The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 13, 1899, Page 1

Tall SAN FRANCISCO. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1899, PRICE FIVE CENTS, : A Commissioner Sent to the ENSATIONAL REPORT ON CONDITIONS IN PHILIPPINES JUST FILED BY A SPECIAL GOVERNMENT AGENT Islands Makes Startling Disclosures Regarding the Existing Conditions. SPANI N Il FRIARS SHOULD ‘ BE SHORN OF POWER - of the church d to the who accompanied ou I think t 1 There are Americans going into Manila ho do not represent even the class of American citizens. | of the civilians. There is | own, whose name is Baran- a Mr. Carmen, associated to- the American Commercial ve it on the authority d Timothy W. Coak- | ppines-American Com- | and Brown sell $7 50 per case, whereas Carmen tomatoes is $8 per case. d that Carmen came to Manila 5 ago nniless man, and ay he has a monopoly of the nipa thatch and the cascos for trans- Brown h American officers | are intoxicated, home. Everybody a saloon. General Otis | to an ex-sol- far as it goes, 1 a short way that it oldiers. portation on the Pasig River. but to h n a year In a cit work hardship > people. I have pinos, and found th t taxes and feel and an outrag nce them that it was a and so one of th to bring the war to 2 on. AGUINALDO HAS A GREAT DEAL OF POWER| As far as the relation of one tribe | to another goes, the tribes will fight | one another when they get out of a | Job, but as a rule I think the Fili-| pinos, especially the Tagalos and | Visayans, are pretty much under the | influence of Aguinaldo. I do mnot| think they r Aguinaldo, because | he really could not reach them in | Cebu or Iloilo; but I genuinely think | the people in the islands generally would rather have an autonomous | Government under an American pro- | tectorate than anything like a colo- | nial or annexation arrangement. It will be a great deal easier to restore | peace when you have 65,000 or 70,- | 000 soldiers in the islands; but that | the rebels will ever give up their | arms I do not believe. They will give | up those arms that the Americans corral and take from them; otherwise I think they will hide away their Mausers for another revolution. It is sometimes said that Aguinaldo has very little power, but I think that he has far more power than we are in- clined to admit. His name is one to conjure with. I have never seen a Filipino who would not turn his ear | and listen if the magic mname of | Aguinaldo was mentioned. This man must have some great traits of char- acter most people imagine. t first T accepted the sayings about the inos and their leader, but from my sonal observation among the n sometimés by take being the rebel lines, ng all the time to out what the thought, from isills to the 1 am in- d to think that r national aspi- are very 1 stronger than within try- peop Jil However, it looks ble to me a large and efficlent army order can be restored and Aguinaldo’s army aptured or destroyed. CORRUPTION AND DISHONESTY COMMON IN THE ARMY Rumors of dishonesty and corrupt General Lawton. | officialism in our ATmYy are so common | in Manila that it seems to me that | | chological standpoint; who can do no there must be some truth in them. | Thus, we hear that an English con- this transaction I cannot be certain of, but I feel quite certain about one thing which was told me by a most responsible person, Mrs. Dr. Beer, chief of the Red Cross Society of Col- orado. She said that a Chinese woman who contracted to sell vege- tables, eggs, etc., to the American hospitals came to her and asked her to try to influence the proper officials to continue her contract. She said to Mrs. Beer that she had been paying the Americans 20 per cent commis- sion on'the goods she sold the Gov- ernment, and they wanted 25 per cent, which was more than she could pay and make a reasonable profit. I think the impression was growing | tractor sold 150 mules to the Govern- | | ment, but had to pay $6000 to have his contract accepted. The truth of | | among the Spaniards and Filipinos, | as well as our own people in Manila, when T left, that some of the Ameri- can civilians and soldiers could give the Spaniards cards and spades and beat them at the game of theft. There is no use for any American civilian tr; into Luzon just 1 o start a busir use if he tak merchand to m living. Thes are not ple E 1t when ountryr and snéer at things there some truth Aguinaldo, I know that rs aredescending fromthe poetry to the prose of sham s levy blackmail on t goin £ example, people into a house and charging him $5 » much is this y of two before 1 of Manila were ation of Gene: Tagal ion to the fact that no citi- taxes to any one except ment. Of course, it is very difficult to see how these things can be helped. I strong opinion that our officers on the men in relation to around the camp and in » it conduces to the comfort { or discomfort of the officers; but that t are not strict enough with them when they go out on the streets, or in o r words, when their conduct conduces to the comfort or discomfort of the gen- eral public. RED CROSS SUPPLIES STOLEY BY OFFICERS Then it will depend upon how justly the people we send there treat the Filipinos. Nobody could justly have the idea that either the Ameri- can Government or people mean to oppress the inhabitants of the Phil- ippines, but many of the agents sent there are undoubtedly cor- rupt. For instance, I saw on the books of the Red Cress Society of California to-day an account of how two young fellows, one an army offi- cer and the other a Red Cross officer, bad stolen the supplies of the Red Cross Society and sold them, and have now gone into business and are now prosperous business men in Manila. As long as dishopesty and cruelty are possible with our soldiers and civilians I do not think thers will be any lasting peace in the Philip- pines, but I do think that if the cam- paign was given into the hands of one man who was competent to run the civil administration we could have peace; in other words, by send- ing men above politics or bribes or flattery—men of large brain, whose honor is unstained and who are hon- They | | | D Geeteetie e NINARININI NS RNIRINIRNINI R established by the Govern- | ORIt Ne RN eR+ReReReKeRsReRINIRNe R+ R+ R+ R e tives and this Government. report. . The deepest danger in the Philip- pines is that we have men in high offices there who are utterly incapable of studying the problem from a psy- governing but simply to damn and kick ‘“niggers.” ARMY OFFICERS JEALOUS (0F ONE ANOTHER There is a good deal of jealousy be- tween the high officers of the army, and that makes it diffi- cult to force matters to a focus with the Fillpinos. Thus, for example, when Law- ton went to San Isi- dro MacArthur's di- vision moved up the raflway to San Fer- | nando, driving the | enemy before it and | letting him escape | across the open| fields, whereas it | seemed to those who | were on the ground | that the only logical | reason for Lawton's | movement was, to getdown from Arayatto | Mexico, and from Mexico to San Fernan- | do, and thus flank Aguinaldo and hold m between Malolos and San Fernando. ie military men and foreign attaches whom I have talked with about this | maneuver all seemed to feel that we had | accomplished absolutely nothing by Law- ton's expedition north and MacArthur's | & General Hale. all the Filipinos. Cebu asked our protection. & under protest. hold -the Philippines. R R R B R R Rae Rl Rt Rt R R R SR SR B R RO RO - TERE ARE A FEW OF THE INPORTANT CONCLUSIONS THAT WERE REACHED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S AGENT. ® GUINALDO has more power than we are inclined to admit. It will be a good deal easier to restore peace when you have 65,000 or 70,000 soldiers in the Islands, but that the rebels will ever give up their arms I do not believe. It seems unfortunate to retain General Otis in command. dence of the soldiers and civllians In the Philippines. Many of the agents sent here are undoubtedly corrupt. plies of the Red Cross, sold them, and are now prosperous business men in Manila. The deepest danger In the Philippines is that we have men in high offices who can do no governing but to simply damn and kick ‘‘niggers.” Men like Funston could have taken command of the army, and men like Irving Hale would be very well suited for the civil government. The Fllipino Peace Commissioners were sharper diplomatists than ours. The Tagals who are at the head of the revolution are the smartest, brightest and best of For obvious reasons the administration has not yet made public this extraordinary The Call, through a very influential man, has been able to obtain a verbatim copy of this sensational document and here makes it public for the first time. G200 ts and believe him to be a much ma- ligned man. I feel sure that he is a man of great ability in many ways, | but somehow the popular pulse does not beat his way. I am sorry I have to differ somewhat as from the opinions of Dr. Schurman, they have been published in the d patches. Perhaps these are not his opin- fons, but I think he is very right if he believes that the pecple of the towns and provinces are practically able to run their own affairs. I did not think this way at first, but study and observation have vinced me that the Filipinos have a gaod deal of latent intelligence. I do not agree, however, with Dr. Schurman if he thinks that the sphere of hostility to America is a small one. In fact, the gruff behavior of our people, especially in Manila, is very of- fensive to the people of the islands. I am upheld in this belief by men unbiased like the French, German and Russian corre- spondents, men who really like the Amer- icans. Most of the unprejudiced Ameri- cans think the same way. We are too fres and easy In some cases and too strict and rough with the people in some other cases. It needs wise, calm and divinterestad meir to rep- resent us in the islands. Whether they are right or not I do not presume to say, O R R R R General Funston : A silly decree was published, and, I believe upheld by General Otis, that all marriages that have thus far been performed in the Philippines by Protestant clergymen are null and void. 6 While we have allowed our soldiers all to gamble, the Tagals watch us at cards and craps » and fully realize that cockfights (which have been abolished) are no worse. I am surprised that John Barrett should state in the Review of Reviews that the people of The records show that Cebu was surrendered to the Americans There Is a good deal of Jealousy between the high officers of the army. If offices cannot be filled by men of merit it will be dangerous for the United States to con- | His name Is one to conjure with. 4220200202000 e Ne Ne N+ RN R+ NN NINQ + The Call gives below the most important and most sensational official report on the present condition of affairs in the Philippines ever filed with this Government. made by a special agent of the War Department, who has been secretly investigating affairs on the islands for some time past, and who has just filed the startling result of his lahors with Assistant Secretary of War Meiklejohn. It is a plain and exhaustive portrayal of the true condition of affairs in the Philip- pines, and is made by a man backed by our Government and empowered to get at the very heart of official corruption. It tells plainly and directly of the jealousy, bickerings and dis- honesty of certain officers in the army and navy, of the misinformation constantly sent out to the public, of the shameful treatment of the wives and daughters of the natives by some of the American troops, of the gross incompetency of many political appointees and of the heartless conspiracies on the part of men in public and private life there to rob both the na- It was 20200 RINE NSRRI 1NN RN RNeRINIRIReK 0NN e NN e NN e RN * 2505+ Q@ landed forty sailors, who raised the Stars and Stripes amid a sullen and angry populace who wanted to attack | the Americans.” | This is quoted to show you what a vast |amount of misinformation there has been | regarding the Philippines, and to show | you how absolutely necessary it is to send | only the best heart and brains of the | country to try and establish a govern- ment which shall satisfy these people. A large part of our army openly sympa- thizes with many of the Filipino conten- tions. This is especially marked in the | volunteer regiments and is also very marked among the older men of the reg- ular army. Even here in California, which of all States will benefit most from the trade of the Philippines, opinion is much divided. Toward the end of July in Manila the The war soldiers seemed to degenerate. began to assume the phases of a race The new regi- war. | ments do not have the caliber of men that the volunteers | had. They are more | apt to kick and cuft the natives. Langley Jones of the Associ- ated Press ures me that he saw on the Escolta, from his | room in the English | hotel, over a hun- dred unjustifiable assaults by Ameri cans on Fiilpinos, D' Schurman. T can believe it, for I had my servant man P00 00P00O66660 O He has entirely lost the confi- Two young officers stole sup- @2@0@0009@0000@@00@0@®®@®@@®®©@®®®@@©®@@@@@@@@@@@0@@@00@ movement on San Fernando. These operations, it s true, gave us ten or fif- teen miles of railroad, but it left the enemy as secure and defiant as ever. RETENTION OF OTIS IS UNFORTUNATE I think it is absolutely necessary to give the command of the army tc one strong man under the direction of one strong brain. If I may be al- lowed to suggest, it seems unfortu- nate to retain General Otis in com- mand of the Philippines. He may have all the qualifications and have the confidence of the Gevernment, but inasmuch as he has entirely lost the confidence of the soldiers and civil- jans in the Philippines I think you will find it more difficult to handle things with him as Governor General than you would if you had a new man—a man like General Leonard Wood or General Irving Hale. The great qualities of some of the younger men in the Philippines, I feel sure, have been overlooked. Men like Fun- ston could have taken full command of the army, and men like Irving Hale would be very well suited for the civil Government. There must be thousands of men in America who have great business capacity and who would accept for a brief time the Gov- ernor Generalship. I have the utmost but the natives of all the islands I visit- ed, Cebu, Negros, Panay, Sulu and Lu- zon, all seemed to feel that we are the aggressors; except the people of Jolo, wha do not belleve that we are going to es- tablish a very firm government over them or one distinctively American. PEOPLE OF CEBU DID NOT ASK OUR PROTECTION I am surprised that John Barrett should state in the Review of Re- views that. the people asked our protection. On the con- trary, I have read the records of the American occupation of Cebu in the diary of the German Vice Consul, who is a Scotchman, a British citizen and the only foreigner I found enthu- siastic for American rule in the Bhil- ippines. Mr. Cummings made an en- try like this: “Cebu was surrendered to the Americans, under protest, by the in- fluence of Majie and Llorente, the two ablest Filipinos in Cebu. “The young men of Cebu advised to burn the town, but wiser counsels prevailed. Majie said to the com- mander of the Petrel that, finding ing themselves abandoned by Spain, they had joined the Filipino Repub- lic. They had no orders from Aguin- aldo, but would yield only under pro- test, owing to the greater force of the of Cebu | assaulted and beaten three times on the journey from my room, No. 15 Plaza | Banta, to the steamship Sherman in Ma- | nfla harbor. The second day after the first negro regiment landed in Manila I saw a negro | soldier take the money belt off a China- man in front of Major Devol's office amid the laughter of our own people, civilians and soldiers. Corporal Harvey of Major col's office threw a Filipino on the ng stones just because he was in the An assistant clerk in the same office k a Filipino standing beside me on | the stomach. On being remonstrated with he imed,”" “He is only a damned INFAMOUS TREATMENT OF THE NATIVE WOMEN whose name I withhold, told me that in his first parish work he had been told by the natives of Malabon that their wives and daughters had been raped by our soldiers. He could authenticate only five cases. The pa- | pers of that date (September 15) say | that two men in Manila have been | condemned to death for maltreating native women. I saw again and again the brothels of Manila crowded to the doors by our soldiers, and the saloons also. All these things may be un- avoidable at times. They show how necessary it is to have the right dis- cipline. General Hughes kept Manila in the best order. A Boston lawyer est and sincere without being affect- | respect personally for General Otis, | Americans. At 9:40 the Americans | told me that he had many cases come 9000000000900V 00000000PVPPPVVIPOPOVPOOOOOOO®OSPOS An American chaplain in Malabon, | | Jesuses off the cru | sistent. but The Call Report Promptly Pigeonholed, Secures Impor- tant Extracts, Which Are Now Revealed. to his office on the Escolta of natives who had been maltreated. These peo- ple said: ‘“Your soldiers who came into the towns first are very bad men, but those who come later are very kind men.” I ean explain this to you. The men often got ahead of their offi- cers and committed outrages until the officers came up. General Lawton told me that he had hard werk to stop looting. He was very good on this. One of the Kansas boys told me “Funston is hard nuts on mon- keyin’ with the dead; the boys burned the wooden Christs and stole the br: xes.”” Jean Hess the Figaro is practically correct in his notes on the campaign, but he does rot understand the Americans. The Filipino peace commissioners were sharper diplo- matists than ours. I interviewed Dr. Schur- man for the Associated Press. He was a good, strong man, and fair-minded, but he did not see so much of the Filipino question as the reporters. These men who signed the round-robin against censorship are to my certain knowledge reliable men. | Bass and Collins are especially conserv: tive. THE CONCLUSIONS REACHED. In conclusion let me sum up. First, we need to study the question psychological- ly. These people are not as our people. Our very voices rasp them. Individu: Americans, civilians and soldiers, treat them arrogantly, as if already they were our slaves. The Filipinos never forget; they never forgive; they are highly sensi- tive, easy to flatter, but impossible to fool; they are very bitter, very brave, ve We need on our side gr t, absolute discipline, stainless honor, in- corruptible honesty—otherwise a legacy of hate and bloodshed. This {5 as certain as the decrees of God. Secondly—For the Philippines we must have civil service. There are instances all over of incompetency. Captain Hanna, captain of the port of Iloilo, is not fit for the place. I saw him behave in a very ungentle- manly way to a Spanish captain. Many other things show that he is| no man for the place. There are doz- ens of such men, and they are polit- ical appointees, and are no good in such positions, but do us lots of harm. If the offices cannot be filled by men of merit it will be dangerous for the United States to hold the Philippines. Third—Martial law in Manila ought to | be abolished as soon as possible. There seems to be no rea- sonable ground for it at present. The Span- ish taxes ought to be recast at once, if fur- ther trouble, both with Americans and foreigners, is to be avoided. Absolutely strict discipline of our soldiers in their relation to the na- tives, especially to the women, is neces- sary. I note In the General MacArthur. newspaper dis- patches that two soldiers have been sentenced to death for maltreating women. If this be true, you will see the ground for my remark. Fourth—Our Congress ought to be called at once to give the Filipinos scme vromise of government. It is claimed by men familiar with the subject in Luzon that our Govern- ment has not promised them any- thing except the most attenuated ° 0y generalities. The Chino-Tagals, who | are the leaders in the movement, are | among the shrewdest men on earth. | They know the difference between an absolute statement and a diplomatic evasion, and unless some promise is made of a very definite character, in my judgment the war will not cease with the conquest of Aguinaldo. LEADERS OF REVOLUTION BEST (F FILIPINOS Fifth—The Tagals who are at the head of the | brightest revolution are the smartest, and best of all the Filipinos. ve great power with thelr tribes. true that this power i gained errorism. It is gained because | The It is not | through t | there is a spirit of nationality abroad in the Philippine: made it so e to-day. This is what for Aguinaldo’s emissar- ies to gain trol in Pan “ebu, South Luzon and Mindanao. Of the final dis- position of the Philippines I have no sug- | gestion to make. That lies with the peo- | ple of the United States. At present the zone of hostility to the United States authority is very wide in the islands, owing in part, I think, to our lack of success in dealing with the people. Hatred of Americans has developed and increased as we have advanced in our occupation. The abolition of cock-fight- ing and the retaining of taxes has griev- ously offended the Filipinos. While we | have allowed our soldiers all to gamble, | the Tagals watch us at our cards and | “craps” and fully realize that cock-fight- ing is no worse. | AUTONOMOFS GOVERNMENT WITH AMERICAN PROTECTORATE Sixth—For the present I think an autonomous government with an Amerl- can protectorate would satisfy the people. We might ar- range for a conven- tion at the end of ten years to determine by a public vote of the Filipinos what form of government they wanted. If, in the eyes of the civil- ized world, the Fili- pinos at the end of ars were unfit ve developed so that both we and they should have our minds made up as to what our permanent relations should be. The manner of dealing with the peo- | ple of Sulu is, I believe, the proper one in dealing with the Filipinos, although | opponents of the administration will say, | with some de of justice, that we | should not have encouraged the Datto | Mundi, the Mohammedan, to take venge- | ance on the Christians of Mindanao. This will undoubtedly be used by the hostile press. Moreover, to send Indians | to the Philippines will be apt to have a reactionary effect upon the people of the country, because it was one of the ob- jections made by William Pitt in the House of Commons that England intro- | duced into her warfare with the Americans alping knife and the tomahawk of = Hon. John Barrett, | the the savage.’ REPLACE THE FRIARS WITH AMERICAN PRIESTS Seventh—The Spanish friars should go home to Spain and American priests take their places, granting to the Filipino ‘“padres” the full rights of priesthood, which they have never | had under Spain. Religion should be | let alone or wisely guided. Catholi- cism is best suited for them at the present time. Protestants should have the same rights as Catholics all | through the islands. A silly decree | was published (and, I believe, upheld by General Otis) that all marriages | that have thus far been performed in the Philippines by Protestant clergy- | men are null and void. It caused a great deal of unfavorable sentiment | among the Americans, who would not tolerate such a measure. 2 These are my opinions and ob- servations. They are given with- out fear and without favor and I hope they will be of use to you in copsidering the question. If I am wrong time will very soon show it, and if T am right there is no use sending you flattering words which only take up your time and throw « no light on the question. I hope for the President and his Cabinet all success in dealing with the Philippine problem, and have no doubt that their painstaking work will in the end -bring good results, although at times they may be criticized by an ungrateful public. Respectfully submitted, SPECULATION AS TO THE CHARTER DECISION Supreme Court Will Adjourn the Session in Los Angeles Mon- day and Come Here. LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12.—Attaches in and about the Supreme Court chambers have been bothered all day with inquiries as to when the decision upon the San Francisco charter may be expected. Hun- dreds of inquiries have been pouring in on the subject during the past twenty-four hours. There has been no official intima- tion anywhere, so far as can be learned, that the decision is to be delivered while the court ic in session here. San Fran- cisco, however, is evidently of that opin- jon. The Supreme Court will conclude its labors here to-morrow evening, and _most of the members will arrive in San Fran- cisco on' the owl train Saturday morning. g CAPTAIN WHITING'S POST. WASHINGTON, Oct. 12.—The Navy De- partment has assigned Captain William H. Whiting to the post of commander of the Norfolk Navy Yard in place of Cap- tain Rockwell. The place was given to Captain Greene, but that officer, being disposed to retire next spring, declined the assignment. Captain Whiting is now at Honolulu, whither he was called by iliness of his wife. SKELETON OF A MAN FOUND ON THE DESERT Belief Expressed That the Bleached Bones Are Those of Murderer James Daniels. PHOENIX, Ariz., Oct. 12.—The skeleton of a man found on the desert near rday by a Mexioan. The made nine miles from_the in a canyon where Jack Ford was killed in April by Jim Daniels. Daniels was never caught and it is be- lieved by the officers here that he re- turned to the spot where the killing oc- curred and eaded his life and the skele- ton found is his remains. Coroner John- stone will go to the place where the bones were found to-morrow. —————— May Contest a Will. SANTA CRUZ, Oct. 12—John Doyle, re- cently deceased, left an estate to R. Jones and wife, at whose house he had stayed. In his will he stipulated that none of his relatives should receive any share of the property, valued at $5000. He had not had anything to do with his reia- tives for many years. A contest is now in prospect, as to-day Rose Doyle of Springfield, Mass., through her attorneys, announced her appearance in the matter of a petition to probate the will. She is a niece of the deceased. Some years ago, through inquiries made for Doyle's rela- tives In Ireland, she learned that he re- sided in this country. She is the onlv dlivinz relative