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 VOLUNTEER SERVICE IN THE PHILIPPINES. 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 OF 
 
 / 
 
 HON. H. C. HANSBROUGH, 
 
 OJF iVORTPi dj^k:ox>=s., 
 
 IN THE 
 
 '^V^ 
 
 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 IVIAY 4, 1900 
 
 
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 1900. 
 
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REMARKS 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. H. C. HANSBllOUGII 
 
 During the consideration of the military appropriation bill, Senator Pet- 
 TTGREW having read numerous letters from the members of the South 
 Dakota volunteer regiment complaining of the policy of the Administration 
 in the conduct of the war— 
 
 Senator HANSBROUGH said: 
 
 Mr. President: In view of what has been said here to-day and 
 on yesterday in regard to the service and experience of the South 
 Dakota regiment, I think it is due that I should make some refer- 
 ence to the service and experience of the regiment that went from 
 North Dakota. 
 
 I assume, Mr. President, that the two regiments were made up 
 of about the same kind of material, the same class of people. 
 The men who composed the North Dakota regiment came from 
 the shops and the stores and the farms. I had the honor to be on 
 a committee that went from my State to San Francisco to meet 
 the North Dakota regiment when it returned from Manila, and I 
 remained there for two weeks, assisting in any way that I could 
 to arrange for their transportation home. I talked with a great 
 many members of that regiment, and it was the unanimous testi- 
 mony that the hardships which they encountered were not unex- 
 pected, I do not recall hearing a single complaint from any of 
 them in regard to their treatment, nor did I hear of any regret 
 from any of them over the fact that they had gone to the Philip- 
 pines in the service of iheir Government. 
 
 The service of the North Dakota regiment was equally remark- 
 able with the service of the South Dakota regiment. I remember 
 hearing the colonel of our regiment relate an incident of that 
 service which it seems to me is very creditable. When Captain 
 Young, 1 think it was, from the State of Utah, applied to General 
 Lawton for the privilege of organizing a company of scouts, he 
 requested that he be permitted to select his men from the North 
 Dakota regiment. General Lawton replied to him that that would 
 not do. as it might cause some jealousy among the members of other 
 
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 regiments. The scouts were organized, however, and 18 out of 
 the 25 in the organization were North Dakotans. I do not refer 
 to this by way of disparagement with respect to any other regi- 
 ment in the Philippines. I understand and believe they all served 
 with distinction and bravery. 
 
 The State of North Dakota paid the expenses of transportation 
 for our troops from San Francisco home. The citizens put their 
 hands into their pockets and raised some $20,000 for that purpose; 
 and, as I have said, Mr. President. I have never heard from the 
 iQouth of any member of the North Dakota regiment a single com- 
 plaint or a single regret that they were in Philippine service. 
 
 The discussion of political questions was not allowed, was not 
 tolerated, in the camp, as I am advised. At San Francisco, when 
 our committee, consisting of the two Senators, the Member of 
 the House of Representatives, and several State officers, arrived 
 there, we observed that some of the troops showed no little feel- 
 ing over the fact, indicating that they were not pleased with the 
 presence there of men who were engaged in politics, or that we 
 should have gone there to meet them, and thus subject them to 
 the suspicion that political influences were at work. There was no 
 politics in the regiment. So much for the patriotic spirit of those 
 volunteers. 
 
 Mr. President, the North Dakota regiment was composed of 
 Democrats and Populists as well as Republicans. On their return 
 home I was at several receptions which were given to those troops; 
 and I recall that one of the majors of the regiment made a speech 
 at one of the receptions. He was a Democrat. In the speech that 
 he made at this meeting he indorsed the action of the Administra- 
 tion with respect to the conduct of the war, and said that even 
 if he had the work to do over again he would be found in the 
 ranks on his way to the Philippines as before. 
 
 Mr. President, I think it is due that I should make this state- 
 ment in behalf of the regiment from North Dakota by way of 
 contrast with what has been said here in regard to the South Da- 
 kota volunteers, because I have yet to hear of a single complaint 
 against the Government or against the treatment of our North 
 Dakota volunteers while they were in the Philippines in the serv- 
 ice of their country. 
 
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