Arizona republican., 1901-10-17
TO PUNISH SAMAR
ViSayan Insurgents Will Be
 Taught a Lesson
Under the Direction of General Chaf- fee the Island Will Be Conquered and Chastissment for the Late Massacre Administered.

washington, Oct. 1I.-Samar is to be severely punished for the massacre of Company C. Ninth Infantry. There IS as yet no civil government established in the island. and the military arm is to have full play.
 Gen. Smith has sailed from Manila to take charge of the punitive expedition against the Visayan insurgents. and will releave Gen. Hughes m command CT the island, that there may be con certration of forces for the distinct purposes of the present campaign, and that Gen. Hughes may devote himself to the island of Cebu. where serious trouble is also feared. Gen. Smith will also have to look after the island Of Leyte.
 The forces under Gen. Smith is be- lieved to be fully sufficient for the pur- pose. It consists of a battalion of the Seventh Infantry, together with the forces now in the island of Samar. The difficulties are not, however, with the number or formidable character of the troops to be encountered, in the field or in ambuscade, but with the almost im- penetrable jungles and forests of the in te;iOr, and the sharp mountain ridges and narrow passes. The so-called roads of the island are mere trails. which it requires the most thorough knowledge of the country to follow safely.
 Surrounding these hair-lines called trails are vast regions of forest and 2 tangle of tropical growth. which chokes up the narrow valleys and cumbers toe sides of the mountains, hills and rA- vines. The task before Gen. Smith Is not, therefore. as easy one. He must fight nature more often than man.
 CHAFFEE HAS FREE HAND.
 As soon as the news reached Wash ington of the severe disaster to the American arms near Balangiga, on the south coast of Samar. it was deter mined that the insurgents must be punished immediately and so decisive ly as to leave a memory that would tend to prevent further attempts to destroy the forces of the United States by ambuscade. In a conference between the President and officials of the War Department it was decided to leave the entire matter in the hands of Gen Chaffee- At first there was some In- Clination to advise and direct, to some extent. the movements planned against the island. but this was immediately abandoned An official of the War De- partment is reported as saying:
 Do not Jet us make the mistake committed by the British Tn trying to direct operations in South Africa from the War Office in London. They vast ed several armies and millions of pounds. and accomplished nothing-but disaster. Gen. Chaffee should be left free hand"
 And free hand he has. The same official said that the Administration. no less than his department, had the full est confidence in Gen. Chaffees ability to deal with the situation. The only thing to be done at home was to see that he had all the men and means iie might need for the task. That these will be furnished him there is no doubt. as the President and the War Depart ment are anxious to strike a telling blow at the daring insurgents who, up on the dawning of a new era of peace. have inflicted upon American arms the greatest disaster of the entire war. TO CONQUER THE ISLAND. Just what will be the nature of the , punitive expeditions planned by Ger. Chaffee it is, of course. impossible to say. That much may be said, however, that the operfations of Gen. Smith are not to be confined to the mere chastisa- ment of the insurgents. The first e. forts will be directed to overtaking and punishing them severely; but it is the real purpose of the expedition to make a clean and final conquest of the island i of Samar. Not only has this not been done, but it has not been seriously at | tempted. The American forces have swept over it. like a simeon; but they | left it almost as they found it, appar- ently deserted of fighting insurgents, who had secreted themselves in the | jungles. and waited until "the legions 1 thundercd past" This time, the 1L 1 tempt at thorough conquest will be un- | dertaken.
 1 The Spaniards. it should be borne in mind, never made any attempt to con quer the wild island and It's wilder h. ! ha abitants There was little in the in ! terior to tempt the endless cupidity of [ the earlier Spanish conquerors- Junglcs 1 and enough could be found in Luzon, 1 in Cuba, to satisfy the more daring spirit of newly arrived governors gen | eral.
 Samar was not touched by the Span iards, who, none the less, claimed pos ! session. It was left to the hardy Visay- { ans who continued to carry on undis
 turbed their half-predatory incursions | into the neighboring Malay islands, for | they are the most daring fighters and
 navigators of the archipelago, and have
 kept up their knowledge and mastery l of the inland seas.
 , As the Spaniards never penetrated to the interior, they knew next to nothing 1 about the island. Even the coast line | was imperfectly mapped. The inter- ! ir mountaiN ranges. valleys and jun gles were terra incognita. But the
 Jesuits, who went everywnere. their re- | ligious zeal making them more cour-
 ageous than the soldiers, pretended to draw maps of the interior. These maps
 were the only source of information upon which the American troops could
 rely when they descended upon Samar.
 NEED A BIGGER STOCK.