The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-07-28
LOST FAITH
IN GEN. OTIS.
officers and Men Agree That He
Is a Dead One.
HIS FAvORITES PROTECTED
Many Others DO Not Know That Their
Boys Are Either Dead or Crippled
For Life-Some Awful
Disclosures.
Special to the News-pemoerat.

Special to the Democrat.
San Francisco, Cal, July 25.-Forty-
one non-commissioned officers and pri-
Yates invalided home arrived on the
steamship America Maru from Manila
via Hong Kong. One and all unhesi-
tatingly and unsparingly condemn Gen.
e. S. Otis management OF the Philip.
pine campaign, and assert that both
regulars and volunteers have no faith
in him. They charge that Gen. Otis
incompetency is the one leading topic
of conversation among the men and say
the disrespect in which he is held is in
strange contrast to the devotion and
regard shown for generals like Law ton
and Wheaton.
They make the serious charge that
Otis cablegrams about the situation in
the Philippines are often misleading
and in some instances so different from
the actual facts as to be absolutely un-
truthful. They make special mention
OF Otis dispatches about the Americans
killed and wounded, and in the Ian
guage of one of the soldiers:
MANY mother in this country does
not know that her son Is either dead or
crippled for life."
Harry W. Essman, OF indianapolis,
who was corporal Of Battery H, Third
artillery, said:
''The men in the Philippines can't
talk. They are afraid to. Now that
III A.
truth as l saw and understood things.
Otis Is dead one so far as the soldiers
are concerned. They firmly believe
that he is the wrong man for the place
and have lost all faith in him and re-
spect for him. He plays favorites with
vengence. He keeps favored regi-
ment, the Twentieth regulars, in Ma
Mia and orders the Minnesota volun-
teers to stay on the firing line. The
regulars have Krag-J Jorgensen rifles.
OF the volunteers some twenty-five
men in each company have Spring
fields. The Filipinos are equipped
with Mausers, which have a range OF
$500 yards. The range Of the Spring
field is 800 yards. There are plenty
Of Krag- -Jorgensens and Mausers in the
arselel, but for some reason Otis re-
fuses to give them out to the volunteers.
The men can't stand it. Otis campaign
has been failure because when town
is taken it has to be abandoned for lack
of troops to garrison it. The natives
construe such action as sign Of cow
ardice. They see our troops repeatedly
fall back from this and that town and
look upon it as retreat. Aguinaldo uses
these tactics Of Otis to bolster up the
spirit of his followers and the country
people in general. The men have often
wondered why Otis never shows him
self in the field. He is housed in a Ma
nila palace with hundreds OF guards
around him and is as dictatorial and
arbitrary as car.
"All the talk about the war soon be-
ing brought to an end by Otis is ridic-
ulous. He has not the ability to con-
quer Aguinaldo in ten years
Sergeant r. E. Bitcoe Of Battery G,
Third artillery, said:
"Otis is generally considered by the
soldiers to have made a big failure OF
the war. He has accomplished little
or nothing. He has not crippled
Aguinaldo in the least. Some other
general in whom the men have conf
dence should supersede Otis"
Sergeant J. A. Lewis of Battery G,
Third artillery, said:
1.-THE soldiers have certainly turned
against Gen. Otis. Something is
wrong in the management of the cam
paign There is lack of a clear, able,
commanding head. The troops gen
orally seem to be dissatisfied. 1t is
not their fault that little or no pro-
gress toward the subjugatlon of Agui-
naldo has been made.
Sergeant Leon Chick OF Battery n,
Third artillery, said:
"Otis should be recalled without de-
lay. The troops would be rejoiced to
hear OF his recall. They have lost con-
fidence in him. A new and more cap
able general is needed; also more
troops. Aguinaldo is far from being
whipped"
DR.. Fred Carpenter of the Fifty-frst
Iowa, hospital steward, says:
"Otis is not big enough man for the
place he occupies. He has by no
means firm grasp OF the situation.
Aguinaldo is very much alive and
much fighting will have to be done"
Corporal John Allen of the Twentieth
infantry says:
"Otis should be recalled He has
made mess OF the Philippine cam
paign. The men don't believe in him
any more"
Corporal A. B. Strock of the Twelfth
infantry said:
"No Gen. Otis has not the mems
confidence any longer. The situation
imperatively calls for an abler man."