The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1908-10-14
PROPHETIC WORDS.
Statement of Lawton Like an Ae-
cusation From the Grave.


cusation From the Grave.
Among the many gallant American
soldiers whose lives were sacrificed in
the difficult task of suppressing the
Filipino insurrection none was more
beloved either by his brother officers
or the men in the ranks than General
Henry W. Lawton. He realized the
ideal American soldier as completely
as any of his contemporaries, and his
record in the war for the Union, in w
rious Indian campaigns, in Cuba dIr
ing the Spanish war and in trying
work which called him to the Philip
pines constitutes a lustrous chapter in
the annals of American valor No
Drawer officer ever wore his countrys
uniform. No gentler, more considerate
commander ever led his troops into
battle. No more chlvalric leader ever
gave up his life in defense of his coun.
try's flag.
General Lawton was killed in battle
with insurrectos in the island of Luzon
in 1900 while fighting at the head OF
his troops A short time before the
tragic close of his career he had writ
ten to a friend in the United States
letter, in which he said:
"If | am shot by a Filipino bullet il
might as we'll come from one Of my
own men, because know from 90
serVation, confirmed by captured Pris-
oners, that the continuance of fighting
is chiefly due to reports that are sent
out from America"
The words of Lawton, fighting a
treacherous foe in a tropical country.
were meant as a protest against the
unpatriotic "antl-imperialist" agitators
here in the United States, where ex
pressions Of sympathy for the insur
rection gave constant aid and comfort
to the enemy. Army officers Of high
character and rugged experience IN
the Philippines have frequently ex-
pressed the opinion that the insurrec-
ton would not have lasted ninety days
had it not been for the support, moral
and otherwise, which its leaders re-
ceived from their sympathizers in
America.
Chief among those sympathizers, the
insistent and most reckless Of all, was
William Jennings Bryan, and against
him the prophetic words Of the lament
ed Lawton stand like an accusation
from the grave For his unpatriotic
course during the Filipino instruction
Mr. Bryan lacked even the shadow of
an excuse. He had entered the mill
tary service during the Spanish war as
volunteer officer, and he knew that
the war and the Instruction in the is
lands could be concluded only with the
unqualified recognition of American
authority wherever 1t was asserted
But in spite of that he encouraged the
Filipino to continue in armed resist
ance, and his reckless expressions un-
doubtedly helped to prolong a desper
ate and costly struggle which he knew
in his heart could never end except in
the way it was ended. Mr. Bryan's
conduct throughout that conflict, which
cost so much alike to the United States
and to the deluded Filipinos them
selves, amounted to moral treason, and
it will never be forgiven by the sur
vivors Of those gallant men from whom
it exacted the last full measure of sac
riflce in devotion to duty.
The words of Lawton will confound
Mr. Bryan every time he opens his
mouth to speak on the Philippines in
the present campaign. He cannot es-
cape them They indict him for giving
aid and comfort to the armed enemies
of American authority and they brand
him as a man who openly encouraged
a desperate uprising against the Gag In
defense Of which Lawton died.