The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1899-04-06
COST OF THE WAR
Now Being Wa2ed Against the FiIipi-
nos-Some SpecuIations as to the
Future.
Baltimore SUM-

the population of the Philippine
archipelago gives the number of in
habitants of all the islands at not less
than S,O00,000. Racial hatred and
religious beliefs may unite the entire
population in .'holy war" against
r.. American invaders. Not only the
men are found in the insurgent army,
but women and girls as well, as dis
patches from Manila state that among
the dead insurgents found on the field
OF battle are women clad as men,
heroically fighting for what they con-
slider to be the rights of the Fill ipinos.
Moreover, Aguinaldo and other Fill
pino leaders have issued manifestoes
urging all natives, regardless of age
or sex, to take up arms against the
Americans. If the Filipinos are bent
upon war to the point of extermina-
tion no one can see when the conflict
will end, but it may be possible to
speculate upon the time and expendi-
ture of human life which, under some
conditions, may be required to pacify
the islands by exterminating the ma
tives.
Assuming that the Filipinos num-
Der S,OOO,O0O, all told, and that our
forces can kill at least 200 day. it
would be 10000 days, or nearly 10
years, before the native population
was wiped out. Our own losses in
the meantime would not be insig-
infcant. If the daily average were
twenty men, including those who
were killed in guerrilla warfare or
died from wounds or disease, we
would, at the end of 40 years, sacri-
flee the lives of 100000 American
soldiers before the Filipinos had been
exterminated. Every year this coun-
try would be drawn upon to furnish
thousands of young men to fill the
depleted ranks of our army in the
would be immense. To maintain a
sufficient force in the islands would
necessitate an expenditure of many
millions of dollars yearly, and before
the natives had been exterminated the
expense would aggregate billions of
dollars.
OF course, no one expects the war
be wiped out. If the people of the
United States believed it would be
Indefinitely prolonged and that many
thousands of our young men would
be sacrificed, they would upset any
| administration which proposed such
a programme. But there are advo-
Gates of imperialism who would be
willing to hand down war with the
Filipinos as a legacy to their great
great-grandchildren regardless of the
| cost in life or in treasure. To them
| campaign of 40, 900 days has no hor-
| rors, as they are safe and snug at
| home, and can afford to hurrah for
the flag at distance of 10000 miles
from the Filipinos' bullets. They
tiercely denounce as traitors and
'small Americans" those who protest
against the deliberate purchase of
100000 Filipinos from Spain and a
campaign of indefinite duration to
secure the delivery of human goods
which Spain never possessed, and
which we have no moral, legal or
political right to purchase. But these
imperialists do not constitute the
majority of the Americans, and those
who oppose imperialism will be heard
from when they have an opportunity
to record their opinion Of the admin
istration's policy of buying a people
and then exterminating them if they
| are not submissive.
Aguinaldo's army will take to the
| iungles and forests. 1t is impossible
for the natives to stand up in the
open against the advance of our sol
diers. Guerrilla warfare will soon be
inaugurated, and when it will cease
no one can foretell Meantime the
rainy season is scarcely month away
when military operations by oul
forces will be out OF the question anC
the army surgeons will be busy fight
ing disease among the troops. /
Otis could have '.boxed up" Aguinal
dos forces the situation would bt
vastly improved, but the insurgents
will not permit themselves to be
trapped as long as they are able t'
flight and run These are the tao
ties which they will continue to EN-
ploy, and they are very effective anc
annoying methods of warfare at times
as our gallant soldiers will probabl,
| discover