The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-06-12
TORTURE AS A WAY
TO THE RUTR---PROCEED-
 INGS
That Sond American Civilization
 Back Into the Dark Ages,

l 1hNh 'ho DNEA SAN''
 Among the other instances of torture
 inflicted by American soldiers on na-
 tives in the Philippines, it was related
 before the Senate committee on May 3
 that the water cure" was administer
 ed to 10 or 12" Filipinos to. compel
 them to show whether they had par
 ticipated in the murder by the roasting
 and "boloing" of an American soldier.
 According to the witness one of the na- 1 tiyes confessed and implicated the eth
 CTS. The torture was administered two
 successive days, though information was
 obtained the first day.
 That our soldiers should be guilty of such things in land ill which they
 were present as bearers of civilization to unenlightened savages is a matter of indignation and humiliation to all good citizens Such proceedings take the representatives of American civiliza-
 ton back some centuries and place
 them on a level for cruelty and intel
 lectual obtuseness with the officers of the inquisition, or with the adminis-
 trators of the systems descended from the Roman law before Beccaria had placed mans inhumanity to man in it's
 true light Moreover, it does not show a high degree of intelligence that in the 20th century men should think that by processes of torture the truth could be elicited. Torture" says the Digest of Justinian, lis a weak, dangerous, and fallacous method of inquiry. For most men by patience and the endurance of torments come to despise torture so much that the truth can in no way be elicited from them; others are so timid that they will lie as you please rather than suffer torture; so it happens that they speak at random and accuse not only themselves but others"
 No modern lawyer needs to be re- minded how fallaclous are confessions even under the best circumstances, and numerous instances like those of the Bournes and of Constance Kent will oc- cur to his mind Further illustrations of the effects of the use of torture may be found in 27 How. st. trs. 766 where the crueltles of government officials in auppressing the Irish rebellion of 179S are detailed. On p. 7SS, is related the case of a man who under cruel flogging made random accusation against an- other without foundation. How many accusations extracted under torture in the Philippines are equally unreliable?
 It is the quality of pitch to blacken what it touches. and civilized officers seem not to be able to withstand contact with the half-civilZed savages without a loss of moral susceptibility This is illustrated by the trial of General Thomas Picton, governor of the island of St. Trinidad, for ordering the appl- cation of torture to mulatto woman suspected of knowing more than she told about robbery. His defense was based on the fact that the Spanish laws which allowed the use of torture were still in force in the island. Yet it seems that the only escape by the reluctance 1, of the authorities to punish brave and | capable officer: and General Picton was a brave officer, who, after serving in | the Peninsula, subsequently, met death | at Waterloo as Lieut. Gen. Sir Thomas | Picton. Another analogy to our brave | and excellent soldiers who in command | are guilty of conniving at these atroci- | ties,-Law Notes.