The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-05-03
THE REBELLION IN
49,. THE PHILIPPINES

Il
| They are prisoners Back of them and on
all sides CT them in the country are 100000
implacable insurgents, unconquered by re-
peated rebuGs, awaiting an opportunity for
vengeance.
| The horrible cruelties inflicted by Malay
pirates upon their captives are traditional.
The native population of the Philippines
are Malays, and the Spaniards are well
aware that a tonbardment from the Amer
lean feet Will drive them into their hands.
There are probably $1,000 insurgents anxious
to rise against the Spaniards. True. they
are not well armed. having only 5000 rifles
or SO between them, but they have an
abundance of their own crude implements
Of war--oasgers. cutlasses, krisses, bows
and arrows and weapons of that kind with
which they car inf1ict terrible punishment
on foe. Tkey have long knives which
they use with the utmost proficiency and
which are kerr enough to cut a mans head
off at a blow.
These fierce ratives are for the most
Part hidden away in the mountain fast
| nesses o. I.uzon, the chief island of the
Philippine group. The most daring Span
ish soldier would scarcely want to venture
there. Traps arc set for him ON every
hand. The Spanards would probably meet
the horrible fare of some of our OVID SOL
diers during the early stages of Indian
warfare ON the western frontier. So far
as the hilpDine natives have been able
TO get frcaumss they have quickly learned
their use. il is estimated that with tea
thousand more rifles and adequate ammuni
ton they could soon gain their independ-
ence. The fifty thousand organized in
surgents have back of them at least one
million oil their own flesh and blood, able
to bear arms and to assist them in any
emergency.
These native soldiers display the highest
courage on the battlefield, as the Spaniards
have found to their cost. But they are
cruel as well as courageous, and combine
savagery with their triumphs on the field.
The heads of their victims are spiked as
landmarks. In the matter of sheer bar
barity these Malays have met and equaled
the Spaniards at their own game. During
could let no prisoner live. They could not
support them if they did spare them; SO
all captives were slaughtered outright.
The few that were liberated and allowed
to find their way back to their people had
both hands cut off.
Their justification is that years of misery
and ill-treatment at the hands of the Span
iards forced these crueltles upon them. AS
described by the natives to me, the treat
ment to which they have been subjected
makes the Cuban atrocities seem compare
lively mild But the islands are so far
away that civilized Europe never knew
what was going on. The Spanish governor
and his subordinates took care or that IL
is a question whether or not the Spaniards
at home knew that their kinsmen across
the sea were repeating the horrors of the
Inquisition.
The primary cause of the Philippine re-
bellion was excessive taxation by Spain to
raise money to carry on the war in CUBA
The islands were already overwhelmed
with assessments to enrich Spanish corners
and to support the native poor The addi-
tfonal money required for Cuba was the
last straw
AS the natives had always been docile
the instruction took the Spaniards by
surprise They were unprepared for Such
move. Troops sent to compel the pay
ment of taxes were chased out of the
mountains into the fortified towns, and
| there they have usually remained. nix
IRENE cruelties began when General
Aguirre arrived from Spain with reinforce
ments He did not undertake to penetrate
the mountains, but massacred the native
population in the towns. When he took
Santa Clara del Laguna he spared neither
man. woman nor child. Every unfortunate
captive was butchered. The people in the
mountains heard of this. They were al
most wild with fury, but they were help-
less
Aguirre reopened the cd Inquisitional
prison at Manila, which had not been used
for many generations, and drove into 1T
people who refused to pay their taxes. He
crowded 100 people into one small, filthy
compa rtment Few prisoners who entered
there saw the light of day again. Rebels,
suffering from loathsome fevers, were hud-
died with the strong and healthy.
Last summer, when cholera swept the
islands, they died like sheep, and the
brutal guardians in charge of the prisons
did all in their power to make death more
awful. Fifty men at time were kept for
weeks in a small examination room, with
out a chance to go into the open air, or the
slightest effort being made to clean the
Mace The situation was indescriba ble
The refuse of the prison never got outside
the shadow of it's walls. Matters are as
bad if not worse now than they We're
last summer, but no notice is taken OF 1t
by the Spaniards.
have no wish to overdraw this terrible
picture. or to overstate what has been
told me by the people here, who have wit
messed Tie SOLDERING of the natives. IL Is
diftlcult to get specific information about
the prison. for no prisoner is permitted to
been reported, but I cannot find anybody
who we: sew the men who escaped. am
told, on what believe to be good author
ity, that 10000 dead prisoners have been
taken from this prison in a single year
The Spaniards in the Philippines treat all
their pr scters as pirates. They have no
mercy Tteir chagrin at not being able
to extort money enough to carry on the
Cuban war has made them desperaet. Col
lection of taxes is becoming more difficult
every year. Three years ago 1t cost the
government little more than half Cent
to collect every dollar of taxation. In
Luzon II now ctsts 95 cents. The only taxes
that can be profitably collected are those
in Manila The rich islands of Leyte and
| Mindano contribute practically nothing.
The first is lands to revolt were Luzon,
Mindano and Leyie. The smaller islands
were not much affected, though sympa-
thetic Az Iaatlers now stand Luzon Is
alone. There are occasional outbreaks In
Mindano. There was severe earthquake
in Le:te AMI The Spaniards convinced the
natives that it was an instance of the wrath
of God against them.
The people of Manila have gradually
yielded to Spar aj influence. The leaders