Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-05-22
The Attacks on the Army.


vigor and bitterness against our army
in the Philippines? These attacks
have been fewer Of late, for it has |
been plain to tho Democrats that they |
were making a mistake in attacking |
the soldiers and throwing mud at the
flag, but they are still kept up in some
quarters. Have :ney left our army in
a bad light before the world. disgraccd
by it's cruel practices. and shown to
be unfit for serTice beyond our home
shores? Not q All. We feel that the
attacks and the resulting investigation
have shown our army to be worthy
the flag it fights under and worthy the
united support and the cordial Co
oneration of our people as it was in
'1f. auI '61 and '9S. The army in the
Philippines is the same army that has
been doing such splendid work in
Cuba. 4 work WI Sc peaceful triumphs
have been as notable as any ever seen
in war
What has all this talk of the in
humanity" OF our troops in the Philip
pines amounted to? There was the
water cure" about which so much
was said. There We're undoubtedly
cases where American soldiers. to get
information from prisoners, used this
form or torture which they found in
vogue among the Filipinos. But it APP
pears that these cases were isolated
and were grossly exaggerated, the
same incidents being recited over and
over again, and much enlarged upon.
We have had in the Philippines 100000
men, more or less. operating often in
small detachmonts, and frequently
surrounded by treacherous and cruel
enemies who would present a friend
~ aspect one day only to contrive an
ambuscade the rext, and to inflict I'M
speakable tortures uron wounded men
and prisoners. The practice in ques-
ton never was countenanced by re-
sponsible commanders; on the con-
trary men who have been convicted of
il have been court martialed, and
trials Of this sort are now in progress.
How it came about is thus told by
Governor General Taft. a man whose
humane impulses no one viii question:
The army, Of course. has it weak
and brutal men. and in such guerrilla
fighting. with detacnments shot down
from ambush and bodies of soldiers
nutilated. it is not strange that
young officers, desiring to prevent loss
Of further men and the death Of them
selves amid such treachery, should re-
sort to every legitimate means to en-
deavor to find where guns We're hid by
the treacherous Zoe, ana if they found
in vogue a system of torture among
the Filipinos, which the Spanards, too.
had used. Is It str1ngc that human ma
ture weakened, and that they took
steps which have startled the Amer
lean people, This does noe excuse
the practice which is indeed mex
cusable: but il explains it. What is
important to remember regarding it is
that it has not been characteristic Of
American soldiers as a whole, and that
the scattered instances Of it have been
severely dealt with by the military au-
thorities in the islands
Then there were the changes of a
certain Mayor Gardener which fur
nished a text FOR ! vast amount Of
Democratic oratory in the Senate.
They didn't ex ictly know what the
changes wer" hat they assumed they
were something horrible and conclu-
sive. When the Specifications were
received in Washington they were lit
tie more than pucrile and laughable.
They touched mainly on trivial matters
and We're largely based on heresay.
Only one officer was mentioned by
ment for insanity The proceedings
touched upon deserve condemnation, if
the officers or men named and referred
to were guilty, but they were not
horrors and were hardly worth even
the Democratic eloquence based upon
them. Mayor Gardeners charges have
sunk into obscuIity.
Then there was the alleged conduct
of General Smith and Mayor Waller in
Samar. The campaign in Samar was
hard and stern one: it had to be.
But the much discussed kill and
burn order has never been produced,
and there is not a particle of evidence
to show that there was a solitary act
committed by tho American troops not
warranted by the articles of war. The
harshest thing shown is the shooting
OF native guides who led our troops
INTO trap. and they deserved to be
shot As to Mayor Waller and Gen
eral Smith. they have been tried and
acquitted by a court-martial in full
possession of all the evidence. This
may not be conclusive. but il strikes
the American people that il is more so