The sun., 1900-06-17


OF these people are In o bad situation II they
are caught acting for the insurgents the Amer.
cans promptly punish them. and II they happen
TO hold Office under the Americans. as not so
infreauently happens. the punishment is likely
to be severe. Yet n they do not aot for the
insurgents, particularly those who hold Office.
not only Is whatever property they may have
outside the immediate range OF the garrison
near which they live in danger OF being de-
stroyed. but their lives are not safe. 1t has
been impossible for US to protect natives fsom
assassination. and rarely have we been able to
catch the murdsrers. II hos been done in some
cases. and some OF them have been hanged
Others are now awaiting trial that probably
will result similarly for them. The process,
however Is very slow and unsatisfactory for
the Americans. as the situation undoubtedly
Is hard for the natives. who might like to give
up In good faith and settle down again
II has been the unfailing experience that
whenever our troops have occupied q town
and then gone somewhere else. trouble has
followed for that town and the people in II
who had anything to do with the Americans
while they were there We occupy now s2s
posts In the archipelago. not counting Manila
with its thirty-two stations. Wherever you
60 outside Of Manila, you are almost sure to
hear the complaint that there are too few troops.
In many cases the garrisons are 40 small that
II is almost impossible for them to accomplish
anything besides merely holding their own.
But these garrisons are drawn largely from
troops that must be back In the States and
ready for muster out on June 80 OF next year.
Counting the time 1t will take to recall them
from their various stations and get them into
for THAR hopovopd 10
port them TO the States and get them ready
for muster out. they have about ten months
yet to serve hero. No preparation Ia in sight
for replacing them. II seems ra ther to be the
intention to withdraw them without substi-
tuting others unless It be with few thousand
moro regulars drawn from Cuba. perhaps.
Unless there Is decided change for the better
the situation ten months hence viii not war.
rant the withdrawal Of 30 large . force. fol-
lowed az It Is sure to be by the renewal Of
effort on the part Of the rebel leaders.
II must be remembered that four months
at least of that ten will be occupied By the
Americans In holding what they have got.
Movement about from place to place viii practi.
cally cease In tho rains. and what patrolllng
Is done will be Of q very secondary sort. On
the other hand the Insurgents are likely to
be able to do more then toward a reorganiza-
| ton than would be possible for them under
| any other circumstances, and It seems not
| unfair TO suppose that the beginning OF the
next dry season will find considerable more
work to be done by our fighting mon. Unless
Congress makes some provision to meet
| this emergency at this session. very awk-
ward situation il likely to develop.
| Gen. Macarthur takes very hopeful view
OF the situation at present and Ia OF the opin-
ion that next year will Affairs so far straight
ened out that 1t will not be necessary TO replace
many OF the troops sent home for muster-out.
He Is more of an advocate OF the use OF cavalry
| than Otis was and II may turn out that he can
| bring about the situation he hopes for. Otis
had never much faith In cavalry for this country;
way but it was too expensive and too difiiouIt
| TO forage the horses here. Reports recently
in from some Of the cavalry now serving In
much OF the time are to the effect that the horses
| are learning to like the native feed so well
that they frequently Will leave oats for the
palay or unhusked rice. that is fed to the native
ponies. In Ae Judgment of a great many
| OF the army men who have had the actual
fighting to do It will be necessary for a long
extremely mobile one. If those who stay
are mounted in great part they can accom-
plish the work Of the larger foot force. since
the horses are not likely to be Of much service.
There is one other consideration which.
for obvious reasons is not talked about very
Of Asuinaido and It's possible effect Gen.
OTIS. was never inclined TO place much value
on this capture and made no apparent effort
Aguinaldo would be more or less OF a white
elephant on the hands OF the Americans. Gen.
Mac Arthur, II is beloved holds different
opinion with respect to that matter. as he does
with respect to the use Of cavalry. lie Is al
ready preparing to mount part OF the men
| of every regiment now in the north and as soon
he will mount more men and carry the plan
to other regiments There is cons siderable talk
among men usually well informed to the effect
of the next moves that will be made. If Il is
done the cable will have told you all about il
probably before this reaches the States. for
what Is done in that line must be done quickly
Il 1t Is hoped 70 make i successful. II Is known
that Aguinaldo was IN Benguet less than a
the complete collapse Of the guerrilla war.
fare which is nov, making so puch trouble
As to the Possibility tS 81 ESTABLISHING civil
considerable number OF provinces now and
as TO the work Of the new commission there IL
practical unanimity Of opinion, that the time
general understanding here that the commits
sion will not attempt TO put its instructions
into active effect until sometime in tho fall
spend the summer studying the situation anc
becoming familiar. with affairs and In meeting
Filipinos OF prominence who may be willing
In the ~ provinces @ north q Manila and W
to the mountains most Of the people who were
rolled up in front OF our advance last fall hav,
returned TO their homes and are at work. Gen
j. F. Bell has three provinces. Xambales Pan
gaslnan and Tarlac Every town OF any size
or Importance In these provinces Is garrisonec
except In the hills Of Zsmbales. In Gen Funs
tons district. which adjons Bells, on the cas-
and south. there are not 80 many garrison
but a generally similar state of affairs obtains
Funston is showing a side Of admnstrativ,
ability which may surprise the shouters o
the Jayhawk State who have proclaimed hin
only as hurrah-boys fighter and a swimmer
of rivers. Further north Young Is hayini
lot OF running around TO do over the roughes
has Just come in from scout that lasted
month In which nearly three hundred natives
were killed and half RS many more taken pris
Oners. Many guns were captured and m,cl
property destroyed. Much OF that sort Of worl
Is going on in the southern provinces OF Iuzon
where the occupation was much later than II
the north.
As they say there you can get fight thre'
minutes in any direction from the town II
self" Mindanao garrisoned in part b,
men who are looking for a scrap. as the,
declare. and there IL no telling when they
will get II, and more of II than they want.
Considerable money Is being spent in thi
island in the construction and repair Of roads
This gives work to great many natives a
rates Of pay which they never dreamed o
getting In the old days under the Spanish Will
western people II would be safe to say tina
this alone would help to assure the continu
ance of peaceful conditions. but with the FIJI
| ipinoS II may he only another way Of recOup
ing the treasury of the insnrrection. tn,
auartermasters are up TO their eyes in worl