The evening times., 1899-05-15
SPIRIT OF THE VOLUNTEERS.
Those in the Philippines willing to
Fight 1t Ont


New York. May 15.-Mr. John Barrett,
Of Oregon. formerly United States minis
ter to Siam, who has been spending sew
eral months in the Philippines investigat-
| ing conditions there, is now in this city
He left Manila March IS and came by way
| of Paris and London. Speaking of affairs
in the Philippines. Mr.. Barrett said:
There is not an officer of our army or
navy and not an enlisted man in our army
or navy who does not believe-or who does
not. in fact, knOw-that the plan for sub
DUNG the islands and bringing them under
American control. formulated by General
Otis and Admiral Dewey. is the correct
plan and will be successfully carried out.
They have no more doubt of this than they
have that they are in the Philippines and
not in the United States.
General Otis Is regarded as an extreme
ly able and painstaking officer. careful of
the smallest details and always sure OF
his ground before he moves. the Fill
pinoS did not have this idea of him AT first,
and because they didn't they stood up and
fought. 1t didn't take them long to find
out however, that whatever Otis planned
his men carried out, and little obstacles
like armed Filipinos didn't seem to hinder
the execution OF those plans in the least
When they learned that they fought less
and ran more. That's why our troops have
had sort of cross-country chase of 1t for
over a month.
"Of Admiral Dewey the natives have al
ways had a different notion. He gave them
an object lesson in what he could do in the
way OF fighting when he sailed into Manila
Bay and shot the Spanish fleet full Of holes.
Since then he has been feared and respect
ed more than any man who ever set foot
on the islands. And the respect for him
Is not confined to the natives. 1t per-
yades the American army well.
with all this and all the honor which
he knows his countrymen at home nave
accorded to him. Dewey hasn't the faint
est symptom of a swelled head. He puts
on no fuss and feathers. except to be al
ways imEaculately dressed. and he is al
ways most courteous to everybody. His
health is not of the best. but he is by no
means a sick man. The strain upon him
has been great and he shows the effect OF
II. that's all. He has net left Manila Bay
since he sailed in. and ii is no wonder
that he has grown gray.
Now let me say a word about our
troops who are fighting thzy way through
the Island OF Luzon- Their health, gen.
orally speaking. is excellent. Those who
we're on the sick list when the fighting be-
gan on February seemed TO recover as
II by magic, and about the only thing that
has since put them in the hospital has
been bullet. The volunteers want to
stay in the Philippines until they can be
relieved without interfering with the plan
of campaign. You should not gather from
this that the volunteers do not want to
come home. They do: but not a private
in the ranks. to say nothing OF the officers.
would be willing to leave until Gsn=raI
Otis had regulars enough to take tleir
places"
Mr. Barrett states that the Filipino
leaders keep up the fighting spirit of tn ir
men by telling them fearful stories OF
American barbarity. He thinks that the
end is in sight and that the insurrect:on
will collapse as soon as another sharp de-
feat has been administered to Aguinaldo's
army.