The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-05-13
CRUELTY IN THE ARMY.

CRUELTY IN THE ARMY.
The Investigations Of Charges Of Misconduct.
The court martial Of General Jacob
II. Smith, at Manila, closed on satur-
day last, but the findings of the court
have not been made public. Press
dispatches state that the general i'm
preston in Manila is that General
Smith will be acquitted on the ground
that his orders for devastating Samar
and for killing all over the age of
ten Orders which General Smith ad.
mits that he gave) we're justified as
acts of retaliation for the massacre
at Balangigas and other atrocities
committed on American soldiers by
Filipinos. It is claimed that General
Order No. 100 will justify his action
from a military point of view. The
CLOSING address of General Smiths
counsel Colonel Woodruff, was an
eloquent plea based chiefly, so far as
the dispatches show, on General
Smiths brilliant military career,
"his magnificent services for Ameri-
cas- honor and glory" and his gen.
eral reputation for humanity and
kindness. Colonel Woodruff claimed
that under the circumstances the
only possible way of ending the oam-
paign in Samar was to make it a viii.
derness he compared that campaign
with Sherman's march to the sea ;
and, as to the direction to kill boys
over ten years of age, he said that
many native boys of eight years
were capable of welding bolos, and
that the order was never intended to
call for the killing of women or help.
less children. The findings of the
court martial will be sent to Wash.
ington. With regard to the investi-
CATION ordered some time ago about
the charges made by Major Garde-
ner when he was Governor of the
province of Tayabas, General Chat.
fee reports by cable TO the effect that
Major Gardener has offered only one
witness that he seems disinclined to
make his charges specific; that he
has given only n name of an army
officer to be charged with miscon-
duct, and that he claims that the
conduct of his case is in unfriendly
hands. The Secretary of War has
instructed General Chaffee TO afford
Major Gardener every opportunity
to see that he has satisfactory coun-
sell and to insist that the board Of
investigation shall take special a
not to allow the proceedings to as.
sumo a character giving the least
color to a,claim that there is an at
tack on Major Gardener, or to allow
it to be diverted from a full and fair
investigation of the truth of his
charges. Meanwhile, testimony CON-
tinues TO be taken before the Senate
Committee on the Philippines regard.
ing charges of cruelty. Last week
L e. Hallock, formerly a sergeant
Al 6A0 NO4OASOOE 4O4OOSS boSb4AO0 bn6b
he had witnessed the infiiction of the
water.cure on a dozen or more ma.
tives, the object being to extract in
formation from them about the MUIR
der of an American private soldier
who had been tortured and killed by
insurgents. The water cure was in
hicted in some cases more than once.
Some of the men upon whom It was
inflicted were afterward killed while
trying to escape. The same witness
testified that it was common report
that the water cur was frequently
administered TO secure information
from natives, and that he had been
present when q village of three or
four thousand people had been burned
without giving time TO the inhabi-
tants TO remove their furniture
New York Outlook, May 10th.