Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-02-10

| David, Isaiah, Bunyan, Charles wesley
and Watts. To tens of thousands the
writings of these inspired and devotional
authors have been a means of grace? We
| cannot say of Tennyson, Wadsworth and
| the other poets that they were inspired
in the sense that David and Isaiah were
thus needed, might not be destroyed by
| the American army. Little doubt can
there be, in the light of that order, that
the people of Negros have been loyal to
| the United States In order that by that
means they might the better aid the in
surrectos who have been fighting the
American army. Fine actors they, when
a whole people can thus dissemble. while
every heartbeat is for their own people,
the mortal foes of those whom they de-
ceive with professions Of loyalty and
| friendship.
During the active campaigning in Luz
zon, General Young captured a part OF
Aguinaldo's war chest, containing a large
amount in silver dollars. Shortly thereaf-
! ter he approached with his army the town
| of Namack-Pacan. On the outskirts he
was met by the officials and people with
the most effusive demonstrations of loyal
ty, and after he reached the town the ma
tive band played American airs under his
window until he was almost ready to pay
them to quit. Being in funds the general
in recognition Of their loyalty, ordered
| that everything procured for the army
in the town should be paid for.
THE order was complied with, and an
accurate account was kept Of the expendi-
| lures of all kinds. A few days thereafter
there was captured a Filipino messenger
having on his person receipt from one
| Of Aguinaldo's officers for the exact
| amount, to a penny, which, under Gen
| eral Young's order, had been paid for the
| supplies. with a letter to the presidente
! of the town thanking the people, through
him, for their loyalty to the Filipino
cause in sending the money they had thus
secured from the enemy. 1t was apparent
that every man to whom money had thus
been paid had given every centavo to the
presidente to be sent 70 Aguinaldo's army.
The Two Possible Policies in the Phil
IppInes.
Frequent conversations with Filiplnos.
not including oflceholders. impressed
deeply the conviction, that men Of every
rank. from the highest to the lowest, wish
Filipino government, and do not wish
American rule. These, conversations were
only with those who had submitted to
American authority and who professed
loyalty to It. Among them there was
rarely a direct avowal of objection to
American rule. but their intense desire for
| Filipino nationality and their pride in the
1
concealed, and It was very easy to lead
any of them into an argument in its favor.
| Many of them expressed a desire for an
American protectorate. but the longing
for separate nationality amounts to a
sentimentN with them and is well nigh,
If not quite, universal. Numbers of them
who thus express themselves are most
earnest in their desire for the end of the
war. This is not because of a desire for
American rule. but because they recog-
nize the hopelessness of the struggle; and
| their cherished hope for a Filipino gov
eminent leaves no doubt where they would
stand were an opportunity to occur here
after to set 1t up. There cropped out in
these conversations one reason for the
opposition to American rule which in the
anxiety with which II is expressed is not
| free from the pathetic. They believe that
the permanent establishment Of the Amer
lean rule in the Philippines means that
Americans will possess their country. and
that the Filipino race will be extermina-
ted and become extinct. How strong an
influence this apprehension will have in
perpetuating the discomfort of the Fill
pinos and in stirring them up to hostili-
ties when opportunity offers, can be read
lily appreciated.
''The following incident aroused a vivid
realization of the intensity of the feel
ings and aspirations of the Filipinos. An
interview was had in his own house with
a Filipino who is a man of property, of
education and of culture, and not a SOL
der or a politician. He was most earn
est in his desire for the cessation of the
war because he recognized the utter hope
lessness of the struggle. He fully recog-
nized that the only hope for his people
was through the voluntary concessions of
the United States. He was none the less
emphatic in his claim of the natural right
of the EilinfuOG nationality
Discussing this, eagerly and standing
erect, he exclaimed with excited gesture,
I am not a Spaniard. 1 am not an Amer
lean, I am not a Filipino-What am ~
The intensity of his feeling and his dra-
matte action enabled one with little knowl
edge of Spanish to understand this utter
ance before 1t was repeated by the inter-
prefer. In 1t he gave voice to the yearn-
ing that turks in the hearts of ten mill
lions Of Filipinos.
THE discussion OF the remedy does not
fall within the scope of this article. But
the opinion may be stated that with the
temper Of the Filipinos, it appears from
somewhat careful investigation. in any
permanent connection the alternatives are,
either on the one hand a government for
them with which they will be content in
receiving the substantial features Of Fill
pino nationality, or. on the other hand,
an arbitrary government maintained
through the presence of a great army, and
Independent of any considerations of the
reconciliation and loyalty of the people.
THAT the present proposed civil gov
eminent does not satisfy them is shown
in their continuance of the struggle and
in the general disloyalty of the people to
the United States. This is not the fault
of the civil administration, for though
doubtless there have been mistakes. no
man better fitted for the task than Gov
ernor Taft could be found. The vice is In
the system which presents to them the
Objectionable features of an imposed gov
eminent in the creation of which they
have had no paSt-a colonial government
the very name Of which they abhor. coup
led as it is in their minds with centuries
of tyranny and bloodshed. If sovereignty
is to be retained by the United States,
better is 1t that the Filipinos be permit
ted to frame their own government, and
that, with as little restraint or interfer-
ence as possible by the United States,
they be allowed, through their own trials,
and their own sacrifices If need be, to
work their own w., as other nations
through all time have done, from a lower
to a higher plane of civilization"