The Irish standard., 1902-05-03
TRIAL OF GEN. JAKE SMITH.


gardlcss of politics, the counsel for
Gen. Jacob II. Smith, at the court.
martial in Manila, admitted that his
client issued orders to make bowling
wilderness Of Samar and to kill all the
natives Of the island above the age of
ten years. The attorney said that Gen.
cral Smith was justified in adopting
such drastic measures and THAT he was
acting in accordance with the rules
Of war.
General Order 100, upon which Gen,
cral Smith based his edict of destruc
ton, was issued to the Union army
in the field on April "a, 1863. and was
prepared by DR.. Francis Lieber and
revised by Il board of officers Of which
Major General Hitchcock was prcsi-
dent.
Whether the order was ever enforced
in all its rigor is quite doubtful. Prop
erty was destroyed by Sherman in
his march to the sea, but the lives of
non-combatants, and of women and
children, were spared on both sides. 1t
remained for General Smith to carry
it Quito the letter in the Philippines. He
went further when he ordered all in
habitants of Samar over ten years of
age to be slaughtered without mercy
hy tho A trnnricon troonc
While the trial of Smith is going on
the American papers of all shades of
political opinion have not hesitated to
condemn his barMrOlls conduct in
Samar. He has been denounced in
both houses of congress. Mr.. Siblcy,
of Pennsylvania, likencd him to King
IIcrod. and demanded his immediate
dismissal from the United States army
which lie had disSraced.
His dcnunciation of Smith was very
severe. coming rs it did from a Repub-
lican. and his utterances were received
with some evidences of approval on
the Republican side of the house The
Democrats enthusiastically applauded
him from beginning to end. In the
course of his burning address he said:
"When l have heard the statements
made that we were cruel in the con-
duct of that war I have thought per-
haps the partisan was speaking. But
when I have read that general wear
ing the uniform OF the army of the
United States. one who stands under
the shadow Of our flag, issues orders.
not to conciliatc Il province. but to
leave it howling wilderness and to
kill all above ten years of age. then it
seems to me that humanity must have
marched backward for eighteen CEN
turics and that Hcrod again appears.
81 have read of Timour the Tartar.
l have read of Achilles. l have read
of the Saracen scourge, but l thank
God that since the tragic scene on
Calvary it has taken eighteen centuries
to produce a Smith.
"a friend of mine said a few min
utcs ago: %, l know you had better
wait and hear his defense l hope the
President of the United States will
have the courage. upon what the man
admits. to discharge him dishonorably
from the service he has disgraccd.
He admits that he issued the order to
leave the province a howling waste
and Il Wilderness. and to kill all above
ten years Of age the innocent with the
guilty.
"rhat man never ought to be per-
mittcd to stay in the service of the
United States until the sun goes down.
lie is Il disgrace not alone to the party.
but to every man who ever wore the
is a blot and disgrace to our present
civilization"
1t is several months ago since Arthur
j. Ralfour read from the American
rules of war then enforced in the
Philippines to show that the British
in South Africa We're using the Beers
with less severity than the Americans
were using the Filipinos. From all ac-
counts no such order as that issued by
Smith to Major Waller ever cmanatcd
from Kitchener. the butcher of Om-
durham. In the war of humanity
and benevolent assimilation" the Turks
alone come up to the countrymen Of
George Washington.
Our republic is disgraccd and its
cscutcheon is tarnishcd by the acts of
the imperial mcrcenarics who have
gone eight thousand miles away from
home to deprive q people of their lib
erty and make them the subjects OF
a despotism more Calling than that Of
Spain. against which they rebclled.
And the American people hold no in
tlgnation meetings to denounce their
atrocities.
They have sympathized with the
Poles, the Irish and THE Hungarians.
but they keep mute when the little
brown men of the East are killed like
dogs for aspiring to freedom from for
eign control. The Philippine Islands
may belong to the United States but
the human beings who inhabit them
do not. Are they to be exterminated
because they want independence in the
land of their nativity?
Will the citizens Of n free renublic