The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-05-26

fitness of the Filipinos as a people
to govern themselves. They are, how
ever, afraid to cast in their lot un-
reservedly with the Americans, fear
full that the anticipated withdrawal of
American troops may expose them to
severe treatment at the hands of the
insurgent leaders, who, with even
small following, seem to be able to
terrorize the people, and In the past
have shown a vindictiveness and
cruelty almost beyond parallel. Hence,
while yielding passive obedience to,
or at least refraining from positively
hostile acts against, the military
(American) occupants, some of them
keep UP relations with and contribute
to the needs of the guerrilla bands in
their neighborhood, promiscuously
made up of robbers and eX-insurgents.
MANY mon of the lower class, while
preferring a quiet, humdrum life to
the hardships and dangers of high
waymen and bushwhackers, are yet
amenable to the persuasions or threats
of the brigand chiefs and join or quit
the brigand service according to cir
cumstances. Those who actively or
openly seek to maintain brigandage
as q nucleus or rallying point for a
future rebellion are the military and
political leaders of the late organized
insurrection, of whom all but Il few
are utterly INSCRIPTIONS and actuated
by purely selfish motives. These men
realize that should the insurgent
movement die out entirely and Amer
lean rule be firmly established they
will forfeit forever positions of influ-
ence and prominence ana will be rele-
gated to their former obscurity and
penury in private station. In the main
| they rest their hope for n revival Of
| the insurrection and for the reconcen-
tration of insurgent forces upon %
the supposed necessity American
troops will be under of abandoning
| many OF their present positions, ow-
| ing to the impossbility of supplying
| the latter during the wet season, and
| CD upon the success of the Demo-
cratic or anti-expansion party in the
coming presidential campaign in the
United States. Their ability to hold
| the guerrilla bands together and to
retain moral control over a consider
| able proportion of the common people
| is due largely to the astounding ignor-
| ance and credulity of the latter"
General Schwan is convinced that
| the nsurrecticn cannot recover from
the collapse it has suffered; and the
| reasons which he gives for his belief
| include the fact that all central and
| strategic points are thoroughly gar
| risoned by our troops, whose scouting
| parties penetrate frequently to the
| most secluded portions of the interior
| under a well-systematized plan of
| operations that is being daily i'm
| proved; the opening of schools and the
| establishment Of municipal govern
ment on lines which, while safeguard
| ing individual property rights and
| American sovereignty, place the man
| agement of local affairs under the con-
| troll of the townspeople, who will thus
| enjoy a degree of independence never
| dreamed of hitherto. THE most Sc
rious obstacle in the way of pacifica-
| ton" he says, lies in the lack of
| faith the soldiers have in the inhabi-
tants and the inhabitants in the SOL
| dicrs. This distrust is certain to pass
away when each class becomes ac-
| quainted with the customs, the aims
| and the standards of the other. Pro-
| longed contact of the troops with the
people must of necessity be recipro-
| cally advantageous. The people will
| be beneficiaries in many ways-pecu-
| niarily, by the disbursements the
| United States makes to the soldiers
and for military purposes; education
| ally, by the schools which are now
starting up all over the islands, and
in which English will soon become the
| language in which instruction is con-
veyed; politically, by the reconstruc-
| tion of civil government on a basis re-
quiring the expenditure of local tax
levies for local purposes in a manner
determinable by the tax payers. on
the other hand, the work of the troops
will be facilitated, and their condition
| improved, as they gain the confidence
of the well-disposed natives. These,
when they find the troops have come
to stay, will resist the eXactions of
| the 'insurrectos,' term now become
a synonym of guerrillas or bandits,
whose haunts and plans they will as
sist the military in ferreting out.
| When state of mutual understand
| ing and confidence shall be established
the days of the guerrillas will be num-
| bered. In minor matters there WILL
of course, be setbacks, friction and
| disappointments. These are unavoid-
| able, but they will hardly be of a
character to seriously impede the ac-
complishment of the object aimed at,
the pacification of the country under
American sovereignty"
Yet there are Americans who want
| to give up this great work at it's be-
| ginning and turn over to cut-throat
revenge the natives who have already
| placed confidence in American prom
| ises.
The New York ice trust has been Of
| ficially placed in the category of the
| unlawful. The decision of the attor-