Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-09
BATTLE or MANILA.

Buffalo Express. Today the conflict In tho
suburbs Of Manila declares that they are our
ncrco foes; that II we are to hold the island
as our dependency II must be by the sword
! We are again at war. And for what?
| Chicago Record The situation is unfortu-
| nate In tho extreme The American people
who went into the war TO help an oppressed
| people eccurc independence will not relish
! the idea u being engaged in conflict with
some NJ the liberated.
| Detroit Free prcss. II, stll insisting upon
! tho unqualified acquisition OF the Islands,
! the United Stntca continues TO assert Its
\ sovereignty over the archipelago against the
| will OF the natives, the sanguinary struggle
| OF the past forty eight hours viii hardly be
! the limit Of strife between our government
and the rocalcItrnnt natives.
| Cleveland Plain Dealer: The attack by the
| FIlipnos was without Justification, and they
| were properly punished for 1t. II was most
unfortunate for them and for pacific and
| satisfactory solution OF the Philippine prob
lem. Having driven Spain out OF the islands
! we viii now have to subjugate the natives
by force If we intend to hold the islands our
selves. 1t Is not a pleasant outlook
Springfield Republicans: 1t is thought that
| a difficult task Will devove upon our army,
| however, in case the Filipinos retire to the
anterior and conduct war after the plan
Of the Cubans against Spain. 1t Is such an
outcome that Is to be dreaded, DO the
Fifipinos intend TO make the war they have
now begun long one? The future must an
swer the question. 1t is to be hoped that
our experience will be happier than that of
the Japanese in Formosa.
New York World: We are suddenly with
n Inc fnpa tr,f fnn xvi thp nj
of empire. 1t is no longer possible to sugar
it with bland phrases like benevolent as
similation.' To rule we must conquer To
conquer we must kill and must get used TO
hearing of the killing OF our soldiers Fully
as startling as the news itself is the amaz-
ing coincidence that this mournful battle
occurred just at the exact moment when the
first news of it would be still fresh in the
minds of the senators as they cast their
votes upon the treaty.
Chicago Chronicle: We now confront war
war in the tTopics--of which we have had
a mere foretaste. Bad begins, but worse re-
mains behind. We shall conquer of course.
The nations blood is up, and for every
American soldier who falls in the Philip
pines a score of Malays shall bite the dust
If determination be the only solution OF the
problem, then the Filipinos are doomed to
perish from the earth-and perhaps no great
loss either. But Spain gave us, on land, no
small trouble. and Spain tried for 200 years
to subjugate the people with whom we are
now to measure swords We make up
our minds that, though victorious in the
end, we have before us a campaign COM
pared with which that of Santiago was in
significant.
Philadelphia Record: The Filipinos have |
been delivered from an odious tyranny un- |
der which they had groaned for nearly 400 |
years. They had no cause to anticipate any |
but the fairest treatment at our hands; they |
had spokesman unnumbered among our peo- |
pie to advocate their right to independence,
and on proving their capacity for self-govern-
ment they would have had an overwhelm- |
ing public sentiment in this country to sup |
port their claim for complete liberty from |
foreign control. The actions of Aguinaldo |
and his junta have exposed these self-styled |
liberators as a set of intriguing malcontents |
of superlatively malignant type, possessed |
of none of the virtues either of savages or |
civilized human beings, puffed up with con-
ceit and unacquatnted with the meaning of |
such words as honesty and gratitude.
Baltimore SUM- There Is no doubt that in |
time the Filipinos can be subjugated but it |
may cost this country many valuable lives
and involve the expenditure of an enormous
sum Of money. For more than 100 years we
were engaged in warfare with our Indians,
and IL the Filipinos are fanatical and
courageous as they are represented to be it
may be many years before they bow to the
yoke. There are nearly 10,O00,0O0 of these
people spread over an archipelago of 1000
or more islands They can live in the
swamps and jungles and in climate which
may prove fatal to Americans. They are
not without modern arms and food supplies.
The Spaniards were never able to extend
their authority in the islands beyond the
seaports, and if the Filipinos are to be sub
jugated it will be necessary for our troops
to engage in bush fighting in the interior
of the islands. This is not an encouraging
outlook nor will it appear to most people
who are not fascinated by imperialism that
the game is worth the candle