The Washington herald., 1912-12-29
right OR WRONG
in PHILIPPINES?
Attitude Of United States in
Islands Subject Of Volume
by Army Man.
TELLS INSIDE STORY"
$40, 900, 900 War Payment Explained.
Ethics of AsuinaIdo's Capture
Discussed.
TELLS INSIDE STORY

To the Editor: - 4t 4.
"AlI is fair in love and war" Is "a
saving as old as love and war. II isa
indeed. world dietum. But what is fair
Is question of. difference between the
ethics Of theory OF reflection and the
ethics Of emergency Of action. and eth
les OF war from Nan easy chair in lux
,urious library and from the hard saddle
in the field Of action are not always
seen the same way. II is easier to i'm
asine than TO do; to plan than to exc
cute, and in the doing Is often stranger
than hction. Like Banquo's ghost, the
question Of the ethics of F>unstons cap
ture OF Agulnaldo, has arisen again, and
upon new facts. Gen. Funston, himself,
has given us fresh facts. and in a frank
and soldlerly fashion. He says the stat
US OF all in the expedition against Ag-
uinaldo was the status of spies. with the
penalty Of spies, attaching upon capture;
that the capture of AgIinaldo was ac-
Icomphshed by a r1se-Funston's ruse of
leading Aguinaldo to believe a number
OF Americans -had-bee captured by Fill
ipinos, and were thus before him. A Tuse
by which the Americans got through
Aguinaldo's lines and effected his cap
ture. II was daring in conception. and
soldieriy executed It was the ethics of
emergency OF war. and 1t brought the
There Is a class that holds that the
end justified the means and some that
the end, in the particular case. justified
the means They are but haIr-spIitting
efforts over a consummated condition.
and Of little moment in the case at hand.
Most Important Question.
The true questions. and the most i'm
portant, are these: Was the govern
he wi 80,
Aguinaldo and the Filipino people from
the beginning? Was the war OF the
United States upon Aguinaldo and the
Filipino people justified? Do We hold
the Philippines OF right or OF wrong? Is
1t contrary to our free institutions to
subjugate the Filipinos? Shall the Fill
pinos be given independence in 1921?
These are the all-lmportant questions
questions not only vital to American
honor and welfare, but vital to Filipino
rights and good. To enter into their
discussion here would consume too much
space. But 1t is a burning question OF
shame in the knowledge Of the means
OF the interests TO the end of Filipino
subjugAtion.
To a luminous understanding OF the
question, is A book, one Of the most i'm
portant OF the generation: The Amer
ican Occupation of the Philippines-lS9s-
lSl2 Putnam) BY James II. Blount,
officer of United States Volunteers in
the Philippines, 1Se9-1eO1. and United
States judge In the Philippines. lsOl-lsOS
The author also served in Cuba in 1885
1889. as volunteer officer in the war with
Spain and as judge-advocate OF the De-
partment OF Santiago. under Gen. Wood.
He was one of the army OF the inya-
sion OF the Philippines and of the army
of subjugaton. and saw a new govern
ment set up, and then, as a member Of
its judiciary. watched 1t work for many
years through the eye OF a trained law
yer. soldier. and jurist.
His book is "an Intimate full-Iength
portrait of the American occupation,
from the beginning to date. a repos-
itory OF fact from original sources OF Of
ficial documents and record, in each in
stance. cited or convenient verifcation-I
an invaluable acquisition to historical
literature that will grow more forecful
with time, and. as a book OF reference
will live forever