The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-14
military Situation in be Philippines.


Most of the military leaders of the
insurgents are still at liberty. Gen.
erals Tho, Macabulis, Mascardo and
Alejandrino are still in the north, all
of them with well armed forces.
! This sullen indifference is found pref
| ty generally through the towns held by
our troops. The people don't like the
Americans. We have found many of
them who were believed TO be honestly
friendly but time has proven that they
were Stimulating.
| Some of our most promising local
presidentes have been found guilty of
the rankest treachery toward the Am
orleans. 1t is doubtful whether they
hated the SpaniaFds as much as they
/ hate the Americans.
Between them and the SDaniards
there were some instincts and ties in
common Intermarriage was quite fire.
Quent- Long association had grated
/ into the native character many OF the
! habits and likes of the Standards
With the Americans it is different
There isn't an impulse that is common
10 the two races. We may mean we'll,
but they don't understand cur ways.
Neither do we understand theirs. When
! patience and forbearance would be i'm
mensely effective. the American meth
DDS hurry and irritate the people.
When we first came they thought
the Americans were going to Suppplant
! their religion with Professionalism; la
ter they thought that the Americans
were going TO reinstate the hated fri
ars in the parishes: now it's hard 10 tell
what they think Perhaps they've
come to the conclusion that religion
I
have been unSpeakably shocked to see
the American theatre running full blast
during the holy week, with good at
tendance from our local circles.
We send out big expeditions to cap
ture the insurgents, and when we have
captured them we release them. One
day our soldiers wade streams climb
mountains, suffer from hunger, sleeI
in the mud-all to catch some insur-
gents. The next day all the insurgents
are released. It's no wonder the natives
don't understand American methods
We have been here nearly two years
but ] don't know of an American sol
der or officer who can speak single
native dialect. Furthermore, no one
is making an effort TO gain the one &C
quirement which would be so inestim-
ably valuable in bringing about a bet
ter understanding between the Amer
leans and Filipinos.
Summarizing the present military sit
uation, we must acknowledge the ex-
istence of many strong armed forces
operating in nearly every province.
These forces, while apparently acting
independently Of any central direction,
are too big to be called robber bands,
! Many of them are under the command
of men who have been well known as
| insurgent leaders since the very first
day of fighting.
AS for the mass of the people not
| sympathizing with them and helping
| them financially, there are only too
many evidences that they do.
1t is said that in every town occu-
pied by our troops and regulated by
native officials who have been installed
at our direction, there is a separate
and secret organization run in the in
terests of the Filipino cause. The bulk
| of the taxes are collected by the latter
organization and are undoubtedly given
ungrudgingly to the insurgent cause.
Even the presidentes whom we have
| installed have turnsd out badly, and IN
many instances it has been proved that
/ the people of the town deliberately Sc
lected men who they knew could be re-
| lied upon to exercise their positions to
| the benefit of the fighting men out IN
/ the h;,ls or barriOS.
Of the niaety-five presidentes ap-
pointed in one military district in the
north Of Luzon. the officer who has
) charge of the municipal government
admitted that not a single enc could be
| trusted. And yet this is not Tagalo
! district. In another district the gen
eral commanding told me that of the
| fifty-five local presidents that we have
I appointed there were only three whom
he could trust.
In the vicinity of Paniqui and Bau-
tista, on the railroad, there are twenty
two DresidenteS under arrest, one of
whom is likely TO he sentenced to death.
When Colonel Smith routed General
Macabulos he found letters from our
own presidentes giving the general
news of the movement, together with
the number of Americans in the COM
mand that was to attack him. There
have been many similar letters found
at various times which have implicated
local officials, and examples of double
dealing are so frequent and common
that one is led 10 regard nearly all of
fruitless and vain.
1t seems 10 me that the existence of
these conditions in the towns which
have had an opportunity to judge of the
benefits of American occupation at
least disDroves the official contention
that the people are not in sympathy
with the insurrection.