The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-02
WHERE WE DIFFER.

WHERE WE DIFFER.
 1 There is really little differece petween The Advertiser and The Chattanooga Times on the subject of crueities' ;n the Philippines so far as facts are concern ed. That these cruelties are not without numerous preee5slts WE freely admit. l The brutal massacre of six hundred Pequod Indians on the Mystic River in
 1887 by the Puritans and their descend ants was one among many early inci- dents. l How mary readers remember anything of tine expedition of General Sullivan against the Five Nations In 1779? The
 insa acre of the white inhabitants of Wyoming was one of the many acts of savaeery committed by the natives. and
 General Washington determined to pun
 ish them. Accordingly he sent General
 Sullivan against them and his measures were successful The accounts given state that fully 16o,00O bushels of corn | were destroyed. A historian tells us that
 the Americans utterly destroyed forty villages and left no single trace of vege- l tation above the surface of the ground" I And we are further informed that none of the bounties of nature nor any human works escaped the fury of the Ameri- cans" The officers. we are assured. were ashamed of their work. but obeyed or ders.
 l This was in the time of the Revolution. and these cruel orders emanated from and were approved by Washington him. self. The destruction Of the Hillabee town
 and the killing of the unsuspecting in- habitants is a later instance of wars brutality. These Indians had been ne- gotiating with General Jackson with view to surrendering themselves and re- l mainirg neutral. They felt themselves under his protection and apprehended no danger but on November IS. 1913, Gen. ersl White, acting under orders from
 General Cooke. attacked and destroyed l the village and rut to death all who could not escape. 1t Is not to be wondered at l that these Indians thought they had been l betrayed by Jackson. and that they were afterwards among his bitterest enemies.
 and fought him to the end.
 | The treatment of the Seminoles was in |
 many cases a disgrace to civilization. and States was accompanied by many acts
 of savage brutality for which there was
 no excuse nor palliation. All these things are true, but we still insist that they are I not proper precedents to be followed, and | that they do not excuse misconduct in | the Philippines The Times claims that I such tn ngs are ins,parabie from all 1 war;" and, commenting on former ar ticle in this paper in which we insisted I that if such comparisons were good for anything. they only show that humanity I in war has made no advance, our contem- porary adds:
 The esteemed Advertiser is right. If our facts are good for anything they show that in war. humanity has made no ad- vance, etc. And if we think about It for a moment we will realize that advances I in benevolence and kindness along the 1 march and on the field of war, are im- possible, that it is absurd to think of lDeneyolence and tenderness, even of jus I tice, and war in the same connection.
 Well. If that is all true. it Is not cred I ifable to us as a people. We boast of our advance in civilization and human ity. We spend millions of dollars in edu- cation, in extending civilization and in
 mission work. We claim that we are lfrying to makethe world better, to ele- vate mankind and to teach the humani- ties to all the nations of the earth, yet we get no consolation. when we depre- cate certain acts, except to be told that such things are part and parcel of the
 business of war.
 We repeat what we have said before,
 that there have been acts committed in the Philippines by both men and officers
 which were disgraceful to the army, to | the American people and to the Govern ment. Men high in authority have tried | to cover UP these transactions and to
 discredit all who allude to them Any tman who speaks of these things on the | floor of either house of Congress Is at
 once placarded bN the administration press as traitor, and Is accused of l stabbing our soldiers in the back It is, in some circles, considered treason to even hint that any American soldier has
 done wrong.
 All this is unmitigated rot. The admin lstration al d those in authority under 1t sho uid have been first to expose and pun l ish the brutal treatment of the natives in those cases where the facts have been
 established beyond doubt, and there are
 such cass. Neither right-thinking people
 nor truthful historians are to be bluffed
 into silence by the cry of traitor" and
 our Government would do itself credit
 by fair investigation and proper punish>
 ment of .he guilty. If this is not to be done, and if We are to find our only de- fence by referring to what has been done before, then let us discard the teach ings of Christianity and go back to the Mosaic "cye for an eye code. In other
 words, let us discard the Savior's com
 mand and do as we are done by, and try tc beat the savages at their own game. Does The Times stand fo' that?
 IS HE GETTING RECKLESSP
 It is exceedingly difficult for the Presi- dent to open his mouth without getting
 one foot tangled in it. at least when he makes a public speech. Ills speech at Arlington would have been discreditable in A crossroads political ranter, much