Richmond planet., 1924-02-23

John w. Weeks, U. S. Secretary of
War has written to the National As
sociation for the Advancement of Z -
ored People, 50 Fifth Avenue, Ne"
York acknowledging receipt OF the
Houston Martyr petition, and announ'
ing that he has appointed Il board ct
officers to inquire into the cases OF the
men of the oath still imprisoned for
I'll cir alleged share in the Houston
Riot of 1917. Secretary Weeks letter
which is sddressed to James Weldon
Johnson, Secretary of the N. A. A. [.
p. is as follows:
Dear Sir:
'The petition presented by you Co
me President in brGalf of the so-calle /
Houston rioters has been referred to
the War Department for consideraT'
ion.
"a few days ago I appointed q
board of officers, consisting Of one olti-
Ger of The Adj tant Generals Depart-
ment and one "fdcer of The Judge Ad-
vocate Ge' erals Department, to yist
sas, and the disciplinary barracks at
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Fort
Jay, New York, for the purpose of con
sidering the cases of all military priS-
oners confined in the penitentiaries,
and of all prisoners now in confine-
nent in the disciplinary barracks m9n
toned above serving sentences of con-
finement of five years or more.
The board of officers mentioned
above is made up of the two officers OF
the War Department who handle mat
ters pertaining to prisoners, and spec
ial attention will be given by the
board to those cases in which sentenc-
es appear to be in excess of those ad-
Judged by civil courts for like offens-
es. When this board shall have conclu6
ed its work, q similar board will be ap
pointed for like investigation at the
United States Penitentiary, Mcneil Is
land, Washington and the Unlteh
States Disciplinary Barracks, Alca-
traz. California.
''The investigation by the above
board will include the sentences of the
prisoners in whose behalf your petition
is submitted"
Hamilton Fish Asks President to
Pardon the Imprisoned ColOred
Soldiers of the 24th.
Hamilton Fish Representative IN
Congress from the State of New York
and former Major in the 18th Infantry,
read a letter, during his address be
fore the Anti-Ly ynching Mass Meeting
of the National Association for the Ad
yGncemet of Colored People, which he
lad written TO President Coolidge IN
behalf of the imprisoned colored SOL
diers of the oath Infantry. The letter
is as follows:
February 9, 1924
"My Dear Mr.. President:
Il am taking the liberty of writing
70 ask clemency for the fifty-four sol
diers now confined in prison for parti-
cipation in the Houston, Texas race
riot in the fall of 1917.
~ served with cOlOred troops az
Spartanburg, and knew something of
the difficulty of their situation in the
South, the insults heaped upon them
and the provocatiOn they endured
From personal experience I know that
the fault is not all on their side.
make no appeal nor hold any brief for
the colored non-commissioned officers
and leaders in the riot, nineteen CT
whom have been executed, but have
not the others who participated in the
1iot without premeditation been sufti-
ciently punished / would be derelict
to the memory of the colored soldiers
who served in my outfit who paid the
supreme sacrifice On the Field of Bat
tie, if did not raise my voice to Sc
cure justice, and clemency for those
members of their race who also wore
the American uniform.
"In view of the recent amnesty 70
political prisoners who obstructed the
draft, poisoned the minds Of our peo-
pie; made law breakers and draft dodS
ers out of thousands, and some OF
whom melted or actually participated
in the blowing up of bridges, factories
etc. which sometimes resulted in the
loss of lives, and generally impeded
the conduct of our military operations,