The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-04-14
WHAT OF THE THIRTEENTH MIN
NESOTA4


to their discharge. The people of Mime
sofa must have an interest in this ques-
ton far above the common. OF the
volunteer organizations now in the serv-
Ice of the United States there remain
only those who are in the Philippines,
and of those the interest of all Mime
sotans chiefly centers around the Thir-
teenth Minnesota
We are a proud state and proud
people. rightly so, at least in our own
estimation, for we have settled and de-
veloped a commonwealth second to none
in the sisterhood of states; and the mem
bers of the Thirteenth Minnesota regi-
ment are worthy sons Of the citizens Of
this commonwealth. and comprise within
their ranks, so far as their numbers go,
the flower of the youth of st. Paul, Min
Cloud. They were among the first to
volunteer their services for the Spanish
war; they were among the first to land
on the shores of the far-off Philippines,
and from the time of their landing there
devolved upon them the most arduous
| duties which We're performed by any of
| the regiments at that point To them
! was entrusted the duty of guarding and
| performing the police service of the city
of Manila during the six months that in
! tervened before the breaking out of ac-
| tive hostilities between our troops and
| the Filipinos. How well and worthily that
| duty was performed we all know; how
arducus 1t was is also well established,
and when. at the close Of it. in the &C
! tive service that followed, the Thirteenth
Minnesota was placed in the advancing
| column that swept the island from Manila
| to Malolos, they we'll and faithfully per-
| formed their duties.
! 1t is not for us now to spend much
time in mere fulsome praise Of this or
ganization. which deserves so well of the
| country and particularly of its own state:
! but, assuming, as we have said, that
| their duty has been done and well done.
and that they are entitled to the full
credit that is to be awarded to the Ameri-
| can. volunteer for faithful and arduous
! services. we may. with great propriety,
! inquire. What is to be their recompense I?
The conditions at present existent in
| Manila are that we have troops there
to the number Of from forty to forty
| two thousand men; that we have a mag
nifcent and fully equipped feet, incIud-
ing our best battleship, the Oregon; that
the rainy season is about to begin, and
| will probably begin on the Goth of this
month, and that for the next three or
] four months further campaigning or
| fighting will be absolutely impossible to
either side, because the country will be
| flooded and the climatic conditions
such that no aettve operations can be
carried on. 1t will be necessary, there
| fore. to withdraw the troops to within or
| in the immediate vicinity of the city of
Manila, and there await climatic condi-
ton which will permit of further ac-
| tive service.
| 1t is asserted by persons familiar with
the conditions. and cognizant of the out
look. that the retention of these voluu-
teers in the Philippines during the rainy,
which is also the unhealthy, season, will
! in all probability result in loss Of about
SO per cent of the men through disease,
| and in the permanent invading of
| large numbers of those who may sur
| vive; and so, under the present attitude
| of the government, the Thirteenth Min
nesota, after service in the city and in
| the field, are to be marched back to the
barracks In Manila, there to suffer the in
roads of fatal disease in the proportion
stated, and this is apparently to be their
| reward
If there were no troops In the Philip
pines except the volunteers, and if the
present policy Of the government is to
be carried out, it might perhaps be NEG
essary or requisite that they or large
| proportion of them should remain to gar
| rison Manila during the unhealthy sea-
| son; but there is in Manila now, or on
their way there, an aggregate of from
$4,000 to 10000 regular troops of all arms
| and there is in addition the fleet lying In
| the harbor, which makes an attack upon
| the city matter of absolute IMPOSSIBLE
! ty. There is, therefore, no reason. sense
| or justice in holding the volunteer troops
| In those islands during the unhealthy sea-
| son. When, aside from the ordinary eli
matte conditions. which are practically
! fatal to white men, and almost absolutely
| fatal to troops, living and feeding as
troops must live and be fed, there is the
! absolute danger of the Asiatic plague, the
| existence of which has been announced in
| Hong Kong. Nor does it seem reasonable
| that these troops must be kept there with
| view that their services may be re-
quired In three or four months, when, as
we have asserted, the conditions attend
| ing such detention are such that when
| the time does arrive when an active cam
| paign will be inaugurated, scarcely half
| of them will be surviving to take part
| in It,
This Is not a political question Politics
may mean disaster, but rarely, IL ever.
means death, and that too, death by the
hideous diseases of tropical climate. It
| Is question Of what duty, If any, the
people of Minnesota owe to the members
of the Thirteenth regiment in view of the