The morning journal-courier., 1908-02-26
NEGRO SOLDIERS
 GUILT AFFIRMED After Two Year Probe Commit tee Endorses Presidents
 Verdict in Browns
 vile Incident.
BULKELEY WITH F0RAKER
Connecticut Senator Upholds Anti Administration Side of Con- trOycrsy-Votc Eight
 to Five.

Washington, Feb. 25-That the shoot ing in the affray at Brownsville, Texas, on the night of August 1914, 1906, was done by some of the negro soldiers of the Twenty-fifth United States Infantry. and that the test- mony taken before the senate commit tee on military affairs fails to identi- fy 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 submitted by Senator Lodge was adopted after five resolutions by Senator Foraker one by Senator Dupont and one by Senator Scott, all of which were offered as sub stitutes, had been voted down.
 The vote to-day and reached after prolonged investigation extending over two sessions of congress and evidence had been taken covering thousands of pages, Throughout the entire contro- versy, which in many sections of the country had been made political is sue, 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 ex, pressed himself as gratified at this, as it was apparent 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 of the committee will not be made for about ten days, as Senator Warner, who con ducted the examination of witnesses on behalf of the administration will be absent from Washington for that per iod. Action by the committee. there fore, will be postponed until his return After the reports have been made to the senate it is expected that Senator Foraker will press the matter to vote there if he should secure the same pro portion 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 proposes also to introduce bill to restore to the military service such of the discharged negroes as were shown beyond a req sonable doubt to have been innocent of any offense connected with the affray.
 The committee was in session to-day for nearly three hours If was in the main harmonious. Practically the only passages at arms were of a parliament tary nature The lineup was defined so clearly that the senators wasted no time in trying to change each others views. Senator Lodge offered a resolu- tion as follows:
 That, in the opinion of this commit tee, the shooting affray in Brownsville on the night of August 1914, l9O6 was done by some of the soldiers belonging to the Twenty-fifth United States In- fantry then stationed at Fort Brown, Texas"
 Senator Foraker offered as a substi- ute the following;
 "The testimony wholly fails to iden- tify the individuals, or any of them who participated in the shooting af- fray"
 The Foraker substitute was defeated by a vote of s to ,, the affirmative votes being Scott, Foraker, Hemenway' Bulkeley and Dupont. The negative i votes were Warren Lodge, Warner, | Taliaferro, Foster, Overman, Frazier and McCrcary. The last five named are democrats. The alignment SUD- stantially was the same on most of the substitutes offered. The Lodge resolu- 1 tion, finally was adopted by the same division, except that Senator Dupont ! did not vote, making three republicans and five democrats in favor of supporee i ing the discharge of the negroes, and four republicans on record against it.
 The other Foraker substitutes were as follows
 The testimony wholly fails to show | that the discharged soldiers of the i Twenty-fifth Unite' States Infantry, or any of them. entered into any agree ment or so-caled conspiracy of silence, or that they had among themselves any understanding of any nature to with hold any information of which they or | (Continued on Second Page)