Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-05-30
CONCENTRATION
CAMPS HEALTHY.
Such the Testimony Of Colonel A,
|, Wagner
CONCENTRATES COMMENTED.
One OF the principal Purposes of
These Places Was 10 Protect PEG.
pie Against Ladrones.

Washington, May 29-The commit
tee on the Philippines today heard the
testimony of Col, a. l.. Wagner as
slstant Acknowledgement of the army,
who spent two and one-half years in
the Philippines, He was questioned
about the concentration camps and de-
scribed the system by explaining the
details of one particular camp. In that
camp the people In all cases would have
their old neighbors near them. so far
as he had been able TO observe there
was no evidence of want among the
people there congregated
Moreover, they were surprisingly con-
tented, They were at liberty to 90 out
side the line from 300 to 800 yards. Be-
You'd that distance was what was called
the dead line, beyond which the peo-
pie were not permitted to go. The
natives were given to understand that
II they crossed this line they would be
shot, but in reality the orders were not
to shoot any helpless person or any
others If the shooting could be avoided.
Col. Wagner said that one of the
principal purposes of concentrating the
natives in the Philippines was to pro-
tect them against the ladrones, which
has been admirably accomplished, so
that in many cases what was called the
dead line was in reality the life line.
Another object of the camps had been
that Of facilitating the collection Of
the rice supplies in order to starye put
the ladrones mad guerrillas The RESULT
had been that hostile parties had prac-
tically disappeared and their lealier
Mavar, had been captured. The Amy
had been much like a blind giant. 1t
was strong enough to cope with the
enemy, but was not able to see where
the danger was. The policy had been
necessary TO protect life and property
and he did not see how any other policy
could have been successful.
Replying 10 Senator Beverdge, the
witness said the people were fed and
given medical supplies and the santa
ton of their camps was looked after
The American camps in the Philip
pines no more could be compared to
Weylers recommendation camps In
Cuba than mercy could be compared to
cruelty.
A number Of questions were asked by
Senator Culberson concerning Cen
Bells policy in comparison with that Of
his predecessor, Gen, Sumner
Gen Simmer" said the witness,
"was not allowed to take as severe
measures as he deemed necessary, be-
cause he told me that he was handi-
capped by his instructions from depart
ment headquarters,
Continuing, he said that neither Sum
ner nor Bell had been responsible for
the policy pursued. as each was sub
iect TO the orders Of department COM
manders. IF Sumner had remained in
command" he said. "he would have
been required TO carry out the same
policy as Bell did"
He supposed he said, that the orders
had originated with Gen. Chaffee, but
he did not understand that the orders
were written. The policy had been
justified by the fact that all the people
congregated had now returned to their
homes and on the Fourth Of July the
provinces of Batangas and I.aguna
were to be restored TO civil rule
Referring to the policy OF burning
villages. the witness said that indis-
criminate burning was not counte-
nanced by the rules of war and that
the practice of burning the property
OF non combatants was lnexcusable eN-
cept In cases In which It was lmpossl-
Bile to separate It from that of hostiles
and in cases In which the enemy was
making use Of 1t.