Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1902-06-05
The Phllippine Soldiers.

tNsS are emitted 10 the support ui an iie!
who are proud of what You did.
The Philippine Soldiers.
These younger comrades of yours have
fought under terrible difficulties and have
received terrible proNoCttion from very
the strain OF these proNocations deeply
deplore To- say that some among them
hsNe 50 iai forgotten themselves rs te
counsel and commit in retaliation acts oil
icrnelt2. The fact ;hat for every guilty act
cunlliittod by one of our troops II hundred
acts of FAR greater atroeity hiese beer
IcQmmitted by The hostile native upon ON
troops, or upon The peaccabie and Jaw
abiding natives who are friendly TO as
cannot be Eeld to excuse amy wronsdoer
on our side. Determined and unsweryin3
effort must he made. and Is being MADE
to liil out every instance of balbarlty on
the part Of orr troops. 10 punish those
guilty OF H. and to take If possible, even
stronger measures than have already beer
taken 70 minimize or prevent the occur
renee OF all such instances In the future.
From time To tiiue there occur i'll oui
country, to the deep and lasting shame Of
Our people, iynchings carried ON undvl
circumstances of inhuman cruelty iilH
balbartya cruelty infinitely worse thitA
amy that has ever been committed by our
troops in the philippines; worse to the
victims and far more brut;tlizlns to those
guilty OF ii. The men who fail to corr
d,inu these lynchings, and yet clampi
about what has been done In the Philip
liies, are inded guilty of negleeting the
beam in their Own eye while haunting
their brother about the mote in his TN
lerstand me These lynchnss afford us
no excuse for failure to stop cruelty II
1.-The Philippines. Every effort Is being
made. and viii be made, To minimize ;he
chances OF cruelty occurring.
Wars Crue.ties VS.. Lvnchlng.
But keep in mind that these cruelties
In the Philippines have been wholly cx-
aggerated. We deeply and bitterly regret
that any such&eruelties should have been
committed, no matter how rarely no MAJ
ter under what provocation. by American
TROOPS. nut they afford far less justiica-
ton for Il general condemnation of our
army than these iynchings afford for the
condemnation of the communities in
Which they have taken place. In each
ii Is We'll also TO refrain from including
both guilty and innocent in the same
sweeping condemnation.
In every community there are people
who commit acts Of well-iiigh inconcev-
able horror and baselcsS. II we fix Our
eyes only upon these individuals and upon
their acts, and II We forget the far more
numerous citizens of upright and honest
life and blind ourselves TO their countess
deeds of wisdom and justice and philan-
tayopy ii is easy enough To condemn the
community There is not. a city in this
laad which we could not thus condemn if
We fined our eyes purely upon its police
record ana refused to look al what ii had
accomplished for dccency and Justice and
charity Yet this is exactly the attitude
which has been taken by too many men
with reference TO our army in The Philip
pines. and ii IS an attitude both absurd
and cruelty unjust.
Tho rules of warfare which have been
promulgated by the war department and
accepted as the basis of conduct by our
troops in the field are the rules laid down
by Abraham Lincoln when YOU. nay hear
no f1tN tat
rules pfQNids. OF course. for the Just sever
itN necessary in war. The most ,,estruc-
tive OF all forms of cruelty would be to
h9w weakness where sternness is do
forbidden, and all harshNess beyond what
IS called for by need our enemies in the
Philippines have not merely violated ev-
cry rule of war but hava made of these
violations their only method of carrying
on the var We would have been ilisti-
fed ipy Abraham Iincuius rulos of war in
Infinitely. greater severity than has hem
shown The fact really * that orr wstrfaIa
in the Philippines has ben carried ON with
singular humanity. For every aci of cruel
tY b. our mep there have been innumer..
ahle acts OF forbearance. magnanimity
and generous Kindness. These are tho
qualities which have characterized The
wAalg exceptional. on our part
Justice to All Conc erncd.
Tire guilty are to be punished; but in
furnishing them, let those who sit at egsc
AT homo, who walk ,elicately and live in
the soft places OF Tie earth, remember
also to do them COMMON justice Let NOT
the efipitless and the uhtempted rail over
much ut strong men who with blood and
sweet face Years of toll and days and
nights Of agony, and at need lay down
their lives IN remote tropic iungles to
bring he light of civilization into the
world's dark places. The warfare TIM,
las extended the boundaries of civiizu-
.tiea al the eXpense Of barbarsm and say
asery has been for centuries one of tho
most potent factors in The progress of
humanity Yet from its very nature IL
has always aud everywhere becn liable to
Ii behoayeS us to keep vgilallt watch
10 prevent these abuses and 10 punish
those who commit them; but IL because
Of them we finch from finishing the task
on which we have entered We show ui1r-
selves cr;tNens aud weakiings, unworthy
OF the sires from whose loins we spr;.n.s.
There We're abuses aud to spare in the
civil war lutir false friends then called
Grant u butcher and spoke of YOU who
are listening 70 me as mercenaries as
Lincoln hlrGllnSS our open fJeS-aS
III the resolution passed by the confetler-
tute congress in october lSG2@.acc,,s,a
tielilality. OF 'cOntemptuouS disregard OF
the usages of Civilized war" of subject
ing women and children 10 "banisinnent
imprisonment and DEATH OF murder
of .'r4pine, OF "outrages on women of
lawess cruelty" of 'perpetratng ;ltroci-
ties which Mould be disgraceful to say
ages" ard Abraham Lincoln WAS singled
out for especial attack because OF his
spirit of baibarous ferocity." Verify,
these men who thus foully slandered Won
have their heirs today in those who ira
dnee our armies in The Philippines who
iix their eyes on individual deeds oil
wrong 80 keenly that at last they become
blind 10 HE great work of peace and free
dom that has already ben accomplished.