The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1908-12-15

Some Of the Men.
Washington, Dec. 15.-In transmit
ting the war departments report on
the Brownsville affair to the senate
President Roosevelt accompanied the
document with a brief message on the
subject. After the reading of the
presidents message had been con-
cluded the clerk read all of the state
ments and other evidence submitted
60 the war department, for which the
presidents message was merely a
letter of transmittal. This is contrary
to the usual course. The message fol-
lows:
To the Senate:
enclose herewith a letter from the
secretary of war transmitting report
of the investigation made by Mr.. Her.
bert J. Browne, employed by the de-
partment in conjunction with Captain
w. G.. Baldwin to investigate as far
as possible what happened at Browns
vile on the 18th and 18th of August,
1906. The report and documents con-
tain some information of great value
and some statements that are obvi-
ously worthless, but 1 submit them in
their entirety.
This report enables us to fix with
tolerable defniteness at least some of
the criminals who took the lead in
the murderous shooting of private
citizens at Brownsville. 1t establishes
clearly the fact that the colored SOL
diers did the shooting; but upon this
point further record was unnecessary,
as the fact that the colored soldiers
did the shooting has already been
established beyond all possibility of
doubt. The investigation has not
gone far enough to enable us to de-
termine all the facts and we will pro-
coed with it; but it has gone far
enough to determine with sufi cient
accuracy certain facts of enough i'm
portance to make it advisable that I
place the report before you.
Has No Doubt Of Their Guilt.
1t appears that almost all the mem
bers of Company B must have been
actively concerned in the shooting,
either to the extent of being partici-
pants or to the extent Of virtually en-
couraging those who were partici-
pants. AS to Companies C and D
there can be no question that prac-
tically every man in them must have
had knowledge that the shooting was
done by some of the soldiers of B
troop and possibly by one or two 9TH
ers in one of the other troops. This
concealment was itself a grave Of
Tense, which was greatly aggravated
by their testifying before the senate
committee that they were ignorant of
what they must have known Never
theless, it is to be said in partial ex-
tenuation that they were probably
cowed 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 concealment
and denial. I feel, therefore, that the
guilt of the men who, after the event,
thus shielded the perpetrators of the
wrong by refusing to tell the truth
about them. though serious, was in
part due 10 the unwise and improper
attitude Of Others and that some
measure OF allowance should be made
for the misconduct.
Condjtiols of Reinstatement.
II 0ehat lords, believe we can
2;Tv.u ~ .oinstate any of these men
who row truthfully tell what has hap
pened, give all the aid they can to
fix the responsibility upon those who
are really guilty and show that they
themselves had no guilty knowledge
beforehand and were in no way impli-
Gated in the affair, save by having
knowledge of it afterwards and fail
ing and refusing to divulge it. Under
the circumstances, and in view of the
length of time they have been out of
the service and their loss of the ben
eft that would have accrued to them
by continuous long time service, we
can afford to treat the men who mest
the requirements given above as hav-
ing been sufficiently punished by the
consequences they brought upon
themselves when they rendered nee
essary the exercise of the disciplinary
power. I recommend that a law be
passed allowing the secretary of war,
writ hin fvo of