Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-11-09
Astonishing ton Account ot i 5Dolngs
in h !! Philippines. b
HIS is a LIFE OF EASE
An Arlstoernt WAC Can 30 ssen only.
BysAmericnns rhronsh q srnzo3; Of.
Red Tape, bnt is All snnvity 10
Any Foreign Person. Regardless
or Character Dislike of News
paper Correspond

Hamilton Grayson, the Philadelphia
Ledger's correspondent in the Philip
pines. writes his paper as follows:
Let me escape the censor for q while
and endeayor to let In q little light on
the official life Of the Governor General
OF the Philippine IslaRds. Heellves in
palace in the walled city. His is a
life of ease. and outside Of his sensl-
LIKENESS over newspaper criticisms
from home his troubles are few. For
the criticisms OF the Manila papers he
has no fear. nor cares he for those of
his subordlnates. His word places n
newspaper man In Bilibid prison. and
MS word Will court-martial a free
spoken officer. Any newspaper man
who dares to utter word against any
act Of General OTIS good or bad, would
lind himself in Bjllbid within an hour
AN AUToCRAT.
He Is an autocrat. No one can see
him except through q maze Of red tape,
second llleutenants and majors, and Il
( ne Is an American 1t is doubtful IL he
ever gets to see him at all. But any
joint proprietor to European renegade
Ito him he is all suavjty
This American general refuses to hear
petitions from honorably discharged
soldiers for license to engage in bus
mess of any kind by which they might
De able to get living, yet when he
first assumed his office he made It a
point to impress upon commanding Of
iicers of troops that if any OF tho pri-
Yates desired to secure their discharges
and remain In the newly acquired
country he would do all In his power
10 further their interests. This decla-
ration, which he has utterly repudiated,
was made when he was anxious about
his status with the government. and
MS idea was to secure the good will of
these officers In their home communica-
lions, Since Alger "fixed him" perma,
nently he has rhaughtly declared that
he never uttered that remark.
AMERICANS REPUDIATED.
4 How far he has gone in his repudia-
4 ton may be inferred from the fact that
now any foreigner-Chi Fill
pino, renegade IGuropeail-vwhat not
anything but an American ex-soldier
or ciVilian-cnn get q license to do any
thing, sell anything and keep any kind
oil place, and he has appointed to
positions In the palace In the custom
house, captain of the ports office, and
IN all other offices Of the government
except the DostofIice, beach-combers.
renegade aliens and riff -raff OF all ma
lions, while q moor ex-scldier has
begged for employment in vain.
HIS APPOINTMENTS.
The appointments made by General
Otis to the judiciary of Manila are in
Keeping with the rest OF his misrule.
All the magistrates are Filipinos-at
least. enemies OF the government they
serve; their knowledge of American
law is ALL These men, who dc not even
speak English, to try any case, either
native or OF unruly soldiers! Think OF
it! Some OF their decisions are SO
ludicrous that I will illustrate. or
course, 1T Is understood that when the
Otis government is concerned their
decision is for that side, no matter
how fragrant the abuse of law.
AN AMUSING CASE.
An amusing case was that of a
Chinaman, a wealthy man. who had
bought from the Commissary a. lot OF
beef represented to him to be sound,
He attempted to sell the beef, and one
of the inspectors (?) had him arrested
for selling unsound meat The China
man quickly proved that the United
States officer sold 1t to him as good.
Now here the little Filipino justice got
into a quandary. If he called the
Commissary, General Otis might inter
fere: if he discharged the Chinaman.
there might be trouble. Just then ca mn
an officer from the pa1ace-a wink. a
word. and the Chinaman was free and
the Commissary was saved O court
martial!
TTTTIT. ON
General Otis is very careful Of his
health, as he has been having the road
way and moat around the walled city
cleaned and ditched, while about the
hospitals are reeking filthy tributaries
Of the Pasig, and through the new Ma
Mia runs n branch OF the Pasig just
behind the postoffice, which is mass
OF floating filth. The contractor who
has the cleaning Of ManLa's streets-a
foreigner, of course-has about rs
brown men and three little carts in a
city of nearly 100000 people, and with
streets narrow and constant vehicle
travel one can Imagine their condition
On a hot day after a rain the smell Is
like that OF a cesspool.
DENS AND DIVES LICENSED.
# All over new Manila, and even In the
walled city, are to be found the worst
kind Of dives and gambling dens, every
one. of them licensed by order of Cen
eral Otis. On the Escolta, the main
thoroughfare of new Manila, are to be
found hundreds Of rum shops, wide
open, where every day thousands of
soldiers congregatc The grim German,
whose outspoken antipathy to the pres
ent government Is Offset blythe beer
and vlllainous liquor he sells, often has
murder done In his place-every day
he has serious fights. In one place-the