The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1900-05-12
EXPANSION.
lis Cost in Blood and Treasure, rs
Told by the National Watciirnari.

Otis has reported tWenty-1oul
: skirmishes in which eighty-on'
soldiers and officers have beel
killed and one hundred and sixty
four wounded, while the Insur
gents left 1,426 men dead on The
field in addition to the number
| they may have carried off. The
! fighting is now carried on in small
squads of Filipinos operating from
ambush. Their present method
greatly increases the proportion
of American losses to Filipino
losses. The method will undoubt-
edIy continue until the rainy sea-
son sets IN when in all propabili-
ty the Fihppinos will mass them
| selves in large numbers, assume
the aggressive and attack the
American army at every vulnera-
bic point and after intiicting as
much damage again, make their
retreat to the jungIe8 only to re-
turn and renew the attack. In
this way they Will be able to pro
long the war indefinitely until oul
losses in precious lives and treas
ure will become appalling.
Our death loss to date amounts
to about 1900, of which 1000
have died from disease. A par
ticularIy melancholy feature of
this exhibit is the large number
who have gone insane and killed
themselves. According to the re-
ports twenty-nine officers and men
in the Philippines have committed
suicide while mentally unbalanced
since the 1st of December, and it
appears that this Is only small
fraction of the number who have
gone insane and have been pre-
vented by force from self-destruc-
ton. The dispatches Of one day
last week recorded the arrival at
San Francisco from Manila Of the
transport Sheridan with eleven
insane men on board and one hun
dred and tWenty-one military prls-
oners. On the same day the trans
port Sherman left Manila with
twenty-nine insane soldiers on
board and one hundred and seven
| ty-fye military prisoners. There
are said to be one hundred and
fifty insane soldiers in the Nation
al Asylum at Washington-men
who have been made mad by the
heat, fevers and hardships of cam
paign life in the Philippines. All
experience goes to show that
Northern races constantly grow
weaker and become more and
more susceptible to disease and in
sanity the longer they remain in
the tropics. The prospects are
that the army of $4,000 now in
the Philippines will become to-
tally disabled, and that as many
more will have to be sent to the
Philippines before those islands
are pacifed, if this can be ac-
complished at all.
1t now seems probable that the
Porto Rican bill, establishing a
vassal state, levying unequal and
unjust taxation upon the inhabi-
tants of that islands, denying them
representation in the government
and declaring that they have no
rights under our constitution, will
become a law at an early day. 1t
will be remembered that our army
met with no resistance in Porto
Rico, but on the contrary was re-
ceived with joyous acclaim as de-
liverers by the people who were
assured by General Miles that they
were to enter into and be protect
ed in all the rights of American
citizenship. Under the pending
I bill the flag is to be the emblem
of authority to be exercised with
out responsibility to the people OF
Porto Rico, who are expressly de.
cIared to be aliens.
In thus breaking faith with Por-
to Rico and violating the promise
made to them by General Miles
Ishowing the falsity of the state
ment made by President Mckin-
ley at Boston that the flag should
| not mean one thing in one place
and another thing in another, the
nation will stand convicted OF
treachery and forfeit its right tt
expect the FiIlpinos to place any
confidence in our proposed gOoC
| intentions toward them, and tC
view with distrust any promise:
that may be made by the present
administration.
It was to be hoped that the ad
ministration in dealing with the
Porto Ricans would maintain, IN
sullied, Americans principles ant
American honor ,aad that our mis-
taken policy toward the Philip
pines would be reversed and peac
and good order restored in th
! Islands by the President and Con
gress pledging themsheir ultimat
: independence. Butt cr1mins
: folly governing the course of th
1 administration inl dealing with POI
= to Rico forbids the hops of an
4 honorable termination ofAhe Ph
> lippine muddle under this MIN
J nistration.
It now looks as though pm
in the PHILIPPINES is further tte
t than lever. and that the
O nenses and losses resultl1
n from the criminal blunder the a1
e ministration has made in the Ph
}; llppines are but just begun.
II Now that the evidence has q
4 cumulated establishing the fa
lie that the revolt in the Philippin
n includes eight tenths of Il
=. population are admitted to
10 Io1 IN intaIliUance and ahIlI