The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1899-11-03
MUST CRUSH
REBELLION
Philippine Commission UphOldS
McKinley'S Policy.
No Promises Made to AgulnaIdo-
Dewey says He Entered Into no
Agreement With the Dictator
Filipino Aggression Rendered
HostiIities Unavoidable.


Filipino Aggression Rendered
HostiIities Unavoidable.
Washington, Nov. 3.-The Philippine
commission, consisting of Admiral Dew
ey, Colonel DENLY, President Schurman
and Professor Worcester, has submitted
its preliminary report to President Nc
Kinley.
The report is a compact summary Of
conditions on the islands as the commits
sion left them, of the historical events
which preceded the Spanish war and led
to the original Filipino insurrection, of
the exchanges between Admiral Dewey
and the other American commanders and
the insurgents, the breaking out and
progress of the present insurrection and,
finally, statement of the capacity Of
the Filipinos for self government. A
notable feature Of the report is memo
randum by Admiral Dewey explanatory
of his relations with Aguinaldo.
The commission first tells briefly how
it conducted the task intrusted to it,
hearing statements from all classes of
people in Manila as to the capabilities of
the Filipinos for self government, the
habits and customs of the people and also
the establishment of municipal govern
ment in many towns. All this matter is
to be included in the final report.
Turning to the history of the islands,
the commission attaches little Importance
to the divers rebellions which had pre-
ceded that Of 1896.
No Alternative but War.
The commission, in concluding this
chapter. says:
After the landing of our troops Agui-
naldo made up his mind that it would be
necessary to fight the Americans, and aft
er the making of the treaty of peace at
Paris this determination was strengthen
ed. He did not openly declare that he in
tended to fight the Americans, but he ex-
cited everybody and especially the mill
tary men by claiming independence, and
it is doubtful whether he had the power
to check or control the army at the time
hostilities broke out. Deplorable as war
is, the one in which we are now engaged
was unavoidable by us. We were attack
ed by bold, adventurous and enthusias-
tic army. No alternative was left us ex-
cept ignominious retreat. 1t is not to be
conceived of that any American would
have sanctioned the surrender of Manila
to the insurgents. Our obligations tc
other nations and to the friendly Filipi
nos and to ourselves and our flag de
mandedartisx' ffv.ce should be met by
force. Whatever the future of the Phil
| ippines may be there is no course open tC
us now except the prosecution of the wal
| until the insurgents are reduced to sub
mission. The commission is of the opin
ion that there has been no time since the
destruction of the Spanish squadron by
| Admiral Dewey when it was possible tC
withdraw o@r forces from the island:
either with honor to ourselves or safety
| to the inhabitants"
The commission then takes up the con
dition of the country at the time of thei
arrival, comparing it with conditions ex
isting at the time they left A vivid pic
| ture is given of the anarchy existini
among the inhabitants in and about Ma
Mia during the early spring. THE stu
alton in the city" says the report, 'wa
bad. lncendiarY fires occurred daily Th'
streets We're almost deserted. Half of th
native population had fed, and most o
| the remainder were shut in their houses
| Business was at II standstill, lnsurgen
| troops everywhere faced our lines, am
the sound of rifle fire was frequently au
dible in our house. A reign of terror pre-
vailed
'.Whe1i we left Manila, large volum
of business was being done, and tn
streets were so crowded as to be hardl
safe. The native population was quie
aud orderly, and all fear of an uprisin
had long since passed. An efficient corp
of native policemen was on duty. A sys
TEN of public schools in which Englis
| was taught had been advocated by tn
| commission and established by Genera
Otis. Some 6,000 scholars were in al
tendance.
BLESSINGS of American Rule.
''In the Tagalog provinces of Luxor
where anti-American feeling had bee
strong public sentiment had great
changed, as evidenced by the fact tina
the military governor of Batangas ha
offered to surrender his troops and hi
province IL we would only send Il sma
force there. The Bicols, in southern Lit
zon, had risen against their Tagalog mas
ters The Macabebes were clamoring TO
an opportunity to fight in our ranks, an
native soldiers and scouts were alread
serving under General Lawton."
The efforts nj conciiation with Agu
naldo and his various commissioners ar
set forth in detail These commissioner
were assured of the beneiicent purpose o
the United States and the president
readiness TO grant the Philippine peopl
as large q measure of home rule and a
ample liberty as consistent with the end
of government. Subject only to the rec
ognition of the sovereignty of the Unite
States--a point which, being established
the commission invariably refused eve
to discuss" The commission adds tina
nothing came of negotiations, as Aguinal
dos emissaries were without power an,
merely came and came again for infor
nation.
Under the head 'The Rebellion Not
| National Movement" the report treat
of the rebellion outside of the province
of Luzon where, it is stated, the upris
ing was viewed at first with indifference
and later with fear. Throughout tn,
archipelago at large there was trouble
only at those points to which armed Tag
alogs had been sent in considerable mum
bers. The machinery of the insurgent
government" served only for plunderine
the people under tie pretext Of leyyine
''war contributions" while ''many of the
insurgent officials were rapidly accumu
| lating wealth" 1t is stated the insur-
| gent administration throughout the inte-
rior was worse than in the days of Span
/ ish misrule In many provinces there
was absolute anarchy and from all sides
no,,,o ,,a+ifione FOR vrf4actior and holm