The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-06-03

and our children and our children's 3
children.
Just at this moment the army of the
United States, led by men who served
among you in the great war, is carry
ing to completion a small but peculiar
ly trying and difficult war in which is
involved not only the honor Of the
flag but the triumph of civilization
over forces which stand for the black
, chaos of savagery and barbarism. The
task has not been as difficult as yours,
but oh, my comrades, the men in the
uniform of the United States, who
have for the last three years patiently
and uncomplainingly champicned the
American cause in the Philippine
Islands, are your younger brothers,
your sons. They have shown them
selves not unworthy of you, and they
are entitled to the support of all men
who are proud of what you did.
ACTS OF BARBARITY.
These younger comrades of yours
have fought under terrible difficulties
and have received terrible provoca-
tion from a very cruel and very
treacherous enemy. Under the strain
of these provocations I deeply deplore
to say that some among them have so
far forgotten themselves as to counsel
and commit, in retaliation, acts of
cruelty. The fact that for every guilty
act committed by one of our troops a
hundred acts of far greater atrocity
have been committed by the hostile
natives upon our troops, or upon the
peaceable and law abiding natives who
are friendly to us, can not be held to
excuse any wrongdoer on our side. De-
termined and unswerving effort must
be made. to find out every instance Of
barbarity on the part of our troops, to
punish those guilty of it, and to take,
If possible, even stronger measures
than have already been taken to mini
mizc or prevent the occurance of ali
such instances in the future.
From time to time there occur in
our country, to deep and lasting shame
of our people, lynchings carried on
under circumstances of inhuman cruel
ty and barbarity-a cruelty verse than
any that has ever been committed by
our troops in the Philippines; worse
to the victims. and far more brutal
izing to those guilty of it. The men
who fail to condemn these lynchings,
and yet clamor about what has been
done in the Philippines, are indeed
guilty of neglecting the beam in their
own eye while taunting their brother
about the mote in his. Understand
me. These lynchings afford us no ex-
cuse for failure to stop cruelty in the
Philippines. Every effort is being
made and will be made, to minimize
the chances OF cruelt. occurring.
HAVE BEEN EXCEPTIONAL.
But keep in mind that these cruel
ties in the Philippines have been Who'll
ly exceptional, and have been shame
lessly exaggerated. We deeply and
bitterly regret that any such cruelties
should have been committed, no mat
ter how rarely, no matter under what
provocation, by American troops. But
they afford far less justification for a
general condemnation of our army
than these lynchings afford for the
condemnation of the communities in
which they have taken place In each
case it is well to condemn the deed,
and it Is we'll also to refrain from in
cluding both guilty and innocent in
the same sweeping condemnation
In every community there are people
who commit acts of well-nigh in
conceivable horror and baseness. II
we fix our eyes. only upon these indi-
viduals and upon their acts, and II we
forget the far more numerous citizens
Of upright and honest life and blind
ourselves to their countless deeds of
wisdom and justice and philanthropy,
1t Is easy enough to condemn the COM
munity. There is not a city in this
land which we could not thus con-
denim II we fixed our eyes purely upon
its police record and refused to look
at what 1t had accomplished for de-
cency and justice and charity. Yet
this Is exactly the attitude which has
been taken by too many men with
reference to our army in the Pilip-
pines; and 1t Is an attitude both alb
surd and cruelty unjust.
WILL PUNISH GUILTY.
The rules of warfare which have
been promulgated by the War Depart
ment and accepted as the basis of con.
duct by our troops in the field are the
rules laid down by Abraham Lincoln
when you, my hearers. were fighting
for the Union. These rules provide
OF. course, for the just severity neces-
sary in war. The most destructive of
all forms of cruelty would be to show
weakness where sternness Is demanded
by the iron need. But all cruelty is
forbidden, and all harshness beyond
what is called for by need. Our en-
emies In the Philippines have not mere
ly violated every rule of war. but
have made these violations their only
method Of carrying On the war. We
would have been justified by Abraham
Lincoln's rule Of war In infinitely
greater severity than has been shown.
The fact really is that our warfare In
the Philippines has been carried on
with singular humanity. For every
act Of cruelty by our men there have