The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1908-12-17
Special Message.

Special Message.
To the Senate: -
l inclOse herewith a letter from
the Secretary Of War transmitting
report Of the investigation made by
Mr.. Herbert j. Browne, employed by
the department in conjunction with
Capt. w. G. Baldwin to investigate
as far as possible what happened at
Brownsville on the 18th and 18th of
August, 1906. The report and docu-
ments contain some information of
great value and some statements
that are obviously worthless, but l
submit them in their entirety.
This report enables us to fix with
! tolerable deflniteness at least some
Of the criminals who took the lead
in the murderous shooting Of private
| citizens at Brownsville. 1t establish
es clearly the fact that the colored
soldiers did the shooting; but upon
this point further record was unnec-
| esSary, as the fact that the colored
soldiers did the shooting has already
been established beyond all possibly
| ity of doubt. The investigation has
not gone far enough to enable us to
| determine all the facts, and we will
proceed with it; but it has gone far
enough to determine with sufficient
| accuracy certain facts of enough i'm
| pCrtance to make 1t advisable that 7
place the report before you. 1t ap-
PEARS that almost all the members
Of Company B must have been active
to the extent of being participants or
to the extent of virtually encourag-
ing those who were participants. AS
to Companies G. and D, there can be
no question that practically every
man in them must have had knowl-
edge that the 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 conceal
ment was itself a grave offense,
which was gravely aggravated by
their testifying before the Senate
committee that they were ignorant
Of what they must have known. New
ertheless, it is to be said in partial
attenuation that they were probably
cowed by threats, made by the more
desperate of the men who had actu-
ally been engaged in the shooting, as
to what would happen to any man
who failed to protect the wrongdo-
ers. Moreover, there are circum-
stances tending to show that these
misguided men were encouraged by
outsiders to persist in their course
of concealment and denial. I feel,
therefore, that the guilt of the men
who, after the event, thus shielded
the perpetrators of the wrong by re-
fusing to tell the truth about them,
| though serious, was in part due to
the unWise and improper attitude Of
others, and that some measure of al
lOWance should be made for the mis-
| conduct. In other words. I believe
| we can afford to reinstate any of
these men who now truthfully tell
what has happened, give all the aid
! they can to fix the responsibility up
on those Who'are really guilty, and
show that they themselves had no
guilty knowledge beforehand and
were in no way implicated in the af-
fair, save by having knowledge Of it
afterwards and failing and refusing
to divulge it. Under the circum-
stances, and in view Of the length of
time they have been out Of the ser
vice, and their loss Of the benefit
that would have accrued to them by
continuous longtime service, we can
afford to treat the men who meet the
requirements given above as having
been sufficiently punished by the con-
sequences they brought upon them
selves when they rendered necessary
, the exercise Of the disciplinary pow
er ! recommend that q law be pass
ed allowing the Secretary Of War,
| within a fixed period Of time, say a
year, to reinstate any Of these SOL
diers whom he, after careful exams
ination, finds to have been Innocent
and whom he finds to have done all
in his power to bring to justice the
guilty.
Meanwhile the investigation will
be continued. The results have made
1T obvious that only by carrying on
the investigation as the War Depart
ment has actually carried it on is