Evening star., 1899-02-06

is possible that they never reached the
American lines. Ihe Filipinos may point
out, learned all their tactics from the Span
fards. In their attacks upon us the Span
iards usually fought at night. They would
never appear above their breastworks, but
fired upon us with their long-range rifles
elevated almost to a vertical position. On
July 81. when we had a brush with the
Spaniards, some Of our men We're killed and
wounded, but none of these were in the
neighborhood of the Spanards. In fact
they were men who were over a mile in the
rear, who were marching to the front as re-
Inducements. At the bate of Plevna YOU
may remember that a Russian regiment
stationed behind a hill some distance from
the actual battlefield, was decimated by the
Turkish guns. whose shots were intended
for the leading lines of the Russians. In
exactly the same way We had men killed at
Manila; and 1T may have been that the
losses of yesterday were caused by the
/ long-range guns Of the insurgents
Strength of the Insurgents.
Asked as to the probable strength of the
insurgents, the general said that at the
time he was in Manila he estimated their
number at from 1900 to 10000. Some off,
GERS he went on, thought that they had
a larger army than this; but 1 made my
computation upon the number of arms the
insurgents had They got some of these
arms from Hong Kong some from the
Spaniards and a lot more from the de-
serters who came to them in bodies. Some
few arms were turned over to the Flipinos
from Cavite when the admiral took the
bay; but the quantity given to them from
this source has been greatly exaggerated.
OF course, since that time it is possible
that. with the money they have under their
control, they have bought largely of guns
and rifles, smuggling them into the islands
from China At the time l speaking of
they had no artillery save few old pieces,
which could be loaded only with difficulty.
II hax- IAnfn raiI h hi,,fx
25,O00 to 10000 of our American troops
would be enough to subjugate the islands,
and, with that accomplished, we might re-
place nearly two-thirds of that strength
with natives, just as the English have done
in garrisoning Egypt, Indian and other pos
sessions.
Enough to Defend the City.
"Our force now at Manila is quite enough
to defend the city, and to prevent any at
tack upon the place succeeding. And If that
force is used vigorously, it will teach the
natives the lesson they apparently need;
and when they have been once chastised,
they will submit in future. 1t is character
tstic of these natives to admire force and
to respect 1t. The moment a nation tenn
porizes with them their conclusion is that
the temportzing is actuated by fear, but If
they get the lesson which 1 am sure the
American people will feel like administer
ing to them now. 1 don't think we shall
nave q SlSdl uSei VI llouult WIlH tueul
afterward."
Have they any means of obtaining am
munttion except by smuggling it in from
China?' the general was asked
Ammunition Factory at Work.
"They have he replied. why, before 1
left the Philippines they had an ammuni-
ton factory at work, employing over five
hundred men. Whether they have since in
creased their resources unable to say.
,tnl~
the insurgents rising" Gen. Merritt said in
answer to another inquiry, but 1 suppose
they have become melted by recent events.
do not care to say more upon that sub
ject because l have only praise for the
course the government has taken with re-
gard to those islands. Still. I do not think
there is any necessity or cause for appre-
hension on the part of the people at home
as to the outcome of the present hostilities
so far as our army is concerned. l know
that it is well commanded. and know that
the troops are in splendid condition
Magnitude Exaggerated.
Moreover. the magnitude of these night
attacks is greatly exaggerated. There is
no such thing as getting into Manila by
night, because of the tortuous approaches
to it, and, even in daytime, a successful at
tack would be difficult. In fact, 1 do not
believe there was ever any well-founded at
tack at night time either on the part of the
battles were usually an indulgence in noise
and clamor, such as the orientals are fond
of creating, and which certainly had the
effect of harassing the Spaniards and keep
ing them awake.
ut should not take long to subdue the in
surgents. They may have had accessions
TO their ranks, and have more arms than
when l was in Manila, but at that time l
expressed the opinion that in half a day,
with the aid of Admiral Dewey's fleet, /
could have cleared out the whole of the in
surgents who were besieging the Span
iards."
Gen. Merritt gave 1t as his opinion that
the Insurgents would make another attack
last might, and would, IN fact, continue to