New-York tribune., 1902-04-22
THE PHILIPPINE INQUIRY.
A WITNESS SAYS HE SAW AT LEAST
TWENTY CASES OF WATER CURE"

TWENTY CASES OF WATER CURE
rr.S,.,g+on aprT 21-The Senate Commit
,.e m +he Philippines to-day resumed the eX-
.n,retion Of witnesses in connection with the
,,,,es-igation of affairs in the Philippine Isianos-
Grover Flint of Cambridge, Mass. who served
as first lieutenant in the Both Volunteer III
fautry testified that early in May, lSto' ne hao
heen 81 witness TO the water cure" as aornih-
tsfered TO the natives by the Macabebe SCOUTS
and that this was done to get Information as
IN where guns were concealed. The guns were
delivered The following day some men OF ms
own regiment applied the cure" but their act
,,-.s 1vttbort the authority Of their commanding
of.7cers The Maca bebes, at the time referred
IN were not under command Of a commissioned
officer but under a sergeant Of the United
States army Flint had been, he said, witness
to at least twenty cases Of water cure ne
never had seen any one die as result OF the
.scure" but had seen a hospital corps man
working on q native who had been mace uh-
conscious. It also had been reported to hlm
that one Filipino died from the effects OF the
water cure"
The witness then described the method of ad-
rninisterfne the cure" and said that in some
cases where It was given to old men. he had
seen their teeth fall out.
Mr. Flint. in response to a question by Sena-
tor Dietrich said he present on these oc-
casions Ito draw the line on excesses- he dlo
not recommend TO his major that the practice
cease nor Gid he give any orders TO his men to
stop the torture.
Answering question by Senator Burrows.
The witness declared that the effect OF the
-cure" was immediate. the victim invariably
turning in his gun or bolo and giving informa-
fion as 70 the wherea bouts of others lie SAID
# was Impossible to Judge whether the victims
Tlea
appeared to be peaceable villagers Some OF
them were thrown down by force: others. who
were timid would submit readily. while those
who resisted were simply held more tightly
The treatment he said. never got to the point
Of great brutality.
Renlving TO a question by Senator Lodge the
witness said that commission in the regular
army had been refused to him because MS
colonel had reported him as using Intoxicating
uouors to excess. The witness deplored the
raising of this question, but Senator Beveridse
said ii had an important bearing on the case
Flint denied that on any Of the occasions when
he had witnessed the water cure" was he
under the influence of liquor He insisted that
In Justice TO himself he ought TO say he was not
drunk but had been careless orlnker- ne
had he said. released several men VINO dlo mol
appeare TO him 10 be insurrectos Major GeaIS'
of his regiment, always near. but had not
sn+S-fered in the administration Of the cure
s,n7nlv assigning a commissioned officer to see
that the men did go too far
After considerable questioning, he finally ad-
rnitted that he approved the water cure. and,
replyjng to a question by Senator Beveridge, SAID
that it was not an American invention. but was
as old as the chronicles CT Newgate." Asked
regarding Filipinos In gTardhouses, Sc SAID
they were treated exactly the same as AnleFl-
can prisoners except that they received food
10 which they were accustomed and not the
army ration
The witness described the burning Of small
villages. the idea being, he said. TO drive the
people TO the woods to the towns and con-
centrate them.
-.Who cid the army borrow that from? in
ouired Senator Culberson-
II saw it in Cuba answered the witness.
s.under the authority Of General Weyler.
Senator Lodge laid before the committee
report by A Lester Hazlett, who was sent to
the Philippines by the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union of Columbus, Wis. 10 IN
vestigate the moral conditions existing there,
and also alleged violations of the Anti-Canteen
law The report shows that the moral condi-
tions in the islands are better than. ever before
since American occupation, and that there were
no violations of the Anti-Canteen law.
The committee. in executive session, refused
10 can Edward Atkinson, Of Boston, as wit
ness hut directed that subpRnas be issued for
a number of sergeants and private soldiers who
were witnesses of the water cure" The ques-
ton of calling SiXto Lopez, Mabini and Agul-
naldo was left for future determination. The
committee then adjourned until Tuesday. April
% when General Macarthur Will be heard
again.