The San Francisco call., 1899-08-01

An officer of one of the volunteer
regiments now in the Philippines
has written the following letter to
the Associated Press:
MANILA. June 27.-The arrival of the
rainy season finds the insurrection as
bulky and vigorous as it has been any
time since the outbreak. The insurgent
armies arc We'll recruited, notwithstand-
ing their heavy losses. and are well fed
and clothed. They have profited by their
five months Of warfare against the Ameri-
cans. They are fast adopting American
tactics and are becoming better disct-
plined and more skllful In the use of
their weapons every day.
This is the unanimous judgment of the
troops who have been at the front all
through the fighting. The repeated stor-
les sent home about the collapse of the in
surrection are the fanciful dreams of cor
respondents and army officers, who never
venture outside the walls of Manila.
The American people and the admins
tration have been too long deceived with
regard TO conditions here. Many lives and
millions of dollars will be saved by a
frank understanding of the true state OF
affairs, followed by measures adequate to
crush the insurrectiOn promptly. one nun nun
dred thousand soldiers should be mere
ready for business by the beginning OF lnS
dry season. in November. GarrlsOnS Coulu
then be stationed at stra tegic points ana
fresh troops he available to relieve the
exhausted columns. Continuous plo"S
would rapidly drive the insurgents INTO
corners where they might be captured OF
starved into submission. but q continuous
warfare cannot be carried on in TINS ener-
waiting climate by the same troops / {
0ueDr reliefs are necessary. Troops Should
not he kept here longer than year Men
from a northern climate retain tnelT ma
live viEOr for six or eight months after
arrival here ard then begin TO SuCCuInD
70 the various ailments Of tropical wealth
er. This is eXemplihed III the case OF lIe
volunteers and those regulars VINO nave
been i'm the Philippines since last summer
The most of them are saturated with ma
lsria many have rheumatism and I'll are
greatly dehilitated. They are unit Tor
further duty. and reCuperatiOn seems SLOW
and unsatisfactory. As it has been with
them so is it likely to be with their sue
But the one great need in a successful
Campaign is a commanding general VINO
can keep the fight going all along the
line al the same time. II is a. great prev
alent belief among the troops now IN the
Philippines, regulars as Wei as Noiuu-
reerS. that General OTIS IS not equdl 70
the occasion. He is regarded as beng al
together too Oue-sided. too cranky ana 100
slow. Generals Lawton. Macarthur
Wheaton and Funston are faVorites. 1t
is an open secret in many circles tnat
General Otis takes none OF them INTO MS
confidence Genarl Macarthur is the only
one IF the four on friendly terms with
General Otis.
a mistaken impression seems to obtain
the inSUrrectiOn. The goo TagdlS are
the leaders in it, but by no means are
they alone. All reports from every lsland
I'm the archipelago agree that the F1IlplnoS
everywhere are alike hostile 10 the Amer
leans although some carry their hoStll-
itv 10 greater lengths than others. All
alike have suffered from 800 years or
Spanish oppression and like cause has
bred a like distrust of the white man. The
10 900 600 million people of the Philippines
are as highly civilized as the 12,OtD.OOO
people OF Mexico. Their civilization, too,
has many points Of similarity TO the Mex
lean. both having been derived from
Spanish sources.
If The American people will imagine the
United States to have acquired Mexico
against her will. and to be engaged in an
attempt to put down universal rebellion
Of the MeXiCanS with % 600 troops, they
will have duplicate picture at close
range Of the situation in the Phi1pplnes
with the exception that the climate OF the
philippines is from 10 to Is degrees more
trouical than that of Mexico.
The volunteers here We're much amused
at the news that the Postmaster General
had forbidden the circulation of Edward
Atkinson's anti-eXpansionist documents
through the mails on the ground that
they might create mutiny among the
troops They accept this explanation as
evidence that the administration looks
1uOn the soldiers here is a band of chill
dren. The troops are virtually united
against the annexation of the PhlllpplneS'
regardless Of Edward Atkinson and the
Postmaster General