St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1900-07-21
NOTES FROM washington
Items of Interest from the Capital
City on Current Events of
Political Import.
REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION BlUADERs
The Rule of Gen. Otis In the Phillip
pines n Rank Failnre-Corrnption
Unearthed by New Civil Commits
sion-Congress TO De Whitewashed
Democrats United.
Especial correspondence.l

i zen. &Ot1s Is Ddchs from IHe3 IlAtalp-
pines and is having himself interviewed
to the effect that he has crushed the
| insurrection in the islands and eft
/ every thing on a peace footing.
! His ignorance of the situation Lay
be pardoned from the fact that he con-
i Quoted his campaign from the depths
of his armchair in the palace at Manila.
His mind appears to be not altogeth-
er easy as to the quality of the peace
that he left behind, because he ad-
mitted, reluctantly. that we could not
spare any of our 10000 from the is
lands in case of trouble with China,
because s'an army of suppression
/ would be needed in the Philippines for
| several years to come.
| Gen. Otis was received at the white
/ house with great cordiality, and he
ought to be. for has he not been the
/ faithful servant of the administration
all these months? Has he not done
what President Mckinley has ordered? ?.
Has he not suppressed any news that.
| the administration thought disquiet-
| ing? Has he not censored the reports
| so that it was impossible to discover
| how many lives were being sacrificed
and how much money was being spent
| in this attempt to crush a people who
only desire an opportunity to govern
! themselves in their own way?
| Indeed, Gen. Otis has been loyal
servant of a blundering administra-
tion, and the abuse which has some
| times been heaped upon Otis should in
| justice have been meted out to his
| master in the white house who.direct-
ed the Philippine war. Now that Gen.
Otis is back. his optimistic statements
will be used by the republicans as cam
| paign material. That they are not
true will not matter to the republican
leaders. On their side the campaign is
to be prosecuted with promises for the
future and evasion and misrepresenta-
ton, in order to conceal anything
which might damage Mckinley's
| chances of reelection.
| Otis a Rank Failure.
In sharp contrast to Gen Otis self
sufficient claim of having put down
the rebellion in the Philippines comes
| the wall from the new civil commits
| sion which recently landed in the is
lands. Judge Taft and his colleagues
on the commission are assured by high
| army officers that the present force in
the islands is utterly inadequate to
suppress the insurrection; that even
in the. southern portion of Luzon the
insurgents are in entire control
Gen. Otis municipal governments
have been rank failure. They have
| simply been used by the Filipinos as re-
cruiting stations for the insurgents.
The commission has been in Luzon
week and up to this time not single
Filipino has approached them with an
offer of surrender or submission. on
any terms.
The commission is simply amazed at
the conditions of bribery. corruption
aud general rascafity which prevail
wherever the Americans have left their
trail The Cuban frauds are nothing
to the corruption which has been going
on in the Philippines.
The Filipinos have. had SO bitter an
experience with imperialism that they
propose to hold out at least until after
the fall elections. If Mckinley is re-
elected, they know they may expect
condition of servitude worse than
Spain ever dared to impose, and they
will keep up their guerrilla warfare
Indefinitely. If Bryan is elected they
have some hope of being allowed to
govern themselves and receiving the
protection which should be given them
by country which processes respect
for the principles of liberty and inde
pendence On which its own institutions
are founded.
The new civil commission is giving
the people glimpse of the facts. Otis
misrepresents everything. from the
condition of the Filipinos to the cost
of our war of determination.
General Corruption.
The more the Cuban affair is probed
the more clear it becomes that the pos
tai frauds are only a small part of the
general corruption which has become
rampant under military control of the
island.
The administration is looking sur
prised and grieved and ordering
prompt investigation and retreneh-
sInent in the postal department, hoping
by that r-lse TO keep the country in ig-
norance of the frauds in other direc-
sions.
If there could be a searching inyesti-
CATION into the amount of money dis
bursed by the military authorities, un-
der the pretext of administering Ha
vana and improving the sanitary con-
dition, the result would shock the aver
age voter While the administration
and its2 henchmen pretend to know
nothing of the irregularities in various
directions in Cuba yet Information
comes from those on the ground indi-
eating that the postal fraEds are a
mere bagateIle compared TO what has
been looted in other directions
President McKinley's oft-Fepeated
aphorism about being the instrument
Of ofProyidence Is pHraphrased BY certain
officials in Cuba TO read: Providence
lis in ii, we're in it and there's money
in IT. Cuba for the past year has
been regarded as a promising place for
administration favorites rho desired
TO rsap an abundant harvest.