The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-05-10

! islands, and forced to give lnformd-
| ton.
Mr.. Beveridge read at some length
from the testimony taken before the
Philippine commission to show many
| acts of unusual kindness to Filipino
prisoners by Americans.
Mr.. Turner of Washington spoke
upon the bill. He declared it unwise
unpatriotic. cruel and inhuman to at
| tempt to make the Philippines a per-
manent part of the territory of the
| United States. He then criticised the
refusal of the senate committee on the
| Philippines to summon AguinaldO, Ma
| bin. Major Gardener and others. He
| would feel constrained, he said, if the
present methods of the Philippine COM
mittee are continued, to declare that
it does not want the truth. but that it
is determined to strange the truth.
as our armies, under the cOmpulsion
of superior authority, are strangling
liberty in the Philippines.
IF any senator" said Mr.. Turner,
had conceived at the time the treaty
with Spain was pending that it would
lead us into war with the Fiipinos,
would that treaty have received
single vote?"
Mr.. Turner referred to the order of
General Jacob H. Smith. and said that
II remained IOE the american SOiQltG,
the highest type of civilization, in a
quarrel not having the single element
of religious differences, prosecuted upon
professedly humanitarian grounds. to
raise his name to the height of bloody
infamy. He characterized General
Smith as "a monster in human form.
who had devoted an entire province TO
a merciess determination.
In response to an inquiry by Mr.. Dol
liver as to whether any women or chill
dren had been put to death under that
order Mr.. Turner replied that evil
dence showed that twenty men had
been taken out and shot.
Mr.. Dolliver declared that the men
had been shot, not under the order of
General Smith, but upon other grounds
Mr.. Turner said that Major Waller
had pleaded the order of General Smith
as justifiCa ton for his execution of the
Samar guides, and had been acquitted
on that plea. He asserted that 1t would
be impossible, despite the fairy tale of
amity which constantly is being dinned
into our ears. for the United States to
govern the islands without the constant
presence there of a great army"
Mr.. Turner referred to a special dis
patch which appeared in the Washing
ton Post today. under date line of
Lynn, Mass, and which, on the author
ity of Rev. w. H. Walker, told of the
execution of 1000 Filipino prisoners by
a battalion of American troops, be-
cause there was not sufficient food for
them. Rev. DR.. Walker told the story
on the authority of his son, ]. B.
Walker. a private in company I, Six
teenth infantry.
Mr.. Turner said he did not vouch for
the truth of the story, but felt that it
ought to be investigated.
Mr.. Lodge replied that he would in
vestigate the matter, although he felt
i was utterly without foundation.
Lust of dominion, said Mr.. Turner,
"a greed of conquest overruled the |
sober judgment of the American Of |
fcials and drove us into this war"
He strongly urged the Philippine |
commission to summon every witness
who could possibly throw any light |
on it. Speaking earnestly to the COM |
mittee, he said:
In view of the bloody stain on the |
American ensign, if you do not shed |
light on this situation it will be be- !
cause you dare not You cannot es-
cape the responsibility if you would,
but you can make partial atonement |
il you will"
Mr.. Hoar, who introduced the resolu- |
ton providing for the investigation
which the Philippine commission is
now making, defended the committee |
in the conduct of its investigation. He
said that vast amount of valuable
already had been furnished
cy the committee, and he doubted not !
that other information still would be
furnished. He urged that in fairness
and justice some Filipinos ought to be
sailed to give their testimony before
he committee in defense of the charges
which had been made against them. He
vas assured that the investigation was
Il the hands of honorable and humane
American senators, who were just and
wise, and he hoped that before the
conclusion of the investigation they
would give a hearing to the Filipino
tide of the controversy.
The resolution of the house an i
the death of Representative
Joshua A. Salmon of New Jersey was
len laid before the senate, and a COM
rittee was appointed to attend the
uneral As an additional mark of re-
pect the senate then, at $40 p. m, ad-
burned.
Mo r0I. |