Arizona republican., 1917-09-12
NEGROES. ;. ..----- kf INTENDED
 TROUBLE
TRepubllcan A. p. Leased Wire1

HOUSTON, Tex, Sept. l1-Com-
 pleting an inquiry into the causes of the negro soldier riot the night of Thursday, August 23, which cost the lives of fifteen citizens of Houston. the citizens board filed it's report with the city council late today.
 The report covers virtually every phase of the recent trouble and deals with the police situation in Houston.
 The committee is of the opinion that the riot undoubtedly was pre-
 cipitated by two arrests of negroes made by Officer Sparks although suf- ficient evidence was presented at the hearing to reveal the fact that a serious disturbance was intended by
 some of the negro soldiers before ferred to simply brought it to a head sooner and perhaps intensified the crimes which followed
 Continuing, the committee says that the undisputed and convincing testi- mony of witnesses prove that the negro soldiers went forth to slay the white population indiscriminately that not one negro was hurt or mo- tested by them, not one negro home was fired into and that the negroes were warned before and during the riot to stay off the streets
 "The testimony of the captain in charge of the fire station at Camp 1 Logan" the report says, and one or | his assistants is that when the shoot | ing began in the negro camp, one or 1 the negro guards stationed at the fire station remarked that the troops were going to shoot up Houston, that
 they had planned to do so on the preceding Tuesday night but could not get quite ready This testimony and the evidence of numerous other circumstances in the record convince us (and our opinion is shared by Inspector General John L. Chamber
 lain of the United States army, who so expressed himself to us), that l the prior conflicts with the police | were mere incidents of the riot; that the riot was unquestionably con- templated prior to that date. that Il probably would have occurred. though possibly not so severe, had the al- 1 tercation between Officer Sparks and the negro Sergeant Baltimore not 1 taken place"
 | The report states that shortly after 1 the arrivalt of the negro troops Tn | Houston there was manifested by al least some of them q feeling of hosti {. 1 ity and defiance of the state law re- nniring the separation of white ano | negro races in the street cars. that l when on leave of absence from thf camp the soldiers usually frequenteo | those sections of Houston and those es- tabishments where the leaNd and law less clements of the negro population are to be found; that the negro soldiers
 while on guard at Camp Log"n wore | arrogant and insulting toward white | iahorers; seiZing the most trivial cir cumstances asr an excuse to curse ant | n',,i~a ther1: that the disci"ire eNer- cised at the camp was grossly lax 1T moral conditions; lewd negro womeh 1 some mere children 13 years of age 1 being permitted freely. to visit th' camp and remain there over ri"ht ant that such women were permitted t' bring parcels into the camp withou insnection by the sentries. keeping tn
 soldiers liberally supplied with whis
 iev and other intoxicants.
 Chief among the recommendation
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