Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1899-03-11

ouhkOb iOt CuuCaulUu 10 HO larger Judl
the sum paid by the Hong Kong au
thorlties for the support of Vlctorij
College here. What little education
Is had in the Philippines is obtained
from the gopd Jesuits, who, in spit,
OF their being forbidden to practic,
their prlestly calling in Luzon, meyer
the-less devote their lives to teaching
their folow-countrymen. They carr!
the same principle into the church
and no matter how devout, able, o.
learned Filipino, CT even half
breel, may be, he Is not permitted Il
enter a religious order or even to bt
more than an acolyte, sexton, or az
insignificant assistant priest, The
state taxes the people for the lands
which it says they own, aud which as
a matter of fact they have owned
from time immemorial, and the
church collects rent for the same land
upon the pretext that 1t belongs to
them under an ancient charter of
which there is no record, Neither
life nor limb, liberty, nor property.
have any security whatever under the
Spanish administration.
Against the tyranny thus eloquently
described, the Filipinos had been
fighting for three years before the de-
struction of the Maine involved us in
the conflict. The sympathy of the
world was with the insurgents; aud
more than once a thrill of horror
swept oyer Christendom at the bar
barities practiced by the Spaniards on
their unlucky captives. AguinSldo
was the most prominent Of the in
surgent leaders, as he was probably
their most able general. Before the
outbreak of hOstilitles, the American
consul, Pratt, aud probably other of
our representatives, entered into such
relations with Aguinaldo and his
friends as to commit us, more or less,
to recognition Of the insurgents as
allies, with all that that implies.
That our representatives were not au-
thorized to enter Into such. relations
does not alter the fact, We held con-
ferences with them as with allies, we
became the trustee of their funds, we
carried them from Hong Koug 10 Ma
Mia on our warships, we used them as
pilots and spies, and accepted their
service and aid In many other ways.
While our ships we're lying off CaYlte,
army captured almost as
many Of the enemy's troops as Shafter
lid at Santiago, besides driving them |
out OF some OF the islands |
Then came a period OF Waiting
waiting for the recognition promised |
0y Pratt on the side OF the insurgents,
md waiting for the development of a
definite Philippine policy and a
action by the senate on
ours. Habituated only TO Spanish in
direction, stiffness, and treachery,
,he Fillpinos we're completely misled |
by our iudecision. To them H. could
mean but one thing, the repudlation
Df all the fair promises which had
been made In our name, just as time
aud time again the promise OF the
Spaniards had been broken. What
have we been fighting for anyway ?"
was AguInaldo's natural question at
this period. The suspicious nature
Of the Malay was stimulated by the
attitude OF our officials,
which, II not arrogant, was at tim S
arbitrary, and Inconsiderate OF the
Just rights OF men who had fought
and bled aud suffered IN a
cause as truly patriotic as that
which inspired WashinRton's i'll fed
hosts. In this condition of mutual
distrust the American army and the
Flipinos watched each other across
walls for weeks, while our
wretched senate gabbled about alb
stract rights and constitutional diIii-
culties. A chance shot, and suspic-
ions, recriminations, threats, at once
turned to musket yolleys and shrap'
mel, aud the grim work of reconcil-
iation by the sword ha1 begun.
And now, that some sixty OF our
soldiers are dead, and thousand Of
the Fllipinos slain, there is not a dog
from Maine to California too mean to
howl at Aguinaldo's treachery. But
our shouts to anger should be directed
nearer home. The blame is not that
OF the poor deluded Filipino, 5but the
men who mislead him. And the
greatest OF all is the .blamel OF those
babblers iniWashington who prolonged
a dangerous condition fin order to
near themselves talk. The blood
ffuiltiness is on them. For Aguinaldo
there shOnld be but pity, and when
and the time comes, mercy.
beauty Is blood Deep.