The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-12-04

severe fighting in the Philippines so
far as the present Instruction is con-
cerned. What is left of the Filipino
army will not fight in any way en-
cept bushwhacking. They will aban-
don any intrenchments they have after
firing few shots The army has prac-
tically disintegrated. 1t never did have
and disciplined army. and now the
bulk of the men Aguinaldo has en-
rolled have enough of fighting and
have practically quit. Only a few
bands here and there are still unde.
the arms, not numbering 10000 in all
probability and the greater number
in one place is probably net more
than 3.000 and / doubt if Aguinaldo
himself has SO many as that with
him.
Il talked a great deal when in Ma
Mia with Spanish officers and English
residents about the Filipino charac-
teristics and method of fighting, and
they said that the instructions had
always gradually died out, as one in
surgent band after another got tired
Of fighting, and that there was never
any surrender CT bodies of troops or
of arms. This last feature is an i'm
pcrtant one, and unless we can sue
coed in getting hold of the guns the
irsurrectos have there will be spor-
adic bushwhacking all the time. the
difficulty of suppressing this kind Of
outlawry consists in the impossibility
of distinguishing the men who engage
in it from the peaceablc citizens. They
all look and dress alike: they can live
right among us and still keep up this
style of making night attacks upon
our posts. Captain General Polivieja
adopted the most stringent methods to
suppress bushwhacking and succeeded.
He made the citizens Of each neighbor-
hood responsible for the good conduct
Of their neighbors. This was on the
correct theory that the people all
know who the insurrectos are and
could inform against them if they
would. If he was attacked in this
locality where 1t occurred and to shoot
without trial every Filipino caught in
the bush regardless of whether he had
arms in his hands or not.
IF the bushwhacking keeps up after
the country has been fully occupied
by our troops something Of this kind
will have to be done to stop it. There
is no reason why peaceable citizens
should not help to preserve order and
suppress outlawry. and if they fail to
do SO it is an indication that they are
abettors of the outlaws. Let our
army first occupy the country and es-
tablish good local governments, and
A4ieii II @ sinai ldCt -OIl Vi QISdnSElsl
ones continues to disturb the peace
and attack our troops under cover
of darkness, a proclamation of out
lawery should be issued and they
should be summarily dealt with wher-
ever found, and if the inhabitants of
any section fail to keep suppressed
then they should be treated as accom-
plices. 1t would not take long to stop
bushwhacking under such policy. In
my lecture tonight I shall show pic
lures showing every phase of fight
ing in the islands. including Filipino
soldiers in trenches and defending vii
lagos. and American volunteers charg-
ing trenches and driving the enemy
before them. These are not ima@:n-
airy sketches, but they are actual p!o-
tographs taken during the progress of
the battle"
Captain Wells commanded the COM
pany of the I'd Oregon which made the
famous charge down unon the turn
pike at Malabon, where he was slight
ly wounded. one-half of his entire
command there being killed or wound
ed. He speaks from experience when
he tells of the fighting in Luz0n.