Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-03-16
"CHAOS.

Now York Evening Post.
The cxpansionsts have begun to
threaten US with "chaos'' if they stop
killing people with machine-guns in
the Philippines, Just as they threatened
us with "a renewal of the war; il the
treaty with Spain was not promptly
ratified, concealing from us carefully
who was to renew il. Ono thing they
apparently do not see, and that is that
they arc accustoming US to 'chaos. ~
What are we doing but establishing
chaos and carrying it on, as a sort Of
business in which we are proud to
excel? What is chaos but gun govern.
mont, many thousands of deaths by
violence, absence of civil law, great
sense Of insecurity among the peace
able, daily growth among large bodies
of the population of intense hatred and
study of revenge towards the people
claiming the government, the indefinite
postponement of peace and order and
trade and commerce and industry?
Why, bless your innocent souls, expan-
sionists dear, chaos has been the normal
state of the Filipinos for generations,
and what we thought you were going
to do was to put an end to it. Now you
tell us that if you stop killing the
Filipinos and try kindness and con-
ciliation, ''chaos" will begin. But
there cannot be worse chaos than you
are carrying on. Every dispatch from
Gen. Otis tells Of chaos, and nothing
else. 1t tells only of skirmishes,
slaughters, assassinations, burnings,
Of the general destruction around
Manila of all the works of civilization,
of the death of thousands of half
civilized men, solely because you choose
to call them rebels, f" though they have
never acknowledged your authority,
and you have not particle of claim to
their allegiance except what is based
on q bogus purchase from bankrupt
wonderland you Americans!
The truth is that we, foremost ia
the files of time," have simply bought
the good will of chaos business from
u broken-down old dealer, the last left
in the world, and have begun to
carry it on at the old stand in
precisely the old way, except that
we are substituting Professionalism
for Catholicism, enlightenment for
superstition, American Dragging and
blowing for Spanish Dragging and
blowing, and keen, effective slaughter
for Spanish old fashioned, clumsy
slaughter. We are, in fact. irving to
do exactly what the Spaniards were
trying to do--that is, hold down a wild
people against their will 5000 miles
away. We are trying TO do what Spain
tried to do in all the Spanish American
republics, and in Cuba, without sue
cess, with a government much less
adapted to the work than Spain. Our
government was made for peaceable,
Industrious, homogeneous, Protestant,
men. We are abandoning our ploughs
and looms to engage in the old detest-
able Spanish business of ''chaos'-
making and concentrating, for
which we have neither fitness nor ex-
perience. What do we think of con-
quering Power whose Secretary of War
had to quit the army to avoid court-
martial, and promptly uses his authority
to serve decayed beef to the troops,
whose commissary- general blackguards
the commanding general in a carefully
composed essay in the language of
drab in the stews, and is rewarded by
the executive with six years. vacation
on full pay? To be successful con-
queror you must not only have guns
and soldiers, but q conqueror' g manners
and the ways of conqueror, and you
must modify your Christianity.
Many good people who. do not APP
prUFe VI CHuoS are aSh1nB themselves
in helpless way, What are we
to do? we are in for it," and so on.
Well, we luckily know something about
these rebels" from the experience of
the Spaniards- the strebels" rely
mainly on their climate and the wide
and scattered nature of their territory.
All the difficulties will be much greater
for us than for them, except cannonad-
ing from the shore-that is, few
miles. If the rebels will not accept
our rule through Cancellation, we can
only avoid a long war and great loss Of
life and probable ultimate relinquish-
ment Of the enterprise, by leaving the
islands to their own devices. We as
sure those who arc afraid of anarchy
and chaos that there will be less of
that in the native way, than in ours.
All Spanish American states have had
anarchy at first. But sooner or later
there comes to the top man of their
own blood, race and religion who
understands them. and he gets hold of
power, has following among them,
and eventually establishes some kind OF
government suited to the wants OF their
civilization. We have undertaken
this ENTERPRISE through the advice OF
men who knew nothing of the subject,
=! acked by adventurous youths who
wanted tho fun of war, and parsons
who had grown tired of Christianity.
They wanted to spread the Gospel with
improved weapons instead of the old
spikes the Spaniards used to spread it
with.