The National tribune., 1902-11-06

was at Candaba, or the banks OF the Rlo
Grande de Pampanga, one morning after
it had spent about the most uncomfortaple
night of its history. 1t was then we bless
ed an institution that had received hither-
to our unqualified disapproval. Not that
we were opposed to the field telegraph nor
the heroic Signal Corps per sc, but to the
opportunity they gave for Gen. Otis to
hamper our movements and inject MS dlla-
tory tactics into the entire campaign. lie
kept Lawton tied down by this little wire
from Manila, and prevented him making
his energy and vim effective. If there was
q soldier in the entire army who did not
agree that Otis was Responsible for the
slowneSs of the campaign and the meager
results, it was some member OF MS stan
or some officer seeking an appointment or
special detail. Many of these probably
thought so, but did net express their Opin-
ion.
Cen Otis displayed: the qualifications of
q good chief clerk and not those of an
executive officer. He insisted upon doing
everything himself, and trusted nothing
but the merest routine to his subordlnates.
He was without doubt the hardest work
ing man in the entire Eighth Corps, work
ing from about o'clock in the morning
till after midnight; but most of it was
work his subordinates should have done.
The true executive is the man who selects
competent subordinates, lays out the gen-
eral plan or system, and then holds those
subordinates to strict responsibility for re-
suits, giving them sufficient latitude to eX-
ercise their own discretion and initiative:
Instead of doing this, Otis both planned
and executed. There was not a General
under him who, even while out on cam
paign, dare do anything without his special
authorization.
l will illustrate by telling what fell un
der my own observation in the campaign
made by Lawton to San Isidro, then the
farthest into the interior any troops had
gone. Following the column came the Sig
nal Corps, with its carts and pack ami
mails, putting up a field wire as fast as
we advanced. Every night that tireless
organization brought the wire up to us.
l have seen them at work stringing their
wires so close to the firing line that they
were themselves under fire. There was
telegraph line ON the main road we fol
lowed, used by the insurgents, and this
the natives destroyed as they retreated,
the slowness of our advance, due to the in
reference of Otis, making this possible.
They took down the wire and in most
places even the poles. 1t made US smile
when we captured strongly-fortifed posi-
fion to discover that the telegraph had
been taken down for several miles in its
rear, showing that the Filipinos knew very
well they were going to run when attacked.
They would work like beavers for days
throwing up splendid intrenchments, and
abandon them at the first moment of real
danger. Hope of whipping the Ameri
cans may have sprung eternal i'll the Fill
pino breast, but fear smothered it instant
ly when the guns began to crack.
LAwToN's MOVEMENTS HAMPERED BY
OTIS.
The Signal Corps had several miles of
rubber insulated wire, which they could
lay on the ground or fasten to poles, with
when standing, put up cheap bamboo ones,
or fastened the wire to limbs of trees.
Anything did for temporary purposes. If
it was determined to keep the line for
time, ordinary wire was substituted for
the field equipment, and the latter was
available for use further on. With this
wire at headquarters every night. Lawton
was compelled to make report Of progress
TO Otis, and to wait for him TO give orders
what to do the next day. AS Otis was
a very busy man with the petty details of
his headquarters in Manila, he could not
give Lawton much attention, and it was
generally after midnight before he wired
him instructions for the following day.
1t was utterly absurd that the General
In the field, fully acquainted with the situa-
tion, local conditions, etc, should be tied
hand and foot and allowed no discretion
whatever as to his movements. The idea
of pusher and fighter like Lawton being
held in leash by chronic conservative like
Otis was absurd in the extreme. That it
CALLED Lawton almost beyond endurance
l have the word of d member of his staff
Had he not been the thorough soldier he
was he would have asked to be relieved.
and had he not possessed the boundless
energy and determination to accomplish
something, which was his leading charac-
teristic, he would have relapsed into the
Indifference which marked some other COM
nothing until Otis was ready to give Or
ders for it
AS it was he was the real vital force of
the army from the time he arrived in
March till his death the following Decem-
ber. No sooner was he back from one
expedition than he began planning and
urging upon Otis another. Had he been
given discretion while in the field he might
have accomplished something far more
tangible than he did.
This habit of Otis debating by wire
from Manila the day by day movements
of the army in the field made it necessary
for half the army to lie idle while the
other half was at work. He simply did
not have time to look after so many de-
tails. While the south line was pushing
back the insurgents the north line idled
in its tents. When activity was trans
ferred TO the north line then the south line
did nothing for weeks at time. AS each
was a distinct force and was operating
against distinct forces, there was no reason
why both should not have been at work
all the time, except the inability of Otis
TO give the time necessary to direct their
movements and his unwillingness to per-
NIT their commanders to do so. This is
the chief reason why the insurrection was
not completely broken up the first Spring
and the state of mere guerrilla bands
created a year earlier than it was.
THE SIGNAL CORPS
i feel that i must pay tribute to the
Signal Corps, composed of volunteers
chiefly as it was. In proportion to its ell
listed strength that body lost as many
men as most regiments. l have seen a sig
nal private go out with an attaching col
umn and keep with it, signaling progress
to the rear constantly in order to direct
artillery fire. The men with rifles could
have the satisfaction of shooting, and ey-
cry old soldier knows what that means to
the man under fire, and could hunt cover
as well, but the signal man had to STAY
where his flag could be seen and expose
himself Constantly.
At other times the little repair squads
were ambushed and some of them killed
while keeping their lines in condition. They
went out boldly in little squads and de-
Tended themselves with their rifles while
doing their work. l never knew of but
one case of cold feet" among them, and
that was not a regular member of the
corps, but a man detailed from a regi-
ment because he was telegraph opera