Daily inter mountain., 1899-12-05
Aguinald0 in a Impregnable
Fortress.
MUST BE STARVED OUT
Indian Method OF Warfare Nav Have
to be Adopted-A Great
Country.

| ~~N' AoA ~ DSC. O.-ILUW III w 1lullld0,
formerly correspondent for the Jour-
chances of escape says:
"Aguinaldo, bother up in the Carahal,o
! mountains is little less than a fugitive
or Drlgand. There he has probably about
10000 natives who are in sympathy with
ms cause. Aguinaldo will have for time
at least a great mountain territory,
stretching from the Caraballo mount
aims on the south to Mount Data, 1000
rect high, to the north; to the east over
| the great range of Sierra Madres to the
Pacific; to the west, wild country ira
versed by the North Caraballo mountains
Tor Bayombong is the bountain head of
the mountains of Luzon. All the great
ranges, both north and south, radiate
from the head waters of the Magat and
! Cagayan rivers
'Aguinaldo has therefore chosen the
most impregnable fortress nature gave
to Luzon. With the great Cagayan val
ley to draw supplies from, he can hold
out until we move forces from Aparri,
200 miles up the Cagayan river, and lit
orally starve him out, or by adopting In
dian methods Of fighting. BY subsst-
ing our army on what nature affords
! and what we can buy or take from the
natives, we can hunt him to his hole
Even then he may elude us and escape
to the Pacific coast, or even to the south
beyond the east coast range. In fact
! ii he should decide to take to his heels
and box up his revolutionary ideas for a
/ more propftious season, it would only be
by the utmost vigilance, coupled with
good degree of luck that we would catch
| him.
I'VE are fighting in the north of Luz
! zon, as will be seen by the brief resume
of the nine provinces, a known population
! of over million, besides an unknown
number of savages, who have from time
! to time immemorial resisted the white
man, and will continue to resist him as
! long as white man offers him civiliza ton
Aguinaldo has this population largely un-
der control. His methods are not those
of civilized war. He skulks shoots from
ambush, retreats. and throws life and
property to the dogs. He is now the ia
natic head of a half-civiized horde Of
aborigines, who would rather fight than
work, and who hail him as the great chief
melled savagery of their forefathers. If
we could catch him and shoot him and
all his cabinet and staff, the revolution,
as a general movement, would be at an
end. But he has the cunning, as we'll
as the love of life to prevent such a ca
tastrophe, and takes to his heels, scent
ing danger afar off.
"We have a problem in the Philippines
that will require a large army One
hundred thousand men are none too
many Agunaldo will next be hemnled
in from the north, and operations con-
fined to the mountains. If we then
garrison the capitals of the provinces and
the seaports of Importance, opening them
to trade. the civilized sections of Luzon
will quickly range themselves on our side
With army protection to commerce and
Industry, and American dollars at work
in the islands, the natives would soon
compete for them. AS to the savage
hordes, they could be dealt with as oc-
casion demanded.
| "In all the civilized or senli-civilized
parts and cities of the island where we
have come to stay the natives have
shown ready Willingness to accept our
government and go to work England's
colonial system is based on the power Of
protected trade, and until that system
gets to work in the Philinnines the ma
tives will be. as General Otis compla ms.
uneasy" If town by town they must
be captured, then town by town they
must be garrisoned.
.The paralyzation of trade in the
islands is one of the present unfortunate
conditions. We have kent out foreign
trade because it would give the natives
boarded wealth in the products of the
islands of the past year is enormous.
When the volume of trade commences
the flow of monev into the provinces will
be in millions Prosperity such as never
before in their history will be expert
enced.
The vast quantities of tobacco. sugar
indigo. hemp. copra and rice Will fnh
waiting market. Never in the history
of the hemp industry was the price so
high Reports coming from various parts
of the islands show that the natives have
not been idle but have raised abundant
crops. and that being unable to market
! them, have immense warehouses over
flowing with the products of their labor.
Great English. German and American
| firms in Manila are ready and anxious
| to buy up the entire product of the
| islands in all their staples 1t is i'm
material. therefore. to our future move
ments whether Arrinaldo is captured or
driven from the islands,