New-York tribune., 1902-08-29
SOME MORO DIFFICULTIES.

The problem which the government faces IN
the portion of Mndanao inhabited by the Moros
is a difficult one; yet with little patience and
liberal application OF common sense II can
and will be solved. The periodical outbreak OF
some dissatisfied datto, the picturesque dell
ance even Of this or that Sultan who bids the
inidels to drop IN at his mud fort and be sacri-
feed, is not likely 10 deter the administration
from pursuing its policy of bringing order out
Of chaos and of turning brigands and pirates
into less offensive and more useful members Of
the human family. Anti-imperialists may
chuckle with satisfaction aud their newspaper
organs grow eloquent with 'ghoulish glee'
whenever the cable records the death of Amer
lean soldiers butchered in ambush; but the good
work will continue to go on nevertheless, and
the responsibilities. deliberately assumed in the
presence of the civilized world, will not be
shirked. In the discharge of these duties the
administration has the country at It's back, and
the Lake George reformers might more profit
ably hay the moon than fancy that their "open
letters will stay the irresistible march of hu-
man progress. Being to-day's Three Tailors
Of Tooley Street." their concert, In this regard,
may be said to pierce the armament.
Some of the difficulties which we are bound
TO encounter in dealing with the Moros will be
entirely of our own making. Foremost among
tleSe is lUe spirit Vi ueuduCe dud EouttLHpt Oh
the part of Moro chieftans If once they are per-
mitted 10 imagine that afraid Of them.
Failure promptly to punish evtldoers and exact
penalties for a breach Of the peace will. sooner
or later, breed trouble. 1t is mistake to sup
pose that the Moro Is incapable of appreciating
Justice. To make an impression, however, such
Justice has TO be dealt out on the spot. Delay
and deliberation count for weakness and fear:
leniency is the part Of a coward. II this the
Moros' reasoning is that Of every Oriental We
paid pretty dearly, il we remember rightly, for
our vacillaton around Manila. Let that
perience be lesson to US in this case Fortu-
nately while Chaffee and Davis remain in COM
mand, and while the administration leaves
them free to act according TO their Judgment,
there is little fear Of these outbreaks assuming
proportions more serious.
No less hurtful, however, than an Ill timed
| hestancy our part TO demand and exact the
punishment of the murderers Of American sol
diers is thar restless spirit of meddlesome
benerolence which every once i'll a while seizes
so many otherwise Well meaning people of
race and turns them it were into moral po-
licemen for the universe. licensed to keep order
in this vale Of tears and to club their victims
into respectability. We had manifestation OF
| that spirit at the outset of our experience in
dealing with the Mahometans Of the archipe-
ago when General Bates was violently assailed
for failing 10 secure in his treaty with the Sui
tan of Yolo promise from that willy potentate
TO abolish what these critics called slavery"
but which in reality is the slender bond that
for centuries has united chieftain and retainer
No sooner the clamor about slavery"
stilled than cry of horror went up anent
polygamy and the "harems'' which dotted the
islands Ike pustules on an impure body. The
ghost OF "barbarisn's twin relic staIked over
the land for while, outraging the conscience
of the orthodox. In time it. too was laid
While II lasted however, it proved nightmare
to the government.
These attacks of hysteria have so far been
observed. as rule, only in the cases of private
individuals of a sentimental turn of mind and
in segregated aggregations Of thinkers without
responsibility. But there are indications
OF the disease having spread 10 the ranks Of
official life In no other way can one interpret
the elaborate argument advanced in all serious
ness by an empoye of the Insular Forestry Bu-
reau in favor of the existence of public lands'
ip the wilds of an island like Paragua. In no
other way, certainly. can account for the
recommendation made with equal seriousness,
by some army officers that the Sultan Of Sulu
he deposed. because he is unable TO resist the
insists upon gambling with the Chinese mer-
chants in their "godowns"; because he vio-