The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-05-30
For Whom Did he Blush
The Baltimore Sun says:

The Baltimore sun says
"A duly censored and, it is to
be presumed, therefore, officially APP
proved, dispatch from Manila states
that when President Schurmau inform
ed the Filipinos peace ENJOYS Of the
terms offered by President Mckinley
the latter could not conceal their cha
gin and disappointment General Gre
gorio del Pillar, it is said, turned red
under his brown skin when he realized
that he was being offered nothing bit
vague promises Of possible representa-
tion for his people, in case of compli-
ance with the American demand that
they lay down their arms For whom
did the Filipino generals cheeks red.
den with shame; IL could hardly have
been for his own people. who have fur
nished the world with remarkable
spectacle Of courage, self devotion and
patriotism seldom, il eyer. equlllei
in the worlds history. One of the As
sOciated Press dispatches from Manila
thus records The return and the results
Of General Lagton's 5 recent expedition
in the island Of LlzOn: His expedi-
tion marched a hundred and twenty
miles in twenty days and had thirty
two fights captured twenty eight towns,
destroyed there hundred thousands
bushels Of rice. and lost only
six men killed and thirty-one wound
ded. On the other hand. General Law.
ton estimates that his troops killed four
hundred Filipinos and wounded double
that number.
The ancient Romans had saying,
Sweet and beautiful II is to die for
ones country Certainly of this kind
Of heroism the Filipinos furnish a rare
example. If they do not kill or wound
many Of their enemies, they at least
show that they know how to die for
their country. While a record Of thirty
two fights in twenty days, the de-
struction Of twenty eight towns and
three hundred thousand bushels OF
rice. and the killing and wounding II
twelve hundred Filipiuos, with loss
of six killed and thirty-one wounded
on our side, is calculated 10 suggest to
the most unmilitary reader that the
fighting in question must have been
very one sided, a good deal of 1t must
have been like shooting blackbirds or
sparrows. No wonder that Mr.. Nc
Kinley's ex-Secretary OF State. the yen-
erable John Sherman, of Ohio, declares
that the poor and helpless natives OF
the Philippine islands are an outraged
people, and our war with them Is
cruel and needless one. One
cannot imagine, he continues, "a
more unfortunate war than the present
struggles with the natives OF the Phil
ippines. We were strong from the
beginning and should have withdrawn
our forces from those islands when the
war with Spain was over, as would
have been becoming nation as great
as the United States. Nor is this
opinion confined to distinguished and
patriotic Americans 1t is fast becom-
ing. if it is not already, the opinion of
the civilized world.
Only few days ago there appeared
in the Independence Beige, one Of the
best known and most widely circulated
journals Of Europe. an interview with
the celebrated Prof. Rudolph Virchow,
of Berlin, the leader Of German liber-
alism, upon the subject OF the peace
conference at The Hague, in which he
said, in speaking Of this country: Ma
tions are led astray by decisive idea
of glory and honor. The United States
have lately offered a pitiable example
of this. A civilized land has been
plunged into war by the criminal agita-
tion of brainless demagogues and the
incapacity of rulers. The United
States has sinned against humanity aud
civilization. Let us hope that the
Americans have at last recovered from
.heir bout of intoxication and will re-
deem the error of their country.
We do not know whether the Filipino
patriots whom leading jingO and i'm
perialist journals are in the habit of
stigmatizing as rebels. upon the
ground that Mr. Mckinley, having
bought for twenty millions Of dollars al
Spanish rights Of sovereignty and
jurisdiction" over them, any resistance
on their part to his authority is sheer
rebellion and punishable with DEATH
have ACCESS to such document as the
American Declaration of Independence.
If so, they would read there with sur
prise such language as this: we hold
these truths TO be self evident, that all
men are created equal; that they are
endowded by their Creator with GER
tain inalienable rights; that among
these are life. liberty and the pursuit to
happiness. That, to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the con-
sent of the governed. They might fur
ther read in the Declaration OF Rights ol