The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-01-10

never Vigorous action, pushed 10 cOnciu-
| sivc results and Il permanent peace: al
| ways treating with the rebels while they
| Fought them: always cruel and corrupt
| when u spurious pcrcc was arranged
| rms has been Spain's way for three huE-
dred years, urtil insuri cction has become
| u Filipino habit Never since Magellan
| landed did spain put CROUCH troops IN the
| islands for complete and final action in
war; never lid shr intolligrnily. justly
J firmly. administer government In peace.
| AT the outbr, ak of the last insurrcction
IN August. 1896, Spain had only l.5~ span,
ish soldiers in all thu Philippines. and 100
| of these wcr" in Manila. In November
of that year she had My 1900 mon. The
generals in command of these We're crit-
actrrisic of Spain that the people at
hom, du not support but eriticisc their
gcn,ia In The field The Spanish meth.
| od has always been a mixed policy of
| peace and war. "A contradiction of terms.
| an impos, ,iblc combination rendering war
| ineffective and lci &c Impossible. This
plan. Thosc who would make 1t our
plan will inherit Blanco's fate and fail
| ur..
True Military Policy.
.Mr. President, that must not be ou"
plan. This war is like all other wars.
| 1t needs to bc finished before 1t is
stopped. am prepared 10 vote either
to make our work thorough or even now
to abandon it; a lasting peace can lie
, sccurcf only by overwhelming forces in
ccasclcss action until universal and abso-
| lutte final defeat Is inflicted ON the enemy:
! To halt before every armed force. cvery
| ,Xtcrmil ai,d. will piolonr hostilties and
| leave alive the seeds of perpetual insur-
rnction. Even ther we should not treat.
TO treat at All is to admit that we are
| wrong. And any quiet so secured will
he dc!usivC and flccting. And ii false
peace will bctray us; sham truce will
| curse us. 1t Is not to serve the purposes
Of the hour, it is not to salve "A present
| ila 4 H.
| lished. 1t is for the tranquility of the
hrchipelig" forever Is for an orderly
government for the F'ilirnos for all the
, future 1t Is To give this problem to pos
| tcrity solved and settled not vexcd and
involved. 1t is to establish the suprcma-
cy "f the American republic over the Pa
ciir and throughout the east till the end
! of time.
1t has been charged that our conduct
Of the war has been cruel. senators, IT
has been the reverse. l have been in
wounded as carefully. tcnderly cared for
as our own. Within our lines they may
rlough ana SOW and reap and go about
! And yet all this Kindness was misundcr-
! stood or rather not understood. Senators
| must remember that We are not dealing
Win AmsrSans ii ns,sr or EurorSan* w, arc
with Oriehtals who are Malays We are
dealing with Mnlays Instructed in Span
ish methods. They mistake kindness tor
a
hot be otherwise unless you could rrns.
| hundreds of years of savagery, 9th ~
hundreds of years If Orientaism ANA
| still other hundreds of years of Spanish
| character and custom.
Our Efforts to Secure Peace.
Onr mistake has not been cruelty: il
has been kindness. Jt has been the ap-
appropriate to New England, Every
device OF mercy every method of con-
| citation has been employed by the peace
| lovirG president of the American repuh-
lie to the amazemcnt of nations expert
cnccd in Oriental revolt. Before the out
break our military governor OF the islands
appointed a commission to make some ar
rangcment with the natives mutually
agreeable. | know the members of the
commission well-General Hughes. COL
oncl CrCwder and General Smith-mod-
crate. kindly, tactfu. men of the world
an ideal body for such negotiation. 1t
was treated with contempt. We smiled
at intolerablc insul, ana insolcnce until
the lips of every netive in Manila were
curling in ridicule for the cOwarily
Americans. We rcfrained from all vio-
lcnce until their armed bravos 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 for
tunntc of the war. For Aguinaldo had
piannsd the attack upon us, US for two
this attack prematurely on. He had ar
ranged for AN uprising in Manila to mas
sacrc all Americans. the plans for which.
session, this shot made that awful scheme
impossible. We did not strike till they
attacked us in force. without prOvoca-
ton; this left us no alternative but war
! or evacuation.
Work Of the Commission.
The patience of our peace loving presi-
dent was not even then exhausted. A
| al m is inn ant f.. Mar
posed of IA distinguished diplomat and
eminent college professors, and also
General Otis and Admiral Dewey. These
men exhausted the eXpedients of peace,
and always We're met with the Malay 5
ready evasion. the Spaniards habitual
, delay. am personal witness that no of-
tort was neglected by our commission to
assure the Filipino pc, pie of our coed
intentions and bencticent purposes. The
commission entertained the nestizos Il
Manila in way that would have hon
orcd the senate OF the United States: the
| brown faces of the common people
sncercd. The commission treated natives,
accustomed to blows, with kindest con-
Sidcration; the agents of Aguinaldo told
tales of our pusilanimity to the ignorant
rural masses. This remarkable man sent
! No-called commissions. ostensibly to treat.
but really to play with ours. His com
missions We're composed of generals in
uniform. The populace gaped in open
admiration when they appeared in Ma
.lla. Our representatives of peace talked
|
lhom; the people were impressed with
their Importance. President Schurman
even rode with them through the city:
the masses were confirmed in their rev.
vrcnrt Tor their brothers who Were thus
honored and distinguished. Then the be-
Spanglcd representatives, Of the Malay
dictator returned to their lord. and the
sole effect of these pacific efforts was to
make 2ao"o natives in Manila think that
the only way To win the respect of the
American republic is to fight 1t.
No, senators, the friendly methods OF
peace have been thorouehly tried only to
make peace more difficult The Oriental
does not understand our attempt to con-
ciliate. Every effort of the commission
which did its work at Manila so earnest
ly, and which, with Americans or Euro
peans. would have so brilliantly succeed
ed, only delayed the peace it attempted
} / to hasten. There Is not now, ard never
was any possible course but ceuselcss op-
erations i'm the field and loyal support of
the war at home. The news that GO.oot
| American soldiers have crossed the Pa
citic; that, ii necessary. the American
congress will make 1t 10000 or 2OO,COo men
mat, at any cost. We will establish peace
and govern the islands, will do more to
| end the war than the soldiers them
selves But the report that we even
| discuss the withdrawal of a single soldier
~ tho present time. and that we even
debate the possibility of not admins
. terins government throughout the archi-
pclaeo ourselves. will be misunderstood
, ana mSrepresented. and will blow int
i Il hame once more the fires our soldiers
blood has almost quenched.
"The Blood of Our Soldiers"
Mr. President, reluctantly and only
, from sense Of duty, 5m | forced tn say
mat American opposition 10 the war mas
been the chief factor in prolonging IL
Had Agninaido not understood thai IL
America. even In tie American congress
: 4 fE hn aud h