The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-03-12
PPFsENT CONDITIONS

And Future. Prospects for Enterpris-
ing Americans In Our Eastern Is
land Possessions-Frederick W.
Nash, Fourth United States Cav
airy, Writes Entsrtainingly Of the
situation and Prospects.
sIR:-The campaign in Luzon now
resembles colossal fox-hunt Ameri-
can troops hold all the important towns
and ports; detachments. brigades and
dlvislons are scoring the country from
Dagupan on the north. to Bantangas
and LIpa on the south. BY no stretch
Of imagination can the insurgents lonf
ger claim organization, or the dignity
OF a civil government. Their continual
loss OF officers, arms. stores and terri
tory, and the steady increase Of the
American forces. must long since have
demonstrated the hopelessness Of their
cause; yet the insurrectiOn hangs on
with a tenaclty that is phenomenal
hardly a day passing that there is not
skirmish, involving more or less loss
of life.
That this tenaclty of purpose is the
result Of patriotism. or the hope that
some other power will interfere in their
behalf, Is very improbable; and the
statement that the instruction Is kept
up by the hope Of q change Of policy IN
the United States, is absurd. No one
realizes so we'll as the Filipino that
the STARS and Stripes" are here to
stay; for any other policy on the part
OF a stronger nation would be ineom-
prehensible to him-educated In the
school Of SPANS monarchlal tyranny.
What. then, Is the III secret Of the
continued existence Of the insurrection?
First, Agulnaldo, whose selfish ambl-
ton having been thwarted, now has
nothing to lose and all to gain by ths
continuation Of hostllltles; for 80 long
as there is an insurrectlon, he can
plead patriotism as the justification for
wholesale appropriation Of the goods
and chnttels Of his fellow countrymen.
Second, the Insurgent army being COM
posed, for the most part, of the "deba-
TO-" or lowest class OF natives, Of out
lnws, OF Rdventurers, and, It Is strongly
suspected. Differed in part by desertels
and "bobbed" men from the American
army, would fall from the frying pan
into the fire by a cessation Of hostllit-
les. Having gained the enmity OF their
own people by their acts OF depreda-
ton and violence, the insurgents are,
figuratlvely speaking, between the devil
and the deep sea, with the continuation
Of hostllities as their only alternative.
However. the resistance to our troops
is growing weaker and weaker, but 1t
Is expected to continue to the bitter
EUhaR m will 10 1fIII
largely a matter of conjecture, but
when It does come there will dawn an
era Of prosperity for these islands that
viii result in their becoming great
commercial factor in the east. But, the
most optimistic will hardly predict that
the Philippines will ever become what
is known as a white mans country.
Their future lies chiefly with the Chi
nese, who have already monopOlized
the greater part Of their commerce, and
are waiting to swarm over by the
thousands, as soon as hostilities cease,
and interior, with Its great rice fields
and banana groves, Is opened up for
purchase and cultivation. There Is
fascination in the Stars and Stripes
that the ChlnRmRn cannot resist. and
being barred from the United States
for n long time his Mecca-he will
take to the colonies like a duck takes to
water, seeming commerce and much
"dinero," wherever floats "Old Glory"
There is also great opportunity for
the wldeawakc American business man,
and no doubt. many will take advant-
age thereof. Let them come with some
capital. or, better. bringing stock of
goods along. and they are sure OF an
opening at the present time. Among
other things. Manila sadly needs a
first-class department store, several
good hotels, brick foundry. and
trolley system. There are fortunes in
all these things, literally staring the
public in the face. Yet, though there
may be exceptional opportunities to the
individual white man Of enterprise and
capital the future of the Philippines Is
that OF tropical country, with oil
that the statement implies. and its
greatest value to the United States
will undoubtedly be as a gateway to
the east. and commerce with SO0,000,0OO
0Tientals.
FREDERICK w. NASH.
Fourth United States Cavalry.
Manila, p. l., Jan. %, 1900.