Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-19
THE CRITICS OF |
THEY HAVE SHOT TOO HIGH AND
LEFT UNsCATHED THE FAR
TY AT FAULT.

! From Harper's Weekly: The state of
affair IRIS in the Philippines has atouse6<a
good deal of excited talk which is in
sDred by a more or less indefinite and
hazy state of affairs. And this indefin-
%iteress and uncertainty has been created
by the opponents and critics of 1.-the adj
minintratlon and of General OTIS. 1t is !
easy, however. to reach a definite opin- |
ion on established facts, and when a calm
and sane view Of conditions is taken, the
conclusion is inevitable that the war
against Aguinaldo, has been waged with
all the effectiveness permitted by mill
tary conditions due to the inefficiency Of
congress. The president has sent to Gen !
eral Otis all the troops available-that
is, all the troops that could be possibly
spared from duties in Cuba and Puerto
Rico. We do not include Hawaii, because
very few troops are needed there; nor do
we include the United States, because the .
army posts and Notifications here have
been nearly stripped of men. To such an |
extent is this true that unless congress !
provides for a very material increase in
the artillery brancr of the service, our
forts and our new guns are likely to be
greatly damaged for mere lack Of ordin-
AIRY care. Ii congress had done it's duty
and had increa sed the regular army to
100, 900 or 100000 men, General Otis might
at least have had a sufficient number of
troops long before this, and he and The
country would not now be facing the ne
cessity of a new campaign, to be opened
atthe end of the rainy season, with a few
seasoned veterans who will be left to him
after the discharged volunteers come
home, and with the raw troops now being
enlisted for him.
The truth is that prudence pointed out
the advantage to be gained by finishing
the war in the Philippines, if it were pos
sible, with the force in hand. Congress
refused to take action on the military
needs Of the government until the last
Moment q ND when r. aHio1,nH6 the nrpS.
ident knew that he would be without an
adequate force as soon as Spain ratified
the treaty of peace; for under the terms
Of enlistment the term Of service of both
the additional regulars and the volunteers
expired with that event. The president
was therefore contemplating the posi-
bility that any day the signature of Spain
to the treaty, which had already been
ratified on our part, might leave him
with only the regular army of a little
more than 5000 men with which, to carry
on the war against Aguinaldo, garrison
Cuba and repress the mut.nous Cuban
; army, maintain order IN Puerto Rico, and
man the posts at home and in W
: He had as an alternative the power to
enlist G5, 600 regulars and 35, 900 ~voahnteFrs.
this extra force to serve for no more than
two years and four months. ~
The splendid loyalty of the volunteers
, and additional regulars who were i1Hathe
: Philippines, and the brilliant SUCCESSES
of our arms which followed the breaking
out Of the war in February, undoubtedly
led the president, as it led the military
f authorities at Manila. to believe thatathe
revolt would be put down without the ne
:, cessity of resorting to the tardy and mig
gardly grant of men by congress-. Ger
tainly it is true that if the new men were
I needed the war would be greatly pro-
Y lorged while they were being enlisted,
equipped and drilled. 1t may be answered
II that time has proved the necessity Of ad-
F., | Iitiapal forces and therefore six months
that might have been utilized have been
lost. This is not exactly true, for we
fancy that the impression alredy made
, upon Aguinaldo his forces well render the
remainder of the army's task much less
: arduous than it has been, and that the
mere enlistment and ~despatching OF the
new volunteers Will be as good as several
victories in the field.
The president has done the best he could
with the means that congress put into
0 his hands,. If any mistake has been made
as to the number Of troops required to
put down the natives, it lies at the doors
of congress-, and is due to it's refusal to
increase the regular army to lOO.OOO men
at the outbreak Of the war with Spain.
AS to the general officers and the navy
under them, there is not the slightest
!, evidence that they nave not accomplished
= all that was possible. Several officers
e have added to distinction already won IN
Cuba, while other officers. ike wheaton,
11dlG, MoCf1l LlIuI, lAoAAB ohN
Kobbe, nave written their names high
, on the roll Of Americans who have achiev-
ed honor on the field of battle. The Kan
. sas, Nebraska and Colorado regiments
: have done splendid service, while the reg
ulars, in every action, have confirmed the
. confidence which the country learned to
: feel in them after the truth was told of
=. the charges at San Juan Hill and at Ell
I Caney. General Otis. however, has been
| made to bear the brunt of the criticism
of the campaign, which is still pushed
with unusual energy, if we bear in mind
the climatic conditions in the east OF the
present season. Without going into minor
questions that are raised by the critics,
n it seems to US clear that General Otis has
been singularly successful, when we con-
slider the means at his disposal. The
n army under him has gained a large num-
+ Der of brilliant victories, and has not suf-
fered a single defeat, and the municipal
n administration of Manila is confessed TO
be excellent. What General Otis lacked
was neither industry, skill nor tact. The
one important occasion where diplomacy
was demanded of him was when Aguln-
r aldo's pretended peace commission came
4 into our lines for the purpose of negoti-
: ating terms. Even the generals critics
+ confess that he was not deceived for a
, moment by the willy natives. He under
stood that they were fighting for time, and
e especially for a cessation of our advance
n until the rainy season should call a halt.
Genera! Otis was not only not deceived,
:, but he blocked the game OF the ingenious
Aguinaldo and his emissarles. what
, ground then IS there for his removai, "hen
u the only charge that can be brought
against him is that he has not had men
ienough-a charge that is as foolish, when
he is the object of it, as when 1t is leVetled
J against the president?
n The difficulty in the way OF ultimate