The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-20
METHODS OF THE FILRINOS They Are Absolutely Void
 of Honor. ROASTED BY CHAFFEE The Whole People are War
 Traitors. He Says. Nowhere Else in History Can Be Found Such Masterful Powers
 of Secrecy and Dissimula-
 tion-Case of DePosoy.

Washington, Dec. 1s.--History affords no parallel of whole people thus prac- tically turning war traitors and in the genuis of no other people was ever found such masterful powers of secrecy and dis simulation; but 1t Is needless to say that no powerful state was ever erected or ever can be erected on such immoral and unenllshtened foundations" This statement Is made by General Chaffee. military governor of the Philippines. in a review of one of a number of court martial cases in the islands. the records of which have been received at the War Department.
 The case which brought forth this com ment from General Chaffee was one wherein seven natives were tried jointly on a charge of murder. The accused were soldiers in the insurgent army and after defeat by the American army, in the field abandoned even the show of open opposition such as the half un- formed guerrilla bands make. and took up their residence at Tay Fay. in Luzon a place protected by an American gar- rison. Then following the proclamation policy of the insurgents chiefs they pro- ceeded to organize secretly bolo band. When authoriza ton had been given to establish civil government the band came forward under the leadership of a resi- dent Padre and were elected municipal officers of Fay Fay. In all lawful mat ters they served with the appearance of loyalty the American Government while at the same time they iabored secretly and diligently in the interests of the in- surrection. This dual form of govern ment, says General Chance, existed everywhere. in strong garrisoned cities like Manila, as well as the smallest barrie. Tho municipal ffieers of Tay Fay next entered upon series of nlsir- ders and continued their deadly work until the growing number of mysterious disappearances led to the discovery of the perpetrators by the American authorities.
 One undeniable truth" says General Chaffee, stands out in this case, as In hundreds of like cases of murder, that the average native of these islands has not more than the merest parliamentary conception of his individual rights and duties as a man; and no one knows this so well as the willy chiefs who use him for their nefarious purposes.
 Six of the natives were sentenced to be hanged, but General Chaffee commuted the sentence of three of them to im- prisonment at hard labor for life.
 The seventh native, Leonordo DePosoy. a regularly ordained priest asked for and was granted a separate trial. When Fay Fay was given garrison of Ameri- can troops, DePosoy was found there in the regular pursuit of his calling as cu- rate of the Pueblo. He cultivated the good will of the American officers and promised to aid them in keeping peace. But when the elections to American civil government officers were held. he put forward and caused to be elected as Pres ident, Caledonia Javier, whom General Chaffee describes as an "illiterate and bigoted man." whom DePosoy well knew was an officer of insurgents and whom he commended to the people as the best man for the office because he was bold. !" At his trial, DePosoy. who was held to be the chief aggressor In the Fay Fay muss, took advantage of the loop-hole which appeared to be afforded by his po- sition as a priest, by contending that while the participators in the wholesale murders in Fay Fay would confess the same at confessional. he was compelled by his sacred office to keep silence. Gen eral Chaffee pronounced this defense of no value, saying that 'the confessional does not lay upon any man, priest or layman. the obligation of suppressing knowledge of crimes being committed by third parties, the consummation of which could have been prevented without vio- lating the secrecy of the confessional" In this particular case Is stated the knowl- edge of the crimes was brought directly to the priests notice and was not gained through the confessional. General Cbaf- fee confirmed the sentence of death im- posed by the courtmartial which tried DePosoy, but commuted the sentence to twenty years Imprisonment at hard la bor "out of his respect for his calling and for the great religious organization of which he is a most unworthy member"