The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1902-05-03
Che *'Butebery'' in $ai11ar

rr1cIs OIL oaInar were oruereo to con-
eentrate in certain designated places
within fifteen days All who failed to
% so were warned that they would be
regarded as insurgents and shot on,
sight The second accusation was a ,
more serious one. 1T was charged that
his terrible journey, which, according to :
Gen. Chaffee's first report, he reached {.
deirious with fever and worn to the
bone by starvation, Waller held an in
CURRY into the conduct of three or four
by one account nine-of his native car
riers or :cargadores. These men, 1t should !,
he remembered, had enlisted with him as
camp followers for the journey and con-
sequently, they were as much under the
jurisdiction of military law and his SUI
prene command as were any OF the
marines. After hearing the statements
&of his .off1cers and n1ef-and If there was
a dissenting voice or any contradiction
in testimony it has not been cabled-Maj.
Waller became satisfied that these men,
while in the United States service, gave
aid and information ito the enemy, who
hung on his TANKS, SO that they might
time their attacks to the best advantage,
that they had stolen the provisions and
ammunition, they agreed to carry, and
conve eyed them to the enemy; that when
followers sustained life by edible roots
to be found In the country through
which they marched, which they refused
to share with the marines or to point oct
where they were to he found. Where
upon Maj. Waller ordered them to be
shot, and the order was carried out.
/, One somewhat bfoodthirsty advocate of
the gentler methods writes he could I'M
derstand q summary execution in the
heat of blood while yet in the enemy's
country. but to commit such an atrocity
latter reaching Basay-." Here. as in
most comments upon the Philippine
situation, we have, to contend with ig--
norance Of the facts rather than with any
wish to misrepresent them. This writer
is evidently under the impression that
when Waller and the survivors of his
column umped into Basay, footsore and
starving, all their. troubles were over;
that they drove up to the local Waldorf
Astoria, had good dinner, and went to
bed thanking God and their good rifles
that they were well shut of the Samar-
ties.
Bnsny Not a Bed of Roses.
With the very vivid recollection which
have Of my experience In Basay three
wekes before Maj. Waller arrived there
have no hesitation in saying that here
he found greater dangers threatening him
and more savages thirsting for his blood
than those who logged his footsteps
through the mountain wilderness. The
people of Basay at this time number
about five thousand-not souls, but bee
tle-browed savages, brothers in blood and
in brutality Of disposition to the people
of Balangiga, only twenty miles away.
And what the people Of Balangiga did
every American should remember before
passing Judgment upon the warfare since
waged in this district. =. 49,.
When I arrived at BasayI saw crowd
of savages walking UP from the beach
biting away at long, Shiny, uncookeo nsh
| fresh from the sea as though they#Wefe
eating sticks Of candy. One glance at
their faces and would not have been
SURPRISED to see them eating QulVerlng
human flesh. A jungle swamp surrounds
the town and In it's impenetrable fast
nesses lay the hordes of Juan Coloneros.
| We heard their conch-shells blowing py
day and saw their signal fires by night.
| They were wildly elated, and even the
| townspeople within our grasp could
| hardly conceal the delight with which the
news from Balangiga, that made our
! blood run cold, inspired them. Unsigned!
correspondence was daily intercepted
showing that the people In the town were
| in league with the insurgents outside
| and that an attack from within as well
as from the foe in our front was at anS
| time to be expected.
| Night after night the attacks were
made. and night after night Capt.. BOOK
| miller, Lieut. Drouillard and the half
company of the Ninth infantry, reduced
! still further by many casualties, stooC
| to their guns and drove them back.
| only had three days of it, but they stood
| the ordeal without f1inching for three
months And all the time we had before
us the horrible picture, like some bleed
| 80 of "a fyHvn
| survivors of Balangiga: one with an arm
| Topped off, another with a leg; there {
man with his eye gouged out, and ont
| with twenty CHASTITY cuts across his body
| In. none of the fights of which l hav'
| knowledge did the Samarites ask fol
| quarter-they do not understand fghtinf
| in that way-but had they done so I d.
not believe it would have been grantee
| by any man who saw the living and thu
dead witnesses to their fiendish savagery
These are the things which the marine,
saw when they landed at Basay. and i
! must be borne in mind that there wer'
the closest ties of friendship between tn,
! murdered men of the Ninth and Waller!
| marines. They had stood shoulder t.
shoulder in the battle of Tien-tsin ant
| walked side by side on the march to Pc
J kin. Again the critics are at fault
through ignorance of the facts. no
Observation-Disclosures, perhaps-as to the mo
/ tive which actuated Waller in punishinl
/ the traitors in his ranks as summarily a.
possible. ... .s...: H.. @~E E
i ~, Sclf-Defence.
+ 1t was certainly not in revenge. 1
their past offenses had been the onl,
consideration. Waller might. and yer,
i probably would. have waited. and no
II placed his name and commission In jeop
ardy. But he determined to safeguar,
Il the lives of those intrusted to him an,
4 leave his commission to be passed upol
4 by the judgment of fair-minded men,. H
4 was more careful of the army post q
Basay. with all its sick and wounded
that he was of his personal fortunes
There had never been any doubt but tina
/ IL unity of action could be arranged be
tween the insurgents outside and the in
surEents inside our little garrison woul
be quickly overpowered. and here he dis
) covered men "a direct communication wit
the enemy. And by means OF drumnea
court-martial he put them where the
gould do no HARM as he had a right to d
J Under martial law. At any moment thes
! men might have brought to a successfu
termination their career of treason, an
{ Maj. Waller had not the troops to guar
such people IS these while brining ther
to justice by ordinary procedure. The dan
ger of not having enough men to guar
prisoners and for keeping them was on
of the lessons Waller had learned from hi
investigations of the Balangiga massacre
and it was a mistake he was not Hkel
to repeat.
The Right to XIII.
Z There seems to be no doubts as to tn
guilt of the men. This plea was not raise
, In the course of the court-martial. Tn
!, / charge seemed to be that Waller had n
right to execute the men SO summaril
1 even if they were guilty. And what be
comes Of the thousand and one druinhea