New-York tribune., 1899-12-25
NEGROS AND PANAY.
CONTRASTS IN TWO ISLANDS OF THE
PHILIPPINES.


TOWARD PEACE AND PRosPBRrTY-1N THE
OTHER REBELLION AND BR1oANpA'h
,,.. Island Of Negros Philippines Nov L
,ha islands Of Negros and Panay' oeione"e " 'iie
vIsavan group. and three hundreu .nAe So "a
Mafha' 49, >ooros under elected civil
iO"II -on, trr,lv controlled by the American au-
,.,. a, advancing along lines that are set TO
,aad her 70 peace prosperity ano pen|' ranay
q, nat-ollei and guarded. our so'oierS are marching
- aeb,ine over her hills. ana shrapneI from our
er,ulerv IS crashing through her P"iieai NUS ana
,.or,or ,s established the harsh and aroi-
.r,. -,,,a ~ the Filipino revolutionary party.
The commercial interests o, INC '"o iSianus arc
,so,t,oal Only twenty-five miles OF water separates
hem and Iouo on Panay' IS the shpplng port TOT
=, os,,.,. ~ Negros. These Islands show to-day
AZ pI. :, ,o nolicies pursued by in the Phil
III" LII ho,h are suffering from the lack OF
Hl,"' uov The conditions on Panay the
,.s - military inactivity, probably occasioned
- ,oct of sufficient troops to pursue vigorously
o.,naien The insurgent forces there have
- hean estimated at more than six thousand.
" - thousand all told would probably be nearer
80 mark Most Of these said have
oor,e down from Luzon. and there time. be-
fore they concentrated in their present force when
a very few American soldiers could have possessed
and held the whole island. with practically no oppo-
sition. But oontentcd ourselves with holding the
town OF Ioilo and nothing more. and only to-day.
after the arrival OF reinforcements from Manila, is
our position changing from that OF besieged garri-
con 20 one OF aggression and action against the
enemy. General Hughes has about thirty-fve hun
dred men and about Iloo. and advance by
our troops Is expected al any time
FIELD OF THE 9Th INFANTRY.
Negros Island was first garrisoned by the CALI
fornia volunteers. which regiment was replaced
early in July. 1898 by the 9Th United States In
fantry. Brigader General Smith. formerly colonel
OF the Californians is Military Governor of Negros
and since last July affairs here have advanced
rapidly and well under his direction Last July the
situation had two sides the military and the civil
The 9Th Infantry had before 1t the duty OF suppress
ing the interior mountain bandits. as well as the
scattering Of the revolutionary party which was
operating under instructions from Aguinaldo. In
Luzon. AS to civil matters. General Smith had In
view the Establishment and maintenance OF a civil
and elective government. which would ultima tely
serve TO show the other revolving Islands what
good things could be enjoyed under American rule.
Negros selected as the most promising nelo
FOR this experiment
The mountains OF Negros down its centre
and length and between the foothills Of this range
and the sea there is a belt Of lowlands averaging
IN width from five 20 twenty miles On these low
lands are the farms and plantations producing the
islands yearly crop OF sugar, all Of which is sent
70 Ioilo for shipment. In the lowlands are found
almost all the important towns and villages. as
well as most Of the roads This geographical dis
tribution OF low. productive lands on the coast
and mountain Businesses in the interior WAS the
comfort Of the early bandits and marauders, and
had much 10 do with making their work possible
and profitable on Negros Island. There were al
ways under Spanish rule bandits IN the mountains,
who lived by raiding the valleys and when we
possessed Negros they part Of our heritage
from our predecessors.
BANDITS Trimmed OUT
They still exist to-day. but since last July they
have encountered the 9Th Infantry. and they are
not nearly so numerous as formerly. and. conse-
ouently brigandage has lost much Of It's popularity
and may be considered 10 be upon It's last egs. IL
would be unwSs 10 state baa IN Pr sS 9s{ bv }Se 6b
the number is large. and there would surely be peo-
pie at home in Of he rasdy IsGt a bs eV
against tie Killings part Of Inheritance from
or Pope Issc. He is the leader Of the band oper.
a,Gs assd N BaSayIanes .n In the light Of informaton
gathered by American officers on Negros to-day the
Pabavlanes were formerly religious sect composed
Of natives Of the island who preferred their own
religion with It's curious seyep s"f to me
teneis OF the Church Of Rome which Spain tried 20
bov EFFORTS Of the priests and took 10 the hills for
religious freedom This was In the old days ana
bej1s KEPT in the mountains by religious perse-
ton robbery in the loWlands as means OF hveli-
nSd 2Gn 6 Sae and hence their
present occupation OF robbery.
What their religion IS to-day seems hopeless TO
fathom II bears traces of Mahometanism and
traces Of Catholicism. but is apparently largely
composed Of shallow superstition and belief IN
the charlatanism OF their present leader Papa
Issio Issio is described as a cunning. shrewd ana
ignorant man. II is said he mystihed them ana
gained his ascendency over them by having some
third class conjursr whom he picked up upon the
coast DO tricks at his Qssios) bidding He issues
and signs passports to the mountain people charg-
ing them therefor according to their means and
his needs. All tales Of him point to the fact that
he has a strong hold upon their ignorance and
credulity and that he poses successfully as their
governor. god and father. He provides them with
small round pieces OF paper. scrawled with dog
Latin which he declares make a man invulnerable
10 American bullets His followers believe him in
sD things and his charms often found upon
the enernys dead.
THE CAMPAIGN OF THE 9TH.
Az soon as the 6th Regiment settled upon the
island II began active campaign against the
bandits. The wet season was beginning out the
rains were ignored The bandits never thought
the Americans could penetrate their hills and meet
.bero pnon their own ground the Spanards had
never attempted such thing. But the 6th did IT.
Tbere were forced marches through country that
WAS considered impenetrable. over mountains ana
through swamps soldiers forced their way 10
meet the enemy at break Of dawn. In fancled Sc
cur,ty and never expecting attack. the enemy
were killed dernoralized and scattered. handful
~ American troops have taken positions that forty
trained men could have held against an army
corps They have fought up the face OF mountains
and in swa7nps where the dank grass grows ten
feet high and men sta gger and drop from want or
air and the heat. Hardsh!ps which the officers say
cannot be adequately described IN words were en-
dpred with courage and determination II was
hard work and II was well done. Tho men op-
Grated in small bodies for the 9th IS scattered IN
some thirty detachments throughout Negros while
two companies Of the regiment are at Cebu' on the
Stand