Secretary Root's record. "Marked severities" in Philippine warfare. An analysis of the law and facts bearing on the action and utterances of President Roosevelt and Secretary Root.

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ADAMS BUILDING,
23 COURT ST.,
BOSTON.
AUGUST 29, 1902.
MESSRS. MOORFIELD STOREY AND JULIAN CODMAN,
BOSTON, MASS.
Gentlemen:
In the course of a speech delivered yesterday at Weirs, N.H.,
President Roosevelt is reported as having used the following language: "The army, which has done its work so well in the Philippine Islands, has... been cruelly maligned even by some who
should have known better.... The temptation to retaliate for the
fearful cruelties of a savage foe is very great, and now and then it
has been yielded to. There have been a few, and only a few, such
instances in the Philippines; and punishment has been meted out with
unflinching justice to the offenders."
In an official communication of the Hon. Elihu Root, Secretary
X of War, under date of February 17 last, is the following:"The war in the Philippines has been conducted by the American
- army with scrupulous regard for the rules of civilized warfare, with
careful and genuine consideration for the prisoner and the non-conbatant, with self-restraint, and with humanity never surpassed."
In his speech at Arlington on Decoration Day, so called, in May
last, President Roosevelt said, "Determined 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 minimize or prevent the occurrence of all such instances in the future."
As a Committee, we submit the foregoing statements to you, with
a view to ascertaining whether they will bear examination so far as the
rules of warfare, as generally accepted, are concerned, or are in conformity with the facts as they have been elicited by investigation or
appear of record.
Furthermore, we would ask you to advise us, in so far as can be
ascertained, whether satisfactory or complete revelations could have