tR,,, ROOT M. X... t O.Secretary Root shouldtactuponthea~dvice whichLadyl Macbeth gave the guests'at the phantom-haunted feast:: ^ S Stay not upon the order -f your going,-but go at once Secretary Root should have resigned- his high post; - ' some two months ago when it became evident that,., H had buried the Gardener report, and that in denyin- j: the torture charges preferred by CITY AND STATE he h f sent to the Senate and to the country a false and misleading statement relating to a grave public question. It mattered not whether Secretary Root made this false statement knowingly or ignorantly. In either event'the fact that he made it specifically, definitely showed him a man unfit for hight office.. The situation was clearly defined early last April when Riley and Smith's testimony showed the systematic and official use of the water torture. The President and Mr. Root then struck vigorously the tom-toms of an investigation, that has not yet come, but which has been persistently obstructed by the leading Republican lieutenants. One thing, however, was generally admitted: Mr. Rioot stood in an impossible position in view of his bold denial of facts which the evidence conclusively proved to be true. He had said there was no torture, that the war was humane, etc., while the evidence showed systematic- officiallydirected torture, and the issue of orders sohideously cruel that they were a disgrace to humanity. The corner in which Mr.-Root found himself was so hot that talk of his retirement became general. 'Logically, to save the President he must have retired had not Mont Pele'e s belched destruction just in the nick of time. What'a lucky diversion of popular interest it was! The humane spirit of the War Department, which could, kowmg for months of Ioo,ooo starved, fanine-smitten^-r.tfi ed Filipinos in Batangas take no'action, and be indifferent to the sufferings of thousands of tortured Filipinos, nw, -.. hurried a relief ship to the survivors of Martinique. A breathing space was happily afforded. 'Then the President wrote Bishop Lawrence, of Massachusetts, that no one was more anxious for a complete investigation than he, excepting- possibly Secretary Root! Mr. Root had. given various satisfactory and convincing evidences of just how anxious he was to get the truth to the light, and to punish the guilty. But only last week the Secretary of War gave further evidence of just what his real attitude in this'question was, and of his determination to ' block all real inquiry into the Philippine iniquities. For some weeks past Senator Culberson, of Texas, has been demanding from the War Department that the official papers in the Weir crtelty charges should belaid before the Senate.:Senatr Spooner success:fully - op posed the disclosure, only a.'fewc days before tie'truth:; w, min an unexpected way, broughnto- the day igh. *;. AlT * n A! P -- Mr. Root assured the majority Senators of the Philippine Committee that he had furnished all cases of alleged cruelty that wcre on record in the Department. Then early last.week Senator Culberson himself laid these very papers before the Senate which for weeks he had vainly tried to force the War Department to disgorge. We reprint them in this week's issue of CITY AND STATE from the "Congressional Record" of June 3d. They are hideous and revolting, but they should be carefully studied. The point to be remembered in this case is that the military authorities in the Philippines are responsible for these outrages, for the facts of the case, though fully established there, brought no punishment to the guilty men. Secretary Root became responsible for them, since he disregarded the recommendation of General Miles that there should be a court-martial. But what is the behavior of Secretary Root and of the Republican Senators when these revolting crimes are at length dragged to light, and w-hen Mr. Root's and the Philippine military authorities' criminal negligence is exposed? Do they cry pcccavi and ask to be forgiven, and do they offer to bring the criminals to punishment? Quite the contrary. They are shameless as ever. Instead of crying, Let those who committed these gross offenses be punished, and let those who should have brought them to justice and did not be driven from public position, they cry, Who is the criminal who revealed these crimes? C Who is the wicked man who exposed our turpitude, our evasions, our long concealments and denials of the truth? Lay on his shoulders the lash of our rage and the indignation of the public! It is a very old story, and it emits a very ancient and fish-like odor! It is not the first time that the thief, finding the danger of discovery imminent, cries, as he points to an innocent passer-by, "Stop thief!" thinking to direct suspicion from himself. MSr. Culberson has emphatically denied that he obtained the Weir papers directly or indirectly from General Miles. Where the papers were obtained is a minor point. What the papers reveal is the major point; and to it the American people must address themselves if they wish to preserve self-respect and to retain their good name. Those papers do but further substantiate the charge, long since made by CITY AND STATE, that hideous torture has been a policy under our flag in the Philippines to obtain a military end. "No lie thrives," and the lie.which has denied this charge will wither and die like myriads of its kind, notwithstanding all the endeavors of men high in place and power to imbue its brief insect existence with enduring life. And the conclusion of the matter is this: Secretary Root must take his hat, the instruments of his strange practices, and bid the Administration a lingering but final farewell. If he does not do this, after all that has happened, President Roosevelt, despite his bright 3 past and his promising future, must share inevitably the stigma of the man whose mistaken course brought a disgrace on his administration at its very threshold. THE WEIR CHARGES. Introductory to the papers in the Weir charges concerning cruelty in the Philippine Islands, Senator Culberson said: " Mr. President, on the 22d of May I introduced a resolution directing the Secretary of War to send to the Senate copies of the charges that had been preferred by Private Andrew K. Weir, of the Fourth Cavalry, against Lieutenant Arnold and Sergeant Edwards, of that regiment. The resolution went over from day to day for three or four days, on the objections made by the Senators from Wisconsin (Mr. Spooner) and Massachusetts (Mr. Lodge), they stating that they desired to make inquiry as to whether or not a court-martial had been ordered. During that period I asked the Senator from Massachusetts, who stated that a court-martial had been ordered, when the court-martial had been ordered? He answered that he was unable to state, because he did not know, and I stated that I had no objection to the court-. martial going over if the information as to when the court-martial was ordered would be given the next day in a communication from the Secretary of War. And so it went over. "Subsequently, Mr. President, on the 27th of May, the Senator from Massachusetts presented to the Senate a letter from the Secretary of War stating, without giving the date of the order, that a court-martial had been ordered in the case of Sergeant Edwards, but none in the case of Lieutenant Arnold, the charges as to that officer being still, as I understood it, under investigation. The resolution was then referred by vote to the Committee on the Philippines. "I do not charge, Mr. President, that there is any disposition on the part of the Secretary of War, or the Chairman of the Committee on the Philippines, to withhold permanently this information, but there are some matters connected with it which suggest that there is a disposition somewhere to withhold at this time the information contained in these charges, and in my judgment there is enough in the "Record" to suggest at least that a court-martial was ordered in this case since the resolution was presented to the Senate. (Italics ours.) "In view of all the circumstances as they have come into my possession since the resolution was introduced, I desire to have read by the Secretary a copy of the charges made by Private Andrew K. Weir and a copy of the report of Captain P. W. West thereon. The first paper I will ask to have read is a copy of the charges." The Secretary of the Senate then read as follows: 4 "BALAYAN, BATANGAS PROVINCE, LUZON, P. I., April 0o, I90o. "MY DEAR UNCLE: You are a free American citizen, and as such you are entitled to know how our government is carried on. I have something to inform you about. It is the terrible cruelty practised upon Filipino prisoners by American soldiers in these islands. First, I want to know if the Constitution of the United States e and international law does not prohibit torture. "We soldiers are representatives of a civilized nation sent out to these islands to 'civilize' a so-called lot of savages. These people, are not nearly so uncivilized as is supposed. You probably have read about some of our men being put to death by horrible torture, but what can you expect when we do equally as bad to our prisoners? *Has any court the right to force any prisoner to confess, no matter how many crimes'the prisoner is supposed to have committed? When I sav force I mean to force by torture. The arms of the United States in the Philippines is representing the law of the United States. But whether or not it is proper to torture a man-, itis done anyway, and under the orders of commissioned officers. I have heard men of other regiments make their boasts of how they have made captured insurgents tell where their arms were, but never witnessed the torture but once. "The instance that I have reference to occurred about two months ago. I told the officer that he had to stop it or I would report him to higher authority. He said he would not practise it anyr more, so I never informed on him; but now I have information about him doing the same, and even worse, nearly every day. "While I was one of a detachment of 24 men doing garrison duty in the town of Pasay, 3 miles from Manila, a native man about 2I years ot age was arrested and accused of being a murderer, highway robber, and accused of rape. Now, whether the man was guilty or not I do not know, but anyway Lieutenant F. T. Arnold, for he was the officer in command, gave orders to Sergeant Edwards, both of Troop H, Fourth Cavalry, to take the man to the basement of our quarters and get what information he could out- of the man. So Edwards took the man and asked him if he had any information to give. The man had none. Edwards said to the rest of the soldiers who had congregated to witness the 'fun' that he would have to commence operations. The prisoner was stripped naked and laid on his back on the bare floor. He was then given the 'water cure.' A rough stick about 8 inches long and a half inch in diameter was put between the man's jaws. A soldier held the man's head down by pressing on the ends of the stick. Another sat on the man's stomach, and still another sat on the man's legs. Edwards had a bucket of water at hand. Water was poured down the man until it was vomited up. It was then repeated. This water cure must be a terrible torture alone. The man heaved and begged for mercv, but to no avail. While down he was whipped 5 and beaten unmercifully. He was then stood up and asked to confess. He did not. He was then beaten and clubbed again. I do not think that a square inch of the man's body was left untouched. He was kicked. A rope was then thrown across a beam. The man was strung up by the thumbs. Another rope was tied to his ankles and his feet jerked from under him. While up he was beaten. "All this time I was a looker-on. I hoped that the punishment would stop. I dared not interfere. But when the man was strung up by the neck I could stand it no longer, so I went to the lieutenant. Before I went to him -I did not know that he had given orders to Edwards to torture the man if he did not confess. I told Arnold that I was an- American and that there was something going on at the quarters that I could not stand. He jumped all over me and asked if I was not making myself very busy. I said I was not; that such carryings on were against all law. He said, in a very sarcastic manner, that I knew such a lot about law. He said that a lot of men in the army, especially volunteers, think that they know how to run an army, but they do not. He said: 'Now, when I give a man to Sergeant Edwards, I want information. I do not know how he gets it, but he gets the information anyhow.' He said that these people have no feelings other than physical and should not be treated as human beings. I told Arnold that I did not come to,get any one in trouble, but merely to have the torture stopped, that if it were not stopped I would report the matter to higher authority. I was then threatened with court-martial for insubordination. About this time Edwards came in and said that he had succeeded in making the man tell where the money was. Arnold told Edwards to take the man with him and get the money. I told Arnold that as the torture was finished I would not report the matter if it were not repeated. He promised not to do it again. I then left him. "The prisoner did not show where the money was. He had only said that -he would show the hiding-place to have the torture stopped. Three weeks later the prisoner was released. Now, that was criminal of Arnold.If the man was guilty he should not be released. If guilty he should not be tortured anyway. - The rest of the time that I was with the detachment under Arnold no torture was committed that I know of. " Now Arnold has a detachment of 20 men at Calaca, 7 miles from here. Men that are under him now have told me that Arnold is having men tortured the same as before and other ways besides. This is one of his new ways: A strip of flesh is cut just above the ankle of the prisoner; it is then attached to a stick; the stick is coiled with the strip of flesh. Imagine the torture the poor man must endure! I am told that when Arnold is out looking for some criminal or suspected insurgent he will grab, or have his men grab, any native and ask for 6 information. If the man gives no information, he is put to all kinds of torture. I saw the man that was cut at the ankle. I was over at Calaca the other day. He had his leg all bound up and was out in the road with other prisoners working. Last week a part of this troop, a part of the Calaca detachment, and some of the soldiers from Taal were out in the mountains. I was not along, but have been told by several men that Arnold had his men take an old man to a stream and keep him under water until the man was unconscious. This was because the old man did not give certain information that he was supposed to possess. " Men of H Troop have told me that they have known Arnold to have a man tied to a saddled horse. A few feet of slack was allowed. A man was then mounted on the horse and told to gallop down the road for a mile and then back. If the prisoner could run as fast as the horse it was all well, put if he could not he had to drag. Arnold had had this done several times, and more than once the prisoner was dragged. "Now, I have witnesses for all that I have written about, and should there ever be an investigation of this I will be perfectly willing to be put upon the stand. I know other men that would be willing to do the same. I believe that most of the officers and enlisted men in the army are humane, but those that practise what Arnold has should be brought to justice. It would do me no good to report this matter through army channels, as it would only be hushed up and then I would get the worst of it. Now, I am writing this letter to you; you are a close relation of mine, and for that reason I believe I can write anything. I think that you should bring this before the proper persons. "Lieutenant Frederick T. Arnold was appointed to West Point from Iowa in I893. He graduated from West Point in 1897 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Sixth Cavalry. He is-now second lieutenant of Troop H, Fourth Cavalry. I hope that the proper people of the United States will take hold of this case and have all torture in these islands stopped. "Well, my dear uncle, as I have already written so much on this subject, I will not write about other subjects. I am in fine health, and hope that you are the same. Give my love to all. "I remain, your loving nephew, "ANDREW K. WEIR, JR., "Troop C, Fourth United States Cavalry, Balayan, P. I." "OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL, "DEPARTMENT OF NORTHERN LUZON, " MANILA, P. I., August 27, I901. "THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF NORTHERN LuzoN. "Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report of the investigation made by me into the complaint of Private Andrew K. Weir, Troop C, Fourth Cavlir'y, against Lieutenant F. T. Arnold, Fourth Cavalry,\ in regard to the cruelties practised by Lieutenant Arnold upon native prisoners at Pasay and Calaca, Luzon: " Sergeant George Schurman, Troop B, Fourth Cavalry, stated that he had witnessed the punishment of the prisoner at Pasay and that the facts were correctly stated in Private Weir's letter to his uncle. The prisoner was choked, beaten, hung up by the thumbs, and then by the neck, and given the water cure, and was whipped with rattans, this whipping being so severe as to bring blood on the prisoner's legs. That this punishment was all inflicted by Sergeant Edwards and three native policemen. "Private George Bowers, Troop B, Fourth Cavalry, stated that he had only heard of the punishment of the prisoner at Pasay. I believe this man knows more about the cruel treatment of prisoners at Pasay and Calaca than he stated, but the departure of his troop for the United States prevented me from examining him thoroughly. "Private James B. Barry, Third Cavalry, formerly of Troop B, Fourth Cavalry, stated that he witnessed the treatment of the prisoner at Pasay and-that it was brutal. He corroborated the statement of Private Weir in regard to this prisoner's treatment. " He stated that Sergeant Edwards often talked of the way he had beaten native prisoners. He stated that ~ while corporal of the guard near Taal he had charge of about 50 native prisoners and that he had orders to turn them over to Sergeant Edwards w._never he wanted them, and that Lieutenant Arnold told Sergeant Edwards in his (Barry's) presence that he could take them out whenever he wanted to and to get what information he could out of them, and that Sergeant Edwards and the native scouts frequently' took out one or two, prisoners and would keep them out from half and hour to an hour. He did not know whether or not they werefbadly treated while out with Sergeant Edwards. "Corporal George E. West, Troop B, Fourth Cavalry, stated that while corporal of the guard at Calaca he had seen native prisoners brought to the guardhouse whose shins looked like they had been rubbed with a stick, but he did not know how they got in this condition. "Corporal S. J. Peterson,.Troop B, Fourth Cavalry, stated that he did not know personally that native prisoners had been cruelly treated, but the general impression among the men at Calaca was that Sergeant Ed* ' wards was torturing these prisoners, and had Lieutenant Arnold's permission to do so. "Corporal Charles Austin, Troop B, Fourth Cavalry, s4ated that he was stationed with the detachment at Calaca under command of Lieutenant Arnold, and that. his (Austin's) quarters were very near where the scouts under command of Sergeant Edwards lived; that he had v8" Ocei Sergeant Edwards take native prisoners from the guardhouse to the scouts' quarters and shortly thereafter heard cres and groans coming from these quarters; that he saw them take one prisoner from the guardhouse to the scouts' quarters, and when he was returned to the guardhouse his shins looked as though they had been scraped with a stick. He did not know whether or not Lieutenant Arnold knew that prisoners were being badly treated, but the impression was that he knew all about it. " Private John Tuck, Troop B, Fourth Cavalry, states that while stationed at Calaca he had seen, through the windows of the scouts' quarters, prisoners beingwhipped with rattans by Sergeant Edwards and the scouts; that while on detached service near Calaca with Sergeant Edwards and the scouts he saw them abuse and beat an old mar and mnade them stop it; that Sergeant Edwards took the prisoner off into the brush after this, and he (Tuck) heard two shots, and then Sergeant Edwards came back without the prisoner and stated tnat he had had a fight with the prisoner and showed where he had been bitten on the arm and said ' He will be down there a long time.' Private Tuck did not know if the prisoner had been killed nor whether Lieutenant Arnold knew about the prisoners being badly treated. "Private James M. Whitney, Troop B, Fourth Cavalry, stated that he was a member of the detachment at Calaca under command of Lieutenant Arnold, and that while in the scouts' quarters one day he saw a native prisoner on the floor, and that the prisoner was bucked, and the scouts, in the presence of Sergeant Edwards, were rubbing the prisoner's legs with a broomstick, and that this treatment was brutal; that while on detached service with Sergeant Edwards and the scouts near Calaca he saw them beat a native in a brutal manner; that Sergeant Edwards told him that Lieutenant Arnold knew all about the way the natives were being treated. Private WhitneyWstated that Private Reeves and Graham, of Troop C, Fourth Cavalry, could tell all about the inhuman treatment of prisoners at Calaca. "I was informed that Privates Fielding, St. Clair, and Taylor, of' B '.Troop, Fourth Cavalry, could also give testimony on this subject, but the departure of the troop for the United States prevented me from finishing this X investigation. "I believe that a thorough investigation into this matter will substantiate the charges made by Private Weir, that prisoners were treated in a cruel and harsh manner and that Lieutenant Arnold winked at this treatment. "Very respectfully, "P. W. WEST, "Captain, Fifth Cavalry, Inspector-General Department of Northern Luzon."