Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1899-12-14
Comment on the Philippines.

States army now on duty in the Phil
ippine Islands. It was written to the
officers relatives in Baltimore, and is
a caustic criticism of our war and the
situation in the far east. The writer
says:
mo frst-class nation today knows
as little about war as the American
people. Navy officers who were in
the Dewey fight out here did not think
they had done anything great until
the papers arrived from America.
Any one Of Dewey's youngest lieuten-
ants could have done as well. do
not mean to detract from Dewey. |
desire to give him all the credit he de-
serves. have no doubt he is fair
average officer in the United States
Navy.
"As any one with sense may imag-
inc, battle in which not one man was
killed on our side can hardly be called
a battle at all. l saw a photograph
Of one of the forts that helped (?) the
Spanish feet against Dewey. 1t is no
more modern than some of the castles
on the Rhine. Fort McHenry would
be considered a modern fort in COM
parison. Al, to the torpedoes, there
were none. AS to the Spanish feet,
at one broadside the American fleet
threw five times as much metal. Some
of the Spanish ships were not men-ot-
war at all simply troop ships. They
were anchored, and not strong enough
to fight, and not fast enough to run
away.
THE city of Manila was as defense
less on the water front as Light street
dock. The old stone wall around Ma
Mia, built two hundred years ago,
would have endangered the lives of
any soldiers standing behind it had
it been cannonaded.
"These facts and Deweys call for
five thousand men to settle this mat
ter, and letting the Filipinos for days
carry of, openlydn bull carts, on men s
backs and every other conceivable
way, over thirty thousand Mauser ri
hes and millions of cartridges make
me think of Shakespeare's Puck
What fools We mortal be- or, Car
lyle's letter to his brother 'Jesmes,
there are three millions Of people in
Scotland, maistly fools
~ cannot help thinking what fools
the American people are. OF course,
no official permission was given by
Dewey to the Filiplnos to carry of
the arms. Things are not done that
way in public life. If he did not know
they were being taken away from Ca
vite, he was probably the only one
who did not. If he wanted it stopped,
nothing could have resisted the power
of his feet, as Cavite is right on the
water. l have no doubt Dewey would
sweep the country if nominated for
the presidency, and be would make
about as good one as the average army
or navy officer would.
"This war is costing over half a
million dollars a day-about half as
much day as the civil war cost at
its most expensive time. Considering
the value of a gold dollar and the
value Of a paper dollar in 1864, about
forty odd cents, this war is costing
per day quite as much. 1t must be
remembered that meat and all other
supplies come from America. 1t is
estimated that every mule that ar
rives here alive costs a thousand dol
lars.
Every few days dozen or 50 Of
our men are done up, and in the last
fifteen days four captains killed out
right and one will probably lose his
leg. At this rate it will be hun
dred captains in year, and no de-
cisive fight has been tough. since the
war began. No one here knows what
dissensions there may be in the insur-
gent COunduut Oub HibnOuI ~ bniS
war will not end on Luzon Island by
next rainy season.
after another hundred millions
are spent, not to speak Of the lives
lost, they will, | believe. realize that
ten times as many mules here now
would have saved hundred million
dollars. Benefcent assimilation has
been tried, and we have succeeded in
getting the whole population down
on US. The Spaniards always re-
tanned an appreciable part of the pop
ulation as friends.
sickness has been very prevalent
here. There must have been five
thousand sick on the island out Of
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