The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1908-03-19
PLACATES
The Colored Voters
BY Yielding
The President Forwards Il Signifi-
cant Message to Congress on the
Brownsville ARRAY to Lessen
the Opposition.

oeHaCOf fOraKerS night IN behalf of
the battalion Of Negro troops who
were dismissed from the army with
out honor on account Of the shooting
up of the town Of Brownsville, Tex
as, in August, 1905, is almost won.
The discharged soldiers have not yet
been reinstated, but the way for their
restoration to the army has been
made easy by the president himself.
In a special message transmitted
to the senate today he asks for the
passage of law which will facili-
tate their reinstatement, and most OF
them should have little difficulty in
getting back on the rolls in the event
they desire to resume their military
service.
Soon after Senator Foraker de-
manded an investigation by the SEN
ate Of the dismissal of the battalion
the president issued an order giving
the soldiers q chance to establish
their innocence and be reinstated,
but they were required to do this
within 60 days. Now he suggests
that a year be allowed them to sat
isfy him Of their guiltlessness, and
the conditions he imposes are in no
sense as rigid as they were before.
The message of the president reads
as follows:
ION December 12, 1906, the secre-
tary Of war by my directions Issued
the following order:
Applications to re-enlist from
Of ID ~
and D, 25th infantry, who were dis
charged under the provisions of Spe-
DIAL Order No. 266, war department,
November 8, 1906, must be made in
writing and be accompanied by such
evidence, also in writing, as the ap-
plicant may desire to submit to show
that he was neither implicated In the
raid on Brownsville, Texas, on the
night of August 13, 1906, nor with
held In any way evidence that might
lead to the. discovery of the perpe4
traitors thereof
Proceedings were begun under
this order, but shortly thereafter an
Investigation was directed by the
senate and the proceedings under the
order were stopped. The senate
committee intrusted with the work
has now completed the investigation
and finds that the facts upon which
my order Of discharge Of November
8, 1906, was based are substantial
ted by the evidence. The testimony
secured by the committee is there
fore now available, and I desire to
review the order Of December 12,
1905, and to have it carried out in
whatever shape may be necessary to
achieve the purpose therein set
forth, any additional evidence being
taken which may be Of aid in the as
certainment of the truth. The time
limit during which it was possible
to reinstate any individual soldier in
accordance with the terms Of this or
der has, however, expired. |, there
ore, recommend the passage Of
law extending this time limit, so far
as the soldiers concerned are affect
ed, until a year after the passage Of
the law, and permitting the rein
statement by direction Of the presi"
dent Of any man who in his judg
ment shall appear not to be within
the class whose discharge was deem
ed necessary in order to maintain the
discipline and morale Of the army"
Menace to His Plans.
That the administration intended
to make a determined effort to over
come the hostility Of the Negroes on
account of the dismissal Of the bat
TALON has been known since last
week, as was announced in these dis
patches at the time.
The Negroes all over the country
have been organizing against the ad-
ministration' political program,
which includes the nomination OF
Secretary Taft for president, and,
while at first this movement did not
promise to reach formidable proper
tions, it has developed into some
thing Of menace to the presidents
plans.
This hostility was directed as
much against the secretary Of war as
against the president, even though
Mr. Taft undertook to suspend the
execution Of the order Of dismissal;
but he was stopped from making an
investigation on his own hook by a
curt cablegram from Mr. Roosevelt,
who at the time was cruising in the
West Indies.
Bishops Of the African church
and Drclates lower down on the &c
clcsiastical scale have been eXhOrting
their n0cks to combine against the
secretary Of war, and this activity on
their part has been manifested In all
the northern states, where the Ne
gro vote is a considerable factor at
the elections, and also in the south
ern states, where the Negroes con
stitute the majority Of the delegates
to the national convention.
1t is we'll known that progress