The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-07-16
BRITAlN's DUM-DuM ElIlIFTe

A great howl was raised against tha
opanlards by the American press for
using an expansive or explosive bullet
on our soldiers in the Cuban campaign.
A cry Of horrcr was raised against
Spanish barDarity, and it was stated chat
no civilized nation would use such dead
ly projectiles in modern warfare. The
battered condition of the heads of the
two piclets killed in the skirmish be
tween the small body of American
marines and the Spanish soldiers led
many to suppose that such terrific mutt
lation could not be inflicted by the bul~
let's from Mauser rifles, ana that
machetes We're used on the skulls OF the
dead Americans when the fighting was
over. Later developments brought the
fact to light that the bullets alone did
the work. The Spaniards were better
armed, and the bullets they used in
flicted more CHASTITY wounds, from which
recovery was almost impossible.
The British press commented severely
on the Spaniards for employing such
deadly projectiles in civilized warfare,
though at the same time the British
government was manufacturing the
Dum-Dum or man-killing bullet, which
will be used in the campaign against
khartoum next month. The British
military authorities explain their action
by saying that if the enemy be a savage
or semi-barbarian they are justified in
killing him, while if he is ivi.'.lzcd foe
it will suffice to wound hi'..l. IL is we'll
known that in the light against the
Afridis, the British used the Dum-Dum,
an explosive bullet, with fatal effect, but
they n'>u cause to regret their inhuman-
1lE, for the Afridis captured their arms
and ammunition and gave them dose
of their own bullets by which many red
coats were killed and fatally wounded.
The British authorities attempt to es-
cape the criticism and denunciation Of
civilized nations like France and Ger
and barbarian foes possess superior
courage, physical endurance and great
vitality, and that wounds which would
disable European soldiers and knock
them hors de combat will scarcely
diminish the fighting efficiency of a
Dcrvish, or an Afridi or other barbarian
warrior They declare that in the recent
Indian campaign, the Afridis went on
fighting after they had been pierced by
as many as six Lee-Aletford bullets.
Therefore it is that it becomes necessary
to provide British troops when fighting
uncivilized people with man-killing
weapon.
The London correspondent of the New
York Sun, who sevidently an English
man, tries to show that England is justi-
fled in using the Dum-Dum bullet on in
ferior races, and falsely asserts that it
is not explosive, and that it does not
mushroom to anything like the extent
of the old Enfield, which is still used in
tiger and elephant hunting, as if human
beings were no better than the beasts of
the jungle But further on he says the
number of the new projectiles now being
turned out at Woolwich arsenal-2,OO :
900 week besides 100000 rounds
ordered from a private firm--indicate
that the government will not limit the
use of the Dum-Dum bullet TO the pend
ing campaign in the Soudan. The new
cartridges, he says, are available for all
the service rifles and machine guns in
the British army.
If we mistake not, some of those Brit
ish bullets are intended for the bravo
soldiers of the two Christian rulers in
Africa-Mcnelik and Dom Paul. Their
subjects must be ready to defend their
possessions from the rapacious British
barbarians who are going 10 wage a war
Of determination against them in the
name of humanity and civilization. In
the event of an Anglo American alliance,
how would our brave young American
soldiers like to be armed with such
weapons as England is manufacturing to
extend her piratical sway over the weak
nations of the East? The American
press is maintaining silence upon the
murderous and barbarous weapons of
the glorious Anglo-Saxons whose civil
ization they laud to the skies.