The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-11-18
OTIS A FAILURE
Albert P. Taylor Tells of
Manila Conditions.
a Returned HonoIuian and His
Champaign IN Luzon.

] A4utIL I. ldEIDE, VINO returned x
Honolulu on recent transport from
MAMMA, talks as follows about the de
fects in General Otis' policy:
when l left Manila on the 10Th OF
October the affairs of the city and sur
rounding country in general were still
in peculiar and somewhat chaotic
condition, arising, in my opinion, from
he lack OF capability of General Otis
10 carry into effect, or even to plan
a vigorous campaign which would re-
suit In an early termination of the
Philippine insurrrection. In other
words, | would say from my own OBJ
servation, as well as from the state
ments of some well-known ranking
officers of the army in Manila, that
General Otis is, in fact. incompetent to
cope with such a two-headed question.
He is an officer who should merely
be- in command of a brigade. not an
-.Tnly corps, and especially such Il mag
nificeut organization as the Eighth
Army Corps has proven itself to be- In
the regular army he is but a Brigadier-
General, being a Major-General only
by brevet. General Otis is endeavoring
to bring out of it's chaotic state the
civil affairs of an insular dependency
which has been rotting away under
Spanish rue for centuries. This civil
question in itself is one requiring the
and able efforts of men school
ed and trained in the administration
of civil and municipal government; the ,
Custom House and Tax problems have
been met to a small extent, yet, in
the extension of the American systems
OF revenue collections, the details are
yet far from being worked out under |
the Governorship of General Otis. 1t
is a vast and knotty problem for even
4 body of men to untangle and weave /!
into proper shape: and yet. here is but !
One man who pretends 10 be able sin !
sle-handed to solve it, and conduct !
military operations as well. !
What has been the result? An I'M |
lefined and incomplete civil govern
nent established along the lines Of
martial law with it's arbitrary limita-
ions, and n deplorable result of more
han years army operations in the
ield
"On the morning of my arrival in
Manila Bay on the transport SIAM"
october 9Th. just as we came opposite
1avite and the memorable scene of
)ewey's May-day victory, we heard the
oud booming of artillery; with our
classes we discovered dense clouds Of
moke arising just beyond CARTE (now
he United States Navy Yaru), and
that our artillerymen were
nut practicing Upon arrival at the
ccks we learned that General Schwan
lad been fighting the insurgents in
everely contested battles at Novelette,
nd Old Cavite, and had just re-taken
he towns. Think OF it! Our forces
lad just re-captured towns which had
'een taken eighteen months previous
V, and around which since the memoir
be 4th of February, of this year, our
rave volunteers had fought and bled,
nd VIGOROUSLY driven the pugnacious
little brown men" from them. Again
he next day all Manila heard the dull
booming OF the guns beyond Cavite, !,
md then the news of another battle, j.
md so it has continued
Three days after my arrival drove
,ut in a carrametta towards Ca.oocan,
n Iona and the famous 'Waterworks,'
amous in the annals Of the victories
II the volunteers, and had just reached
"A Iona Church where General
Andy" Burt is stationed with the 4
18th Infantry Ccolored, when the line j
vas suddenly attacked from Malaboh
IN the extreme left tn0rth), down TO
he Pasig river (southl. General Pho =,
Pillar had suddenly appeared in force ,
along our entire front and begun !
attack. The regulars
warmed out into position and charged
across the open field through hail Of
Mauser bullets to within 500 yards of
he Filipinos as they stood at the edge
" the thick forest, and finally drove !
hem back through the woods by severe
and deadly volleys of rifle-fring, and
splendid shel.;.;g with the light neli
guns. This occurred not forty-fve
minutes ride from Escolta street, Ma
Mia. Our forces, at that time amount
ing TO fully 10000 regulars, do not
even the towns and cities
which the volunteers captured five
ago Why does this condition
exist? Because General Otis is so tied
M with his clerical duties relating 10
he civil and military government. see
ing 10 it that his papers, etc. are
~ Innlirgrn and