The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-05-26
THE SEWER OF TREASON.
rho New York Evening Post and n
.yc,l Meaning Fool" Held up to

.srsc New York Evening Post and n
.WcIl Meaning Fool"- Held up to
4 Hldiculc.
washington Post Ind): According to
,,a New York Post-the appointed and
4 rongenIal sewer through which the
4 coun,ry Is delivered Of Its treason. its
lt,,sehoods against the government and
jus unpatr!otic llbels-the President has
its.n written by a Chicago person Of
Tho name of H. H. Van Meter. Through
tho medium Of this communication. the
President has been Informed of certain
itorors attendant upon our military OPP
4 era,Ions In the Philippines, and called
10 account for alleged persecution OF
sollers who write home complaining
n, their hardships and sufferings, SC.
II causes great Indignation in the bo-
som Of Mr.. Van Meter that the soldiers
1 sbould be placed under duress In the
matter OF their private correspondence
and wIckedly and barbarously oppress-
Cd when, by any chance. extracts from
sthat correspondence find their way into
Tho newspapers at home. He wants to
slnow nj once. whether! our brave
4hoys who have faced danger and death
In the field fearlessly" cannot write the
i,ru,h to their mothers. without incur
dIjnr the most awful punishment at the
Hands OF their officers and superlors.
He denounces the whole proceeding as
! IN attack upon free speech and n sub
lyeEion OF the constitutional rights OF
the individual.
i To Illustrate his sinister hypothesis,
aNr Van Meter Incorporates in his COM
! munIcation quite choice array Of Sc
lectOns from q specimen. letter from n
soldier In demonstrations which.
/ from our point of view, 1t would have
been wiser to suppress. A great num-
her Of similar letters to "mommer" or
10 "popper." written last summer by
certain brave boys at Santiago.
4 Chckamauga. Montauk Point and
other places OF military rendezvous,
have been carefully examined. labori-
ously Investigated and conscientIously
traced and with hardly an exception
have turned out to be deliberate false
s hoods or childish cxaggerations. The
I forthcoming publication OF the war in
ves,lgating commission will contain
Overwhelming testimony on this point.
/ II Is no disparagement of our volunteer
soldiers to say this. for of the 100000
mustered in last spring and summer
! the letter writer's constituted an inSig-
nlfcant fraction. Ninety-nine out OF
every hundred were brave boys" In
deed. They INDUCED in no cowardly
and false complaining. and so attracted
\ l,,I ots IN thar,pnI,,ao r
the foul scum that rose to the surface
and became conspicuous.
This soldier. however. from whose
letter Mr. Van Meter innocently quotes,
I BY way of bolsterIns up his nbhorrent
proposition. deserves a moments no.
! tice. for thio is n typical case. Here
\ Is specimen Of the truth" he writes
4 10 his mother. 10000 miles away"
Things were In an awful condition. :
- believe great deal OF sickness
at that time was due to the fat pork
We were obliged to eat. Most of the
pork was of very poor quality. and
some of 1t was spoiled" Commenting
on this. Mr.. Van Meter asks the Pres
iCent whether, but Tor this dreadful
military despotlsm. much suffering and
sickness might not have been avoided.
Another soldier Is quoted by Mr.. Van
Meter: Never take an officers word
for the treatment Of the men. Wait
TIL We get back. and will tell you ALL"
The same soldier. describing n battle
field for the benefit Of his loving par
ents, says: THE natives left in u terri
be hurry, for they did not take time
TO take anyof their valuables with them.
We found great many native uniforms
md also Jewelry and money. which we
took as relies" And again: 1--WE cap
turei every bit of poultry, pigs and
cattle we could lay our hands on" Mr..
Van Meters soldier goes on ingenuously
With further descriptions OF looting and
rarSack!nS. and .relic-gathering, until
this tender-hearted gentleman. with
tears In his eyes. OF course, cries out
10 the President in these words of ag-
0ny: Such scenes as these seemed to
have touched the true American heart
Of one brave boy In blue" Yes. they
did; indeed. they did. for this brave boy
In blue closes HIS long accoun: OF mar
'yTdom with this scalding tear: Some
Of the boys got lots OF money"
II Is hardly worth while to dwell fur
Their upon this ridiculous balderdash. II
last summer had not made us familiar
With such persons as Van Meter. we
should assume that he is malignant.
like the editor Of the New York Eve
ming. Post. and has published the dis
graceful twaddle above quoted for the
purpose of casting odIum upon our
volunteers. That the Evening Post
has this object In view we do not for
moment doubt. We prefer to think
OF Mr.. Van Meter. however, that he Is
Only well-meaning fool.