Arizona republican., 1899-12-31
THE SCENE OF ACTION
Judge Early Returns After a
 Year Spent at Manila.
An Interesting Interview on Philip pine Matters From an Unprejud- iced Standpoint American Laws and Customs Needed.

Thus spoke Judge J. B. Early of Phoenix, who returned from Manila two or three days ago after an absence of over year in the orient, to a re- porter who sought little news straight from the front, from a reliable source and uncensored by the military authorities who are popularly supposed
 to do the thinking for the press cor respondents and others who do their talking by cable.
 Judge Early left Phoenix about Au- gust l, 1898, and as soon as ship sched- ules permitted he found himself in Honolulu. He remained there some thing over three months. Regarding Hawaii he was greatly taken with the country and believes that when Amer ican laws and customs shall have pre- vailed and when system has been wrought out of the present somewhat chaotic and unsettled state of affairs, 1t will be a good place for the en- ergetic American to emigrate to. But the greatest interest is now centered in the Philippines and Hawaii was given little attention by either the questioner or MT. Early.
 MT. Early reached Manila about a year ago and as 500 mas possible en- tered upon the practice of his profess sion, which he followed till November 13 this year, when he embarked on the Valencia for home via Nagasaki, Japan. It is supposed to be a five days trip to Nagasaki, but on this oc- casion it took sixteen days to make that port owing to the fact that a flock of typhoons which were operating in that section gave great deal of trouble, and on various occasions came near transforming the Valencia into a submarine vessel.
 After getting 600 miles from Manila they were forced to put back to port and the second start had the same kind of an ending after 3OO-mile excursion. Finally reaching Nagasaki the Valen- cia spent two days in coaling, when the trip was made direct to San Fran cisco in twentyfour days, leaving the Sandwich islands some distance to the south. The trip was a hard one and in all covered forty-two days. MT. Early was very tired and worn, and yester- day afternoon came down town for the first time since his return.
 So much for the story of the trip. Naturally the first question to ask was if he had seen any of the Phoenix boys in the service. He mentioned a num- Der, among them Walter Gregory, who was well at last account, and c. H. Gordon, who has since been mustered out and is now again in the states" Many whom he would like to have seen were landed on short notice and rushed to the front before he hardly heard of their arrival.
 Interrogated about the probable du- ration of the war he said that any pre- diction would be wild. It might be closed up shortly or last for some time to come. A great deal depends on the capture of Aguinaldo. The population, even of Manila (some 4OO.OOO). is pre- ponderantly Filipino and by them Aguinaldo is held as a popular hero, even by some who want peace and are allied with the United States solely because they know it is for their welfare. Aguinaldo is shrewd and has behind him the force of numbers. The American soldiers have waged a re- markable warfare and thousands have been slain, but the native population is so great that another rebel stands ready to pick up his comrades gun. The American soldiers have shown their mettle, their wonderful resources and their bravery, and it is only a matter of time when the natives will be brought into subjection. The two Generals Pillar Gone has since been killeO are the mainstays of the rebel lion, next to Aguinaldo, and could they or the leader himself be captured it would probably bring matters to a nasty close.
 It has frequently been stated, even by some of the American officials who have visited the island. that Aguinaldo is a man of good education. social re- fnement and brilliant intellect. MT. Early says that from all that he can learn he would have to express an op- posite opinion. The chief is naturally smart and is a born leader of men, else he could not have held his forces to- gether so long, but for all that he lacks much of being an educated man. Much has been said and written in the re- publican press about. the influence of Atkinson, Hoar and other so-called on Aguinaldo and in the maintenance of the rebellion. MT. Early was asked if these statements were in reality true or were they sim ply political bombast. He replied that it is a fact that the Filipinos, though not an educated people and not thor oughly understanding political lines in America, are all informed and verify believe that a great part of the people of America are in sympathy with their movement; that Americans at home are to an extent oppressed and are fighting the battle here, morally, that they are prosecuting by force of arms. Every new crusade inaugurated in their behalf here is transmitted to them for their encouragement. He said: ''To live in Manila is to be an expansion ist."
 The subject of a government for the Philippines was hinted at and a paral- Tel was drawn with this territory. A bystander asked Judge Early whether he thought the administration should