Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1904-05-06
THE TREATY OF JOLO.
Ho v It Was Negotiated-Some Of the
Funny Incidents Which Attended the
PROCEEDINGS.


Proceedings.
Just half way round the world from
Washington, D. c., to the extreme south
of our Philippine possessions lies n group
comprising eleven small islands. all of
which are inhabited, together with many
adjacent islands, some of which have
never been explored. At present the at
tention of the civilized world is being
drawn to JolO, the largest island Of the
group, because of an nsurrection on the
part of the natives against the United
States government. The treaty made
with Gen. Bates in 1899 win be remcm-
bered as one of the most remarkable in
the annals of history. Without the loss
of single life, a compact was entered
into with the rulers of the different
islands who represented n million and
half of people, and that without the cog
niZance of the Sultan of Jolo. whose iurS
dction was supposed to extend through
out the entire group. Thus forced to sec
the futilty of withstanding the United
States government he also finally agreed
to the conditions of the treaty.
The city of Jolo, on the island of like
name, is the American capital. NAHUM,
on the opposite side of the island. is the
Moro seat of government These Moros
represent the true Indian type. They are
semi civilized, and very treacherouS Of
piratical tendencies. their territory. even
to the present day. is regarded with
dread They never eat meat. but sub
sist upon diet of rice. fish. fruit AMI
vegetables. and yet withal are perfect
types physically Both sexes wear "A
trouser-lil<e garment. that affected by the
man fitting skin tight | asked Moro
how he got i'm and out of the clothes, and
he replied that they We're sewed on and
never removed until they fell of. Poyg
amy is universally practised. and slavery
exists very extensively Horse stealing
i,.1,.
of about $50. The religion is Moham-
medan and as practised on the islands
gives rise to many queer customs. For
example, Moro without any previous
preparation for the calling will suddenly
declare himself "iuramentado," that is.
inspired by Mohammed to be a destroyer
of Christians. He forthwith shavcs his
head and eyebrows, and goes forth to full
fill his mission.
Shortly after Gen. Bates's arrival on the
island, the sultan sent word that there
some half dozen juramentados i'm
Jolo over whom he had no control. The
general replied, six hundred of my men
have turned juramentado. and | have no
control over them" Thus for the time
being at least did the juramentado ee-
ment cease to exist Within the past few
months. however, another juramentadu
has come to light. He succeeded in get
ting into the city of Jolo. where he seized
a member of the nth United States In
fantry, and promptly disemboweled him.
The murderer was caught in the act by
sentry on guard, who instantly dis
patched him. Unfortunately. the bullet
also killed Moro, the chief bugler of
the regiment. 1t was decided to make
an example of the juramentado Accord
ngly, grave was dug without the walls
of the city Into this the murderer was
unceremOniously dropped. y pig was then
suspended by his hind legs above the
grave, and the throat of the animal cut
Soon the body lay immersed in gore the
direst calamity that could happen to a
Moro his religion teaching him that con-
tact with the pigs blood means exclusion
from heaven. A guard stood sentry over
the grave until dusk, when the pig was
buried side by side with the juramenta e.
do. This so enraged the Moros that they
besieged the city. Matters became 50
grave that Gen Wood felt called upon to
dispense the mob, resulting in the death of
a number of Moros.
This uprising on the part of the ma
tives entirely abrogates the conditions of
the Bates treaty made in 1899 under the
most diplomatic conditions. The gen
eral first visited each of the surrounding
islands, and invited it's chief on board
the cruiser Charleston, which the Navy
department had placed at his disposal.
There the guest was treated to entertain
ment of liquid nature, and incidentally
presented with great sack containing
e. one thousand Mexican dollars, in bulk as
much as two men could carry. The man
ner of the presentation was most dra-
matte AS the bearers dropped their bur
den, the mouth of the bag opened as if
by accident and the coin rolled forth at
the feet of the recipient. Before leav-
ing the ship the visitor was prevailed
upon to sign the treaty. Oftentimes we
found it necessary to travel several miles
inland in order to reach the chief. On
these expeditions we went totally un-
armed by order of Gen. Bates, who there
by showed great judgment Trouble must
have resulted on more than one occasion
had we been provided with firearms.
At last there remained but the sultan
himself to be interviewed. This proved
to he a difficult matter, for upon hearing