The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-04-29
The situation in the Philippines may

The situation in the Philippines may
make it necessary to call for volunteers,
the regular army having nearly reached
the limit prescribed by law There are
now in the Philippines aud under or
ders to proceed there "a. 600 regulars,
and nearly is, 900 in Cuba aud Porto
Rico, and less than %. COO are left for
any emergency. In connection with
this subject Gen. O. McO Reeve, who
has Just reached home at Minneapolis,
Mimi. from Manila, when interviewed
said.
II am glad am ont Of it have
had all the soldering | want for the
present "
II deprecate this war, the slaughter
of our boys and the Filipinos. because
it seems 10 me that we are doing some
thing that is contrary to our principles
in the past. feel as if this bloodshed.
this necessity Of cOnguering these poor
wretches might have been avoided.
Yet. now that the fighting is on, now
that is seems TO be necessary for Gen
Otis TO enforce his authority as the
representative of the United States, l
am in sympathy with what is being
done But certainly we are doing
something that we should have shrunk
from not so very long ago.
when our troops first landed in the
Philippines very few of the natives
dreamed of or cared for actual indie
pendence. Aguinaldo himself thought
only Of erecting u government under
American protection. He personally
told me that he did not think the Fill
ipinos knew enough about finance and
administration to set up nation OF
their own, but that as for the other
functions Of government he thought
they could get along very well. re-
gard Agninaldo as a very able man.
am not of the same opinion as those
who hold that he is a puppet in the
hands of ADLER men. But soon after
we occupied Manila there began to
develop among the insurgents a
war. for. absolute. independence party.
The chief leader was Antonio Luna,
editor of the Filipino paper, "Inde.
pendencia. who was at first very ia
yorably disposed toward US. But the
fact that they were not considered in
the treaty in Paris but were disposed
of for 500, coo, 900 caused some OF the
leaders TO entertain grave doubts rs to
the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of our inten
tons They argued that in view Of the
fact that they practically controlled the
whole Of the islands, with the exception
Of the city Of Manila, the sale of the
title for $50, 600, 900 indicated that
the Americans intended to exploit
them Having had no experience ex-
cept that Of broken promises in their re-.
lation with the Spanisrds. they could
not under the dubious circumstances.
believe that we meant TO deal fairly with
them. Finally. no definite promise
or statement was made 90 them by the
Americans Added to the causes OF
suspicion and the lack Of definite policy
on our part was the forbearance of our
soldiers, which impressed the more ig-
norant Of the natives with the idea
that the Americans were afraid OF
them.
Il can tell you one piece Of news that
is not generally known in the United
States On Sunday, February 5, the day
after the fighting began. General Torres.
Of the insurgents, came through our
lines under flag of truce, and had
personal interview with General Otis.
IN which, speaking for Agunaldo, he
declared that the fighting had been
begun accidentally and was not su-
thorized by Aguinaldo; that Aguinaldo
wished to have it stopped, and that TO
bring about a conclusion of hostili-
ties he proposed the establishment Of
a neutral zone between the two armies
of any width that would be agreeable
to General Otis, so that during the
peace negotiations there might be no
further danger Of conflicts between the
two armies. To these representations
of General Torres, Gen. Otis sternly
replied that the fighting having once
begun must 60 on to the end, and it
has gone on ever since. The little
brown fellows whom we all expected to
disperse in short order are fighting and
fighting well -