La Junta tribune., 1900-10-10
PHILIPPINE LETTER.
DISCUSSION OF EXPANSION BY
OUR CONSUL AT Annoy
A B. Johnson Formerly Of Grand Junction. Tells What
Would Be the Effect Of Giving -ndependencer the
Fipinos-N -Scuie Policy" for America in the Orient
The Insurrecticn Is Over.

conditions which prevailed prior TO the
American occupation. Prior to the be-
ginning Of this year letters were con-
stantly received here from all over the
islands advising Chinese relatives and
frien0s not to return II their location
was outside two or three OF the prin-
cipal cities.
During the past summer and spring
matters have entirely changed. Hun
dreds OF these head men have come to
me to exhibit letters they had just re-
ceivcd from various islands and VIII
lagos asking them to return. stating
that the country was as quiet as ever.
and that business was reviving and
great opportunities for making money
We're presented.
For instance recall one OF the last
shiploads OF Chinese which went to
Manila took scores OF Chinese for the
island Of Samar. For over year Chi
nese merchants who had fled from Sa-
mar hnd been asking me when
thought II would be safe for them to
return to their business. They told me
that the few Chinese left there said II
was unsafe and that there was no bus.
mess. This time they came with let
ters saying everything was quiet and
that business was good. Chinese are
timid and flee from the first threat OF
danger. They will not believe any bur
their own kith aud kin rs to the safety
OF any location. The case OF Samar MS
just given has been duplicated one af
ter another ut. various places on the
islands of Luzon, Leyie. Negros, Cebu
and Bohoi ad others. With the excep-
tion Of the large islands Of MiDdinao 1t
Is true OF the entire group.
(shyNnsa wi pnt ratpp,, tr, tim unrtl,
coast Of Nindinao although there are
hundreds here anxious to do so. and
when I tell them guess ii Is safe now
they produce documents TO prove that
from a Chinese standpoint II TX not safe
and that the few Chinese remaining
there. or from the half castes they get
word much more reliable than Is my
conjecture.
From all this. what Information OF
value is derived? II Is this: When l
see statements made by n correspond
ent living Mt the Oriental hotel In Ma
niln. or by an editor mt his desk In
America to the effect that the Amert-
can army has m1de little progress to-
ward suppressIng the rebellion. and
that Spain maintained far better condi-
tions Of peace than we have 30 far
been able to secure, that II IL unsafe to
90 outside Of Manila. and that the army
OF insurrect0s b still Q formidable force
l concluded that the party making
these stntements II woefully lacking In
formation. admit~that prefer to
take the Information lave Just quot
ed 10 that Of correspondent who
knowing the demands OF a great polit-
ical party and the utetrnnccs Of It's
Presidential candidate, is quite as H.
able to be in error as the men whose
homes and business have been In the
particular locality for a quarter OF n
century.
also concluded that the Chinese
merchant Is right when he says Spain
was content with holding the sea ports
and did not 60 out into the interior to
hunt up the 'nsurrecto.
I concluded that he knows what he
Is talking about when he s,iyH the reb-
els have not been 50 completely demor-
allied and scattered as they nre now
since 1894.
These same prominent Chinese tell
me that the native will not work unless
under some sort OF restraint and they
point out that 1t Is impossible for q
people who will not work to govern
Themselves. Once given authority 10
Icgislate and to govern and from the
highest to the lowest 1t would be re-
garded as license to prey upon 9TH
ers' substance.
Such is the opinion Of wealthy and
educated Chinese who have spent TWEEN
ty to forty years among these island
tribes. One has only to place these de-
ductionx alongside OF his own expert
ence and observations in the Philip
pines to he convinced that the clever ce-
lestial. the representative Of the oldest
civilization in the world IL getting
close to the heart OF the subject and
rejects the prevailing conditions there
to-day.
tits folly to suggest that the United
maintain prOtectorate over the islands
and stand Oh any European powers
that might md Il necesssry TO step In
and restore order and protect vested
Interests. Such Z course would neces-
sitate N many American troops NJ will
be required under American sovereign
~. No oflicer would dare risk his life
with q native company. We would
eighty with nothing to say Ms to the In
terna1 affairs and NO benefit accruing
from the great sacrifice. Such a pfop0-
sition h 30 practically impr1cficable
that II could never be seriously consid-
cred. The case Of Cuba lying at our
door consisting Of ONE small island and
that Of this archipelago with more than
. hundred Inhabited islands and ex-
tenlfng over vast area 10 not . par
aIlel. and there are few points In COM
mon.
There II mining expert In the north
EN- Afindinao, near the point 0k great
est resistance to American occupation.
He has frequently been In consultation
With the chiefs Of the fnsureents- He
wrote me under July 18th that he
1ust had . conference with three Of the
lesaing tusurgent cnlceis. He tried to
ind6ce them to open mp negotiations
with the Amefican ofScers with . view