The times., 1901-04-21
WILLING TO BE CAPTURED
An Army Officer PrOnOunces Ag-
uinald0 Trickster.

/ Capt. Il. l.. Graham Says He Does
Not Wish to BeIittIe Funston's
Achievement - Thinks, However.
! the Insurgcnt Was Tired of War.
| Had Aguinaldo not felt that his popu-
| larity was diminishing. and that he was
! losing his influence both with the eff
! GERS and the men of his army. he would
not have allowed himself to be caught
said Capt. Frank l.. Graham. late of Com
! pany k. Twenty-scventh United States
! Volunteers. who recently returned from
| the Philippines. He left the islands in
! February and has probably the latest
| personal news in Washington
Il think it would not have been possible
| to catch Aguina1do if it had not been that
| he was losing the faith Of his followers. |
say all this not intending to reflect one bit
upon the greatness of Funston,s achieve
ment in effecting the capture. Funston is
! great man. and he thing he did is by
far the most brilliant that has been done
| during our occupancy of the islands.
Every soldier in the Philippines. ] am
! sure, looksup to Funston for what he did.
| ! know that it was the dearest wish of
| every officer and man in the army to do
! just what Funston succeeded in doing,
and every military head was scheming to-
ward the same end Everyone was eX-
pecting that Aguinaldo would be cap
tured. That seemed the only possible
next step, and now that it has come /
| think it is the last step.
The capture of Aguinaldo means the
virtual end of the ppositon-especially as
he has done what I confidently expected
he would, that is. issue a proclamation
asking all loyal Filipinos to join with the
| ;,,I y>f,
| "Aguinaldo is triclIster, though,
| through and through, and l am half in
elined to believe that he permitted his cap
| ture because lie felt that the time had
| come for him to get on the winning side
| He did not feel safe with his compatriots.
! There was a great deal of pickering, a
! great deal of enmity and jealousy; Agui-
naldo's generals were drifting further and
further away from him, and | have no
| doubt that they were only too willing for
| him 10 be captured.
But ASuinaldo captured and in the tolls
Of the Americanos is quite different per
| son from Aguinaldo free and at the head
! of an army. In the eyes of every Filipino
| he is a martyr now, and by virtue of his
martryrdom is al the head of the people
again. They VIII listen to him. and il is
! for that reason that l think his proclama-
ton will be needed The natives Will be-
J Iieye what he s-- 81 i-~'-'''
! Nflt. - .,.juIG .4e,e no one else.
The fear that the Filipinos have of the
( American troops is based on most violent
! misrepresentation made 70 the natives by
! the designing leaders. 1t is a fact, of
! which see daily evidence, that the ma
! tives think We have come into their island
TO Kill and eat their babies. Whenever
| the soldiers come into the towns the
mothers hasten TO hide their children, to
be sure that they are not put on spit
/ N.arse.1 4
gratified when we pat the children on the
head and give them pennies. We have
been able to do more toward the paciiica-
tion Of the towns by the cultivation Of
! the good will of the women than by any
other means.
The great fear I have is that Aguinal-
do may escape. Having gained through
/ his martyrdOm new ascendency with
the people, If he should regain his liberty
ne would be able TO undo a great deal
that il has taken many months Of hard
work with some fighting, to bring about
/ don't believe much in anything he may
profess in the way Of friendship for the
Americans, and / know that il he felt he.
could gain power by remaining with the
Americans for some time he would lay
low Just long enough 10 get what infor-
nation he wanted and then make for the
insurgent lines. He VIII have TO be
watched with extreme carefulness.
Il believe that. barring the accident Of
his escape. there Will be no more hghtinS
and practically no more trouble in the
Philippines. The LadrOnes. of which 50
much is said are Semi-peacelul lot,
and ! don't believe that, after the begin
ming of the rainy season they can be eX-
pected TO make any trouble. They viii
all come down from the mountains to
plant their rice fields, and, seeing that
hostilities are over, will remain by their
ground.
1T is perfectly evident that the La
drone captains are finding il impossible
To hold their men, because they are con-
stantly coming in to surrender When
Z
than they do soldiers which proves that
there have been many deserters.
As 10 the people and their capability
Of self-government. ] should say that they
never should be given complete control
They may do very well in subordinate pO-
sitions but they have inherited too many
undesirable Spanish traits to be put in
positions of trust. They are clever and
capable lot, and are amenable to culti-
Vation.'
Captain Graham was stationed in san
Nfateo Valley nearly the entire two years
Of his stay in the island The little val
ley, he said, is nearly surrounded with
hills and mountains They furnished the
best sort of hiding places for Ladrones.
and they were our chief concern Some
times they would come in the dead of
night in "a band Of fifty or more and
attack the house of the mayor Of vii
lage. torture him until he told where they
could get his money, and then they would
| escape. driving off all the cattle they
could find Frequently they would com
nit murder
"Our business was to keep down these
predatory iucuTsiOns-dud il meant riding
from one end of the valley to the other
on every kind Of rumor that such things
were about to happen, sometimes arriV-
ing day after the event had taken place
or once I'm while. in time to have u short
brush with the band.
''Our last pitched battle was at Piuaur-
an March .. 1860. against General Gieron-
imo We drove him Oft into the mountains
Since then il has been scouting work
merely keeping the valley quiet"
Captain Graham was formerly major
OF the Sixth Battalion District National
Guard. and later commanded Company T.
OF the First District Volunteers, while they
were in Cuba In 1sgS He left for the Phil
ippInes I'm the latter part Of 1899, and ar
rived in October. He has just returned
with his regiment, and was mustered out
ct San Francisco He Immediately took
the examinations for admission to the
Regular Army, passed, and now is await
ing an appointment.
STILL AGAINST IMPERIALISM.
Ex-senator Toune's Views Unchang-
ed by AguinaIdO'S Proclamation.
CITY Mo Apri T~. G.t,