The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-05-18

/
forcible entry into domains over which
(f we are technically sovereign our
sovereignty amounts actually to the
most shadowy suzerainty? / remember
wildly the expression of naughty pride
with which the sultan of Sulu recounted
to me in 1899 the victories which his
people had won over Spain, compelling
her as he said to pay them tribute For
in his estimate at any rate the annual
allowance paid to him and his dattos by
Spain was not in the nature of salary to
subordinate, but of tribute to proved
superior Certainly he was supreme in
his own dominions And the majority OF
the chieftains in Mindanao had probably
never heard of Spain. Why force upon
them knowledge of SPANS successor
in the sovereignty of the archipelago by
what they will regard as an unlawful
Invasion of their territories? Thanks
to the cautious and farseeing wisdom
of President Roosevelt the danger of a
MOhammedan confiagratiOn, which was
imminent a few days ago, has perhaps
passed away. But the possibility of its
recurrence should be prevented. Our
people are sick of bloOdshed in the Phil
ippines. If the Moros are stirred up it.
will be a bloody business for us. Let
US cry halt to the explorer and exploiter.
In Luzon and the Visayas, whose g.
500, 900 people are civilized and Chris
tanned, tribal organization has diSap-
peared and the inhabitants having been
long governed by Spanish soldiers, civil
ians and priests they We're, when Spain
withdrew in 1898, without native leaders
"a sheer democracy absolutely morgan
lied. There the United States found no
recognized power to deal with, for Aguin-
aldo was usurper and strong only (as
it seemed) among the Tagalogs. Had
there been native potentateS, whose rule
had been sanctioned by time solidifed
by the acquiescence of the people, il
would have been possible to substitute
mutual agreements for the arbitrament
of the sword. to which Aguinaldo ap-
pealed. But the tribal organization
which Spanish power had restroyed in
Luzon and the Visayas, where Spanish
power was effective, still survived in the
southern islands. where Spanish power
had been merely nominal
Perhaps l may be allowed to say here
that l was the first American official to
visit those regions, and, as | have else
where reported, l arranged on behalf OF
the President of the United States for
the renewal with the sultan of Sulu of
the so-called treaty" under the terms
of which he had lived with Spain; and
in cabling the result to Washington |
recommended the extension of this
policy of friendly agreements to all the
sultans and dattOs of Mindanao, Sulu
and Palawan. A month later the execu-
tion of this policy was intrusted to
Gen. Bates, who pursued the work with
admirable skill and excellent results A
similar course had been adopted by
Great Britain in her dealings with the
kindred sultans of the Malayan federated
states many years before and the bril-
liant success attending it had become a
commonplace of oriental history. Now
| ask with the deepest concern whether
an arrangement which has the warrant
of historical experience, which is adapted
to the social conditions of the Moham-
medan tribes of Mindanao and which
gratifies them and has made them our
friends for two or three years should
be set aside because some army officer
or some civilian trader wants to see
what the interior of their country is
| like? Our primary concern with the
Moros is peace, and to the maintenance
of peace we should lend every effort
and sacrifice every minor object.
Let us now dismiss the Mohammedans
and their heathern neighbors in the
southern islands and turn to the island
Of Sam2r, in the Visayan group, and to
the province of Batangas in the island
of Lu2on. These people, remember. are
not savages or injuns" or barbarians.
They are civilized Christians and in the
province of Batangas which lies just
south of Manila, the people, who are
quite prosperous, are above the average
of FilipinoS in education and refinement.
Samar and Batangas were the last ac-
tive centers of the instruction, which
is now completely quelled according to
our official reports. 1t is here if we
may believe official dispatches as well
as telegraphic news, that some of our
military authorities have practiced Wey-
lerS system of RECOMMENDATION, resorted
to oriental methods of torture, burned
happy homes into a bowling wilderness,
and not only killed non combatants, but
murdered boys over 10 years of age.
! state the alleged facts without either
exaggeration or palliation. Would to
heaven they were only a tissue of devil
lsh inventions! But too much has al
ready been admitted to leave any hope of
appreciable abatement of the horror and
the anguish which have wrung the
hearts of the American people. War is
hell indeed. and in sense we had
scarcely dreamt Of / remember (alaS,
the pity of IT'D at the beginning of
hostilities in the Philippines, seeing
cities where thousands of people dwelt
together in peace and prosperity utterly
destroyed; but there was no murder,
there was no torture; there may even
have been a good military excuse, or
the insurgents themselves may have
lighted the first incendiary torch; and
in all cases the lives of non -combatants
were sacred, and insurgent soldiers
taken prisoners were well cared for in
our hospitals. But, as the greatest OBJ
server of human nature has recorded,
the hand is subdued to what it works
in; and for our three years of hostility
in the philippines the inevitable Ne
mesis now confronts us. This is
world where effect inexorably follows
cause. You cannot have war without