The Savannah morning news., 1902-09-25
ROOT TO REPUBLICANS.
secretary of War Addresses Chicago
Political Organizations.


Peoria, ILL.,, Sept. 24.-Elihu Root,
Secretary of War. was the speaker at
+o-night's meeting of the Illinois
league Of Republican Clubs. The Col
iseum was packed, and the Secretary
was repeatedly applauded. His address
was confined entirely to the recent
troubles in the Philippines and Cuba
and not once during the evening did
he mention the tariff or the trusts.
Secretary Root spent some time in a
denial of the reports circulated by the
democratic party during the Philippine
resurrection. He read a number of the
kilograms captured with Aguinaldo and
other generals. He read a letter writ
fen by Jose Rial, the greatest gem
ius and most revered patriot of the
philippines, in which he pleaded
with his people to submit to Ameri-
can sovereignty as the only way in
which to gain their freedom.
Mr.. Root devoted some time to a re-
citaI of the attacks made upon the
administration by members of the Sem
ate and House and said:
The whole army and its generals
we're involved in common denunciation.
The gallant and fearless Funston was
stigmatized by the senator from Ten
nessee as a bIatherskite brigadier.
81 do not know who Gen. Wheaton
is. particularly said the senator from
Idaho, but / imagine he was charity
boy who was appointed to West Point
by some representative and educated
by the government
Against these contemptuouS and in
furious aSperSionS upon the soldiers of
the United States, / will call four wit
nesses: The first is William Mckinley,
If any orders of mine were required
to insure the merciful conduct mill
tary and naval operations, they would
not be lacking, but every step in the
progress of our troops have been mark
ed by a humanity which has surprised
even the misguided insurgents
1.-THE second is President Schurman,
and joining with him Admiral Dewey
and the other members of the first
Philippine Commission, To those
who derive satisfaction from seeing
an isolated occurrence, regrettable, in
deed but incident to every war-and
making it the basis of sweeping accu-
sations, this commission has nothing
to say. Such wrongs as were actually
committed against the natives were
likely to be brought to our attention,
and in every case that we investigated
we found willingness on the part of
those in authority to administer
prompt Justice.
"The third is Gov. w. H. Taft, who
said I desire to say that it is my
deliberate Judgment that there never
was a war conducted, against either
an inferior race or others, in which
there was more compassion and more
restraint and more generosity, assum-
ing there was war at all, than there
has been in the Philippines
"The fourth is Vice Governor Luke
Z. Wright: Gen. Chaffee has no pa
tience with any acts of oppression or
cruelty, and whenever his attention
has been called to them he has at once
taken proper steps. The howl against
the army has been made mainly for po
ltical purposes and the cruelties prac-
ticed have been largely exaggerated
Throughout all this storm of de-
traction and abuse the Republican ma
jorities of the Senate and House Ia
bored increasingly to frame and per-
feet legislation, under which the people
of the Philippines have peace ana or
der and individual freedom and pros |
perity. l think they and not the others,
were the true friends of the Philippine
people,"