Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1902-04-15

Every few weeks some new story
comes across the Pacific to show the
growing decentralization which is
Spreading among our own soldiers
from the un-Amer:ean character of the
cause in which they are fighting.
First came the story Of the capture
of Aguinaldo, an exploit from whose
record there peeped out an uncorlfort-
able glimpse OF calculating treacnery.
Then came tales of desperate enc9un-
tiers between Americans equipped with
magazine rifles and Filipinos armed
with bolos, in which the glorious vic
tory of the magazine rifles was unpleas-
antly married by the mo quarter" Civ
en- to the bolomen.
Next we heard of the bland introduc-
ton of Recommendation camps" into
those happy isles for the naive purpose
of starving the struggling object of our
beneyolence into wanting peace and
wanting it badly" Here cruelty no
longer peered through the glamour of
daring adventure or the glory of un-
equal combat, but stood forth naked and
not overmuch ashamed.
The next news that came to us was
of American soldiers seeking relaxation
and entertainment by tormenting ma
tive prisoners with the water torture"
Somewhat in the nature of an anti
climax was the subsequent tale
of the amusements of Major Wal
Ter, which consisted in using de-
fenseless native guides for clay
pigeons and incidentally shooting them
to death. The last instaIment to hand
of this instructive serial of moral de
generation wildly describes how an
American officer, a lieutenant of the
oil Ifh In 20 HI
in the agony of 'niggerS," tortured to
death Private Edward Richter by the
ingenerious device of allowing ice
water to fall upon his face drop by drop.
What will be the next act IN this trag-
edy of the transformation of good men
into infamous by their employment in
military adventure alien to the genins
and traditions of their country From
n. Y. World, April Z.
1.-THE next act" was not long delayed
On April 9th the following news dispatch
was published in all the daily papers
"MANILA. April S-Major Littleton w.
r. Waller of the marine corps at today's
session of the court-mariial, by which
he is being tried on the charge of eX
ecuting natives of Samar without trial,
testified in robuttal of the evidence Civ
en- yesterday by General Jacob II.
Smith, who commanded the American
troops in the island of Samar. The
major said General Smith instructed
him to kill and burn, said that the more
he killed and burned the better pleased
he would be, that it was 40 time to take
prisoners and that he was to make 'Sa-
mar a bowling wilderness.
Major Waller asked General Smith to
define the age limit for killing and he
replied everything over 10
Captain David ID. Porter, Captain
Hiram j. Bearss and Lieutenant Frank
Halford, all of the marine corps, testi-
fled in corroboration.'
The devilishness of censorship is
proven by these things. Little by little,
a scrap of news here and there, has
leaked out. 1t was idiotic to attempt
permanent concealmeut. Such con-
cealment as has been successful thus
far has only given opportunity for the
disgrace to grow black, while the Amer
lean people have been kept in lgnor-
ance. Now, if the court cried martiasl
and publicity shall take the place of
censorship, those who have continued
tocry out against the Philippine enorm-
titles will not have craved altogether
vainly.