The times., 1899-06-02
FRIDAY. JUNE 2, 1899.
The rutsIi.y of na,f measures.


The assurance is issued from the War
Department that General Otis declares he
only requires thirty thousand men 10 han
die the Philippine situation. and, hence,
il is said that only about enough volun-
teers will be called out to maintain his
force at that strength. If General Otis Las
made any such representation, he has
done so under stres of some very pointed
hint from Washington. His views of mill
tary necessity have undergone a radical
change within the past month if he now
thinks so small an army adequate to the
task imposed upon him. The War Depart
nient officials know that, however much
he may be willing to bow to authority and
ask only for what he has been warned that
he must not exceed. he. as well as all
other trained soldiers familiar with the
conditions in Luzon. believes that force
of thirty thousand men is not sufficient
by half TO suppress the mutiny and occupy
the country.
The facts on their face refute the Al
Eerian contention. Otis had twenty seven
thousand men in the late campaign. All
things considered. the conditions as they
go in the Philippines favored field opera
tions He was able to defeat and rout
the rebels, but he was not able to hold
the territory over which they roamed. and
stiI roam. at will. Captain Clay, Of the
Seventeenth Infantry who was in the thick
Ct the fight from the outbreak in Manila
until he was wounded Just before the prac-
tical suspension of hostiiities by DENLY.
asserts that it would take ssventy-five
thousand men TO put an end to the trouble
and force the elusive mutineers TO an un-
conditional surrender. Letters which are
being constantly received in Washington
from military and naval officers on duty
in the Philippines. fully corroborate this
view.
If it be only intended to give our gen
eral for the next campaign a force not
appreciably greater than the one he found
completely insufficient in the last, then
the popular opinion viii be justified that
the Administration does not consider it
necessary or advisable to terminate the
rebellion at once. but regards its pro-
longation with equanimity or Indifference.
II is understood. as a matter of course.
thai Mr.. Hanna and some other conf
Dental advisers of the President are
afraid of the political effect that call
for twenty-five or thirty-fve thousand
volunteers might exert upon the party
fortunes in Ohio. If Mr.. Mckinley is be-
ing influenced by any such considerations
he is making lamentable mistake. Half
measures at a time like the present can
only injure his Administration in the
minds of all patriotic Americans. In his
presumed determination TO restore peace
and good order, to establish American gov
ernment and to open our new Eastern
possessions to development by American
enterprise, the President has the whole
country at his back. He should trust it
and act vigorously and courageously, as
it would have him. rather than subordi-
nate good military policy and national in
terests and honor to the fears or alleged
temporary interests of lot of time-serv-
ing politicians. who have never done him
o. his party anything but discredit and
harm.
But it is barking up a tree to urge any
thing upon the Administration against
the wishes or demands of the kitchen
Cabinet. Otis no doubt has been impressed
with the idea that the campaign in Ohio
is of much more importance than the
campaign he is charged to conduct. and
that the lesser must az all times play
second fiddle to the greater. 1t is pre-
sumable. therefore. that he will be made
TO accept whatever men. and fate. the i'm
mediate purposes of his control may die
tate. and may even be compelled to pre-
tend that he is getting all he wants. But
as far as the public is concerned there will
not be any illusions whatever on the sub
ject