The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-11-19

Katipunan society, the Philippine band
OF patriots, We're brought to Manila
and, as the ordinary prisons were over
crowded, were thrust into the .lun-
geons Of Fort Santiago, al the mouth
of the Pasig river.
Incredible Cruelty. -
1t was a frtghtful place in which to
put human beings. These dungeons
lie below high-water mark, and the
cracks in the old masonry in such
quantities that twice a day, at high
tide, it rose In the cells to the waists
OF the helpless inmates. This was bad
enough, in all conscience but it was
not the worst. A dreadful tragedy fol-
lowed. A single light and ventilating
shaft did duty for the dungeons, with
their hundreds of inmates, and over
this the Spanish sentry on duty threw
his rug, cutting off the supply of air.
Suffocated, drowned, the suspects-for
none of them were convicted--died like
sheep Dead bodies We're seen to be
carried away from the prison to the
number Of 10. How many came alive
out of that fatal hole it is impossible
to say. Spain had the grace to conceal
the full result of her dealings with
those misguided children, whose aspi-
rauons she was seeking to overcome
with motherly love-in Aguinaldo's
opinion.
Suspects continued to be brought to
Manila in multitudes, many Of them
men of wealth, the heads of the best
families of provincial towns These
We're bound helplessly hand and foot
and loaded like freight into the seeth-
ingly hot holds of the vessels which
bore them. When brought to the wharf
at Manila their bonds were not loos-
ened, but they We're hauled from the
hold with chains and hooks, each like
bale of merchandise, and searted off
in this way to prison. How they were
treated there the story of the Black
Hole will serve as one example. Those
who did not die in their cells were,
many of them, subjected to torture, as
part of the Spanish judicial methods.
In short. thousands of peaceful natives
were treated with ferocity shocking
to think Of, while the rich We're sub.
jected to the vilest system of extortion,
by which the Judges and officials man
aged to enrich themselves. Some are
said to have paid as much as $4,000
for their release, and were not then
free from danger of rearrest if still
rich enough to excite the cupidity OF
their judges.
Cannot Plead Ignorance.
1t may be asserted that these ex-
cesses of cruelty and rapacity were
the work of individuals, performed in
secret and that the government of
spain was in no sense responsible for
them. Such an assertion might be sat
lsfactory If they had been confined 10
rev examples. But they continued
Tor years. alike in Cuba and in the
fh1llpplnes, seen and condemned in a
hundred instances by people of other
nations. Spain could not be ignorant
OF mat with which all the rest of the
world was familiar, yet she permitted
| these atrocities to go on unquestioned
| and unchecked
Nor was all this done in secret. The
| pubic exhibitions We're equally revolt.
ing. We have evidence of the degree
| OF civilization in the Spanish army in
a compact made by the officers during
banquet at Manila, in which thev
agreed to give no quarter to the rebels
IN arms, but to kill them like wild
beasts in their LARS
rms spirit was shown bv officials a.
| Wen as officers. No quarter was the
| liked rule, and prisoners taken in hat-
tie We're shot down like so MANY Ven
| omous animals We can well apnre-
| clate the trembling terror shown nv
| the prisoners taken by the Americans
| during the existing war They looked
| for nothing but sudden death. They
had no other conception of the dealing