempt to murder: there Is no
question that some of the soldiers were
guilty thereof; there is no question that
many of their comrades privy to the
deed have combined to shelter the crimi-
nails from justice"
again, in that same message, he
speaks on that same point, as fol-
lows:
so much for the original crime A
blacker never stained the annals of our
army. 1t has been supplemented by an
other only less black in the shape OF
successful conspiracy of silence for the
purpose of shielding those who took part
in the original conspiracy of murder"
Further along in that same mes
sage he repeats, as follows:
"Yet some of these noncommissioned
officers and many of the men OF tho
three companies in question have banded
together in a conspiracy to protect the
assassins and would-be assassins who
have disgraced their uniform by the con-
duct above "elated. Many of them may
have known circumstances which would
lead to the conviction of those engaged
I'm the murderOus assault. They have
stoidly and as one man broken their
oaths of enlistment and refused to help
discover the criminals
'In that same message occurs also
the following:
'Incidentally | may add that the SOL
diers of LONGEST service and highest posi-
ton. who suffered because of the order
so far as b .1g those who deserve most
sympathy deserve least, for they are the
very men upon whom we should be able
especially to rely to prevent mutiny and
murder"
I'm his message of January IA, sub
mittlng the Purdy testimony, occurs
the following:
''The evid nee, as will be seen, shows
beyond any possibility of honest question
that some individuals among the colored
troops whom | have dismissed committed
the outrages mentioned, and that some
or all of ''thC other individuals whom I
dismissed had knowledge of the deed and
shielded from the law those who COM
mtted it"
A Preiudiced Court.
while t nse assertions, repeated
over and over again in the most eV-
travagant lG~guage, show after ALL as
General Darlington reported, thu"
there was LO evidence to establish a
conspiracy of silence, and that tt =
charges ana assertions that there was
such ii con tracy rested only on de-
ductions Il there must have beCN
such COZ tracy because nobody
would tell of that about which ali
claimed to have no knowledge, yet
that very ct but emphasizes the
presidents unfit state Of mind to act
judicially passing upon the app
vi 4ICSC LlCll W GO
proposed j., tie bill introduced by t."
senator frum Missouri.
"If these EN- are innocent, as they
claim and pc / believe. what else could
they have ID or done? Will some
man pleas ell what word any one
of them ha altered or what thing any
one of them has done inconsistent
with the innocence they assert. And
yet, becaus" they have said and done
precis " WHAT as innocent men they
shoulA hav1 said and done. for that
very r2asC~ they are arraigned as
guilty OF conspiracy and denounced
III terms has enough to manifest ex-
asperatiOn because they will not con.
firm the charges against them and
thereby est3blish an excuse for the
crime that has been so incOnsiderate-
ly committed against them and their
rights, if they are in fact innocent,
as they claim to b..
Recalls Days cf Witchcraft.
"It would seem that we are to be
justice to the days when men and
women put on trial for witchcraft
found no avenue of escape from pun
tshment, brutality, and execution, ex.
cept only in confession-to the days
when il man but stood mute he was
liable to be put to death for it.
The president gives no intimatiOn.
except as already indicated, that his
mind has undergone any change. He
would therefore become Judge of the
worthineSS of these men to re-enlist if
we should pass the bill introduced
by the senator from Missouri, firmly
possessed OF the. conviction that very
few, If any of them, were free from
guilt. In other words, practically
every man of the battalion would have
to prove his innocence before one who
has over and over again formally anu
publicly adjudged him guilty and de-
nounced him as guilty in the severest
language OF cenSure and condemna-
tion.
Another reason why this duty
should not be intrusted to the presi-
dent Is that it would be impossible
for him to act upon all these cases in
detail, giving to the testimony of each
of the 1877 men, if all should apply to
re-enlist, that careful consideration
which fair-dealing would require.
1T may be assumed that no one
would expect him to personally OK,
anime the eStimOny in each case ana
pass judgment as the bill contem.
plates. He would of necessity
have to call some one to his
assistance to examine the testi-
mony and advise him, but who
would that be? Possibly the secretary
of war, who has expressed his agree.
ment with the president in all he has
said and done in the whole matter.
and in every other matter. QLaughter.)
But he, too. is a busy man. and would
doubtless require the help Of o suitable
subordinate and thus In all probabili>
ty General Darlington, as the Inspec-
tor-General of the Army, and one Of
the officers who made a special In
vestigation. would again come to the
front, and to know his unfitness for
such a duty we have but to recall that
he testified before the committee on
military affairs that he would not be,
lieve anything anyone of these sald,
NT1a Ill. L