Omaha daily bee., 1899-04-27
MIsJUDGNG THE FILIp,Nos

senator Frye, who was Il member of
the Paris Peace commission, is reported
to have said in an interview: 'Thc
situation in the Philippines is not nearly
so good as | should like to see it. When
We were in Paris no one connected
with the commission believed that more
than 5000 soldiers would be needed ut
any time" Yet it was known to the
members of he commission that Spain
kept n much larger force than this in
the Philippines, that Il chronic state of
instruction existed there and that the
natives desired not Il change of rulers,
but Independence. While the peace ne
gotiations We're in progress the Filipino
leaders announced in unmistakable
terms that they would accept nothing
short of Sclf-government and that they
would resist any effort on the part of
he United States to extend its SOW
ereignty over the archipelago. They
refused to be sold like sheep and pro-
claimed that Spain had no riGdt 10
cede territory which they had helped TO
wrest from that nation and over n large
part of which the Spanish government
had exercised only Il nominal sover,
eighty. 1t should have been known 10
the American members of the peace
commission that the Filipinos were pre-
pairing to defend their claim to indie.
pendence; that they established IL gov
eminent and organized an army for this
purpose.
All tn1G n11pht 10 In va S1,nNr, t1A
American commissioners and the gov
eminent of the United States that the
Filipinos We're in earnest, that their de
mand for independence was the oX-
preston of Il sincere II deeD-seatcd
aspiration to be free and that they had
the patriotism, the determination and
the courage to fight for their liberty.
But commissioners, those in authority
at Washington and II very large cle-
ment of the American people mis-
Judged them. 1t was believed tLat they
would readily accept American aSsur-
anccs and promises, or if not that they
would soon yield to II demonstration Of
force, No account was taken of the
distrust of promises which these people
had learned in their experience with
Spain; they were held to be semi-sav-
ages, except n few leaders, whom II few
sound thraShingS at the hands of
American troops would utterly democrat
ize; the idea that they knew any such
sentiment as patriotism or had any
real conception of freedom was scofIed
at. Hence the opinion that they could
he subiugated by a few thousand of
our soldiers and in n brief time brought
into submission to American authority.
The question is whether those in
authority are not now ~misjudginS
these people-whether they are not still
Understanding the earnestness, the
determination, and the loyalty to their
cause of the Filipinos. The soldiers
certainly do not do so. The men on
the fighting line have no doubts on
these points. They appreciate the
nature of the task that we have under
taken, and not n few of them have eX-
pressed the opinion that many times
5000 American soldiers and years of
warfare will be required To accomplish
the s~ubjugation of the people of the
Philippines. But there Is apparently at
Washington Il confidence and optimism
quite remarkable in view of the ex-
pcrience of the last three months.
Every few days the country is told that
conditions are improving in the Philip
pines, that the enemy is being weak
ened by desertion, that the natives are
becoming tired OF the conflict and that