Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-25
NO USE FOR THE PHILIPPINES
Anonymous American Takes n Pes
simistic view of Affairs in
the islands.

Copyright, 1899, by Press publishing Coz
LONDON, June 24.-(New York World
Cablegram-Special Telegram AN Ameri-
can publcist of high standing and unique
experience throughout the world, but whose
position makes it impossible for him to
disclose his name, has just srrired in Lon
don from Manila and has gie| dhe follow
ing statement for pitblicati - ,Sof pure
sense of duty to his coun @ry4&
81 have studied the nt in the
Philippines for eight mo- I - the in
field went there W.! taH e = 49, ihesion
to the annexation policy if could discover
its justice or feasibility I came away with
the absolute conviction that this Philippine
campaign and it's inevitable consequences is
the greatest calamity our nation has ever
encountered Censorship prevents the
American people from learning the truth
about the situation. 1t is the most
monstrous censorship ever effectuated. The
Spaniards during the war closed down all
news dispatches without distinction. At
Manila the censorship is conducted by an
officer who parades his personal prejudices
against certain newspapers, openly favoring
those whose correspondents frame their dis.
patches to suit his expressed wishes. News
of vital moment to America is daily killed
by this officer upon no other grounds than
&
them have the official reports; they are best
for them
Il heard a high officer say to CORE
spondent one day who had appealed from
the censor: If we allowed your dispatches
to go through we would be overwhelmed
with cables and l don't want the bother
$50 our people are Systematically kept in
the dark misled and this purposeless Grim
nal campaign proceeds. This rebellion Is
our own creation. The Philippines were al
peace when we went there. We brought
! Aguinaldo and his confederates back from
Hong Kong, where they had withdrawn in
| fulfllment of their agreement with Spain
! We armed them with Mausers against the
! Spanish. Now we are paying the bitter pen
! atty. Subjugation can be effected in few
months. 1t will take $4,000 men. Fal
| fewer would suffice II our army had any en-
thusiasm in the work. But they have none
In fact they loathe it. They constantly ask
What are we fighting for? Why should We
be killing these Filipinos?
mo one can safely answer these questions
but it is sorrowfully recognized that we have
gone into a trap from which release IL
difficult if not impossible, and when the
| islands are subdued we will be confronted
| with the most hopeless situation in our his
| tory. No sane man who knows the Fill
pinos can suggest that we could give then
the rights of American citizenship. The,
were utterly antagonistic, antipathetic Il
us morally and mentally. They combine al
the unspeakable qualities of the Chinese
and Malays. Education, even II they tol
Grated it, would improve them nothing from
our point of view No government is pos
sible there except military government
which Will perpetuate If it does not aggra
vate the evil qualities of the race, accen
tuated as they are by ages Of oppression ant
bad government.
ALREADY the United States is subsidizinl
the Catholic church in the Philippines. Thi
Is one of the sinister necessities of our en-
tanglement, Abolish priestly rule theT
and nothing is left to dfferentiate the Fill
pinos from the savages, The maintenance
OF this church, contrary to every principle
of our constitution, must be continued i
we are to remain The friars have fed, bu
the seculars remain and are an indispensable
element in preventing utter chaos in tn
| islands, The Islands are rich and fertile
but as a commercial market the open doc
is impossible for us. II that policy is de
clared the Germans, who have adapted thei
manufactures exactly to the requirements o
the islanders, can undeTsell us and driv
our merchandise out at every turn.
Neither military, political nor CONNER
cial advantage can accrue to us by thi
fatal policy of annexation. The American
people are being hoodwinked and deludet
by politicians who are conscious they hay
recklessy landed the country in an insan
and injurious enterprise The problem o
how to extricate ourselves from 1t withou
indelible disgrace and damage is one of stu
pendous dificulty. But the risk to our ma
tional interests of attempting to retain tn
Philippines is fraught with vastly more mo
mentous dangers. military government
will demoralize the rulers and the ruled
The Philippines will be a source OF con
stant international trouble. forcing hous
: for administrative corruption devoid of
single redeemlng feature"