The Opelousas courier., 1900-09-22
Another Letter from the Philippines.
FIT. LEGATA, NEAR CALIBo, p. L.
June 20, 1900.

juno ~, l9OU. J
DR.. /. L. SHuTE,
My Dear Friend 1T is with pleasure
that I will again make a feeble attempt
to pen a few woods to You while abouI
q hundred mOsGuittoes are busily en-
gagged III singine % me. Their song to.
night is "EIe W for a SOLDIER Al
they sing the tho sht passes through my
mind that when 1 get through with oui
Uncle Samuel, [ will go for q soldier
myself. (nit) Then, too, the yile-moutt
lizards, which are up under the caves
and in the bushes and trees, are giving
vent to their vile e%pithets.
The Philippines are no place for Eng
| glish. speaking women as long as these
| foul-mouthed reptiles exist here. Where
| we have been many places where white
| men never were before, but the foul
mouthed EngIisl-speaking lizard is to
| he found everywhere. The natives
| can't understand it.. 1t is we'll for them
| that they don't. After we came over
| here and first heard it, we stopped our
| ears, but now ye are used to it.
Now to change the subject.
The wal here is not a war for humani-
| ty, but it IS essential to civilization and
/ to progress. We are doing what the
| Spaniards failed to do. During the time
| that they we're here they did not con-
| quer more than one eighth OF the
| islands, The S%paniards only held the
most important towns and neve ven-
! tured into the interior. So the Philip
pines for the most part are almost un-
| known, as when first discovered.
Not more than one-sixth of the ma"
tives, in and ear the principal towns,
a speak Spanish. In llOlio and Ceber,
towns that were occupied by the Span
iards for over three centuries. there are
hundreds of natives that scarcely know
a word of Spanish, while in the small
towns, to say nothing of the interior,
Spanish is as foreign q language TO the
natives as is English.
When | was in the States, from my
childhood up, [ have read and re-read
of the cOD1nests of Mexico and Peru
by Cortez and Pizaro, respectively also
of the harbarities committed by the
Spaniards in the West Indies and Oh
the Spanish main. | would be thrilled
with horror as | would read them and
then how thankful | would be that my
lot was cast in this enlightened age. but
from what I have seen here, ] have
come to the conclusion that il the peo-
pie that the Spaniards had to deal with
were anything like the Filipinos. that
they we're to "a great extent justified ID
treating them as they did. The Filipi-
nos know nothing of the principles Of
humanity. They treat kindness as a
weakness. but they are so coward!y that
they need not be treated with cruelty III
order to keep them in subsection, but
treat them firmly aud they are very
obedient. 1t has been said, Give a
a niger an inch and he'll take u mile,"
but give a Filipino an inch and he'll
take five miles. Get a native to do an
errand for you; give him a cent. Ire viii
be pleased ; give BIN IA nickel, he will
take it with IL grunt, but offer him a
dime and be will want a quarter.
Five cents here for a days work is
equivalent to a dollar a day in the
States, and ten cents to two dollars per
day, yet buy a few bananas or some ma
tive fruits from Il native, pay him, and
il he sees that you have a liberal supply
of money, he will say "Give ME five
cents, Cor ten cents, as the case may be)
| am yOurfriend."
Imagine, if you would buy anything
from n person in the States, pay
him the price, and he wonld
ask you to give him q dollar or
two, as a gift. The Filipinos have no
pride OF self respect whatever. | be-
lieve that there are more deformed peO-
pie here in proportion to the population
than anywhere else on earth. AT one
time | was of su1 t a tender nature that
| could rot look at a deformity, but
since coming here | have become used
to it. Almost every deformity imagin-
able is to be seen here, from a club foot
to a defOrmed individual who shufles
along almost double on hands and feet.
TlleIei is talk now that all 9 who
enlisted on and after March q, 1893, (ap
to July 1, 1899) will be discharged on
application july, l, 1901. If it is true [
ONE under that order, as l enlisted on
the 81 of March. but | think it only ap-
plies to the volunteers who enlisted for
fst, 1851 aud I Tin that tho regular
fighting man. will have to serve what
he enlisted for, !. e., three years.
Again | will repeat what | have often
said before that / have not the least
idea what course / will pursue in the
future. | often wish that / could lift
that dark veil and pee into the miste-
lies beyond. Had | been able to have
done it five years ago, what blnnders it
would have saved me.
Had someone told ME three years ago
that I would ever be a soldier in Uncle
Sans service, L would have said "Ney-
er." Had / been told three months be-
foreI passed through your fair State
that / would be u Of the many to go to
the Philippines to assist in qnelling the
rebellion, there, / would have said "It's
untrue"
The coastiBg transport Lee Fatn is
off the mouth of the AelaH river with
mail and supplies. VIZ will get the mail
How anxious we are.
Good bye for the present.
Very sincerely yours,
JOHN w. STANFORD,
Co. A, 9th Inf1y,