Show S U I 1 U TOWN this Is loes lodges ag conclusion about browns ville affair washington dec it 16 the browns ville affair was discussed in the senate today by senator lodge who Is a guember 0 of the committee commett e 0 on military affairs which investigated the charges that soldiers of the twenty fifth regiment I 1 ment shot up tho the town to wn I 1 mr lodge remarked that he would make no reference whatever to the report of the investigation refer referred re d to to by the president in hiis hecei recent ai me message to congress I 1 the senate galleries were fil filled led very many of the visitors being rather more democrats than republicans remained r e m ed in the chamber while al mr r lo 10 lodge d g e abras anras was speaking in accordance with his request he was not interrupted while speaking senator lodge in discussing tho the brownsville Browns ville affair said he had come edme to the conclusion that the shouting shooting had been done by soldiers of the awen ty fifth infantry there was much evidence he said against them and there was no evi evidence depee against any body else mr lodge reviewed essential features of the testimony in the drowns browns valie affair and said that the bullets found in the houses and the shells in ID the streets taken together could have been used in only one rifle and that ali at was the springfield new model and there were no new model spring fields in the possession of anyone except the troops of the united states he spoke soke of the testimony of the sol diers as constituting a uniform denial that which renders all this testimony to me of doubtful value and deprives it of the weight which it would otherwise have said arlodge Mr Lodge 1 I is c its extraordinary uniformity it is possible tor for or 00 men to tell without exception a story agreed u upon beforehand but no two witnesses can tell tho truth as they understand it in precisely the same way about the same event the soldiers have the st strongest r 0 tic g e s t pos possible able motive for denying p participation a r 1 p a in or knowledge of the shooting there could not have been any strong personal persona I 1 motive to induce th the e witnesses on the other stile de to testify oth ilise than truthfully self selected champions of these soldiers in various parts of the coun try sought he said not for equality before the law but tor for special treatment tor for the brownsville Browns ville soldiers on the ground of race As a friend of the negro race I 1 deplore the agitation which had bad this end in view he said these soldiers are entitled to the same treatment as soldiers and white men should be entitled to neither more nor less he deplored any appeal to sympathy tor for criminals which ivsich he bald sald has become the fashion of the time the crime of these men was made greater because they were united states soldiers employed for the protection flon of 0 the pe people he favored the warner bill which allows the president to restore the innocent to the ary army whenever he Is 19 satisfied that any of 0 them were blameless he cond condemned dmn ed the forker Ft bill which he sald said attempts to force back into the arr army ay not only innocent mon men m en but men who were guilty of a serious crime he made an exhaustive argument on the unconstitutionality of the foraker bill which oble obliges ers the president to re enlist these soldiers whether he thinks they ought tobe to be re enlist ed or not such an act would be an encroachment upon the constitutional rights of the president it would bo be subversive of discipline in the army |