^A 685 .576 1906 yvm ji', Labadan Family of the Philippines i>' '; in honor of W,|l^ Mario M. Labadan, Ph.D. '69 and Mario C. Labadan, Jr. MS '96 P v^ I- A W :i^5> '0 3 1924 101 927 139 Cbc jVToro JMaesacrc LETTER BY MOORFIELD STOREY, ESQ., PRESI- DENT OF THE ANTI- IMPERIALIST LEAGUE YOU ARE EARNESTLY ASKED TO HAND THIS AFTER READING TO SOM^ OTHER PERSON WHO WILL ALSO GIVE IT CAREFUL CONSIDERATION Anti-Imperialist Leairue, 20 Central Street, Boston, Mass. THE nORO HASSACRE. Letter by Moovfield Storey, Esq., President of the Anti- Imperialist League. The cable from Manila brings us the news of an exploit by which, in the words of the President, our soldiers "have upheld the honor of the American flag" and over which this civilized Christian nation is expected to rejoice. What is it ? The island of Jolo is one of the smaller Philippine islands. Its area by the last encyclopaedia is given at 333 square miles, and its population cannot be large, as the same authority gives the population of the whole Sulu archipelago, consisting of 188 islands, with a total area of 2029 square miles^ as 32,620. In a crater at the top of a steep mountain were gathered a body of Moros, or, as Gen. Wood in his official report says, the position was "defended by an invisible army of Moros." This place was attacked by our troops, and, to quote the ofiBcial report, "all the defenders of the Moro stronghold were killed. Six hundred bodies were found on the field. * * * The action resulted in the extinction of a band of outlaws." What was their ofEence? Gen. Wood describes it by saying that they were men "who, recognizing no chief, had been raiding friendly Moros, and who, owing to their defiance of the American authorities, had stirred up a dangerous state of affairs." A later unofficial report says that "the families of the Moros remained in the villages located in the centre of the crater at the apex of the mountain, and the women and children mingled with the warriors during the bat- tle to such an extent that it was impossible to discrimi- nate, and many were killed in the fierce onslaught." The severity of the resistance may be gathered from the fact that though the Moros are described as having an almost impregnable position, our forces lost only 18 killed and 52 wounded. No prisoners were taken. No wounded remained alive when the conflict was over and 600 human beings were slain •without rrtercy. Not even women and chil- dren in the villages were spared. -Every American must regret deeply when any of our brave countrymen are killed or wounded, but that regret must be far greater when they are sent to their deaths for such work as this. Suppose we had heard that the British had dealt thus with a Boer force, that the Turks had so attacked and slaughtered Armenians, that colored men had so inas- sacred white men, or even that 600 song birds had been slaughtered for their plumage, would not our papers hav6 been filled with protests and expressions of horror ? They "recognized no chief and had been raiding friendly Moros." What was their side of the story? No man lives to tell it. They have been exterminated. Is it possible that this is all the greatest and freest nation in the world, as we like to believe ourselves, can do for a people over whom wo insist on extending our benev- olent sway? This outrage unha})pily is only one in a series. The bloody record of Philippine conquest tells of many bat- tles where Filipinos were killed, but none were wounded and no prisoners were taken; of systematic torture, of villages destroyed by wholesale, of cruel reconcentra- tions, of brutality in every form. The responsibility for this cruel policy — certainly the responsibility for this last crime — is with the President and the secretary of war. If they had really desired to stop this work, they could have done it, but they have taken the opposite course. Save Gen. Smith, who was made a scapegoat when the public conscience was aroused by the horrors •of Samar, no officer has been punished for cruelty. Bell, Waller, Howse and others who were the immediate actors have been honored and promoted. Miles, Hunter and others who pleaded for humaner methods have been discredited and abused. Brutality has *been rewarded, humanity has been punished. The President now con- gratulates Gen., Wood on his "brilliant feat of arms" and praises this wholesale murder. It is idle to claim that it was a battle. There is no body of men, women or children not one of whom will ask for mercy. In no desperate battle are losses so unequal. The spirit which slaughters brown men in Jolo is the spirit which lynches black men in the South. When such crimes go unpunished^ far more when the men who commit them are praised and rewarded, the youth of the country is taught an evil lesson. Eace prejudice is strengthened and the love of justice, the corner-stone of free institutions, is weakened. When a man is lynched the community which tolerates tJie offence suffers more than the victim. .When we honor brutality in our army we brutalize ourselves. Our colleges have failed if they have not taught a better civilization than this, our churches have failed if this is their Christianity, ' These Mores were robbers, it is said. Alas, what are we ? We who ,went as their allies and friends, who made a treaty with them to be kept while it suited our convenience and then repudiated, and who now have robbed them of their country, their freedom and finally of their lives. Have they ever injured us that we in- vade their little island and kill them in their homes? "They do not know how to govern themselves." That is our excuse, and how do we govern them? We have shown them how little we regard our agreements, and when they "stir up a dangerous state of affairs" we exterminate them. Thus we teach the Filipinos what American civilization means. This nation cannot escape the inexorable law, which was stated by Emerson, "The dice of God are always loaded. * * * Every crime is punished. * * * Every wrong redressed in silence and certainty." Why must we persist in a policy which is repugnant to all our beliefs, which has lowered- all our standards, which brings us no material profit, which has reduced the unhappy Filipinos to misery and which has placed upon our flag so many indelible stains of which the blood shed in the massacre of Jolo is the latest ! Are we so low that we must applaud such deeds ? The responsibility for them in the last resort rests upon the American people. They cannot shift it to their servants unless they condemn such acts. Their silence is approval. Their approval makes them partners in the erimc MOOEFIELD STOEBY, President Anti-Imperialist League. You are earnestly ashed to hand this after reading to some other person who will also give it careful con- sideration. Anti-Tmperialist League, 20 Ceiitrnl Street, Boston, Mass. The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://archive.org/details/cu31924101927139