The Irish standard., 1900-05-26
MANILA Is A PLAGUE SPOT
All Due to M'Kinley's Policy Of "Be-
levelent Assimilation"

The following letter recently appeared
in the Springfield Republican:
1t is to be hoped that iE time W,
shall obtain faithful pictures of life ii
camp and field. To-day it is difficult tt
find medium of publication when til,
facts conflict with the theories of TIL,
administration. That tacit censorship
exists in the Republican press is palpa
bic to every one who tries to get an in
sertion Of unwelcome truth. The sol
diers' letters, written privately, with
out thought of publicity, have re.
vealed depth of depravity and brutal.
ity so terrible that the last resort of the
leading newspapers has been to throw
discredit on their TRUTH
Bishop Potter, after six days in Ma.
Mia, comes back to tell us of the sobriety
and good habits OF the American sol.
der in the tropics. He did not see one
drunken soldier, nor does he allude to
the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF army men. 1t
happened that on the very day his testi-
nony was given to the world there
called upon me an army official who
had spent six months in Manila. Nat
urally l inquired if his observation and
opinion conceded with those of the
bishop, whose warning that the true
question with which the nation must
deal is not "What shall we do with the
Philippines, but what will the Philip
pines do with u.s." had not been for
gotten. My informant is man of
medical education, careful observer,
OF reflective mind, and exceedingly dc.
liberate in speech. This is the Sub
stance Of his reply:
He left San Francisco with tile first
troops sent to the Philippines. The
western regiment to which he was at
tached numbered about 1900 men. Be-
fore sailing from San Francisco, not
only was drunkenness prevalent, but 40
men were registered for foul diseases.
His judgment was that not over 10 per
cent we're free from licentious vice.
Halfway across the Pacific, so excessive
was the contagion that every man in
the regiment was subject to examination
in order to check the scourge.
Arrived at Manila, they found but few
houses of ill-repute, with less than a
score OF total occupants, but immediate
ly from all quarters came great and
sudden accession. From Vladivistock,
Singapore, Yokohama, Hong Kong,
Calcutta and other treaty ports aban-
doned women poured in to the new and
active market. Social vice makes no
distinction of race or color. These I'M
portations included Russians, Germans,
French and Italians. Three hundred
were reported as arriving on one
steamer. They found cordial welcome,
and their homes were guarded by
United States soldiers under orders to
protect the traffic
My visitor affirmed that, when he left
Manila, on the Gala Alix, street in
the northwestern part of the city, these
notorious houses occupied both sides of
the way for three-quarters of a mile,
the windows filled with soliciting wo-
men in CARDS too scandalous for descrip-
ton The blessings of American civil
cation were beginning among chaste
and temperate people. Actual war upon
the natives, although imminent, had not
yet begun.
On the arrival of the regiment there
existed, according to my informant,
one brewery, one distillery, one garden
for the sale of beer and spirits, and sew
eral hotels, clubs and restaurants, where
liquor was served with meals Among
5000 Spanish prisoners, not single
case OF drunkenness was observable.
With the arrival of Our troops, the grog-
shops multiplied and fourished, over
four hundred cursing the con-
quered city. That the officers
were no better than the men was the
conviction of my informant. 1t was a
coincidence that, on the very day OF
Bishop Potter's speech, the government
reported the dismissal from the army
by court martial of Major Kirkman and
Lieutenants Gregg and Bailey for
drunkenness in the streets of Manila"
The regimental canteen, my caller af-
firmed, was worse than the grogshop.
Tie temptation is ever present, and any
good resolutions or feelings of disgust
after spree were quickly dispelled by
another drink. On the financial side,
soldiers credit was limited at the sa-
loon. Not so at the canteen, where his
pay was held as security for his drink,
and often entirely absorbed. A soldier
is obliged to seek grogshop, but the
canteen seeks him.
If one questions whether such neces-
sary anonymous testimony as I report
is to be compared with that of the great
and good bishop OF New York, let him
read the chapters of horrors detailed in
the New Voice by Frank NJ. Wells, late
chaplain of United States Volunteers
which he gave verbally to President Nc.
Kinley and Secretary Root. Chaplain,
Pierce has laid stress upon the numbe,
OF huts from which maddening native
liquors were dispensed but it is not made
. Main that ttaea ,voro zoe a.. ....i. -.