THE PHILIPPINE ATROCITIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7391, 1 May 1902, Page 2

THE PHILIPPINE ATROCITIES.

THE CAUSE OF THE PRESENT INQUIRY. In the "Springfield (Massachusetts) Recorder" there recently appeared the text of a petition which it was intended to present to the United States Congress: praying for an investigation into the conduct of the war in the Philippines. The petition apparently led! to the appointment of a Commission, whose inquiries, according to the cable, has substantiated the. greater part, of the charges made. After reviewing the attitude of the United States towards Cuba, and the denunciations of the inhuman methods of the Spanish which Congressmen had made, the document proceeds to describe the doings in the Philippines as follows:— . ■ " Under conditions not- differing from those whioh confronted Spain, and for the very reasons which in her case we held insufficient, the Government of the United States seems to have adopted the same policy. In the * Manila News,' an American pager publis&ed in Manila, which cordially supports the course which it chronicles, appeared' the following statement on, Nov. 4 last: — ' " The transport Lawton returned yesterday afternoon from a two weeks' cruise, touching at Catbalogan, Cebu, PerangPerang, and Dayo. On her outward passage she took 200 Ilocano scouts for' the Samar service. On the arrival of the Law-' ton at Catbalogan, Brigadier-General Smith hadl been at Samar about ten days, and his strong policy was already making itself felt. He had already ordered all natives to present themselves in • certain of the coast towns, saying that those who were found outside would be shot and no questions asked. The time limit had expired when the Lawtoa reached Catbaiogatt, and General Smith was as good! as his word. His policy of reconcentration is said to be the most effective thing of the kind ever seen in these islands under any flag. All suspects, including Spaniards and halfbreeds, were rounded up in big stockades and kept under guard. Among these were numerous presidents of some towns' on the western coast of Samar, who assisted in smuggling rill to the insurrectqs. A number of these rascals were gathered in and made to give up the proceeds of their traffic, amounting to thousands of dollars, which were confiscated. " Samar, according to the ' American Encyclopedia,' in 1881 had a poulation of over 250,000 persons and an area of over 5000 square miles. These figures enable us to understand what General Smith's orders meant. The 'Philadelphia Public Ledger,' one of the oldest and most respected newspapers in Philadelphia, is in political sympathy with the administration. In a recent letter to that journal from its correspondent in Manila, who is evidently not a hostile critic, occurs the Moving passage : — " The present war is no bloodless, fake, opera bouffe engagement; our men have been relentless, have killed to exterminate men, women, children, prisoners and. cap"tives, active insurgents and suspected people from lads of ten up, an idea prevailing that the Filipino as such was little better than a cog, a noisome reptile in some instances, whose best disposition was the rubbish heap. Our soldiers have pumped salt water into men to ' make them talk,' have taken prisoners people who held up their hands and peacefully surrendered, and an hour later, without an atom of evidence to show that they were even insurrectos, stood them on a bridge and shot down one by one, to drop into the water below and float down, as examples to those who found their bullet-loaded corpses. It is not civilised warfare ; but we are not dealing with a civilised people. The only thing they know and fear is force, violence and brutelitv. and we give it to them. The new military plan of settling the trouble by setting them at each other is one that looks promising. We have now sent a thousand Maccabeans to Samar to avenge the treacherous murder of Company C of the 9tb Infanta-. They are hereditary enemies of the ladrones, and; go forth to the slaughter gaily. "Statements like this constantly recur in private communications from the islands and in the letters of newspaper correspondents. They find a ghastly confirmation in the official reports of Filipino losses, m which the killed many times exceed t.be wounded ; and they are not contradicted. If any official attempt has been made to prevent these cruelties or punish their authors it has not been made known to us. If tnese charges are not true the honour of the country requires that their falsity should be proved. . " The Filipinos hare asked us again and a»ain to hear them— have beeged that some of their leaders might be allowed to visit the United States, and here in person state their position. This humble petition has been denied. We strike but will not hear.