The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-04-09

II relieved OF his command in
the Philippines and that he
will soon come home supplies an op-
portunity for appraising the value of
his public services.
General Otis has been severely criti-
cized and at one time public opinion
was sharply antagonistic to him. Con-
ditions in the Philippines were disap-
pointing and he was blamed. The lapse
of time and the informing testimony of
trustworthy Americans who have re-
turned from Manila have very largely
corrected whatever unfairness there
was in this hasty judgment We are
beginning to see not perhaps any eX-
traordinary revelations of genius in
General Otis, for we find it to be the
consensus of expert opinion that he is
not save possibly in an exceptional
capacity for details, u genius as that
word is commonly understood; but
more especially the magnitude, nitric
acy and novelty of his task, which, as
they are coming to be better under
stood, create wonder that under the
circumstances Elwell S. Otis succeeded
so well as he did.
The weakest chapter in the history of
our career in the Philippines concerns
the inactivity of the army of occupa-
tion during the five months prior to the
outbreak of actual fighting between the
Americans and the insurgents. Here
was a situation in which, day by day,
the American TROOPS had to witness in
silence and to endure in patience the
unfolding growth of Aguinaldo's plot to
exterminate them, although it was ap-
parent to all our military officers that
the growth could at any moment be
checked by vigorous measures. But the
administration at Washington was
awaiting first the outcome of the peace
negotiations at Paris ana secondly the
development Of public opinion at homo;
and when. finally, it was decided to
take the Philippines because no honor
| able alternative presented itself, prompt
| ratification Of the peace treaty was de-
| ferred bya political intrigue in the SEN
| ate and during all this uncertainty the
| remain strictly on the defensive. Presi-
| dent Mckinley at Pittsburg explicitly
| eXonerated Otis from all responsibility
for the inactivity of the American
forces during the agonizing interim ter
minated by the Filipino attack on our
outposts in the night of February 4,
1899; and in just estimate of the mill
tary manoeuvers after that turning
| point, due account must be taken of
the fact that the volunteer army had
to be returned home across 1000 miles
of intervening sea and a new army
recruited, organized, transported, accli.
mated and distributed before the ag-
gressive could be taken against the in
surgents on scale commensurate with
the difficulties to be overcome. 1t is
easy, after the fact, to see how time
might have been saved and mistakes
averted; but few there are who. having
a path to blaze without chart or COM
pass, in the face of problems alto
gether new and amidst conditions
wholly strange, could have carried for.
ward so gigantic an enterprise with
better success than Mckinley and Otis
carried forward this Philippine cam.
paign. AS the case stands, coherent
resistance is at an end; armed oppo.
sition is dispersed and localized; there
are guerilla bands but no synthetic
antagonism. Daily these guerilla band.
are being thinned by desertion, cap
| . ha 1,
lem changes from one of military force
to one of administrative tact.
This reminds us that there is another
side to General Otis. He was not onl,
commander-in-c of the Eight
army corps having personal respon
sibility for every man among the 40. .OO
to $4,000 soldiers distributed through
out the labyrinthine archipelago: h
was also the governor-in-chief havin,
responsibility over 100000 human be
ings in all stages Of evolution. Hi
power was absolute. Washington wa
distant. He could have stolen million
and nobody need have known or, i
suspicious. could have proved it. Blu
not a breath of scandal has come fror
any source nor did the millions of fer
ret eyes which We're scrutinizing hi
every move find aught to build upon i
way of personal defamation. His wis
dom has been questioned, his judgmen
challenged but his fidelity, his consci
) entiousness, his complete surrender I
; duty stands established by unanimou
consent. There are some things a
. valuable as genius; common honesty
4 one of them. General Otis, we take /
is an honest man.
AS to the ability of his administra
@ tive rule the opportunity to form az
| curate judgment is not yet at hant
\ He was dealing with an unfamllia
$ situation complicated by the strang
4 traits of most complex human factor
r We are warranted in assuming that
I did his best. Who in our army coul
/; have done better is a speculative top
!. useless to discuss. 1t will take tin
[ and experience TO teach our represeI
s tatives in the Philippines how to de-
with the Filipinos; the lesson is not
: be mastered In a day. Others in II
e years to come may do better and fast
t work in the administrative fields whiC
: | Otis first broke IN cultivation. A Is