The herald., 1898-12-29
The Pacific Route


NEW YORK, Dec. 2S.-A dispatch to the
Tribune from Washington says:
The energy with which the Navy Depart
ment' is strengthening its forces in the Pa
cific ocean is further emphasized by its de-
cision to send four hundred enlisted men as
quickly as possible across the continent to
San Francisco TO be taken by the next mail
steamer to Hong Kong. This action was
taken in response to requisition from Ad-
OF the captured cruisers Don Juan Austria,
1sla de Cuba and lsla de Luzon, the two lat
ter vessels being now in dry dock at Hong
Kong, while the first is heing "ep"i'ed at
In the battle of Manila when these vessels
were sunk the Spanish crews aggregated 53l
officers and men, the compliments being dis
tributed as follows:
Don Juan Austria, % officers, l79 men
lsla de Cuba and lsla de Luzon each 81 of
ficers and 1855 men. 1t is believed by Ad-
mlraf Dewey that he can reduce these crews
by nearly one-haf without destroying the
efficiency of the vessels for the purpose Of
cruising and guard duty in the Philippine
group.
The personnel resources of the navy will
be severely taxed in sending these men to
the Pacific just now on account of statutory
limitations OF the number of men allowed
in the service. The present peace establish
ment provides only 12,750 men, but in the
war, under special temporary authority, the
total naval strength rose to nearly 22000.
This, figure will be reduced this week to 49,
OOO, but below this it is considered unsafe to
go and an appeal will be made to Congress as
soon as 1t reassembles to authorize the de-
partment to retain in the service for full
term of three years all of those men who
enlisted for the war and who desire to re-
main for the longer period. Several thous-
and applications from these short time men
have already been received at the Navy De-
partment and confidence is expressed that
no difficulty will be encountered in securing
enough good men for the vessels, which must
necessarily be Kept in commission if Con-
gress will give the requisite authority.
Reason for Haste
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2S.--There is a
good deal of anxiety in official circles here
over recent events at Iloilo. Two official
dispatches have been received by the State
aud War Departments, but it is imposs-
bic to gather from them any accurate
knowledge as to the condition there. 1t is
not even possible to learn whether the in
surgents or the American forces have taken
the place.
This morning United States Consul Pratt
at Singapore cabled the State Department:
'Iloilo taken 24th. Spanish fled to Borneo."
This threw the officials into deeper doubt
left Manila to go to lloilo, 20O0 troops, and
the warships Baltimore and Callao, would
scarcely have had time, it is said, to have
reached Iloilo by the oath. So the infer
ence is that the insurgents are in possession
Color is lent to this belief by the fact re-
ported in one telegram that the Spaniards
had retreated to a strongly fortified town
on the island of NIindanao. This does not
agree with Consul Pratt's statement that
they fled to Borneo, the north coast of which
is British possession, but it is believed
that the Consul is in error on this point,
which might be easily the case, in view OF
the distance from his post to lloilo. The
fact that the Spaniards have retreated at all
is also construed as an indication that the
town was abandoned to the insurgents, for
it is believed that Col. Rios, the Spanish
commander, would have cheerfully surren-
dered to the American force with a view
to securing the safety of his men and their
ultimate return to Spain by the American
. government according to the terms of the
treaty.
The officials at the War Department still
decline to make public Gen. L. S. Otis telc-
gram of yesterday, but there is no doubt
that he is meeting with great difficulty in
his effort to secure the release of the Span
ish prisoners held by the Filipinos. 1t be-
gins to appear clearly that considerable
element among the Filipino leaders-prob-
unfortunate prisoners as basis for negotia-
tions with the United States government,
making their release conditional upon GER
tain more or less important concessions
demanded by them 1t is not yet fore
gone conclusion that terms cannot be ar
ranged by private conferences in Manila
to secure the release of these men, but the
United States government being now pledged
by treaty to free them, must resort to other
means if peaceful representations fail. Gen.
X. 5. Otis has been instructed on this point
and the War Department has confidence in
his experience and sound judgment, and be-
lieving that from his presence in the Phil
ippines, he is better capable of dealing with
the situation than the officials here, has con-
fined itself to a statement of what is eX-
pected to be done towards securing prison
ers, leaving it to General Otis to devise
the ways and means and carrying out the
plans.
just before noon another dispatch came
from Gen. d. 5. Otis that at once confirmed
the fears of the officials Of the War De-
partment as to what had taken place at
!loilo. 1t appears that the American forces
had arrived too late on the scene and the
insurgents had added to the difficulty of
the problem already presented by hosting
their flag over the city which they had been
besieging for months. The news was con.
tanned in the following message from Gen
eral 4. S. Otis:
Manila Dec. 27--To Adjutant General,
Washington: Sent Colonel Potter on fast
vessel to lloilo on oath to communication
with Spanish General Rios. The latter
evacuated on the evening Of the oath and
Potter was thirty whine hours late. Insur-
gents took possession of the city on 26th
and Potter found Aguinaldo's flag flying.
Cannot report probable results; will not hear
from there for four days, as there is no
cable communication Spanish forces have
evacuated all stations in southern islands
except Zamboanga, Mindanao, BY orders.
they say, from Madrid. (Signed,) OTIS"
The evacuation by the Spaniards of all
the fhlilpplne ports, as reported by General
Otis, although doubtless inspired by de-
sire to secure their safety by concentration,
undoubtedly has done much to complicate
+ the problem already presented to the War
Department of extending the military iuris-
diction of the United States over the isl
ands. 1t will now be necessary to expedite
the execution of the original plans. and Il
may be fully expected that within a week
important events will have happened in the
Philippines 1t is presumed that General
Otis will demand the surrender of Iloilo info
his hands, and this demand may at ones
raise the issue between the insurgents and
our government of possession of the Islands
The province of Iloilo is set down in The
oftlcial ON directories as having population Of
e72,00O, and it is the second seaport of i'm