The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-06-08
.D.FENDS OUR TROOPS
GEN. CHAFFEE AFTER CERTAIN
WRITER'S.
Says Willard, who Made Most Sensa-
tional Charges of Looting Against Or.
Ament has Exaggerated

In view of the severe charges of
cruelty ana outrage that have been
made against the allied forces In China,
two authoritative statements regard
ing the condut of the American troops
from the pens of General Chaftee ant
Lieut.. Thomas franklin, have aroused
wide interest. General Chaftee in a
communication TO the War Department
warmly protests against the "exagger-
atoms of many of the correspondents
who have written for the American
press on the Chinese campaign, and he
takes up in particular and refutes in
detail the statements made by Thomas
f. Millard in an article entitled "A
Comparison of the Armies in China, "
published in Scribner's Magazine last
January. General Chaffee declares this
article to be IAN exaggerated statemen
in many instances and extraordinary as
whole and gives it as his opinion
that Mr.. Willard must surely base his
statements on hearsay, supplemented
by his Imagination"
Mr. Millard's most serious charges
against the American troops are that
they participated in the shooting and
bayoneting of harmless and helpless
people, and that every town, every vii
lage. every peasants hut in the path
OF our troops was first looted, then
burned Both of these statements
General Chaffee declares to be untrue.
Fully three-Quarters Of the houses
passed, he says, are standing today,
and during the march of the column to
Picking part of but one town, Chang
chiaWan, was burned. General Chaifee
charges the magazine critic with null
titude of inaccuracies and distortions
in his allegations and comparisons on
minor matters, and concludes with
some remarks on the evil effect upon
the army caused by the publication of
such false statements. EXaggeration
of the unavoidable hardships of war
fare and constant harping on the pri-
vations endured, he says, have the
worst possible effect on the soldiers
spirit, tending to depress and weaken
instead of to strengthen, his powers of
endurance, In putting his finger on
this misleading article" observes the
Pittsburg Commercial Gazette, Gen
eral Chaffee has rendered a service to
the cause of truth and helped to set the
allies, and especially his own country
men, in proper light before the
world"
The report of Lieutenant Franklin,
one of General Chaffee's aides in the
march to Picking, is chiefly interesting
on account of the wealth of detail tina
it gives in relation to the methods EN- |
ployed by the allied forces in their
campaign He starts with the state |
the best fighting man of all the allies.
and he declares that the American col |
umn during the arduOus march TO the |
relief of the beleagured legation, was
the best fed and provided for. The !
Americans, moreover, kept the best |
policed and cleanest camps. "In trans |
portation," he continues, none of the
allies could touch the Americans AL |
tho we had only escort wagons, their
size and the amount they hauled sur
prised the fore gners." Lieutenant
Franklin describes the uniforms of our |
troops as more practical than ornamen-
tai, but condemns the laxity that led |
officers as well as men to appear care.
less as to their personal appearance. |
Nevertheless, the Americans arms
were always clean and in good order, |
and he can shoot and take care or |
himself better than his more neatly |
dressed brothers-in-a arms" and "he
was animated by a spirit of humanity
and regard for the rights of others that
was in marked contrast TO the actions
of these same presumably disciplined |
troops. After all" he adds these
things are the true test of true dis
clpline, and not perfect alinement and
polished buttons But both could go
hand-in hand" Commenting on these
interesting statements from the field of
war, the Boston Journal declares that
this official report of a keen, accom-
plished professional soldier makes yer,
the stories which brilliant
correspondents have told in newspapers
and magazines. What he writes is, in
the main, just what citizens who are
proud of their country would desire and
expect as the record of the troops of
the republic"
A tribute is also paid to the Ameri-
can forces by Gen. Sir Alfred Gaselee,
the British commander at Picking, who,
in a recent report to the British War
Office, warmly praises the conduct of
the American and Japanese troops and
makes special mention of the friendly
and loyalty of General
Chaffee, General Wilson, and the other
American officers.-Literary Digest.