The Irish standard., 1902-05-03

Slncc tlle recent NcclSioiI vi ItSl-
dent Roosevelt to investigate and pun
ish all cases of cruelty by American
officers in the Philippines has become
known many new and interesting row
clations have been made. These come
from returned officers and soldiers,
who feel that the whole truth ought to
he known, says the Chicago American.
Some new and intensely interesting
statements from these soldiers are
printed in this issue. They explain
the various forms in which the "watcr
cure" that now famous form OF mild
torture, was administered to natives,
and various other curious features of
warfare in the Philippines about
which the public has hitherto known
nothing. Accompanied by hitherto un-
published photographs, they throw n
great light on the most interesting sub
.jcct of the day to the American pee
pie.
hS III ~ W IIItIl lHt I"ut
in the United States received about the
water cure" appears to have come
from Sergeant Charles S. Riley, of the
Twenty y-siXth Volunteers. 1t was pub
lishel in the Northampton Herald,
Massachusetts, in March. 1901. 1t de-
scribed how the "c,lrc" was inflicted
on the Prcsidcntc of Igbnras, Panay
Island, on November %, 1900. This
official had refused to give hfOrma-
ton concerning the whereabouts Of
the insurgent forces in the vicinity
He was so tough that he needed the
"curc" twice. The letter was written
to Sergeant Itilry's mother and not in
tended for publication. but was pub
lishcd by Il relative. After it appeared
an investigation was ordered by the
war department. and a fiat denial of
| Sergeant Isilcy'S statement was issued
1t is now generally believed to he alb
solutcly true in every respect.
Still another statement OF grave i'm
portance concerning the Philippines
was that of jor Cornelius Gardner,
civil governor of Tayabns province. 1t
was suppressed by Secretary Root, but
made public during the past week by
the Senate Philippines committee. 1t
charged that -cOmbatnnt natives in
Tayabas were tortured and their
houses wantonly destroyed.
While the letter OF Sergeant Riley
may have given the first intimatiOn
that the American officers were en-
Dloying torture against the FlipinOs,
it was the recent trial Of Major Waller
which finally aroused President ROosc-
welt to the necessity OF a thorough in
vcstigatfon of the subject and the pun
ishmcnt of the guilty persons. Major
Littlcton w. II. Waller was court-mar-
tailed for executing natives of Samar
without proper trial. Major Waller,
who is in the Marine Corps, and re-
gardcd as one Of the most brilliant off,
GERS III the service, made Il journey
through the interior OF Samar in De-
ccmbcr, 1901, with a party OF fifty
men, in the course of which he suffer-
eti hardships which have never been
exceeded in the history of war or cx-
plOration. Ten of his men starved to
death, and many of them were out Of
their minds when they reached the
coast. In his defense he said that the
natives killed had concealed food from
the American soldiers.
! He further said that Brigadicr Gen.
eral Jacob II. Smith, in chief COM
mand on Samar, had told him that the
more he killed and burned the better
he would bc pleased, and that he was
to kill "evcrything over ten" Captain
Porter and two other officers of ma
rines corroboratcd Major Waller. These
orders were verbal, and General Smith
denied that he issued them. 1t was
shown, however, that lie had issued
this order:
"Every native whether in arms, or
living in pueblos or barrios, will be
treated A. an enemy until he has con-
clusively shown that be is friend"