Evening star., 1902-05-05
A M|SS|ONARY'S VIEWS
His Observations in the
Philippines.
SITUATION IMPROVING
HOPEFUL FEELING REGARDING
THE VIsAYAs.
The War Humanely Conducted, Al
though There Are Instances of
Abuse of Military Power.

|
Abuse of Military Power.
| Rev Charles w. Briggs, one of the Amer
| lean missionaries located at Jaro a suburb
OF lloilo. in Panay, has made long report
to the War Department of his observations
in the Philippines. He says, in part:
Our work has been hindered among the
| upper classes by bitter feeling toward the
Americans, which includes us missionaries.
Whether it is jealousy or due to insurrec-
| tionary ideals which they still cherish I
| cannot determine. In many cases I have
traced it directly to the rumors and inf1u-
ences set afloat by the cunning and mali
! cious Spaniards, and also by the friars.
Devotion of the Common People.
'The common people, on the other hand,
| almost without exception, look upon the
Americans as deliverers and friends. In
| spite of all the injustice they have suffered
during the war, and in spite of all the
| lying suspicious that have been instilled
| into them by upper-class people, they love
| US and give us their very hearts. If an
other insurrection were to break out the
natives in any way come into authority be-
fore they are transformed these poor people
would be butchered for what they have
done. Indeed, some of them have already
died for so doing. They have thus staked
their lives by coming to us, because they
are credulous naturally and because they
have SO long been despised and been in a
state of virtual slavery.
On the whole, however, / notice a great
change in the feeling of the upper classes
toward America from what we met when
L came here thirteen months ago. Whether
1t is the rise of the civil government under
Governor Taft, or the influence of the civil
ians and teachers that have come, or
merely the soothing of time that has eff
fected the change, 1 am not certain. Ger
tain 1t is that the change within year is
very marked in this part of the Visayas,
and If the same process can continue for a
few years more the hard feeling will alto
gether have passed away. Some of the
military officials say it will never pass
away until the present generation has died.
but am more hopeful than that.
Approves the Policy Pursued.
Il more and more believe in the policy
that has been pursued by our government
from the start. Our military actions here
have been the best possible moves that
could have been made, to meet the existing
conditions and needs. The terrible condi-
tions that have resulted from long years of
abuse in these islands made the drastic
measures of war, the putting down of re-
bellion-a rebellion which was against the
interests of the people-a necessity. 1t has
been easy, nay, inevitable, that many good
men at home should condemn the steps
that were taken from the start and that
precipitated the long bitter fight between
America and the Filipinos. But not one of
the men in America who has taken this
position, so far as ! have read. has shown
by his pub bic statements that he had any
grasp of the real situation. nor any appre-
clat1on OF the actual causes of the war and
of the questions at issue. It has been the
inevitable struggle between slavery and
freedom, between mediaevalism and the
modern period, between the interests of the
feudal lords and the interests of the great
mass Of the Filipinos. With their long
training in Spanish ideas of honor and
bravery and the tyrannfcaI rights of the few
rich, backed and fired by the cunning and
fiendish priests and friars who have fos-
| tered the fight with the last hope that it
might result in their restoration to lost
power. this fight between the old and the
new was absolutely inevitable America.
by her interposition has saved the Fill
pinos decades of internal struggles and in
estinable bfoodshed. BY swift, terrible
bringing of peace; we have advanced the
Philippine Islands, as far such a thing
was possible under God, from the mediaeval
to the modern period. The remedy has
been terrible, but the disease was vastly
worse, and needed no less drastic treat
ment.
A Humane War.
Il don't think there has ever been a war
that was more humane than the war be-
tween our troops and the Filipinos. There
has necessarily been some terrible slaughter
of native troops There has been great de-
struction Of property as well of life.
There has been enlightenment of Fiipinos
against us and against our civilization and
against our gospel There has been a great
loss of life on the part of Americans; but
every drop of American blood that has
been shed in the Philippines has been shed
in the cause of human liberty and human
,5y No human Hfa haS bet
ter used and spent itself in a better cause
than the lives of those brave men who
have died in the fight against slavery of
body, mind and soul in these islands. We
| have made mistakes here. but they were
the inevitable mistakes of rushing to the
post of duty and meeting the stern call of
the hour as best we might
at is the dark side that confronts US
| every day here in the islands. We see the
! unthankfulness of the native. their hatred
| and petty conniving against their own best
| friends; we see the drunken soldier, and
| the dishonest officer, and the immortality
| of the army and all the suffering and in
| justice entailed by the long. bitter fight.
| But, thank God, with his help See the
| other side by faith. and his spirit within,
| quickening our conscience and clarifying
| our reason, shows us the truth of it all
The Influence of the Army
''The general influence of the army upon
| the people has not been so bad and so de-
moralizing as many would-be apostles Of
| reform have reported in America. We
| should in all fairness remember that the
| Spanish army was here first, and that they
| drank and indulged In all kinds of immor-
| ality and bad treatment of the natives,
| and the Filipinos, many of them have
contrasted the Spanish army with the
| American army. always candidly saying
| that the change, so far as the two armies
| is concerned, is a. great advance: bless
ing to the people While I can Join with
| and drunkenness cef the American army
and while must always plead with God
| to stay the terrible forces of sin that are
| making ravage in their ranks. I must, with
| all my might protest against the extreme
and inconsiderateC condemnation the army
has received and is receiving in large
percentage of the press in America.
when the islands are thoroughly paci-
fed, and it is wise for them to do SO, 1t
will be best for the army to retire. II is
an instrument of war, to be employed only
when the needs are grave. In the mean
| time. the Christian, attitude of those at
home should in all fairness be less of CEN