The San Francisco call., 1899-07-20

for use. whether in the Philippines or in
the w est Indies, had all been enlisted for
the. period of the war. BY the terms OF
their enlistment they were free of every
obligation to the Government upon its
proclamation of peace The President
knew better than any one else that peace
was assured and that all his soldiers-not
only those who stood ready to go to the
Philippines but the ~ 600 men then there
as well-were by law to be mustered out
of the service on the instant when he
made official announcement that the
Spanish war was over,
Continuing, the statement reviews
the Legislation of April 1888, by which
$4,000 regulars were added to the $4,000
who composed the army in times of
peace, and says:
But after the peace protocol had been
signed not a man of them could be used
In the Philippines more than the force
then there. And who could then foresee
that this force was not sufficient? con-
fiict with the Filipinos was not then an
ticipated- Their army, 1T is true had been
assembled on the outskirts of Manila. But
orally supposed to be a friendly rather
than hostile army. It's leaders had been
ardent with the assurance of their friend
ship and confidence. They had proclaimed
a republic, to be sure, and had asserted
a government, but there was nothing in
the attitude they then, assumed that
could justify the belief that their guns
were going to be aimed at the flag that
had set them free.
Even had the President been at liberty,
under the terms of the peace protocol,
to increase the Philippine army, and even
had the men available for service there
been ready for transportation, no wise
counselor would have advised sending
them. Indeed. the very thing that
brought on the conflict with Aguinaldo
was the dispatch of a small force intend
ed to take the places of those whose
terms of enlistment had expired and who
had already been brought home.
From the hour when Congress assem-
bled in December the President endeav-
ored to draw its attention to the situa-
ton in which the Government would be
left upon the proclamation of peace. In
one message he delivered to the Senate
the peace treaty. In another he warned
Congress that as soon as the treaty was
ratified and the ratification exchanged he
troops. at Manila. An army bill drawn
in conformity with the Governments view
was already prepared and was urgently
pressed upon Congress. The country will
remember the bitter opposition It en-
countered from the Democratic party.
Democratic members who did not dare to
peace treaty, who would not even consent
to take the responsibility of opposing the
acquisition of the, Philippines, arrayed
against the army Dill.
The Democratic leaders in both House
and Senate had the bewildering hardihood
to declare that the increased forces asked
for were to be employed not In Manila but
here in our country: The troops were not
needed In Manila, these leaders said and
they actually argued that the administra-
ton was using the unlikely menace OF
war in the Philippines as a means of ex-
acting from Congress an enormous reg
ular army for the suppression of liberty
at home. 1t may surprise intelligent per-
sons to know that this sort of talk could
be indulged in upon the floors of Congress
but there were weeks and weeks of it,
and meanwhile the insurgents were gath
ering an army of 30 600 men, were growing
more and more belligerent in their atti-
tude and every day brought nearer the
time when peace would be proclaimed
with Spain and the Government be left
without legal claim to the services of
a single soldier in Manila.
"It was the I'd of March before Con-
gress passed the army bill, and the war
in the Philippines had been going on for
four weeks When the country considers
this fact and realizes that the $4,000 Amer
lean troops then in Manila had been as
sembled there, not at all in anticipation
of a campaign against the F'ilipinos, but
wholly and solely for the purpose of de-
feating the SpaEiards, and that the Presi-
dent had been told by no less authority
than Admiral Dewey that for the purpose
5000 men would be sufficient, surely his
foresight and good Judgment will be
everywhere aDDrOyed.