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The President's Message.
' ' v:' On The Negro Trbops
Replying to tho resolution intro
duced by Senator Foraker President
Roosevelt sent to the senate a mes
sage dealing with his action in dis
missing the nejrro troons. Accom
panying the message was a large
amount of testimony together with a
statement made by Secretary Taft.
Secretary Taft says that he has ex
amined the "new evidence" and finds
nothing to change the situation.
In his message President Roosevelt
deals very frankly with the discharge
of the troops. He cites various re
ports made to him. Among them one
from General A. B. Nettleton, to
whom he refers as "an ex-union
soldier, a consistent friend of the
colored man throughout his life, a life
long republican, a citizen of Illinois,
i and assistant secretary of the. treas
ury under President Harrison." In
the president's opinion these reports
and the testimony show clearly that
me crimes were committed by mem
murderers, by their own action, have
rendered it necessary either t6' leave
all tho men, including the murderers,
in the army, -or to turn them" all out;
and under such circumstances there
was no alternative, for the usefulness
of the army would be at an end were
we to permit such an outrage to be
committed with impunity."
The president says he made every
effort to persuade those innocent of
murder among he soldiers to separa-
ate tnercselves from the guilty by
helping to bring them to justice, and
they were repeatedly warned but they
refused to profit by the warning. He
says he has no apology to make for
what he did and will follow the same
course under similar circumstances.
He points out that the dismissal of
the troops is no punishment and he'
regrets his inability to inflict proper
punishment unoh the soldiers irhmv
of these outrageous offenses.
The president points out that there
hers of the discharged troon. He are ."nlentv of nrflnodonfa fnr- f
says that General Nettleton reports tion taken," and he cites a large niim
that one , cottage where a children's
party had just broken up was "riddled
by, United States bullets, fired by
United States troops,, from United
States Springfield rifles at close
range, with the purpose of Wiling
or maiming the inmates, including the
parents and children, who were still
in the- welt-lighted house, and whose
escape from death under such circum
stances was astonishing."
The president says:' ',:;'
"In short, the evidence proves con
clusively that a number of soldiers
engaged in a. deliberate and concerted
attack, as cold blooded as it was cow
ardly; the purpose being to terrorise
tho community, and to kill or injure
men, women and children in their
homes and beds or on the streets, and
this at an hour of the night when
concerted or effective resistance or
defense was out of the question, and
when detection by identification of
the criminals In the United States
Uniform was well-nigh impossible. So
much for the original crime. A black
er never stained the annals of
our army. It has been supplemented
by another, only less black, in the
shape of a successful conspiracy of
silence for the purpose of shielding
those who took part in the original
conspiracy of murder. These soldiers
were not school boys on a frolic. They
Tvere full grown men, in the uniform
with deadly weapons, sworn to uphold
the laws of the United States, and un
der every obligation of oath and honor
not merely to refrain from criminal-
w,f Ut wIth the sturdiest rigor to
hunt down criminality; and the crime
mSrderT toa r connlved at was
tuSethi8Bta?.B: "The effort to con
Sflten il tiestlmony so far has con
that th?ihe a88ertin or implication
n order tnnBj;e0ple 8hofc one another
an absurdftv t tue soldiers
cSsatoE ni f gr0SS t0 need hs
o SvWone USUpp?rted a shred
tn fhi nce,- There Is no question as
?ew.m?rd.r and the attempted mu"
of tiie SoS n questIon that sZe
Sere Is n WSP0 gUllty thereofJ
thcomradesTri y'to dST
combined to shelter . .d laVe
from justice E f criminals
jubuce. mese comrades of the
KHvJW HPVftlfei
imm
Invaluable to .speakers and
singers aor clearing the
voice.Absolutely harmless.
ber of them. .
He concludes ,tiis message in this
way:
"So much, for the military side of
the case. But I wish to say something
additional, from the standpoint of the
race question. In my message at the
opening, of the congress1 I discussed
the matter of lynching.' In it I gave
utteran.ee to , . the abhorrence .which
all decent citizens should feel for the
deeds of the men (in. almost; all cases
white men) who take part in lynch
es, and at the same time I con
demned, as all decent men of any
color should condemn, the action of
those colore dmen.. who. actively or
passively shield the colored criminal
from the law. In the case of these
companies we had to deal with men
who in the first DlacA -wo miut-v
what was practically the worst pos
sible form of lynchingfor a lynch
ing is in its essence lawless and mur
derous vengeance taken by an armed
mob for real or fancied wrong and
who in the second place covered up
the crime of lynching by standing with
a vicious solidarity to protect the
criminals.
"It is of the utmost importance to
all our people that -we shall deal with
each man on his merits as a man,
and not deal with him merely as a
member of a Given raner thn.f wo ahnii
Judge each man by his conduct and
uuC nis color. This is important
for the white man, and it is far more
important for the colored man. More
evil and sinister counsel never was
given to colored men by those ads
visers, whether black or white, who
by apology and condonation, encour
aged conduct such as that of the three
companies In question. If the colo'red
men elect to stand by criminals of
their own race, because they are of
their own race, they assuredly lay up
for themselves the most dreadful day
of reckoning. Every farsighted trlend
of the colored race in its efforts to
strive onward and upward, should
teach first, aq the most Important les.
puu, mine to me white man and the!
black, the duty of treating the indi
vidual man strictly on his worth as
he shows it. "Any conduct by colored
people which tends to substitute for
this rule the rule of standing by and
shielding an evil doer because he is
a member of their ra$, 'means the
Inevitable degradation pf the colored
race. It may and probably does mean
damage to the. white race, but it
mGans ruin to the black race.
Throughout my term of service in
the presidency I have acted on the
principles thus advocated. In the
north as in the south I have appoint
ed colored men. of high character .to
ofl o, utterly, disregarding the ;prV
tests of those who would have kept
them out of office be.cause they were
colored men. So far as was in ,my
power, I have sought to secure for
the. colored people all their rights un
der the law. I have done all I could
to secure them equal school train
ing when young, equal opportunity
to earn their livelihood, and achieve
their happiness when old. T Tin.
striven to break up peonage; I have,
upheld the hands of those who, like
juage Jones and Judge Speer, have
warred against this peonage, because
I would hold myself unfit to be presi
dent if I did not feel the same revolt
at wrong done a colored man as I
feel at wrong done a white man. I
have condemned in. unstinted terms
the crime of lvrichihe nernetrn.tp.ri hv
white men, and I should take instant
advantage of any opportunity where
by I could bring to justice a mob of
lynchers. In precisely the same spirit
I have now acted with reference to
these colored men who have been
guilty of a black and dastardly crinie.
In one policy, as in the other, I do
not claim as a favor, but I challenge
as a right, the support of every citi
zen of this country, whatever his
color, provided only he has in him the
spirit of genuine and far-sighted
patriotism.
"THEODORE ROOSEVELT."
Message on thp .iadampcc
In transmitting to congress Secre-i
tary Metcairs report on the Japanese
at San Francisco, President Roosevelt
said:
"To the Senate and House of Repre
sentatives: L enclose herewith for
your information the final report made
to me personally by Secretary Mek
calf on the situation affecting the
Japanese in San Francisco. The re
port deals with three matters of con
troversyfirst, the exclusion of the
Japanese children from the San Fran
cisco school; second, the boycotting
of Japanese restaurants, and, third,
acts of violence committed against
the Japanese. As to the first matter.
I call your especial attention to the
very small number of Japanese chil
dren who attend school, to the testi
mony as to the brightness, cleanliness,
and good behavior of these Japanese
children in the schools, and to the
fact that, owing to their being scat
tered throughout the city, the require
ment for them all to go to one special
school is impossible of fulfilment and
means that they can not have school
facilities, " Let me point out further
that there would be no objection what
ever to excluding from the schools
any Japanese on the score of age. It
Is obviously not desirable that young
men should go to school with children.
The only point is the exclusion of the
children themselves. The number of
Japanese children attending the pub
lic schools In, San' Francisco, was very
small. The government has already
directed that suit be brought tp test,
tne constitutionality of the act in
question; but my very earnest hope
is that such suit will not be neces
sary, and that as a matter of comity
the citizens of San Francisco -will re
fuse to deprive these young Japanese
children of education and w.lll permit
them to go to the schools. The ques
tion as to the violence against the
Japanese is most admirably put by
Secretary JVtetcalf; and I have nothing
to addjto his statement. I am entire
ly confident that,- as Secretary Metcalf
days, the " overwhelming sentiment of
the state of California is for law and
order and for the protection of the
Japanese in their persons and prop
erty. Both tho chief of police and
the acting mayor of San Francisco as
sured Secretary Metcalf that every
thing possible would be done to pro
tect the Japanese. in the city. I au
thorized and directed Secretary Met
calf to state that If there wns fnfitn.A
to protect persons aridproperty, then
mc cuiu a iiuwur jjj. uie leuerai govern
VOLUME 6, NUMBER bo
ment within the limits of the constlt,,
tion would be used promptly anTvfeo?'
ously to enforce the observance oiZ
treaty, the supreme law of the land
which treaty guaranteed to Japanese
residents everywhere in the union fun
and perfect protection for their Xl
sons and property; and to this end
everything in my power would be done
and all the forces of the United States
both civil and military, which icoS
lawfully employ, woniri h i " "r
I call especial attention to the concW
ing sentence of Secretary Metcalf s re
port of November 26, 1906
"THEODORE ROOSEVELT."
The conclusion of Secretary Mot
calf's report was as follows:
'If, therefore, the police power of
San Francisco is not sufficient to meet
the situation and guard and protect
Japanese residents in San Francisco
to whom under our treaty with Japan
we guarantee 'full and perfect protec
tion for their persons and property,'
then it seems to m n la iai.iv n,
duty of the federal government to af
ford such protection. All considera
tions which may move a nation, every
consideration of duty in the preser
vation, of our treaty obligations, every
consideration prompted by fifty years
or more of close friendship with tho
empire of Japan, would unite in de
manding, it seems to me, of thp United
States government and all its people,
the fullest protection and the highest
consideration for the subjects of
Japan."
THE BEVERIDGE BILL
Senator Beveridge's tihild labor bill
is as follows:
A bill to prevent the employment
of children in factories and mines.
Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the Uni
ted States of America in congress as-
JEFFERSON'S BIBLE
momm
THE
life And morals
OF
JESUS OF NAZARETH
Extracted Tcxtually from the Gos
pels, together with a comparison of
his doctrines with those of others.,
BY
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Jofforson's mission was loadorshlp. With
out an effort on his part oxprosBlons from
his lips, that from other monrs would scarce
J?iavo ?ttractot notice, bocamo ttaonooT
rorth axioms, creeds, and gathering-cries
8 Sand Ti118808 of hls countrymen.-Honry
Jofforeon's Blblo ig a book of 168 pagos,
well printed and substantially bound In
? m m JT8 PublIshd originally to be sold
for $1.00 per copy. By purchasing tho book
In largo numbers wo aro ablo to offor Com
moner readora an exceptional price of 75o
per copy; sent by mall, postage prepaid.
Address till Orrlnra tn
THE COMMONER, LlncoIn, N.br.
nTi ?,iSu Wo haveiv ntJw system of Inestt
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Scnnion. Huntington. W. Va. v .
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