The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-09-19
R0BBING THE DEAD.
Catholic Truth Society
Calls Attention to
Dissertations.

Members of the Catholic Truth So
ciety in Worcester are closely watching
developments in regard to the reported
dissertation of Catholic churches in the
Philippines. 1t is charged that in one
church vault the dead were robbed OF
rings, crosses and other valuabIes. Di-
rect accusations are made against the
soldiers, and the lack of discipline is
said TO have led to the outrages.
Rev. William F. McGinnis, D. D.,
president of the Metropolitan Truth
Society of New York, has charge of the
case for the Catholics, and he is now
in communication with President Nc
Kinley.
Father McGinnis' letter to the presid-
ent follows:
AS president of the metropolitan
Truth Society an organization of Ro-
man Catholics extending throughout
the United States, have been officially
directed by the board of said society to
call the attention of the United States
authorities to alleged outrages perpe-
trated by American soldiers upon Cath
Ole churches in the Philippine islands
Said outrages have excited widespread
indignation as is evidenced by the ut
terances in both Catholic and non
Catholic churches and by reports Of
committees of the Metropolitan Truth
Society coming from all parts of the
country.
Such indignation is based, first, upon
newspaper reports and comments
thereon; second, upon private letters
from soldiers who have served or are
serving now in the Philippines; third,
from sacred vessels sent by United
States soldiers to this country and pub
licly exhibited in New York and other
cities; fourth, upon the accompanying
copy of New York weekly giving a
photograph of United States soldiers in
the very act of desecrating an altar in
a church by using it as a field tele-
graph station, one of the soldiers being
represented as posing for the photo
graph, cigar in hand
Catholics usually are prepared to al
low, first, for a certain amount of loot
ing, which is the usual accompaniment
of military invasions second, for the
acts of irresponsible individuals; third,
for the possibility of some of the prop
erty having been purchased or cap
tured by our troops from the Philippine
warriors; fourth, for exaggerated re-
ports.
However, allowing for all this, sur
ficient evidence of outrages exists to
excite the indignation of American
Catholics and to convince them that the
recent public utterances of Prof. Schur>
man cannot be considered a correct re-
port of existing conditions. For ex-
ample, Prof. Schurman declares it inn
possible to produce evidence proving
the dissertation of Catholic churches by
American soldiers Direct evidence is
supplied both by the above mentioned
photograph and by the following ex-
tract from one of many private letters
from soldiers who are now serving in
the Philippines, and which we believe is
thoroughly reliable:
." The worst of all is in the ruins of
Guadeloupe Church in the vaults where
the dead are buried. Volunteers broke
them open, pulled out the bodies, broke
open the collins and robbed the dead.
You can see the skulls where the feet
ought to be, and the ribs are all mixed
up. One body lies there, half pulled
out of the vault, and just where the
hands We're crossed on the breast it
was all poked over by men looking for
gold rings and crosses.
Robert H. Knight,
Company D. Twelfth U. S. Infantry,
First Army Corps, First Division,
Manila, p. l.
'Inasmuch as said outrages, as far
as we know, did not occur during the
Rico, where the opportunities for the
same We're as nun erous as in the Phil
ippine islands, we are constrained to
believe that they spring from a deplor-
able lack of military discipline, all the
more grave as the impression is abroad
that these outrages have been perpe-
trated with or by the connivance of
officers of the United States army.
we are confident the president of
the United States would not counten-
anee such abuses were he cognizant of
the same. We therefore trust that up
on receipt of this communication YOU
will do as you see best to correct them.
and thereby allay the already wide
spread and daily increasing dissatisfac-
ton with this ASPECT of the present &C.
cupation of the Philippines.
William F. McGinnis, D. D.
president of the NJ T. 81
The Worcester society has learned
that it is the intention to lay the facts
in the case before the board Of arch
bishops at the Catholic University at
Washington, Oct. II.