The Dickinson press., 1899-08-19
AsIo General Otis.

President Mckinley and Secretary
Root have decided that General Otis
shall retain his command in the Philip
pines, and the PRESS has no doubt that
they know what is best. The St. Louis
GlobeDemocrat treats the question for
chilly and fairly in the following article.
All who arc familiar with the methods
of the democratic party are aware that
the assaults on Gen. Otis are intended to
discrcdit the administration in the con-
duct of the war. Gen. Otis has a long
and honorable military record. He is
not an experiment in the care and man
agemcnt of troops, for his life has been
devoted to the work 1t is d question it
the military and civil duties of his pre-
sent position are not too numerous for
one man, but as far as matters have gone
the common sense and sober judgment
of the country approve the commander
in the Philippines. Much of the critisism
heard about Otis is to the effect that he
is too conservative. That depends on
the point of view. A Hotspur might
have done something more snowy, and
then again he might have run into serious
disaster. Under the orders OF Otis our
troops in the Philippines have met no
reverse or check He has been an act
i've leader Some of the volunteers think
they were pushed too hard. Otis himself
has said that they were worked to the
limit Of endurance. 1t is proper at this
time, the dividing boundary between two
campaigns, to estimate what has been
done, and the efficiency of those upon
whose plans and efforts success depends
The first troops sailed for Manila Is
days after Dewey's victory and the Sc
cond expedition three weeks later. The
third, of 1000 men, under Gen. Macarthur,
did not reach Manila until the close of t.
July OF last year. These are the troops
now returning home, and the last will
soon be mustered out. Their place has
been taken by regulars. Here is a not
iblc achicvemcnt-th substitution of one
army for another at point in the Pacific
1000 miles distant, and with the enemy
active Does Otis deserve no praise for
the performance of this difficult task!
He put down rising in Manila and drove
an army larger than his own from the
vicinity Of the city, breaking up what
was virtually a siege. He holds all the
line of railway seized, about 40 miles,
and commands the large lake southwest
of Manila whose shores are lined with
populous towns. He retains all strategic
points captured and they are invaluable
in resuming active movements. He has
tested the traits and tactics of the Tagal
soldiers throughout their entire range.
What they will do under given crcunl-
stances has been asccrtained by pract-
ical trial. The preparations going for
ward for the next campaign are based
on the knowledge acquired by actual
fighting, and which could not have been
gained in any other way.
In spite of this excellent showing, or
possibly because of it, the democratic
chorus breaks into yclp that the war is
a failure and that Otis should be removed.
His successor would find conditions in
finitely better than they we're six months
ago, splendid reason, by the way, why
Otis should remain where he is. Manila
is free from danger of revolt or attack.
We have bases long distance north,
south and east of the city. An army of
10000 men, enlisted for at least two CAM
paigns, will be on hand by October. To
relieve Otis now would be much like re-
moving Grant three months before Ap-
pomattox, and that was a proceeding
certain copperhead papers did not fail to
recommend. An impartial survey of the
situation in the Philippines is convincing
as to the importance OF what has been
accomplished. If the Tagal armies had
fought with more tenacity some of them
at least would have been captured.
Their tendency to run away prolongs the
war; but reduces to an absurdity their
hope to resist the network closing around
than,