Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 20.pdf/335

 248

THE GREEN BAG

THE ROAD TO JAIL BY JAMES H. BLOUNT IN the fall of 1903 an insurrection against American authority had been in progress in the Province of Albay, Philippine Islands, for about a year. About October, if the writer recollects correctly, this insurrection culminated in the surrender of "General" Simeon Ola, with all his forces, consisting of about 600 men. Ola claimed that his surrender was made with the understanding that he and his people were not to be severely dealt with. The government, on the other hand, claimed that his surrender was unconditional, and therefore it insisted upon indicting him and all his followers under the criminal statutes relating to offenses against public order. These statutes varied in severity. The earlier ones were enacted by the insular government shortly after Judge Taft took charge. They dealt with crimes concededly political, denning and fixing penalties for sedition and kindred transgressions. The later statutes were prompted by the persistence of the Filipinos in waging a sort of guerrilla warfare, con ducted by small bands acting independently of each other, long after the organized fighting had ceased. When the backbone of an insurrection is once broken, and further resistance has become hopeless, such further resistance is per sc a crime against the peace of the world. War is hell at best. The shorter a war, the more humane it is, pro vided it entail no violation of the " Laws of war," such as refusing quarter to a prostrate foe. In proportion as the so-called guerrilla warfare in the Philippine Islands after 1901 grew more and more attenuated, it grew less and less respectable in the eyes of Filipinos who had done their part in the war for independence against the United States, but who, having surrendered, had done so in good faith, and wished only an

opportunity to labor upon their farms unmolested. As already intimated, insurgents who surrendered, and were liberated on parole after taking the oath of allegiance to our government, and then went back to fighting us again soon after, were only charged, when recaptured, with the crime of sedition. The maximum penalty for this unde,r the sedition law enacted by the American Civil Com mission was ten years. Finally, however, as this sort of sedition grew more remote in point of time from the period of the surrender of the organized insurgent forces, it degen erated into pure brigandage. So the actual conditions "had tcr be recognized by the enactment of what became known as the "Brigandage Law." This law was ex tremely drastic. The minimum penalty for a person convicted under it was twenty years and the maximum penalty was death. Vhen the aforesaid "General" Ola and his forces surrendered and were taken into custody by the American authorities, they filled not only the Provincial Jail proper, but also one or two other Provincial build ings which were then available. It there fore became important to "separate the sheep from the goats, " that is to say, to find out at the earliest practicable moment through the counsel for the government whether or not there was proof enough against the different prisoners to authorize their detention, and if not, to release them promptly. If there was prima facie evi dence enough, they were put on trial with out unnecessary delay. It is no easy task to take proper care of 500 or 600 prisoners where the jail accommodations are extremely limited. This is especially true in tropical countries. Careless sanitation may result in an epidemic of cholera or small-pox at any time. On the other hand, the authori