Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1908-12-18

Private OF Company 3 MAKES a Con-
fession in Which He Gives Names of
Men Who Were Alleged Leaders In
shootup in Texas Town-Foraker
Takes the Floor in Opposition to
Governments Case
Washington, Dec. 15.-The Browns
Vile case took on a new and surpris-
ing phase when the president sent to
the senate a special message contain
ing the confession of a member of
the dismissed battalion stating that
the Texas town was shot up by the
negro soldiers who were discharged;
that the facts had been suppressed by
a remarkably successful conspiracy
of silence, and giving the names of
the alleged ringleaders in the attack
This confession of private of COM
pany B, together with corroborative
statements, was obtained by one of
large number of detectives whom
the war department had engaged on
the work of solving the shooting af
fray mystery for the past six months.
The knowledge that government de-
tectives had been employed in thiHy-
six states, as admitted, to get infor-
nation to throw light on the case,
created comment in the senate and
.,l, a.
about the use Of secret service men,
Senator Foraker endoavored to take
the edge off the presidents unexpect-
ed message by telling the senate that
men claiming to represent the gov
eminent have been badSering. threat
-ening and otherwise trying to force
confessions regarding the Brownsville
affair ever since congress adjourned.
The Ohio senator got word that the
president had Brownsville message
ready and secured the floor before the
document could be read. He present
ed an amendment to his pending bill
for the reinstatement of the dismissed
soldiers. asking for the appointment
of board of retired army officers to
Threats by Detectives
81 thought we had done all the in
vestigating necessary" said Foraker,
"but | have been getting a lot of let
ters since congress adjourned"-
he held up large written
/ by discharged soldiers, informing me
how men claiming to be representing
the United States government have
been trying to force the soldiers to
make confessions. OF course these
were not of secret service men be-
cause they could not be lawfully so
employed, but these detectives tried
by persuasion and threats to get the
men to make confessions to save
themselves from prosecution. on the
plea that others had made similar con-
fessions."
Then Foraker read what purported
to be letter to him from a soldier
telling at length of the efforts of a
detective to induce him to tell who
really shot up Brownsville. Foraker
showed resentment when it appeared
that the detective had made special
efforts to get hold of letters written
by the senator.
Senator Foraker returned to the
charge the moment the clerk had fin
ished reading the long detailed report
of the government detectives. and
promptly said that the documents
showed conclusively the propriety and
wisdom of adopting his amendment.
One of the worst features of the
whole episode, he said. was that these
helpless men had been bounded by Sc
cret detectives in the manner de-
scribed.
Senator Foraker then read a let
ter from Boyd Conyers of Monroe. Ia,
one of the soldier witnesses before the
committee on military affairs, which
stated that Conyers had been trailed
by negro detective whom Conyers
had had arrested by the high sheriff
as soon as he learned the detective
was in town.
From evidence in the letter, which
he read in full, the senator brought
out that the detective, Lawson
whose high-sounding phrases the
, clerk has just read" could not read
or write, and signed his name with a
cross. The senator contemptuously
, compared this action of the suspected
negro soldier with the charge of the
detective that after confessing to him
Conyers had tried to commit suicide
when he learned that the confession
was made to a detective.
North Adams Election
North Adams. Mass Dec. 16 -