The Winchester news. [volume] (Winchester, Ky.) 1908-19??, 1908-12-15
TO RE|NSTATE
INNOCENT men
Brownsville Affair Subject of Special
Message-NegrO Soldier
C0nfeSses.


message to the senate on the Browns
vile affair President Roosevelt rec
commended the passage of a law pro-
viding for the reinstatement by the
secretary of war after investigation
OF such members of the negro regi-
ment innocent of direct completely in
the shooting up of Brownsville and
who can prove that they actually had
no direct knowledge of the crime.
Attached to the message is a re-
port of detectives who have been
working on the case. This report in
cludes a statement by Private Con-
yers of Company B, Twenty-fifth in
faptry, in which he admits taking
part in the raid and duplicates a
number of his former comrades.
The detectives claimed to have Sc
cured from Conyers a letter writer,
to him by Senator Foraker, which,
the detectives claim, stopped Cenyers
from making further revelations.
Conyers, after he found he had been
giving facts of the raid to govern
ment detectives. is said to have at
tempted suicide.
The Message.
The presidents message follows:
l inclose herewith letter from the
secretary of war transmitting a re-
port of the investigation made by Mr..
Herbert ]. Browne, employed by the
department in conjunction with Cap
tain w. j. Baldwin to investigate as
far as possible what happened at
Brownsville on 18th and 14th of Au-
gust, 1906.
The report and documents contain
some information of great value and
some statements that are obviously
worthless, but submit them in their
entirety. This report enables US to
Ak with tolerable definiteness 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 soldiers did the shooting.
but upon this point further record
was unnecessary, az the fact that the
colered soldiers did the shooting has
already been established beyond all
possibility OF doubt. The investiga-
ton has not gone Tar enough to en-
able US to determine all the facts,
and we win proceed with it, but it
has gone far enough to determine
with sufficient accuracy certain facts
Of enough Importance to make 1t ad.
visable that place the report before
you
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
encouraging those who were partici-
pants.
Apportions the Blame.
AS to Companies c. and D there
can be no question that practically
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
others in one of the other troops.
This concealment was itself a grave
offense, which was greatly aggravat-
ed by their testifying before the sem
ate committee that they were ignor-
ant of what they must have known.
Nevertheless, it is to be said in par
ttal extenuation that they were prob
ably cowed by threats made by the
more desperate Of the men who had
actually been engaged in the shoot
ing as to what would happen to any
man who failed to protect the wrong
doors. 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, believe
we can afford to reinstate any Of
these men who now truthfuIly tell
what has happened, 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
we're in no way implicated in the af-
fair, save by having knowledge of it
afterwards and failing 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 benefit that would have
accrued to them by continuous long
time service, we can afford to treat
the men who meet the requirements
given above as having been sufficient
ly punished by the consequences they
brought upon themselves when they