Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-05-25


mo doubt n good manyapeople are
in doubt as 20 what we have acc M
plished and nope to accomplish in the
Philippines. If so they somewhat re-
fleet the state of mind of Amer lean
soldiers and civilians in the islands.
It cannot be denied that the situation
is puzzling even TO those who have
been regarding it at close range
After one has been in Manila few
hours and had few candid talks with
people who have been on the ground
for a long time he begins to suspect
that the islands are in no such 'paci-
fed condition as the people in the
United States are prone to believe. A
few trips into the country, the visit
ing of few garrisons and the heaped
up testimony of all disinterested per-
sons will prove to him conclusively
that our peace in the Philippines is
vet of very unstable quality.
If the Philippine islands are 'paci-
fed then we must concede a new
meaning to the word .paci6ed.
A Tolago who is lodging around in
the jungle taking an occasional wild
shot at you is not 'pacifcd.' He may
be ratified, he may be afraid OF you
and lack the indiscreet courage to
come out in the open and be killed
in orthodox fashion, but as long as
he has the gun and is ami
mated by the desire to shoot you-no,
not pacified. Even when you knock a
man down and sit on him he is not |
pacitied. You have no assurance that
he will behave himse after you have |
released him and turned your back |
There are about 240 garrisons in the |
Philippine islands, each of which has |
succeeded lin cowing the region
bounded by its outposts. The natives |
behave themselves while they are in |
the immediate presence of American |
soldiers with loaded guns. But it is |
not advisable for any white man to |
wander beyond the outpost of garri-
son, especially if he is unarmed. He
is in danger of being shot from am
bush or set upon and boloed. Anv
traveller who wishes to 60 from one
garrison to another must be accom-
panied by guard of soldiers. The
railway from Manila to Dagupan lis
being operated. but there is a heavy /
garrison in every town and a night
and day guard at every bridge.
Wagon and pack trains are fired on
from ambush every day.
These attacks are not reported I'M
less some one is killed or wounded.
The soldier who is called upon to per-
form any duty outside of a garrison
is in greater peril than he was when
the insurgents moved in large bodies.
John L. McCutcheon. correspondent
for the Record. recently compiled
some interesting figures showing that
the American losses are greater since
the guerrilla warfare began than they
were during an equal period of fight
ing against organized armies.
Formerly when eight OF ten men
were killed in a sbirm sh the news !
was cabled t. America. But the cor
respondents cannot keep track of the
scattered assassinations OF the guer-
rilla amPaign. The news never
reaches the public except through the
official reports TO Washington. A
dozen American soldiers may be
killed at a dozen remote garrisons
and there is not a line of cable news
to show for total fatality that would
mark a serious engagement. So it
happens that for many weeks there
has been little news cabled from Ma
Mia, because the lighting has been
small and desultory and scattered
over a vast area. 1t is not strange
that this absence of war news, cou-
pied with the repeated assurance that
the war is about ended. has led peo-
pie at home to believe that conditions =,
in the Philippines are favorable to a
peaceful occupation. Such is not the
case"
1t is very apparent from this that
the half has never been told officially
with reference to the Philippines. and
that we must look to other sources
than the censored dispatches and
other means of information that come
with governmental sanction, to learn
the true state of affairs in the far-away
field of operations where American {
soldiers are paying with their blood | I
for the new empire that lust for
power and dominion is in flicting upon | s
The nation. g