The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-27

| Will Accept the HOnors Conferred
Upon Him In the Spirit In Which
| They Are Intended-Says Gen. Otis
Tries to BE Pooh Bah, Which
Explains His Failure to End the
War-status of FiIipinos.
NEW YORK, Sept. 26-The Evening
Post prints the following interview with
Admiral Dewey:
''They are splendid lot the admiral
said, speaking Of his men. '"rhe very
pick, the finest in our navy, and that
means the best in the world Before 1 got
to Manila the archbishop, with whom 1
| afterward became very intimate, said the
American sailors were the scum of the
earth, a bloodthirsty lot of cutthroats,
who would destroy everything in their
path. Later on, when L did get there
said the admiral, with a knowing smile,
1.-The archbishop came on board one day
while had battalion at drill, the very
same battalion that will parade in New
| York. The archbishop went on the
| bridge and watched them closely
knew he was admiring them, and I said
to him: Well what do you think of our
American sailors?' They are splendid
he said; L have seen the men Of most
navies, but never anything like these.
| They are magnificent. I cannot under
| stand it-such splendid young fellows!
| How does 1t happen?'
Well, 1 replied, we look for
the best men, we come closer to our
men. we treat them better than other
countries do and We pay them better
Then 1 called a man and said to him,
How much do you get a month"; He sa-
luted and said, Eighty dollars, sir The
archbishop was astonished. You know
$50 would pay a whole shipload of Span
iards. After that the archbishop had a
very great respect for and became
very friendly. Here I have a picture of
Gen. Luna which was given to me by the
archbishop
The admiral then sent an orderly for
the picture of the Philippine general who
was murdered by order of Aguinaldo,''
as he said. The picture was that of d
i negro in sort Of military uniform On
the back was an inscription in Spanish,
ITO the Archbishop of Manila FIR. Ber-
nardino Hesalado." 1t was signed by
Luna.
LOT TaalO V SONIdITI4
Admiral Dewey then said that Luna
was the best man the Filipinos had. 1T
was a plot. he said, ito assassinate
him. A crack swordsman was placed as
sentry, and when Luna appeared he sim
| ply stabbed him. But these fellows all,
said the admiral. ARE a queer lot They
were simply servants and stablemen, and
|
| yard. He IS a pretty smart fellow
know him pretty well. In fact, we were
great friends, and are for the matter of
| fact but he has not the brains. There
are people behind him, some of them
lawyers and able fellows, who make a
tool of Aguinaldo Here, by the way is
a cane he presented to me-" and the ad-
miral produced a thick black stick, carved.
and resembling Irish bog oak more than
anything else.
II thought, said the admiral that
this thing in the Philippines would be
over long before this, as it should have
been. I can't imagine how they have
stood out until now. OF course there was
the rainy. season. and I suppose little was
done One great trouble out there has
been that Gen. Otis has tried to do too
much. 1 told him so. He wants TO be
general, governor. Judge and everything
man can do this. This is the great trou-
BILE 1t is enough for a man to do one
thing, to be thing, but when a man
tries to do everything and to be every
thing it is easy to ima eine the result
''The fight in the Philippines should be
easily ended. The people had been 80
badly treated for such a length of tine
by the Spaniards thatrthey are distrust-
full. This is the great difficulty In deal
ing with them. Where we have met
them and they have been in such contact
with us as to learn that we mean to
treat them well; where they have seen
that we mean wha+ we say, thete e is no
trouble. They stand by us all the time
All of them will learn this in time. They
will get from under the influence of
Aguinaldo. or, rather these people who
are behind AguinaldO. who, as | said be-
fore. is a mere tool.
do l think the F'ilipinos are fit for
self-government? Well, no; not Just
now. They probably will be in I,ttle
time They are a very queer people
a very queer mixture. Many of them
are quite civilized and good people, but
I do not think they are fit for salf-gov-
ernment just yet. But when | say that
I must add at the same time that it Is
my candid opinion that they are more
fitted for it than the Cubans-that they
are a better people than the Cubans in
every way. l do wish, however, that the
Whole business was SeItleQ, ana, / tnlnk,
that after little the Fiipinos will take
kindly to us
ANSWERS NON-COMMITTAL
1t was suggested to the admiral that
the Democratic slate had been settled
with Admiral Dewey for the pvesid ncy
and Gen. Wheeler for the vice presidency
well" said the admiral I'VE should
make pretty mess of it. Cen Wheeler,
of course, has had some training in the
political school, but then he Is West
Pointer I had forgotten that. He would
want to run everything as he would a
regiment, and of course, would make q
splendid mess of it. You cannot run a
government as you would regiment
well, admiral suggested the rep 1rter
'it would not be such change from the
ship Olympia to the ship of state
YES" said the admiral. 1t would be a
very great change. l am not a politician,
I am a sailor; my training has besn all
that way. L am at home on board my
ship. l know my business, or, at least,
should know it. and 1 do not want to
mix up in the affairs of government. 1
am perfectly satisfied to live and die a
simple sailor who tried to do his duty.
| am not politician. l cannot make a
speech even [ wish I could, but 1 have
to be content with my lot.
Some one said lust then to the adj