The times., 1898-09-10
A BITTER FRENCHMAN
He Was at Manila During the
Naval Fight.
SHOWS HATE OF AMERICA
He Insists on the Vast Importance
of the Philippines and ReViles the
European Powers for Their FaiI-
ure 10 Intervene-His Contempt Tor
Germans and Comments on Dewey.

At Manila during the entire war pro-
ceedings was a Lieut.. X, of the French
warship Bruix, one of that nations OBJ
servation squadron As France was con-
structively neutral an officer could not
write directly against this country, so he
puts his matter in the form of diary
and publishes 1t in the Revue de Paris.
Even this he could not do unless he felt
sure the naval authorities sympathized
with his views. That is what makes his
remarks significant. Here are some OF his
notes:
May 4-We are all convinced that ii is
the duty Of Europe to intervene. and we
are all equally certain that Europe will
not intervene What sort of men are our
diplomatists? We must oppose another to
the Monroe doctrine; America must keep
TO herself. Could we have a better op-
portunlty? II Europe held one real
statesman he would seize it.
Not hand will be lifted TO aid Spain;
twill be as in the case Of Greece. When
France was massacred the death throes
of Europe began"
After the Bruix entered the bay of Ma
Mia Lieut. X heard the news of Dewey's
victory. and wrote: Our emotion is
great. We unanimously rail al the Amer
leans and also at the Spaniards. II is inn
possiblei Oh. these vile Yankees! Sure
Later the writer notes, on the same day:
Whence this outburst against America
and Spain? 1t is instructive. We are an
CRY at a victory which can be used TO our
injury"
On May he writes: 1--WE have made
much of our Spanish pilot This man is
no fool and has some grit, yet he thinks
one Spaniard can whip three Americans.
He also thinks that the late engagement
qY1nHnfal nnThiuU tSnatTa xCiI IN
army and another feet here. They are
on the way; the Yankees are lost; they
will learn to know what the sons of the
Cid are. Let these packers of pork, these
clerks. these machinis.s, stick to their
packing houses, their counters and their
manufactures. Can these men make sol
diers? Can you make sailors of mere wa
termen?
''The German cruiser Irene is a good
specimen of the imperial marine. AL
ready the sight of the German flag has
revived the spirits of the besieged, and
rumor says that Germany will play the
arbiter in the dispute. / do not believe
that she will but that she will pre-
tend 10 do so. The Germans never take
sides against the strong The Spaniards
place their hopes on Germany
Then follows a description of the battle
by French resident of Manila, few
sentences Of which are worth repeating:
The Spaniards ran to the French con-
sui TO protest. i was present. 'Senor
Consul. Senor Consul they cried. they
are firing bombs which explode, " The
French resident, when asked if the Phil
ippines would under wise government be
profitable colony, answered: ''Marve,
lously So Their wealth is immeasur-
able, their position unrivaled: they pro-
duce rice, sugar, hemp, tobacco and pre-
cious woods; they possess a wealth of
minerals and marvelously rich soil not
yet half cultivated" Asked whether
their permanent occupation by the Amer
leans would not be a menace to Europe
he replied: THAT will be impossible. 1t
can never be. it will never be permitted"
On May 10 Lieut. Y. went to Cavite by
permission of Admiral Dewey and was
escorted by an American naval officer.
They visited the sunken Spanish vessels
and the Frenchman spoke of them as
those buried ships whose gravediggers
were ignorance and inczpacity" That
night Lieut. X, having the deck. has am
pie time TO moraliZe on the events of the
past few days and draws the following
conclusions: ''The rapid-fire gun is the
queen Of weapons. 1t is better than good
tactics. Small caliber rapid-fire guns
properly served during the beginning of
an action, can keep down the fire of the
heaviest artillery. At Yalu the heavy
guns Olu nol uTe twenty ROUNDS The
decks of a modern man-of-war are so
vulnerable that a skiliful admiral. attack
ing, need not direct his fire at the vitals
of his enemy, but should smother him
with hurricane of projectiles aimed at
his decks and gun emplacements."
On May u he writes: "I have seen
Yankees, i have known Yankees of all
sorts and kinds. America is neither just
nor dignified. She shows neither modera-
ton nor generosity. To every appeal their
only answer is: We have the dollars
And they cannot understand why such an
enswer should disgust high-spirited men
or men of any nobility OF SOUL Here the
lieutenant airs HIS hatred of the Ger
mans: "The Yankees are merely nervous
Germans. The latter always have some
pretext ready to justify the violence by
which they profit Europe lowers her
self in standing aside in this war, es-