The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-05-05

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Mass, for publication. It1was written .
by a patriotic young volunteer" He +.
1.-The longer l stay here (Manila), |
and the more I see and think of the
the more fully convinced I am
that the American nation vas and is
making a blunder. I do not believe the
United States is equal to the task of
this people, or ever gov
them afterwards. / don't think
would miss the truth much if I said
more non-combatants have been killed
than actual native soldiers. l don't
believe the people in the United States
understand the question or the condi-
ton of things here, or the inhuman
warfare now being carried o 4.
"Talk about Spanish cruelty; they
are not in 1t with the Yank. Even the
Spanish are shocked" /,
General c. McC. Reeve has just re-
turned from the Philippines. He has
graduate of Yale University. He has
been at the seat of war. He says:
81 do not care t fight the Fflipinos.
/ deprecate this war-this slaughter Of
our own boys and the Filipinos-be-
cause it seems to me that we are doing
something that is contrary to our prin-
ciples in the past. Certainly we are
doing something that we should have
shrunk from, not SO very long ago."
1t is asid that both privates and OFF,
GERS are very weary Of the slaughter.
The northern Christian Register gives
a hooking report of the exceses of our
troops quite worthy Of the Dark Ages.
1t says:
These officers and soldiers tell their
friends at home stories of loot and out
rage, of violence to wounded men, OF
death to women and children, Of nearly
every species Of mediaevtT excuses, all
wrought by the hands Of soldiers wear
ing the uniforms of the United States
and fighting under the flag of the re-
public with the avowed purpose Of adj
vancing the cause of civilization. The
story Of the Staying of 100 FilipinOs in
q burning church by American soldiers,
which has been told by an officer Of the
Red Cross, certainly smacks of the time
of Wallenstein."
The southern leading newspapers are
speaking out boldly and strongly
against the bloody and brutal war.
The New Orleans Times-Democrat
says:
I'm spite of the censored dispatches,
there is unfortunately far too strong
ground for believing that our treatment
Of the FilipinOs Is not one whit better
than Weyler's treatment of the Cubans,
and that the United States soldiers are
butchering men, women and children
wherever they find them, and applying
the torch to what they cannot carry
away.
eff ugly news to this effect were con-
veyed only in one or two letters from
members of the regiments taking part
in the hostilities, it might be set down
imagination. But it is news which has
come in many private letters"
The manner with which the wal has
been prosecuted is simply barbarie, and
much less a hitherto boastful republic
that expressed deep sympathy for the
oppressed of all peoples. 1t is the
blacklist stigma and blot upon the
American name, and is even fouler and
meaner and more Goth-like than the
war the north waged so indefensibly
against the south. 1t shows what
northern gush and pretended sympa-
thy amount to. The south is doing
nothing Of the slaughterinc and has
but little if any sympathy for the way
truly that the war 'is becoming more
unpopular every day" It is a stencil
and an offence. The voice of the peO-
pie is that this is as yet a republic and
cannot be therefore an empire. See
the resolutions adopted at the great
meeting held in Chicago on 30th ult.
One of the resolutions ran out in this
brave way:
1--WE earnestly condemn the policy of
the present national administration in
the Philippines. 1t is the spirit of '76
that our government is striving to ex-
tinguish in those islands; we denounce
the attempt and demand it's abandon
ment. We deplore n resent the
slaughter of the Filipinos as a needless
horror, a deep dishonor to our nation.
1--WE protest against the extension of
American empire by Spanish methods,
and demand the immediate cessation
of the war against liberty, begun by
Spain and continued by U.s."
Bishop Spaulding, of Peoria, Illinois,
spoke manfully. Among other things he
said in burning and true words:
1--WE have never looked upon our
selves as predestined to subdue the
earth, to compel other nations with
sword and hell to accept our rule; we
have always believed in human rights,
in freedom and opportunity, in educa-
ton and religion, and we have invited
all men to come and enjoy these bless
ings in this half of a world which God
has given us, but we have never dream
ed that they were articles to be export
ed and thrust down unwilling threats
at the point of the bayonet. We have