Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-18
MEDICATION OF WALLER.
Facts I'm the Case of the Onlcer Tried
at Manila and Acquitted.
CbJna0o Tribune

SHiCdBo lTlOunc'
The Tribune heartily approves the find
ing of the Manila oourt-martial in acquit-
ting Major Waller Of the charge OF murder.
A good many armchair warriors, who
have never missed three meals a day ex-
cept from dyspepsia, are taking occasion
to describe Major Waller as q blood lustful
degenerate. In their hysteris over his &C
quittal they are raising a word-storm which
obscures the true Issue. These critics
imply, though they do not state, that Wal
Ter captured, somewhere in the middle Of
samsr. a number of F1lipinos and that be-
cause they were Filipinos he had them shot
without trial.
The facts, as brought out in the court
martial. are these: Major Waller. being
about to make an expedition into the mid
die Of Samar last January, employed q
number Of Filipinos as guides. The guides
took the oath of allegiance to the United
States and received wages from the treas
ury of the United States. They led Major
walters command inland into the noun
tains, treacherously led them on the path
into a maze of unexplored mountain trails,
and there deserted them. The hardships
Of the abandoned Americans were horrible.
A dozen or more starved to death and the
remainder finally arrived at headquarters
emaciated and insane.
Later in the month the false guides were
captured by Lieutenant Gridley and Ser
geant Quick. They were led before the
commandsnt, Major Waller. who had re-
covered his mind. though his weakness
still kept him back. He, together with
such Of the others as had been with him
on the expedition, recognized the eleven
prisoners as the guides Of his expedition.
Thar L. NJ A.,At that fka Identification
was exact and sure. The attorney prose-
cutting Major Waller did not attempt to
deny that the men shot were the false
guides. There was no doubt as to the guilt
Of the guides. That was undeniable. II
they had been tried they would have been
tried in ssmar by a court-martial Of which
Waller was the head. The verdict would
have been the same. The verdict must
Of needs have been the same. No record Is
preserved Of such an offense ever having
been coRdoned under martial law.
II Waller had ordered 9 cOurt-martial for
the guides who had been caught he would
have saved himself a lot Of trouble. He
would have also conformed to the letter
Of the law. But he would not have con-
formed any more nearly than he did to the
spirit Of the law.
But the armchair military experts are
clouding the issue by infusing into their
comments on Walters trial General Smiths
orders" that every native over 10 be shot.
That is another proposition. Yet because
OF the orders" Of Smith. Waller is being
called a monster. Waller did not execute
Smiths "orders." Waller condemned the
guides for a specific and objectionable
o~1ense. not because they were natives over
10,
II was not brought cut in the trial that
anybody obeyed the alleged orders" OF
General Smith. Smiths friends say that,
like other soldiers in campaign, he is
much given to hyperbole Of language. His
expressions are occasionally profaAe and
usually violent. Before he IL found guilty
as an Indian thug IN white skin, let II b
determined whether his "orders" we're en-
forced. and whether he as commanding
general made any effort ever 70 have then
enforced.