Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-15
Gen. Bates Talks Of Conditions When
he Left.
ESTABLISHING CIVIL GOVERNMENT
Gradual Abolition Of Slavery in the
SuIu Archipelago.
DATO MANDI'S ACTION

General Bates. lately in command of the
Department of Southern Luzon, Philippine
Islands. was seen by a Star reporter at
the Ebbitt House today. General Bates
great familiarity with the Philippine aues-
ton Is well known, and his soldieriy quail
ties and good judgment in dealing with sit
uations with which he has been brought
face to face have earned for him common
dalton on all sides.
My own view is" he said, when asked
in regard to the establishment of peace on
the island. that 1t would be a mistake
to withdraw our troops too rapidly, for up
to the time I left, which was the latter
part of April, 1t was not safe for an Amer
lean to go away from a garrison without
an escort. 1t is hoped that that condition
Will improve rapidly, but surrenders are
not being made quite so rapidly as l hoped
when left there
THE civil commission was on an ex-
tended trip at the time I left the islands.
and the members were expected back in
about ten days. They will then be very
busily engaged in forming the civil gov
eminent in various provinces. They were
appointing certain of the civil officers while
on that trip wherever conditions were Such
that they thought 1t would be advisable
to inaugurate civil government"
How Is Aguinaldo held by the F'ilipinos
noW! General Bates was asked.
Agutnaldo's influence LessOned.
"Aguinaldo had a wonderful hold upon
them for a time, but think his hold has
been more or less weakened by his role
of hermit. He stated that he had not
left the place where he was captured for
more than seven months. There were very
few of his own people who knew where
he was. and I think he had very little COM
munication with his own people. The In
surgent troops In the field seem to look
much more to Lieutenant General Mariana
Trias. and they frequently receive COM
muntcattons from the junta IN Hong
Kong"
When asked about the condition of the
troops he replied:
Our troops are in excellent condition.
We had no more sickness than one would
naturally expect from tropical climate,
and think no more than we would have II
our troops were stationed in the gulf states
here
1T is hard to estimate the number Of
arms the insurgent troops now have. Con-
sidering that they at one time had $4,000
modern rifles, we have probably secured
10000 of them. Some Of them must be worn
out or have become worthless. They are
also short of ammunition. We have cap
tured a good deal Of ammunition that they
have manufactured and 1t is a very poor
art1cle-hopelessly inaccurate in firing. They
have used bullets that were simply sheet
lead rolled up. They have formed shells by
taking a. strip Of tin and making spiral Of
it and then. soldering it together. Occa-
sionally they have used matchheads for
making a sert Of powder, and I think they
have made some black powder, but I do
not think they have made any high-power
powder.
JudgeTaft Highly Esteemed.
1.-THE civil commission will have very
arduous task" continued General Bates, in
reply to question. Judge Taft Is regard
ed as a very able lawyer and he is a man
OF pleasing address, who seems well fitted
for such a position.
How long Viii 1t be before the troops
can be recalled from the Philippine Is
lands?" General Bates was asked
Many years. he replied. 81 should not
advise reducing the force below $4,000 at
present and then they could be brought
away as rapidly as 1t could be demon
strated that they could not be needed.
There is very strong desire among the
fntpinos for complete Independence. even
on the part of the more intelligent people,
who will admit that they are not at pres
ent capable of self-government. They wish
to have the hope of independence in the flu
ture. That Is. / think, the sentiment of a
large majority of the people: they wish at
least that much The people are anxious
for schools and all classes want them
They want to learn English. Aguinaldo
himself. understand Is STUDYING English
The children are anxious to learn English
and their parents wish them to do So"
When asked In regard to the friars he
said the questions relating to them make
very serious problem.
Trouble About Friars.
II think the question of their property
will probably go to the United States Su-
preme Court before it can be finally de-
cided. There is friction all the time over
the property owned by the friars In sew
eral instances l did not allow the agents
Of the large estates to collect rents because
of the disturbance 1t made. In some cases
what was the church property Is owned by
companies, and there is a question when
the agent attempts to collect the rent about
his right to do so. OF course. my action
was merely temporary expedient and I
acted arbitrarily, believing such action was
necessary for the peace Of the community
at that time
General Bates attention was called to q
publication in the New American of May
3, published in Manila, to the effect that
Datto Mandt has ordered his slaves set free.
Datto Mandi is the famous Moro cheftain
of Zamboanga, and the publication stated
that he had abolished slavery within his
district and ordered that no slaves be
bought or sold henceforth by any of his
people.
Freeing the Slaves.
II had not expected any such favorable
action" said General Bates though I
i
seems to me that is expecting almost too
much; it seems to me people ought to be
paid something tor these slaves. My agree
ment with them in order to abolish slav-
cry. was that a small amount should be
paid for the slaves. l wanted to fix an
amount and they asked that 1t be the
market value, and / agreed to that Ny
idea was that the slaves might pay a
small amount. and I supposed the United
States government would foot that bill
finally. Their market value was about $50
No census having been taken 1t Is impos-
sible to teli"how anany slaves there are.
They can hardly beregarded as slaves, any
way, but that hasa been so generally dis
cussed thatdit isiweli understood They
are mere retainers and very often volun-
tarily so, because ithey wanted the protec-
'Mandi has been pronounced In his Amer
lean sympathies eyer since l have known
him. He asked for an American flag at
once and put it UP. and in many places
where it would incur antagonisrn, but he
cared nothing for that He said he had
always been faithful to Spain while spain
had control. .fbut wien the control changed
he wanted to- be an American citizen. He
offered to bring tIis people to fight along
side OF our ssoldiafs. and said II I was
ready he wsuid att once go alone and at
tack the insurgents. at Zamboango. told
hivvn 7 70