The Savannah morning news., 1902-05-21
THE PHILIPPINE BILL
MIR. BACON ATTACKS ADMINIsTRA-
TION POLICY.
HORRORS OF CONCENTRATION.
OBJECT Is EXPLOITATION OF
ISLANDS.

Civil Government Already Estab-
lished in the Islands as Full as
Would he Given by the Pending
Measure-No Advantages Afforded
by Bill, Except That 1t Allows Cor
pOratiOns to Exploit the Islands.
RecOncentradO Camp Described
Like Some suburb OF He'll
Washington, May 20.-The subject
of the concentration of the inhabit-
ants in the Philippines into camps
was a leading topic of the discussion
of the Philippine bill in the Senate to-
day. MIR. Bacon of Georgia attacked
the policy of concentration, likening it
to the reconcentrado camps establish
ed by Gen. Weyler in Cuba.
Mr.. Foraker of Ohio defended the
action of the military authorities in es-
tablishing the camps in the Philip
pines as wise and proper as a means
of protecting friendly Filipinos from
| assassination at the hands of rowing
| bands of insurgents. He read a de-
scription of the camps to show that
! they were really camps of instruction
| and sanitation.
Mr.. Hoar of Massachusetts, spoke
| briefly in line with Mr.. Bacon, against
out the difficulty in getting army Of
| ficers to testify regarding the situa-
| ton.
To-day's debate was closed by Mr..
| Clapp of Minnesota, who urged that
the Filipinos ought to be taught to
admire and respect the United States
| as a nation which always had stood
for liberty and progress and never had
broken it's word to any people, great
| or small
Mr.. Bacon said that there was, in
part, civil government now established
in the Philippines, under the war pow
er, which was as full II all its powers
as was conferred by the pending bill.
! Under the proposed measure greater
power in the exploitation of the islands
| could be exercised.
Why is it, he asked, that there should
be such urgency in passing the pending
| bill when it affords pra cticaliy no adj
vantages over the present law, except
| that corporations would have special
! advantages in exploitation of the re-
| sources of the islands.
He read paragraph in the bill to
show that It con-ained a broad and
Unlimited grant to the Philippine Com
| MISSION to dispose, IN unlimited FASH
/ ion, OF the public doc14in in the Philip-
| pines. He declared that an eSamina-
ti0n of the bill would show that a
corporation could obtain a million acres
| of land as easily as IL could get 5lc1
acres. This was an enorinity
Mr.. Lodge. chairman of the commit
tee, Interrupted to say that Section
| q of the bill restricted the ownership
of land by a corporation to 5000.
That restriction said Mr.. Bacon.
lis confined to corporations engaged in
| agriculture"
IAN other corporations" replied Mr.
IN
their lands necessary to their pur-
poses"
Mr.. Bacon thought a corporation
might be organized to control all the
mineral lands in the Philippines-that
would be an infant as compared to the
great steel trust.
Upon so grave a matter as the dis
position of the public lands in the
Philippines, there ought to be the d.
rect action of Congress, or at least the
approval of Congress instead of en-
trusting the matter to the Philippine
Commission.
The Real Question at Issue.
rs it," Mr.. Bacon asked, 1.-THE pur-
pose of the United States to retain the
Philippine Islands in colonial depen-.
dency or to grant to them a govern
ment of their OWN"
That. he said, was the great central
tions relating to the islands must in
volve.
IF, he said, 1--WE have the high and
noble purpose of giving the Filipinos a
free government-whether partial or
absolute-then now is the time for
Congress to act upon that purpose
Senator Bacon declared that not a
day passed that the troops of England
were not required to shed blood in or
der to maintain England's supremacy.
He alluded to the cruelties. atrocities
and barbarities perpetrated in the
Philippines. merely, he said, to point
out that they were the result of the
Philippine policy of the government
Who is the defender. he inquired.
The man who denounces the outrages
committed in the Philippines and de-
clares they are unworthy of the army,
or the man who defends the outrages
and makes no distinction? Senators
who denounce these outrages and the
preparation of them were the real
friends of the army.
He declared the responsibility for the
Misunderstanding the outrages COM
mitted. the burning of the towns and
the recommendation of Filipinos-must
rest upon those who have authorized
the policy of the government.
Horrors of RecOncentradO Camp.
Mr.. Bacon read letter from an army
officer. for whom he vouched and whom
he knew personally describing in vivid
language a reconcentrado camp The
letter said the camp was located in a
soggy place where rain fell continually
and outside of which every living thing
was shot. In that camp there were
thirty cases of smallpox and five cases
were added each day. Clouds of YAM
pire bats circled softly over the palce
awaiting the dead coming to them
every day. The camp was like some
suburb of hell"
TO CONTROL MnNON InINTLY