Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1899-10-05
SOLDIERS OPINION OF THE WAR.
From Staff Correspondent Of the
Minneapolis Tribune.

ment found in the three northwestern
regiments is not encouraging to those
expecting the volunteers to come
home and aid them in their request
that the government give up the
islands. Ii is cold comfort for the
Atkinson and Hoar men at the Pre-
sidio camp. Every soldier has an
opinion of his own and it is almost
impossible to find one who indorses
the course taken by the two men re-
ferred to.
Be it understood though, that the
men are not all expansionists. What
they are united on is the proposition
that the United States cannot lay
down at this time, but must keep on
and give the Filipinos a good whip
ping. The soldier who favors back
down is such rarity that the senti-
ment can be called unanimous.
The feeling in the South Dakota
regiment is particularly strong. Col.
Frost, who is counted on by the pop
ulists, openly proclaims himself an
expansionist, and it is known that
Gov.s Lee, received very little material
for his next canbaigh, as a result of
his visit to Col. Frost and the other
South Dakota boys. Free silver is
a dead issue with them, they have
had all they want Of it, and they are
SO unanimous on the question of sub
DUNG the insurrection that it can be
safely said that the volunteer soldiers
Of the northwest will be allied against
Bryan and his hosts if anti-expansion
is made the issue in the next national
campaign.
Editor 0sbon, editor of the Spirit
of Dakota, published at Howard, S.
D., is spending great deal OF time
going down the line in the South Da-
kota camp and interviewing the men,
and officers as we'll, on their views OF
the situation. He asks them frs, it
|they are expansionists, then if they
believe the administration should
take up Senator Pettigrew's sugges-
iton and abandon the islands; wheth-
er they think the war was humenely
conducted, and also whether the
Americans fired the first shot. What
he has found may be sized up as fol
lows: The boys agree that the insur-
gents fired first. They agree that the
war was humanely cortducted, and
emphatically deny that they shot
insurgents when taken prisoners or
picked up onthe battlefield wounded.
They all say the war should go on,
and are somewhat divided on the
question of expansion. There is a
Ipopulist editor who is captain of one
of the South Dakota companies, and
he says there is no question whatever
about quitting. He entirely disa-
grees with Senator Pettigrew, as do
the others in the regiment. There is
no question in his mind but that the
| United States must fight the thing
tout. When he gets home he will no
| doubt furnish material for indigna-
ton meetings in the populist camp.
! Chaplain Daley, South Dakota, is
an avowed expansionist, and he does
mot care who knows it. When asked
if there was any grief among South
Dakota soldiers because they had tc
shoot the Filipinos, he said: "The
only grief there was. was that they
ran so fast that We could not get a
them as well as we ~~cnted to. Their.
was never any talk in the islands a
to its being an unjust var, and tha
the men were angry because the.
had to fight the natives. 1sere i
nothing in such stories, wherever eli
culated. After being in the field
long time, the men felt that the
should be relieved and regulars ser
to take their places, but they neve
! wanted to quit because they though
it was wrong to battle with the insu
gents.
Lieut.Col. Stover, South Dakot:
who is red hot politician, simpl
smiles when asked whether the n
. publicansser democrats will get tt
most work out of the volunteer SC
disrs. The colonel is well satisfe
with the prospects. He is convince
that the boys have had all the silv
they want, especially il a count
where S. in American gold is wort
more than. is in american silvs
The discrimination against the Anne