The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-10

Character OF People; AEuinaIdo.
1t will be hard for Americans who have
not studied them to understand the peo-
pie They are barRarous race, modified
! by three centuries of contact with a de
cadent race. The Filipino is the South
Sea Malay, put through a process of three
hundred years of superstition in religion,
dishonesty in dealing. disorder in habits
of industry and cruelty, caprice and cor
ruption in government 1t is barely pos
sible that 100000 men in all the archipelago
are capable of self-gOvernment, in the
Anglo-SaXon sense. My own belief is
that there are not 100 men among them
who comprehend what Anglo-SaXon self
government even means; and there are
over 100000 people to be governed.
know many clever and highly educated
men among them, but there are only three
commanding intellects and characters
Arellani Mabini and Aguinaldo. Arella-
nj, the chief justice of our Supreme Court,
is a profound lawyer, and a brave and in
corrupuble man. Mabini is the highest
type of subtlety and the most constructive
mind that race has yet produced. ASu.-
naldo is a clever, popular header
able. brave. resourceful cunning,
ambitious, INSCRIPTIONS and master
full He Is full of decision, mi
tative and authority. and had the conf
dence of the masses. He is a natural die
taIoI. Iils r.: s,.G.y 80 alb.
solute orders, implicit obedience or innle-
date death. He understands the charac-
ter of his countrymen. He is a Malay
Sylla not a Filipino Washington.
These conclusions were forced upon me
by observing the people in all walks of
life in the different islands, and by con-
versations with foreign merchants, priests,
mest1zos, pure FilipinoS and every variety
of mind, character and opinion from San
Fernando in LuZon, on down through the
entire archipelago to the interior of Sulu.
These conversations were had informally
at dinner tables. on journeys. and the like
and always under conditions favorable to
entire frankness and unreseVe Their
chief value is that they are the real opin-
ions of their authors and not prepared and
guarded statements.
1--WE Will Hold II Fast, and Hold 1t
Forever
Here then, Senator's, is the situation.
Two years ago there was no land in ali
the world which we could occupy for any
purpose. Our commerce was daily turn
ing toward the Orient. and geography anu
trade developments made necessary our
commercial empire over the Pacific. And
in that ocean we had no commercial, naval
or military base. To-day we have one of
the three great ocean possessions of the
globe, located at the most commanding
commercial naval and military points IN
the Eastern seas, within han of India,
shoulder TO shoulder with China, richer
in its own resources than any equal body
of land on the entire globe. and peopled
by race which civilization demands shall
be improved. Shall we abandon it? That
man little knows the common people of
the republic, little understands the in
stincts of our race, who thinks We viii
not hold it fast, and hold it forever, ad
mnistering just government by simplest
methods We may trick up devices to Shift
our burden and lessen our opportunity;
they will avail us nothing but delay. We
may tangle conditions by applying acade-
mic arrangements of self-government to
a crude situation; their failure will drive
us to our duty in the end.
1t has been charged that our conduct of
the war has been cruel. Senators, it has
been the reverse. 1 have been in our hos
pitfalls and seen the Filipino wounded as
carefully, tenderly cared for as our own.
Within our lines they may plough and SOW
and reap and go about the affairs of peace
with absolute liberty. And yet all this
kindness was misunderstood or rather not
understood. Senator'S must remember that
We axe. not dealing with Americans or
Europeans. We are ueolinr with Orientals
We are dealing with Orientals Is ts< &c
Malays. We are dealing with Malays in
structed in Spanish methods. They mis-
take kindness for weakness; forbearance
for fear. 1t could not be otherwise unless
you could erase hundreds of years of saw
agery, other hundreds of years of ORR
entalism and still other hundreds of years
of Spanish character and custom.
Our Efforts to Secure Peace.
Our mistake has not been cruelty; it
has been kindness. 1t has been the appli-
cation to Spanish Malays of methods APP
propriate to New England. Every device
of mercy, every method of Cancellation has
Nv fR7a 6
dent of the American Republic to the
amazement of nations experienced in ORR
entail revolt. Before the outbreak, our
military governor of the islands appoint
ed a commission to make some arrange
ment with the natives mutually agreeable
l know the members of the commission
Hell-Gen. Hughes, Col. Crowder and
Gen. Smith-moderate, kindly, tactful men
of the world-an ideal body for such nego-
tiation. 1t was treated with contempt. We
smiled at intolerable insult and insoence
until the lips of every native in Manila
We're curling in ridicule for the cowardly
Americans. We refrained from all vio-
lence until their armed braves crossed
the lines in violation of agreement. Then
our sentry shot the offender, and he
should have been courtmartialed had he
failed to shoot. That shot was the most
fortunate of the war. For Aguinaldo had
planned the attack upon us for two nights
later; our SentryS shot brought this at
tack prematurely on. He had arranged for
an uprising in Manila to massacre all
Americans, the plans for which, in San
dico's handwriting, are in our possession;
this shot made that awful scheme impos-
sible. We did not strike till they attacked
us in force. without provocation; this
left us no alternative but war or evacua-
tion.
Work of the Commission.
The patience of our peace-loving Presi-
dent was not even then exhausted. A
civil commission was sent to Manila COM
posed of a distinguished diplomat and emf
nent college professors and also Gen. Otis
and Admiral Dewey. These men exhaust
ed the expedients of peace, and always
were met with the Malay's ready evasion,
the Spaniard's habtual delay. | am per-
sonal witness that no effort was neglected
by our commission TO assure the Filipino
people of our good intentions and beneh-
cent purposes The commission enter
tanned the mestzos of Manila in a way
that would have honored the Senate of
the United States; the brown faces of the
common people sneered The commission