The Portland daily press., 1899-12-12
Says Filipinos Are Lit
tie Better Than Apes.
AguinaldO a Mystery to Ameri-
cans.

ds
arrived In this city to tIausact some
official business late Saturday evening.
He In quartermaster and is on this staff
Of Major General Otis who commands
the American troops in the Philippines.
b. fore he had bsen quartermaster under
Gen. Merritt while the latter was In the
Philippines.
Col. Pope left the Philippine islands
Septem Der sth, after taving been there
for about fifteen months. He was seen
Monday at the Congress Square hotel by
q reporter of the PRESS with whom he
talked In a most Interesting manner.
at is little difficult to predict when
the war among the Filipinos will be con-
eluoed," tegsn Col. Pope, "but 1t Is my
Idea, that 1t will be closed within month.
The outcome OF the campaign In the
Cavite province. which is the principal
stronghold Of the Filipiuos, will have the
effect Of ending the war. We now have
in the Phi ippines or on the way there
about t5.0oo soldiers, and they are
enough.
"Ths climate in the Philippines 10 very
pad for our soldiers, but don't think
that any army has ever been better at
tended to than has our army out there, as
our soldiers themselves will say. Every
tt ing Ia being done to care for them. The
climate is one Of the worst in the world;
1t is not fit for white men. Still, the
medical authorities claim that the rate OF
mortality among our troops has not been
large. think that this Is due to the
care that the soldiers have taken of
them selves. When the war began We
took out distllling plants In order to dis
till the water; something, I think, that
has never been dcne before. The soldiers
are also carefully taught to boil the water
for their uss and not to drink the ordi-
nary water.
"It Is extremely warm weather that is
experienced there. During all OF the
fifteen months that was there, don't
think that the thermometer ever got
down to less than tixty degrees. Mos
quito bars are needad all ef the year
around. Our soldiers live almost wholly
on the rations that are sent from this
country. Beef also comes from Australia
as well as from the United States. The
Quaftermaster' Department Is now
building big cold storage plant In
which to keep meats and vegetables. This
will bs completed in about six months
and IL will be q great aid in caring for
the soldiers. 1t will cost 100000, to be
paid out of the revenues of the island,
some Of which have turned over myself.
| The supplies come from about 5000 miles
away, San Francisco being the nearest
point.
"I think that Gensral Otis Is great
man. He has an enormous task in being
In charge of both the civil and military
administration of about 100000 peopl,,
besides looking after the army. But he
hns been going ahead and attending to
his duty, although sabjected to great
deal of abuse ly the newspapers. ne has
said nothing about coming home since
tbs ar broke out last February. He
wi has to fni h his work before hs re-
| turns.
"1hs Hilipinos belong to the Malay race
and are about as far removed from our
ways as any people could be. They are
next to ths apes and are semi-barbarous.
| But they have certain faculty for
learning up to a cartain point. l myself
prefer this North American Indian to
them. Their ideas are diff erent from
ours In every way that you can think OF.
| They have schools and claim that quite
q percentage of their people can read and
write. Many of thsm speak English, al
though some have a dialsct of thsir own.
Ihsy are of three grades. Ezigoritos,
who are of tn Z lowest; ths Negritcs, who
are like our negroes. and ths Tagalos.
who are yellow Malays and who ara the
dominant race. In ths southern islands
| come the Morros, the Spanish for Mcors.
| 1hs Morrcs have never been conquered
| by tho Spanish, and 1t was. with
the sultan of the Morros that Gen. Bates
made his treaty over which there has been
so no uch discussion. There are about
/. 500, 900 Tagalos out Of population of
about s,C00,C0o. Aguinaldo is Of ths
Tagal.s AgninaIdo, 1 think, Is rather
a puppet, man who is being workei by
othera think that there are ablef men
who are associated with him. That, how
ever, Is quite question with US who
have been in the Philippines, whether
he Is an able man or figurehead.
don't think that 1t would do any good
to catch him.
'The story that has just been circulG ted
TO the eject that Gen. Logan was killed
by his own men, IL hardly likely to be
true. Even II the soldiers did not like
him, don't think that they would do
any such thing. Assassination is CON-
trary to the principles Of the American
soldier and of the American people. But
1 think that Gen. Logan was kind TO his
men and that they were fond Of him.
"Thsrs /, not . word Of truth In the