The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-07-21

a ridiculous thing for the President to do.
because It sustains the statements made
by Democrats that atrocities nave been
committed in the Philippines. and that
the atrocities would have been ignored
had 1t not been for the demands made
by the Democrats that the men guilty
of carrying on uncivilized warfare be
punished.
During the course OF the long debate
in the senate on the Philippine bill, while
only one Republican Senator. 1t is be-
tilted him for what he had done, all the
other senators sought to minimize his
offense and to make as light Of It as
possible. Senator Foraker was the only
senator who defended General Smith and
who justified his action, basing that JUS
LITIGATION on the conditions existing and
the duty imposed upon him to strike ter
ror into the hearts OF the enemy by
methods which would best produce that
result. The other Republican senators
did not come SO boldly to his defense.
They lodged the question whether Smith
was justified, but they urged that the
circumstances were exceptional and that
he should not be strictly governed by the
code of warfare prevailing among civil
lied nations.
These senators had much to say about
the atrocities committed by Nero and
other patriots IN the remote past, and
even more to say about the outrages
committed by the Filipinos. These they
dwelt upon at length as an excuse for
what Smith did but they all tried to show
that the Democrats were making entire
~ too much nosc about u comparatively
trillng matter.
The Presidents action rather puts
these senators in IN awkward position.
Had the Democrats not insisted in call
Ing the attention Of the country to the
kill-and-burn order. nothing would, In all
probability, ever have been heard of it.
But they kept 1t to the front, and finally
forced the President into ordering that
General Smith be court-martialed, the
President detailing the personnel of the
court. which gave him an opportunity as
the reviewing authority TO revise the
action Of the court
would make use of the opportunity Of
fered him to read General Smith a les
son, to defend the army on the one hand
and to make General Smith a vicarious
sacrifice on the other for the offenses
whic hit is not denied have been COM
mitted.
The Democrats are quite satisfied with
boc A of r
Democratic congressional committee said
tonight; THE General Smith case and
the Presidents order retiring General
Smith will Undoubtedly be made use Of
by the committee. and until action has
been taken l do not care to speak Off
cially for the committee, but my own
opinion is very. clear, The President
practically admits all that we have as
serted; he practically denies all that the
Republicans so vociferously affirmed.
we have asserted that atrocities have
been committed in the Philippines, not
by the Amy as a whole, but by individ-
uals. To which the Republicans replied
that we were slandering the army; that
We were condemning the army for the
n1isdeeds Of one or two men, and prac-
tically In effect, that there were no mis-
deeds. Now comes the President, who
sustains all that we have alleged The
President says there have been instances
of torture and of improper heartlessness
in warfare; he says that Major Walters
acts sullied the American name, and he
finds General Smiths conduct to have
been so reprehensible, to use the Presi-
dents own language, as to interfere
with his further usefulness and. he re-
tires him from active service. Surely
after this the Republicans cannot hope
to make the public believe that the Dem
ocratic party has overstated the case.
We need not say another word. We have
only to refer to the Presidents order.
1t proves our case completely. Really,
we are very much obliged to the Presi-
don't