The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-13
sAcRILEeE IN PHILIPPINES.
Stories That Are Coming From the
Far-OR Islands in the Pacific.

To the Editor of the Globe:
Now that our sick and wounded SOL
dfers are beginning to arrive from thu
Philippines they are bringing with them
strong confirmation Of the stories that
have leaked through the censored official
reports of the true character Of the war
fare we have waged with the natives.
They tell us with apparent glee, though
not unmixed with shade of compassion,
how these natives armed with bows and
arrows attacked our brave Tenpesseeans
Now these Tenneseeans armed with two
six-shooters and a rifle apiece and noted
as crack shots capable of hitting a squir-
rel in the eye as far as they could see
him, opened fire on the defenssless ma
t1ves and "massacred'' them. How you
could walk for half a mile afterwards
treading only on dead bodies. How our
troops after the first battle buried 400
dead Filipino men, women and children.
How their losses are estimated as high
as $4,000 How some of our troops seized
by that frightful mania called 'Pesprint
de carnage" refused to obey the COM
mands of their officers to cease firing, re-
plying that they were "only shooting
coons." Worse than all, how priests in
full canonicals" were shot down with
their people and how their beautiful
churches were plundered and despoiled of
their ornaments In proof of their as
sertions they display photographs of the
most magnificent specimens of ecclesias-
teal architecture riddled with rifle balls
and battered by artillery. In the show
window of one of our leading stores may
be seen missal and chantry taken from
one Of these Filipino churches
AS the bleeding scalp displayed by the
American Indian betrays the barbarism
of his methods of warfare so the dis
play of plundered church goods by the
American soldier declares the anti-Chris-
tan nature of our war in the Philippines
Just as the Roman soldiers divided the
garments of Christ at the foot Of the
cross and cast lots for his seamless YES
ture. so, it appears, our American troops
quarelled among themselves for the pos
session of missals, graduals, antiphon-
aries and other church paraphernalia
Though the identity of the words and
music of these quaint volumes with SINH
lar books used in st. Paul churches ex-
cites wonder and emphasizes the truth Of
the claims of the Catholic church that
her doctrines and sacrifice are the same
In all countries and ages, yet such dis
play is none the less notifying to Ro-
man Catholics than If the same books
had been stolen and placed on exhibit
ton as proof of the wonderful prowess
of the thief
Although such articles are offered for
sale In every Catholic book store. vet
once dedicated to the actual service of the
altar they acquire a certain degree Of
sacredness, just as the bunting that has
once been wrought into the folds of the
Stars and Stripes acquires a Significance
that it did not possess before. Hence
the Christian views such displays of
plundered church articles with feelings
akin to those he would experience as an
| American citizen on beholding his coun-
! try's flag trailed in the dust or degraded
to the use of mere advertising purposes.
LII such trophies of victory and the war
stories of our returning troops continue
to pour in upon US they will exert a Silent
but stupendous influence that may result
| In crystallizing public opinion into q
convection that our war with the Fill
pinos was the browning crime of the nine
teenth century. WI M
! st. Paul, May l.