North Park union., 1900-04-20
VOLUME Nv.
A Private Soldiers
View of The
Philippine War.
[pIERRE Is. D. roruL1sT, ]

the Filipinos, told me on board the
Hancock as his regiment was ready to
sail for the United States it was the
bull -headedness of the American officers
in invading insurgent territory that
was responsible for that shot. But we
fired the SECOND shot and the THIRD
shot before we got response. And
this was two days before the senate was
to vote upon the peace treaty and many
of the insurgents officers were away
from the firing line. This is the way
the insurgents made what the president
calls Il foul attack upon us. But the
Fihpinos returned the fire and the war
was on"
The foregoing statement was made
during the course of a speech delivered
at the Philadelphia anti-imperialist con-
ference Feb. 90 by Abram L. Mumper,
who was private in the Idaho regi-
ment engaged in the Philippine cam
paign. MI. Mumper's extraordinary
utterance caused nothing short of a sem
sation in the gathering in which Carl
Schurz, Herbert Welch, Edward Osgood
Brown and Edwin Burritt Smith were
notable figures. So relevant to the
question before the conference and SO at
Variance with the commonly accepted
Version Of the Grayson incident, was it
that the credibility of the Idaho soldiers
became the subject of investigation 1t
Mas found by Mr.. Welch that Mr.. Mum
per was man of the highest character
and OF unimpeachable veracity.
MI. Mumper's address was ignored IN
Inc reports of the conference at that
,inlo and through the courtesy of Mr..
Brom The Chronicle is enabled to give
Z publicity for the first time. 1t fol-
Jews:
X have Just been reading Senator
bevcridgc's speech again. He says the
blood OF our soldiers Ii upon the hands
pf the opponents Of this war and that
the flood of all the years can never
wash that stain away. deny this
The blood ot our soldiers IS upon the
hands OF those who called Aguinaldo
general while they wan ted to use him
and the boy in the street" when they
were through with him.
The blood of our soldiers is upon
the hands of those who enlisted rs sol
diers to fight war for humanity and
then became sorry they did it. The
blood of our soldiers is upon .he hands
of those who furnished Aguinaldo with
guns to liberate his land and then tried
to buy his land at $50 per gun. They
had one gun offered, believe, but upon
Investigation it was found 10 belong to
Il yankee soldier.
"Beveridge and Barrett are telling
the American people what they saw.
Perhaps private soldier who has seen
qud Suffered for the supposed honor of
tbe flag need offer no apology for telling
what he saw. l saw the Filipinos'
every claim ignored, their every question
rs to our probable policy evaded. saw
their city given over to drunkness-an
evil which they loathed. Their army
was pushed back and back by IL policy
that seemed to know no compromise
and have no other purpose than to force
submission Or open revolt.
"And our army was goaded on TO
fight by every ignoble appeal that yell
low journalism, race prejudices and
false rumor born of friar hatred could
devise. 1t kept leaking down from
sources above that tho Filipinos were
'niggers, no better than Indians, and
were to be treated as such.
i Whether this policy came from Wash
ington or was born in the minds OF the
ambitious officers who had not yet
gained enough glory l cannot say. But
can testify that on more than one bat
tlefield the Filipinos were treated like
Indians. At Caloocan l saw natives
shot down that could have been taken
prisoners, and the whole country around
Manila set 'ablaze with apparently no
other object than to teach the natives
Submission by showing them that with
she Americans war was hell. 1t had
he opposite effect and filled Aguinaldo's |
army with recruits. -
~ believe General Lawton was the
irst to introduce to those islands the
recognized tisages of warfare. He was
.he first to give out tho truth of the
Philippine situation. You people in |
America had been kept in darkness.
kou had been assured that General Otis
,ad the situation well in hand, with
lis 1900 men Lawton scarcely
the air of Luzon till realized
We were fighting strong national idea,
,ot a mob; the whole Filipino people,
aot s4iall fraction of one small tribe.
Blunt, honest soldier that he was, he
gave 1t out straight that it would take
LOO, 900 men to put down the trouble. II
believe study Of Lawton and his re-
marks will show you that he was not in |
with our Philippine policy.
But we hats no time for that here.
What changed our former friends
and allies into such bitter foess Let us
retrace our steps. When my regiment,
the First Idaho; landed at Paranque
Al33 md N, q Yqnhed IN ran,n noxyav