Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-24
Closing Argument Heard in
Brownsville Army Court.
ONLY ONE SIDE PRESENTED
Capt. Rowland as Judge Advocate
to Close the Discussion.
DEFENDED BY GEN. DAGGETT
Declares no Proofs Have Established
That Discharged Men "Shot
Up" Texas Town.

The closing arguments of counsel today
marked the beginning of the end of the
long -drawn-out military investigation Of
the shooting up of Brownsville, Tex.
in August, 1906. The investigation has
been conducted by an army court of In
quiry, of which Lieut.. Gen. Young, re-
tired, is chairman, and has been in prog
ress almost continuously since April, 1909.
The opening argument was made by
Brig. Gen. A. S. Daggett, U. S. A., re-
tired.
Gen. Daggett represented the discharged
soldiers and made an earnest appeal in
favor of the re-enlistment of those who
had shown by the only possible evidence
that they had not participated in the raid
and had given the court every bit of in
formation they had bearing on the SUBJ
ject.
1T has been claimed said Gen. Dag
gett, that the discharge of these men
| without honor was not punishment, out
simply a removal of bad men from the
army.
"These men were charged with commit
ting, or concealing knowledge of, an at
trocious crime. 1t was crime that WOulo
brand the perpetrators with 1nfamy ana
follow them and their families forever.
They we're discharged without honor for
this crime by the authority to which the
offender is subject. Men can endure the
loss of fortune, friends, family lie u
SELF they cannot bear disgrace. How
much better it would have been for them
If they had been killed in battle! Some
of these men had served their country
long and faithfully and honorably. They
had endured hardship and exposed their
lives in battle. They were looking for
ward, as they had right to do, to an
honora BILE retirement, and g happy home
during the remainder of their lives.
Disgrace Worse Than Death.
Every member OF this court has he'd
commission in the volunteer service.
Which one would not rather have been
killed in battle, or any other way. than
have been discharged without honor
And vet it has been claimed that these
soldiers have not been punished. But the
definition of punishment includes the
word loss One of these men would
have been entitled to retire in less than
himself and family. At one stroke he is
deprived of this right. At an advanced
age of life, with a family to support,
unaccustomed to the ways of earning a
living in civil life, he is thrown out on
the cold, mercless world.
Others with various periods of serv-
ice, looking forward to the same privl-
leges, suffered the same treatment And
yet 1t mas been Claimed tndt tHey were
not punished.
1T has been claimed again that the
discipline of the army required the dis
charge of these men without honor. IT
Is fortunate that 1 am speaking to old
army officers on this subject. l think
all will agree that the company COM
mander has the best opportunity of any
officer in the army to know what dis
cipline is and how to attain it. The
greatest stroke for the discipline of the
.,-lr &oIn n
be to show the army that justice shall
be meted out to these men Of the 18th
Infantry. Punish the guilty. if there are
any, restore the innocent to all their
rights. If no guilty can be found, be
governed by the rule of law, that man
is innocent till proved guilty. Better
that 100 guilty escape than that one in
nocent man be punished is the adage
We have no right to punish the innocent
with the guilty. No exigency can justify
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