Evening star., 1899-02-07

| mia sensation among he army officers on
| duty at the department None of them
cared to be quoted in comment upon the
/ statements made by General Otis. but one
| expert declared that so far as he was in
! formed The latest pattern of Mausers that
| the Spanish troops in Manila had were
| dated as far back as 1Sl6 while the latest
| pattern. such described by the cable
| gram was right UP to date, seeming TO in
| oicate that they had not been obtained hv
| capture or gift from the Spanish but from
| some other source. OF course, il is per-
| mitted under the rules OF International law
| Tor the citizens of neutral states to sell
| arms to insurgents at the risk of having
| them captured as contraband on the way TO
| delivery. and these arms must have been
| smuggled from some of the Asiatfc ports
| recently. However. as Otis and Dewey have
| undoubtedly taken steps to cut of the
future supply of ammunition, and the insur-
| gents are wasting great quantities. these
! arms will soon he of much less value
Our Policy in the Philippines.
! The officials OF the War Department are
very much concerned over the policy to be
| pursued by the government as a result of
the ratification of the treaty in order that
definite instructions may he sent TO Gen.
Otis Immediately for his future guidance in
the handling of the delicate situation in the
Philippines. There IS a variance Of opinion
| on this subject on the part Of the officials
| OF the State and War Departments and the
| matter was undoubtedly the subject of
| thorough consideration at the cabinet meet
ing today.
| The extreme view on one side is that the
| status of affairs in the Philippines viii not
be legally changed until the Spanish goy-
! ernment has ratified the treaty. According
| TO this view it takes two parties to make 4
| treaty and the approval of both parties is
/ necessary to make it legally binding Fol-
lowing this lire Of reasoning, the United
| States government is estopped from pro-
ceeding beyond its lines al Manila for the
| time
BY the other extreme view the United
! States government is free 10 do Just as it
| pleases in the entire group OF islands and
| will therefore proceed at once to ccrnpIgtc
/ the military occupancy Of the Islands. Per-
| haps there is justification for this last
| view in the fact that the Filipinos were
| Spanish subjects nOminally when they
| broke the terms of the protocol and thereby
| released the United States from its observ-
| ance.
The Course Likely to be Followed.
| The medium view. and that which is like
| il to be followed. is that Gen. Otis is iusti-
| fled in doing anything that is necessary
| to protect his army and all American and
! foreign interests in Manila, even though
| this obliged him u assume the offensive
and to go outside Of the old lines in pursuit
| of the insurgents who may be seeking to
! reorganize and recouo from their late de-
| feat with an intention of attacking again
| or even threatening the Americans.
| The legal authorities Of the State and
! War departments We're in frequent consul
| tation this afternoon on the legal status of
! H-ie.r-
| binds the American forces to maintain the
| status quo in The Philippines till after the
| ratification of the treaty by Spain and the
United States. The fact that tn. treaty.
| must be ratified by both parties to the con
| tract was momentartly lost sight of by
| many persons yesterday in the first flush Of
| eNultatfon over its ratification by the SEN
| ate, and II was commonly remarked by
army officers and others in the deDartment
that the Philippines now being American
| territory Gen. obs was at liberty To ham
| die the tilipinos as he would an Indian
! outbreak or a railroad riot in the United
states. The fact is. however that the Phil
| ippilrs do not become American territory
| till after the treaty las been ratified by the
| Spanish c0rteS.
| But this fact will not hamper Gen. Otis
| in maintaining order and following up his
| victory Of Saturday and Sunday. 1t was
| said at the State Department today that
| while the Americans are still bound by the
protOCO 81, there is nothing in that document
| to prevent The American commander from
IidlHlalIins order IN the Islands. and he
| IS. IL fact compelled by the terms of the
protocol to do 50. In carrying out this obli-
CATION, he is not confined to Manila or any
| other region. but may extend his lines
wherever necessary to preserve order and
| prevent he rCaSsembling and further prert-
ara;ion OF any persons who have violated
| the peace agreement or who are preparing
to do 50 again.
This polite statement of the legal author
tiles of the department was supplemented
by the brusque remark of one of ,he army
officers who was a party to the conference
that Gen. OILS jurisdiction extends be-
yond his outposts 1900 yards with the
sights up, wherever he happens TO be-
AgonciIro and the Juntu
The decision regarding the protocol and
the status quo in the Philippines, it is said.
applies also 10 the case of Agoncilio an
| his agents in this country and in Canada
They are not citizens of the United States
in rebellion, whatever else they may be.
As a matter of fact, they are not giving
the administration much concern and are
not receiving any particular consideration
beyond being kept under surveillance by
the secret service men, so that hand can
be laid on them whenever they are wanted
This latter contingency applies OF course,
only to those now in Washington, who are
only two very lonely Filipinos. one sick and
both very badly scared.
As to AgOncfllos statement in Montreal
that he had gone there because he could
communicate better with his friends around
Manila, il was pointed out today by the
authorities having control of the wires that
Agoncillo will be very little better off in
Montreal than he was here, as the Manila
censor will take care of anything filed for
hsN there, although he can, of course
communicate with his friends in Hong
Kong, which he could not do here.
Arms and Ammunition.
1t is stated at the War Department that
all American troops at Manila have an
abundant supply of smokeless powder. The
regulars have the Krag-Jorgensen rife.
and about 5000 of the same weapons are in
the hands of the volunteers
RIVER AND HARBoR BILL.