The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1902-05-09
KILL ALL ABOVE TEN YEARS.

kill ALL ABOVE TEN YEARS"
Representative Joseph c. Sibley, of
Pennsylvania, staunch Republican
and supporter of the administration,
took occasion to make a caustic de-
nunciation of the methods ofGcneral
Jacob II. Smith, the American officer
who admitted the authorship of the
order to "kill all above ten years, in
the campaign of Samar.
In opening, Mr.. Sibley said that he
had been an expansionist and de.
Tended the policy Of the administra-
ton in the acquisition Of the Philip
pines. Duty and honor he said justi-
fled the American position there.
The commercial welfare ofthe Nation
demanded that this country should
control that Archipelago which
stands as the gateway to the ORR
entail world. He then continues:
"When 1 have heard the statements
made that we were cruel i'll the con-
duct of that war l have thought,
perhaps, the partisan was speaking.
But when 1 have read, as | have
within the last As hours, that gen.
eral wearing the uniform ofthe army
of the United States, one who stands
under the shadow of our flag, issues
orders, not to conciliate a province,
but to leave it 'howling wilderness
and to kill all above 10 years of age,
then it seems to me that humanity
must have marched backward for Is
centuries and that Herod again APP
pears. / have read of Timour, the
Tartar, l have read of Achilles; |
have read of the Saracen scourge,
but thank God that since the tragic
scene on Calvary it has taken ! s CEN
turtles to produce Smith. l have
read of the water cure l believe
that was exaggerated. Can any
man whose blood bounds in his
pulses, any man who has read his
Bible or who has been reared at the
knee of a Christian woman, justify
the preparation of such cruelties
upon another man who wears the
guise and the image of his Creator?
And yet we hear this man attempt
ing to Justify acts by which men are
pumped so full of water nearly to
drown them and then brought back
to life by humping them on the
stomach with the butts of muskets.
"That isnot civilization; that is not
Outstanding the world. l am
thankful that these are sporadic
cases. Against that as man who
belongs, | hope, not alone to the Re-
publican ranks, but to the whole
brotherhood of man the wide world
round, want the members of this
House, on this side of the chamber
and that, to voice their protest
against all such measures.
"a friend of mine said a few minutes
ago, oh, you had better wait and
hear his defense l hope the Presi-
dent of the United States will have
the courage, upon what the man ad-
mits, to discharge him dishonorably
from the service that he has dis
graced. He admits that he issued
the order to leave the province a
bowling waste and wilderness,a and
to kill all above 10 years of age, the
innocent with the guilty. That man
never ought to be permitted to stay
in the service of the United States
until the sun goes down. He is
disgrace not alone to the party, but
to every man who ever wore the uni
form of the United States, and he is
blot and disgrace to our present
civilization.
"Wait and hear what his justifca-
ton may be! That man does not
live who can justify such orders. |
care not how adroitly his lawyers
may frame their plea or how subtle
be their reasoning, the fact admitted
by his own mouth that he issued such
orders is sufficient for the hope that
there is the courage and the patriot
ism and the humanity and the Chris
tianity at the other end ofthe avenue
that will not let him wear the Federal
uniform "a hours hence"
Mr.. Sibley was frequently inter-
rupted during his speech with rounds
ofapplause and when he had finished
Representative John S. Williams, of
Mississippi, stated that he heartily
agreed with the sentiments of the
Representative from Pennsylvania
and proceeded to arraign General
Smith on his own account. Resolu-
tions were introduced calling upon
the secretary of war for the informa-
ton as to who is primarily response
BILE for the orders that General Smith
is alleged to have issued and which
by the public press he is alleged to
have admitted to have issued. A
copy of the orders was also called
for by separate resolution.