OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE SIXTY-SIXTH CONGRESS THE -UNITED STATES OF AMERICA JULY 28 TO AUGUST 23, 1919 (Pages 32134258) , WASHINGTON /- GOVFRNMENT PRINTING OFFICE y, 1319 CONGEEESSIONALRECORD-SENATE. Isnrreudered my revolver, and no sooner had I done so than th~sol- diers rushed into my bedroom where my wife and the three chlldren were tcrribly frightened. ~he'officers and men broke open a wardrobe and jewelry box and took the contents, as well as a wallet captaining £50. They subjected my wifc and the children to brutal, Insulting €500. Thiv burned his, his wife's. and the children's clothin:. and treatmcnt, e-ren snatching my oldest child's (8 years) earrings with such !hey are atupresent weadng borrow& garmcuts. He was then afiested violence as to wound the-eaf. %ndwith me taken io Hawamdieh. Thcy then went to another wing of hehouse, where my sons' families I am suffering from nervous shock in consequence of the treatment lived.--~, nnrl meted out the same treatment to them, the officers looking on to which I was subjected and am cxtremely weak. I am now staying -and- - e&=i;.. .-. Gi&& ria& with astounding coolness, notwithsta nding the it Cairo, after having sent my resignation to the muclira. pleading ofthc-w'=omeh and children. ?hey found a safe in my son's Iesamar DlsSon~c~EASHDAK. apartments and they threatened to kill me if I did not instantly open it' they found 950 sovereigns and my wife's and sons' wives' jewelry, whic6 - they took. REPORT OF TBE I\lATOR OF GIZA. They then ordered me to direct them to the homes of the neighborin.. sheikhs. These homes and those of other inhabitants which looke8 orosnerous were subjected to the same treatment as mlne, with varying ilegGes of violence.. The interpreter informed the people that the British were going to burn the village and ordered the inhabitants to evacuate as soon as women. &e woman, whose husband tAed io protect her from their possible. Men, women, and children hurried away, carrying what they revoltine behavior. had a ouarrel with thcm. For this thev encircled could. the vil1ag.e and set fire to it on every side. Those mQo to escape The village was surrpunded Fy soldiers,, who took everything from Erom the contlagratl~nwere shot. The soldiers then invited the shellrh these unfortunates while leaving the village. They subjected the ~ndfour notables of the rillages to follow and explain to the commander nf tho tmin women to the most brutal treatment ; but the fellah$en (peasants) hide - -- - - -A - . these dctails for the sake of their women's reputation. Cases of rape These men were then stranpd and buried upright and their beads have been signalled. were covered over by grass. This carnage and burmng mas contlnucd From a neighboring sheikh's house I saw the flame rising from my Erom Sunday at 3 o'clock p. m. until next morning at 10 a. N. They roof and I learnt that the troops had set fire to ~t.Every quarter.of theqdrove the inhabitants to the armed train ; the mayor was among the the killage met with the same fate. A sacred banner embroidered wlth the Moslem formula of faith was desecrated. A11 the sheikhs were arrested and brought to where I was. The assistant sheikh ghafir (head night watchman) was also arrested, his house plundered, and his wife grossly insulted. A procession was formed to proceed to Hawamdieh, and whenever the troops found our pace too slo~(we were mostly elderly men) they large number of stolen ones. urged us on with the points of their bayonets. We were not allowed These acts are certainly not of n nature to givc satisfaction to to ride and as the sun had by now reached its zenith our sufferings humanity nor to civilized peoples. We transmit the lameqtations of our mere drribl;. ancl one soldier took pleasure in photograihing us in this widows, orphans, the old, and infirm to every heart whlch contains a sentiment of pity. We the inhabitants of the village of Chobak, cry to the world against the)atrocious crimes of which we havc been victims. If there is no one to render us justice and to protect us, if this reign of terror continues, we shall be obliged to leave Egypt, which is becom- ing a center of anarchy from which no power can protect the innocent from their oppressors. We shall trust in God alone. (Folloms 10 signatures, wlth stamps, of the villagers.) LEASING OF OIL LANDS. During the delivery of Mr. BORAH'Sspeech, The VICE PRESIDENT. The hour of 2 o'clock having ar- rived, the Chair lays before the Senate the unfiuished business, which will be stated. The SECRETARY.-4 bill (S. 2775) to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, gas, ancl sodium on the public domain. Mr. SMOOT. I ask unanimous consent that the unfinished business may be temporarily laid aside. The VICE PRESIDENT. Is there any objection? The Chair hears none, and the Senator from Idaho will proceed. After the conclusion of Mr. BORAH'Sspeech, Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. Mr. President, some time during the latter part of December last I addressed the Senate, and amongst other things called attention to the severe sentences that were being pronounced by courts-martial both here and in France; and, to illustrate the points I was desiring to make, I cited a nuriher of individual cases where extreme sentences had been pqesed upon young men in the Army of the United States for very slight offenses. I believe it mas the first time that public attention mas drawn to these severe sentences, and it seems to have opened up a veritable Pnndora's box. The exposure led to an investigation by the Military Affairs Coin- mittee of the Senate of the convictions under courts-martial atrocities we had witnessed this wou here and in Europe, and hearings were had in February, 1919, at which Gen. Ansell, who was Acting Jndge Advocate General, iiiniture to-this document. We then started for the mndiria!l of Giza (provincial governor), and a number of other witnesses were called in reference to the where we entered x verb&! complamt to, his excellency the mudir. whole subject. From there we went to Calro and complained to the mustachar (the Mr. President, I shall not undertake at this time to enter English adviser to the ministry.) The next day the mamou? el ,dabt (head officer .for. public security) into a lengthy discussion of the matter: I intend to do that took our evidence officially ln hls report of ipvestlgatlon. He interro- a little later. The testimony at the hearings showed that there &.lied the Egyptian corporal who accompanied ,the forces which at- was a difference of opinion between the Judge Advocatc Gen- tacked Azizia and his evidence cofroborated mine. He furthermore stated that he had seen British soldlers with thc jewelry and who were eral, Gen. Crowdes, and the Acting Judge Advocate General, offering it to the passers-by fo~sale. Gen. Ansell, as to the pomer of the Jndge Advocate General On retnmin to my ,home village I foluld about 180 houses burned over these records of conviction, and these differences were qnd most of t%e inhabitants left. I found my sister grievously ill as ;,csolt of the torture she had undergone. All that.remained of my home very marked, the Judge Advocate General taking one view of was a few burned mats. I then took my family away to different his power under the law to revise or modify or reverse the distant villages sentences of court-martial, claiming that mhere the court had It is impossible for me to recount all the atrocities and chain of jurisdiction and its judgment is once approved by the proper horrors from which unfortunate Azizia suffered, but I will mention the clie of the Chafir Abdulla Mahammed whose house the soldiers entered commander, however erroneous it might be by reason of flaw tbok the little money there was and hlso his wife's jewelry.- They un! in the proceedings, there is no pomer of correction in the Judge dressed his wife and touched her indecently, and in spite of her .cries for mercy they beat her with thc butts of thcir llfles. They finished Advocate General or elsewhere, and that the Judge Advocate by setting fire to the house. General had no further power than an advisory one, looking The Chafir Mahmoud Abdel Aal stated that 10 soldiers took away to mere clemency, based on the illegality of the lwoceedings, his rifle ransacked his house took all the money and his wife's jewelry. while the Acting Judge Advocate General, Gen. Ansell, claimed His wide had luckily run hay and hid in the cornfields otherwise qhe would have been grossly insulted as were all other Gomen who that under section 1199 of the Revised Statutes the Judge Ad- Gassed through the British soldiers' hAnds. His house was completely vocate General had the pomer to " revise " these sentences. 1)urned down. they gave him back his rifle but adding insult to injury This latter, it seems to me, is the sensible view. The War they tied sonhe &ad fowl to It and ma& hh carry it thus to thi pclicc station. Department sustainecl the contention of Gen. Crowler. It is CONGRESSIONAL REC)ORD-SENATE. -- arou11~1.these conflicting viexs that-the war on the subject has tality has been practiced against military prisonera, no matter wagctl for some tinle. how splendid their records may hare been nor how slight their 111 t!~course of the lienrings before the Military Affairs Com- breaches of discipline.