The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-11-03
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
The Situation as Described by a Min
neSOta bOv.

MSSVSSA OVys
The following letter has been re-
ceived by the Irish Standard from
Minnesota boy in the Philippines, who
requests to withhold his name from
publication for obvious reasons:
There is no denying the fact that the
Filipinos are becoming more discon-
tented and dissatisfied with our pres
ence every day. The. soldiers are not
schoolteachers, missionaries nor diplo-
mats; they are fighting machines; give
them plenty of ammunition and they
would depopulate these islands rapid
iy; but they do not understand "Bene-
VIOLENT Assimilation" and will not try
to. Life is too Short" they say, for
them to study such deep problems.
while living on bareback, bacon and
canned beef. The Fiilpinos want a
change; they want Filipino soldiers, if
there must be soldiers. The natives
are becoming daily more suspicious
and less reconciled to our presence.
The much-heralded civilization (D
assured to the Filipinos, they are now
comparing with Spanish tyranny and
they maintain, bad as the latter was.
they would prefer to have remained
under it, hopeful that the future might
show an improvement in their welfare
The indignities that the peaceable and
well-meaning Filipinos i'll some of the
cities and towns are subjected to make
any one possessed of ordinary human
itarian instincts, much more 50 one
protesting to be Il Christian. blush
with shame No Christian nor family
newspaper could publish the details OF
some of these cowardly and brutal at
lacks on the sanctity of humble fam
ily's sacred and God-given rights. in
which young girls, wives and mothers
are usual victims. without insulting its
readers. Drunken soldiers of the
bowery type are missionaries of cfvili-
zation in these diabolical and licen-
tious occurrences, day after day, and
week after week. The officers now
and then give one or two of this class
a court martial; but this campaign is
open to so much criticism, that the
number of criminal acts committed
upon the Filipinos is SO large that it
would necessitate continual daily
sitting of a court martial to try all
the men implicated, and it would look
'very bad' to the people in the States,
"don't you know
The Filipino is a lover Of his family
and his hatred is aroused thoroughly
when his daughter, wife, or their per-
son is abused; but God help him, he
is called a damn Niger" by some
officers and many of the soldiers, with
the emphasis on the "nigger." Native
prisoners are treated more like brutes
by some of our officers and soldiers,
than human beings, and there are nu
merous instances of cruel and heartless
abuses of Filipino prisoners. OF course
this is generally denied, but General
Macarthur has reprimanded severely
q number of officers for abuses of pris-
oners. Many Filipinos have become
active and rank insurgents owing to
abuses Of Filipino prisoners. Prison
ers have been shot without trial.
Prominent Filiplnos have been arrest
ed, then beaten and tantalized in vari-
GUS ways to compel them to confess,
or give up certa n information. on ridic-
ulous and unfounded suspicion. Old
sleuths are PLENTIFUL; they can see
something suspicious in every smile,
gesture, cough or sneeze of a Filipino.
Priests are openly accused by some
soldiers of being insurgents, and it is
nothing uncommon to see them Kissed
and jeered at by soldiers. Churches
have been looted in Luzon and Panay
islands in numerous cases. This will
be denied. We have seen the articles
looted in soldiers possession, SO it is
positively true. Houses and huts have
been looted freely, peaceable towns,
garrisoned by a half company or one
company, furnished from time to time
striking instances of various petty
abuses of the inhabitants, on the pol
icy of smight makes right" and, "if
you see anything you want, take it."
There is a certain element of soldiers
of the professional CRATER hobo, bow
cry type in the army over here who
are capable of doing anything mean.
disreputable and inhuman to the weak
and humble. They use very convincing
arguments, usually in the form of IL
gun, pistol, club or bayonet. The Fill
pino, being unarmeu and powerless,
submits for the time being; but he is
very liable to become an insurgent the
next and also to induce his friends to
do so. Our honest, faithful, conscien-
| tious soldiers, who have to contend
with this class of soldiers are indig-
nant when these occurrences reach
their ears, as not only the good name
of the company or regiment is tar
nished, but the garrison and the lives
of the members of the garrison are
endangered and subjected to night at
tacks or bolo assaults to revenge the
misdeeds of the drunken. reprObflte SOL