West Virginia daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1894-1902, 1902-07-28
Anti Imperialists Send
Letter to the Pres
ident.
REVOLVING OUTRACES CHARGED /,
In NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Population
From One District Perished, Accord
ing to Official Report, Says Letter.
Killing Wounded General Practice.

Lake George, N. Y, July 2S.-At
r1eeting Of representative antrim
! erialists held in New York city last
spring a committee was appointed to
investigate army conditions in the
Philippines. That committee has
since then been prosecuting it's in
quiries. President Roosevelt's recent
leview of the court martial of General
Jacob H. Smith seemed to the COM
lnittee to demand some reply, and at a
meeting just held at Lake George an
open letter to the president was
adopted. The letter was signed by
Charles Francis Adams, chairman;
Carl Schurz, Edwin Burritt Smith.
Moorfield Storey and Herbert Welsh.
1t praises his action in the Smith
case and says in part:
1.-The inquiries we, as commit
Tee, have made. necessarily imper-
feet, have yet been sufficient to satisfy
us that General Smith and Major Wal
Ter we're not the sole culprfts, nor
should they suffer Ia the character Of
b, apegoats.
Claim outrages Not Exceptional.
"In your review Of July IA you say
that these cases were exceptional.
Your means Of information on this
POINT should unQuestfoHably be in
tnitely better than ours. Meanwhile
it is always to be borne in mind that
me side only of this painful story has
been heard, and that side only in part
The testimony of representative Fill.
pinos has been jealousy and sys-
tematically suppressed. TACTICAL and
impartial examination on the spot has
leen denied, or pronounced imprac-
ticable. In the present case, occa-
sionally and by accident merely, have
fragments of information come to
general neutrality-suspicious. glimpses
only have been permitted to reach the
public eye. To our minds, they indi-
cate Enthusiastically condition OF
great and general decentralization. OF
:his the findings of the court martial
referred to afford conclusive evidence.
as also do the published orders of
commanding officers. and the repre-
sentatives of provincial, governors.
The letter then discusses the "kill
and burn order and says:
LAS the not unnatural result OF
military operations so inspired. an
official report indicates that out of a
| total population in a single district of
coo 900 not less than 100000 persisted. y
Clearing of Higher Officers Significant
The letter then alludes to the water
cure, saying that the first reports OF
it's practice met with deRials, while
| evidences before the senate Philip
| pine committee proved conclusively
that this and other forms of torture
| had been used, and adds:
where inquiry revealed the sys
| tematic use of torture by subord
| mates, the officer in responsible COM
nland is pronounced free from blame
on the ground that his praiseworthy
absorption in other duties of his posi-
| ton was so complete that such trivia
incidents failed to attract his notice
Such finding is certainly suggestive
Finally, every severity known tt
the state Of war-praetices which
have excited the special reprobatfol
If the American people when report
ed as features of the hostilities ii
Cuba, under the Spanish regime, o.
in South Africa. during the Boer wa
have been of undisputed and fire
quent occurrence in the Philippines
Rom the early beginning of opera
tions there, it has been the genera
practice, if not actually the order, Il
kill those wounded in conflict.
Ready to Prove Charges.
I'm like manner. as respects concen