Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-04-16
COURT MARITAL SMITH
Roosevelt and Cabinet Discuss
the water Cure and Other
Cruel Practices.
Thorough Investigation With a
View to Court Martial
Trial Ordered.
Secretary OF War Root Issues
Order TO Chaffee in Phil.
ippines.

of torture in the Philippines. Sec
retary Root presented the original re-
port of Colonel Dickman upon the mat
| ter The whole subject was gone over
at considerable length. The president
| is determined to sift the matter TO the
bottom and it is possible that a court
martial will be ordered.
| Another topic of discussion was GER
| tain of the Indian agencies where va
cancies are occurring or bid fair TO oc-
cur The administration feels that IN
the case of an Indian agent 1t is pecu-
iarly incumbent upon 1t to have the
highest type of official and that po-
| litical considerations must be wholly
secondary. Important tho other officers
| in the far western states may be, that
| the Indians are to a large degree help
| less makes the administration feel that
they must have the highest type of Off
.cials to supervise their interests
AS a result of the consideration by
the cabinet of the charges of cruel
| treatment of Filipinos by United States
/
General Chaffee at Manila the follow
| ing:
Press dispatches state that upon the
trial of Major Waller of the marine
corps testimony was given by Waller.
corroborated by other witnesses, that
Gen. Jacob III. Smith instructed him to
kill and burn; that the more he killed
and burned the better pleased General
Smith would be; that it was no time to
take prisoners, and that when Major
Waller asked General Smith to define
the. age limit for killing the latter re-
piled: Everything over TO-
IF such testimony was given and
the facts can be ascertained you will
place General Smith on trial by court
martial.
Yesterday before the senate COM
mittee on Philippine affairs Sergeant
Charles Riley and Private Lewis Smith
of the Twenty sixth volunteer infantry
testified that the form of torture known
as the water cure was administered
to the presidente of the town OF Igbar-
ras. Iloilo province, island. of Panay, by
a detachment of Eighteenth United
States infantry under command of
of Major Edwin +. Glenn, then captain
of the Twenty fifth infantry, and that
Captain and Assistant Surgeon Palmer
Lyon, at that time contract surgeon.
was present to assist them. The Off
GERS named for such of them as are
found to be responsible for the act.
will be tried therefore by the court
martial Conger and Lyon are in this
country.
Both the Twenty sixth volunteer
infantry and the Eighteenth infantry
having returned to the United States,
and most OF the witnesses being pre-
sumably here, the secretary of war di-
reefs that Major e. F. Glenn, Twenty
fifth infantry. be directed to proceed
to San Francisco and report TO the
general commanding the department of
California with a view to his trial by
court martial under charges alleging
the cruelties practiced by him upon a
native of the Philippine islands at
Igbarras, on the 18th of June, 1900
If you can discover any witnesses still
in the service in the Philippines who
can testify in support of the charges,
or Major Glenn desires the attendance
of any persons now serving In the ISL
ands as witnesses for the defense, you
Will direct them to proceed to San Fran
cisco for that purpose. AS the two
years allowed for the prosecution by
the statute of limitations is nearly at
an end, no time is to be lost You
will take such course in advancing or
postponing the Investigations pre-
viously ordered into the conduct of
General Smith and Major Glenn as
shall be required to enable you to eX-
ecute these Instructions. 1t is believed
that the violations OF law and human
fly of which these cases, IL true, are
examples, will prove to be few and oc-
casional and not to characterize the
conduct of the army generally in the
Philippines; but the fact that any such
acts of cruelty and barbarity appears
to have been done Indicates the neces-
sity of a most thorough, searching and
exhaustive investigation of the general
charges preferred by General Gardner,
and you will spare no effort, in the in
vestigation already ordered under
these charges, to uncover every such
case which may have occurred and
bring the offenders to justice.
THE president desires to know in
manner all the facts. nothing being
concealed, and no man being for any
reason favored or shielded. For the
very reason that the president intends
to back up the army in the heartiest
fashion in every lawful and legitimate
method of doing it's work, he also at
tends to see that the most rigorous
care is exercised to detect and pre-
vent any cruelty or brutality and that
men who are guilty thereof are pun
ished. Great as the provocation has
been in dealing with foes who habit
ually resort to treachery, murder and
torture against our men, nothing can
justify. or will be held to justify the
use of torture or inhuman conduct of
any kind on the part of the American
army
(Signed) "ELIHU ROOT,
Secretary OF War.
april Is, 1902