The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-04-12
BOARD OF OFFICERS ELECTED.
Gen. Greene Discussed The Duty Of the
Church In Our New Possessions
ADDRESS BY CHAPLAIN WILDWOOD.
Described Campaign Of Second Massachusetts, Il
Cuba Capt. Bartlett Told Of The Part Played
BY the Eay in Tho War.

The Churchman'S club held it's ninth
annual meeting at the Eloise, last
night, the attendance being one OF the
largest in the history of the organiza-
ton. President John Nicholas Brown
who recently returned from a European
trip. was in the chair.
Secretary George T.. Harts report
showed a total membership of 153.
Treasurer Charles c. Mumford's report
disclosed a balance of $94.92. The ex-
penditures for the year were $l724.Ss.
The annual election of officers was
held as follows:
President, John Nicholas Brown:
first vice president. Edward ID. Bas-
sett: second Vice president, j. Halsey
De Wolf; treasurer. Charles II. Godfrey;
secretary, George Il. Hart; members OF,
the council Louis f. Foster John p,
Reynolds and Charles G. Mumford.
The president reappointed as mar
shals Edward |. Nickerson. Henry C.
Tilden, John Il. Bolan, Frederick IL.
Mason and Henry w. Cooke.
The company then repaired TO ths
banquet and after the Rev. h. ;. Rous.
maniere, of Grace church, had asked
taken OF. During the progress of the
dinner Langstaffs orchestra gave
most acceptable concert.
At the head table sat Rev. John G.
Wildwood. chaplain of the I'd Massa-
chusetts Volunteer Regiment, and at
the presidents right sat Gen. Francis
Vinton Greene, ". s. ", and Capt.
John Russell Bartlett, II. :. n. These
the evening. Others who were hon
ored with seats at the speakers table
were George NJ. Porter Edward Drown
Bassett, Rev. George McC. Fiske, VIII
liam Ames, George w. r. Matteson. r..
II. |. Goddard. Rev. r. s. Rousmaniere,
John b. Anthony. Rev. n. V. p. Lewis,
Orville Stillman and Edward l. Nicker-
son.
The subject of the discussion wa9
"Reminiscences of the Spanish Ameri-
can War" Gen. Greenes sub-topio
was "The Duty of the Church i'm Our
New Possessions" In substance he
said:
..Thara- -upwards- of % different
races inhabiting the Philippine Islands
speaking many different dialects and
languages. and varying greatly in their
character and habits. The two princi-
pal races are the Tagalos and Visayas,
each numbering something more thar
1000 900 OF souls. The Visayas live on
the island of Panay, Cebu. Leyte, and
others in the centre of the Archipelago:
while the Tagalos live on Luzon. and
most OF them in the southern part OF
the island, within a radius of 100 miles
OF Manila. In Manila and its suburbs
there is a population of about 100000
and there is an extraordinary disparity
between different individuals in this
population.
"By nature the natives are peaceful
honest. industrious, fond Of their wive3
and children and virtuous i'm their
domestic relations The Spaniards
have been habitually untruthful IA
them and have engendered the belief
that all European races are equally
untruthful.
"The task before us i'm the Philip.
pines is one requiring infinite patience
and tact, and its successful solution
will require the exercise OF firmness
and kindness combined, in a manner
which cannot be specified at this dis
tance. but must depend upon the abil.
ity and good will of those on the spot
TO whom the task is entrusted. There
is tendency i'm the character of tho
Filipinos to regard kindness as weak
ness, and their friendship and sym
pathy can only be gained by a long
course OF upTlSnl utdllnE on our part,
in which 1t shall be evident that not
only we do not deceive them. hut we
constantly strive for their Improvement
and happiness: but at the same time
the strong hand Of force must always
be i'm evidence and ready to be used
il occasion requires. Absolute and i'm.
partial justice is the most important of
ALL"
Rev. John c. Wildwood gave a brief
.,ct In ion, ~ hn
chusetts Volunteer Regiment. Speaking
of an engagement I'm Cuba he said that
the agony which was endured by the
wounded men as they were borne back
from the front i'm heavy springlesJ
army wagons, was terrible. Many OF
them died on the way.
on the day after the battle. the
chaplain said that he was at the di
vision hospital and never i'm his life had
he seen such suffering from pain. He
considered that much of the SUFFERING
was caused from neglect
He told Of n visit TO the camp Of hia
regiment that was made by General
Shafter after the battles Of El Caney
and san Juan hill The General came.
he said. riding on n blackboard drawn
by a mule. Behind him was mounted
a cracker box. \ carcature that an.
peared i'm Life" he said. was literally
n correct representation of the appear
ance Of Shafter on that occasion.
lie described I'm detail how the Cen
oral was tenderly lifted from the buck.
board. and with the assistance Of thu
cracker-box was gotten upon his horse
The General then made n tour OF i'm
spection and afterwards was tenderly
helped from his horse on 10 tho buck
board agaip and disappeared never ~
be seen again bv tho regiment
Cant John ". Bartlett spoke yer ,
briefly in regard 60 tho part that was
piayed nv the navy during tho late war
attrhuting the success ~ thet branch
of tho service 90 Cts readiness for active
service when tho call came. In con.
ciusion nc said that no believed thar
tho acuu sition of The philippines cube
and Porto Rico had dNne moro 10 nd
vance tho cause ~ Christianity thar
ANYTHING else that had happened FOR
centuries
After the announcement that the next
meeting of the club would nc held ir
October the meeting was adjourned.