Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-14
DEFENSE OF THE ARMY.
Gen. Young's Tribute to
Forces in the Philippines.
SCORES THE DEFA MERS
COMPARES THEM TO COPPER
HEADS OF CIVIL WAR PERIOD.
Says Comment Regarding Soldiers
Passes Beyond the Limits of Crit
icism-Scathing Remarks.
SCORES THE DEFA MERS

Major General s. B. NJ. Young, who Is to
succeed General Miles in command OF the
army next fall, delivered a most significant
address at the Church of the Epiphany be-
fore the mems class last night on Our Sol
diers in the Philippines" He used strong
language and did not mince his words. lie
said the criticism of the army in the Philip
pines had passed beyond the limits of criti-
cism and in several instances had descend
ed to absolute vilification He added that
the statements derogatory to the army came
from unreliable persons and from compare
lively few individuals. The charges did not
come from the Filipino people or from the
foreign press, but originated with our own
people and were against our own soldiers.
The accusers had tried Ito convince the
world that our soldiers are barbarous saw
ages" He said these persons endeayored to
create the impression that certain alleged
isolated acts were characteristic of the
American army, and continuing said:
Defamers Not Numerous.
mo one was more anxious to have the
soldiers behave properly than were our gen.
erals in the field. These defamers Of our
patriotic soldiers were never numerous. but
good people believed there was some truth
in their statements. There were few good
people that sincerely believed that a voyage
across the Pacific had actually turned their
brothers and lovers, fathers and uncles,
into bloodthirsty savages. All of the army's
defamers were densely ignorant OF what
constitutes the laws Of war, the nature OF
warfare waged by the Filipino, and the con-
| dtions that prevailed in any war. civilized
or otherwise. l do not recall single case
of a good soldier of experience acquainted
with the conditions that existed In the Phil
ippines that has publicly criticised adversely
the conduct Of our soldiers in the Philip
pines.
1.-The election is now passed and those
who expected to gain political advantage
by assailng the army have failed in their
object. and the results have buried that
question for ever as political one. l feel
now that I can speak the truth about our
soldiers without being accused of having
political bias or of defending them for polit-
ical effect. Taking into consideration the
circumstances surrounding them, our soldiers
in the Philippines behaved remarkably well,
better than any other nation expected or
that we had any reasonable hope to expect
War is a game and a very dangerous one,
and the rules of conduct should be left to
those that are experienced in the game.
Fire in Rear During Civil War.
During the civil war the fire In the rear
from the so-called copperheads was what
the Union soldiers most feared. There may
have been some excuse for the existence Of
copperheads In 1861, but what possible ex-
cuse could there be for honest and rea-
sonable man to become fire-in-the-rear
Filipino?
"If every accusation that was brought
against these soldiers was true these stay
at-homes-these befoulers of their own
nest: these seekers after notoriety; these
active disturbers of the peace of mind OF
the brave. patriotic wives and mothers
should have the decency to present their
wild fancies to the proper authorities IN
stead of trying to convince the whole world
that own brothers and kindred were
barbarians
Il say that the American army is the
most humane army that ever waged war
and l could bear out my assertions by the
Filipinos and Chinese, and even the Spanish
prisoners
Want Soldiers Retained.
General Young referred to requests made
by prominent Filipinos that soldiers be not
withdrawn from their towns, and gave in
stances Of outrages perpeuated by the in
surgent soldiers. He referred to the fact
that he had served forty years-in the civil
war, in the Spanish war and in the Philip
pine campaign-and said he spoke from
the practical standpoint of a soldier He
said that war at best was cruel, and that
the humanity that is talked Of in time Of
peace has no place in it.
ITO carry on war" said General Young,
disguise it we may, is to be cruel
The word humane. he said, could not be
applied to war. He would define war as
fast, furious and bloody from the beginning.
He continued:
IF it had not been for the intense desire
Of the American people to carry on an easy,
persuasive war with the Filipinos and the
good faith In which the American officers
acted to carry out that desire, the Filipino
war would have ended in much less time
than 1t did. 1 feel confident that our little
Jap friends would have stopped the patter-
ing of the bare feet of the little brown
brothers through the jungles in very
short time and that the aggressive army
Of our German friends would not have
viewed with equanimity the burying alive
of their friends, as did our soldiers in
obedience to the home sentiment. | am
satisfied that the coming census of the
Philippine Islands will have on the list a
great many more people and houses than
there would have been if the German army
had had control for the past four years. 1
am not an advocate of war, neither for con-
quest or revenge, nor as means OF making
either good Indians or good Filipinos; but
when war has been decided on by our ma
ton l agree with the German emperor's
sentiment, and believe that the American
army should leave such an impression
that future generations would know we
had been there.
Acted in Good Faith.
Gen. Young said that the Filipino gen.
erals did not know anything about the laws
of war, but that the American soldiers. in
good faith, tried to carry out such laws as
are recognized by civilized nations with
half-civilized foe. There were isolated
cases where officers exceeded their authori-
ty, and where laws of war were violated,
but violations Of the law were committed
all over the United States every day. He
referred to the abuses which the Filipinos,
with cruel and vindictive hands and with
t1I fhA N1
diers He thought it was a perfect wonder
that there were SO few violations of war by
the volunteer troops. He mentioned several
of the campaigns which had come under
,hSfa late lie