Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-05-19
TELEGRAPH NEWS.

'NN~'NtH WhD NlSb 10 know the truth
about the situation In the Philippines.
or at least about the conditions ure-
vaiiing In parts of the archipelago re
Gently under heated discussion in the
senate. should If possible secure cop
les In iull Of a statement recently sent
to congress by the war department.
The testimony here offered is that of
army officers 1t Is true. and a violent
effort has been made of late to dis
Fl i<liit all Information emanating from
Gfmy sources. But 1t is at least bet
. ter testimony than the epithets of the
Illmana and the Carmacks and more
Trustworthy ana enlightening than the
recriminations or excuses of the
Lodges and Dollivers. To people who
wish to learn as much as they can
about the facts. devoid of the inter
probation given them by either the Re
publlcans or Democrats in congress.
the official reports here referred to
will be found well worth perusing.
They are too long to he printed in
full but fair summary of them will
= he given. Current charges against
the army have been pressed largely
under two heads;
Il That General Jacob II. Smith
gave orders to xiii and burn" in Sa-
mar aud make that island "howlIng
! Wilderness" and that under these or.
ders Major Waller shot lot Of ma
tives without trial
2. That General Bells reconcentra-
ton camps in Laguna and Batangas
provinces We're inhuman. aud worse
than anything General Weyler did in
Cuba.
Az to the first OF these charges. the
document which Secretary Root re-
Gently sent to the senate in response
TO resolution OF inquiry shows that
the war department has never had
any knowledge of the orders issued
by General Smith beyond what it re
cCived IN common with all other ciu-
zcna through the press dispatches
No such order from General Smith
was ever sent to the war department,
lid consequently the department
could not have approved it. The de
partmeut has never issued an order
OF any sort concerning the campaign
in Samar. except that when the press
dispatches reported that Waller had
given him drastic orders. a cablegram
was sent to General Chaffee instruct
ing him to place Smith on trial
Smith was tried before court martial
composed Of nine of the highest Off
GERS in the Philippines and their YER
dict, sealed rs now en- route to this
country When II arrives. with a full
transcript OF the testimony, it will be
reviewed by President Roosevelt.
have been guilty The verdict may
or may not be approved by the prcsi-
dent But there Is feeling in army
circles that until the facts and the
verdict are known 1t i'll becomes a
United States senator to publicly de-
uouucc General Smith as murder
er." butcher" and "scoundrel" If
he Is guilty he will be punished
Surely no one would expect the presi-
teut and the war department to as
sumo that he Is either guilty or inno-
cent until the official records upon
which alone Judgment may be based
shall have arrived and been consider
ed
The administration has assumed
nothing in Smiths case. despite un-
make II appear that Secretary Root
has Endorsed Smiths inhuman pol
icy" or course the secretary has
done nothing OF the sort, neither di'
roctly nor by Implication. If General
smith gave orders to kill all over ten
years OF age. he did not act in further
auce Di the governments policy, but
in cuntruyrntion of it. 1t should be
horne in mind. however that If Gen
eral Smith ordered the killing of all
over ten. irrespective of whether or
not thcy were uombatants, he did an
inhuman thing II the converse is
true and his orders applied only TO
hostilos his defense may be valid
Absolutely the only light the de
partmpnt has on this score-ior 1t Is
generally understood Smiths orders
to Waller were oral and not written
is found in the dispatch which Gen
cral Chnffee sent on April 10, an
uouucinr that he would order General
smith TO tal and adding: of course
he Intended his remarks to apply to
persons hostile to troops, not those
friendly; any other inference will do
him Injustice
So it may happen that despite the
unparalelcd abuse which has been
heapcd upon General Smith and the
efforts which have been made to heap
public obloquy upon him. he Is not
guilty after all. II that turns out to
be the case good many senators ana
good many newspapers which lost
their hoads in the prevailing excite
meut will have TO get down ON their
knees and apologize to the old war
riur. II. ON the other hand he Is
guilty no one need fear that he can
a"napa punishment.
AS ia General Bells campaign IN
eaaugas and Laguna and the coneen'
uauuu camps. some highly interest
ms facts are shown. In circular 10
hits station commanders issued De
e.nba,. d. 1901. General Bell polnteed
~ Uat iur three years the army had
pu.suaI policy OF extraordinary pa
tieuel Iorbearance and magnaniIniy
i'm those provinces, hoping to win tue
pf the pPO.