The Lamar register., 1901-02-06
ARMY REORGANIZATION
BILL is PASSED

Washington, Feb. 2.-After an event
full Legislative experience, beginning
with the present session of Congress
and covering about two months. the
bill for the reorganization of the Unit
ed States army yesterday passed its
last stage in Congress, and now goes
to the President for his signature. The
final step was taken in the Senate,
where by vote OF 33 to % the confer
ence report on the bill was agreed to.
The House of Representatives already
hnd agreed to the report.
The conference report was kept be-
fore the Senate constantly, even the
shipping bill giving way. Opposition
to the bill continued to be vigorously
expressed. Mr.. Teller making an eN-
tended speech in criticism of the War
Department and of the measure in gen.
eral. An. opposition developed on the
Republican side to the report. based
on the alleged freedom which the con-
ferees had taken in introducing new
provisions. On the final vote several
Republican senators voted with the
Democrats against the bill.
Mr.. Pettigrew. addressing the Sem
ate on the army bill. charged that Gen
eral MacArthur's report had been sup
pressed for partisan purposes and that
the reports of the Taft Commission
were colored upon orders from WASH
ington to fit the emergency. He assert
ed that the Filipinos are not enemies
of the United States and he hoped they
would be successful in their contest for
liberty.
Mr.. Pettigrew introduced and had
read n long letter from Tomas Mas
cardO, n military governor of one of the
Philippine provinces, in which 1t was
charged that severer torments upon the
Filipinos by the American troops had
been inflicted than the Spaniards had
ever been guilty of.
Mr.. Pettigrew said he would not cite
this letter If the charges made in it
were not confirmed by letters from
American soldiers themselves. He be-
lieved these barbarities were practiced
by the Macabebes, of whom it was now
intended to enlist 10000.
Mr.. Teller of Colorado arose to state
that two United States officers We're
disciplined for practicing the water
cure on natives. The senator also had
received n call recently from n man
who came upon a party just after they
had inflicted this deplorable torture
and who saw the victim covered with
blood and mangled about the mouth.
Speaking about the conference report,
Mr.. Teller said he opposed a large
,
vision by which the cruel Maccabebes
would be enlisted in our service.
After describing the horrors of the
"water cure torture, Mr.. Teller said
the American flag could come down
none too soon If it required such meth
DDS to uphold our authority. The sena-
tor condemned the statement attrib-
uted to General Macarthur in which
he is said to have told returning reg
iment that one of its chief services was
in engendering n warlike spirit, with
out which no nation could endure.
Senator Hale said he felt sense of
surprise and outrage that the COM
mander of the main portion of the
United States army, while engaged in
war, should be so possessed with the
old war spirit of military conquest and
military ambition as to use the Ian
guage attributed to him. And If It
proved true that this language had
been used, Mr.. Hale said he feared
there would be a terrible reaction from
such sentiments.
Mr. Teller went on to say that the re-
cent acts of extraordinary brutality at
West Point grew out of the sentiment
now pervading the army. He proceeded
to give instances of the cruelties of the
allied armies in China. declaring that
1t constituted an Impeachment of the
methods of Christian civilization. the
outrages of foreign loOters being in
finitely greater than the outrages of
the Boxers.
\ Mr.. Teller characterized the Philip
pine friars as the vilest of the vile.
whose conduct could not with propriety
be referred to openly in the Senate
chamber. And yet the Philippine com
mission had put this obnoxious class in