The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 29, 1901, Page 7

GENERAL MAC ARTHUR IN HIS HEAD QUARTERS PR GENERAL ARTHUR ARTHUR began his mill er forty years ago, and t k an ideal ty: » fire that he heir glove ) ONe ever EAW ard him utter 144 not shout his or ild stand m during ar and in a as if he idual member r to deliver hi Requirements of a Modern Soldier. ' 1 Philippines | how ond the us that other 1 in rm ould muzzle MacArthur was intelll r 1 t the native i 18 better than abs gats t Iped him most in He § ne historian, and there is riper idgment 8o cly a wiodins he world’s history. It i ra can be traced, and if the will of the people, force e is but a shock that subdues His Amiability. r is a diplomat. The ness is his. He has, be- at is acquired incts of a gentle- that quality in- s it can establish, and exacts. The an is intended to that is in him. Some: ymetimes it does not. all sorts and condi- y service, but the best ty in a man is integrity of d his fellow man, white or at quality is distinctively and 1 kinds eve sion of the general is his he becomes crisp, direct, etrating In his observatio out an iron force of firm- most severe when one considers his w and his set lips, but a kindliness in his eyes betray, but never for- Add to this a quiet voice, quick, short ste d physique, and you who is a fine type of representative of its un- and courage for any pros- ere was a great deal talked over dur- the kfast hour I spent With the 1 e touched upon the Aguinalde he discretion of General Funs- velopment of the American sol- to the Briti soldier and, the nature of those little people ippine Islands. A great deal confidence on matters of MacArthur is not yet pre- to speak publicly. The Event of His Command. & general way Aguinaldo must have made a good impression upon his captors. He proved himself to be a man of brains, & dom influence among his own peo- ple and 2 man of considerable dignity and education, He the Filipino, probably due him of Bpanish cus- without mueh nature integrit which | to th toms The « of rteous urvival in of Aguinaldo was the in- event of Genersl MucArthur's archipel Whatever | lnger in the air un- detalls of that ex- Funston, General renpon- AR comm harge of General loubt that Major and personully annual report to the department, n Manila, General MacArthur ex- | hix views on the Aguinsido mat or very clearly his impressions on 1l et had not changed when 1 spoke ihant 1t answored all questions about ¥ in my report to Washington," this 18 what he to him I huve that mntte general, and \ of important immedi the neral the most In cor sulty, and in of remoty therefrom Aguinaldo may be momentous single i military transac ed and complete e, 1t absolu tendency to ldealize rround him with light ind to mythical legends of Invinelbility, which millic tives believed to be true A also belleved would ultl mutcly insure the success of the rebellion. With a peop.e 0 sensitive, Impulsive, g » as the 1Ipinos sentiment, when weil and nightiy applied, aford riul ingtruments of miitary 1101 ination reached hend- B Al slanila (DAL positively 10cated AgUInaldo’s cunp, On s score General MucArthur said turtner in his report 1he report upon which this beilef was 1 wius (runsmitied by General Fun througn Generat Waoeaton, uwnd e " mtnuity of actiun Indu [l digingulshed officers sl 1L arrangements ponsibility #s to the metnods em- ) IUSL T UPON these hoaiquirters, the pian, whicn wus evoived by the WO genciai, wax submitied to and oy proved by the division cotamander, wiu +4 ereto empnauc injunc- fect it AgUidiuu Must be o delivered sately into his pce of Malacwoan auure 10 cap- wouid nave been u on communder Speaking ) doube that a uinsaldo live blow to tl T Builkla; )f him he report tu nowledgment of Funston g s reward career before him cArthur, when | ned on of the man. ur preferreu things tha general )t 1spired during the nston expedition. of which we talked a great deal, it is no breach of con \ce to state, what 1s gen- erally in the army, 'that General known ) nct a swashbuckling soldier er I adventurous cne. He s a un.- ty man, whose record has been cle of entangleme He was probably s lected to command the expedition because the discovery of the exact location of Aguinaldo’s camp occurred through the tter written by Aguinaldo fficers, which revealed the quired. T capture of in thne duc In-his report nction which nat- iccessful execution rston, who on this sions, displayed so mucn urally attaches must go to Ge 2s on former oc fortitude, determina good judgment, self-confidence and self-control as to ju tify the expecta at his future reer in conducting operations on a larger attended with like success- scale will n be no doubt that so careful a nd so intelligent a military gov- ernor as Major General MacArthur exam- ined and closely considered the rights un- der the 1 of war by which the capture of Aguinaldo was effected, and therefore every detail of that expedition has its legitimate authori But the general has less vanity than is usually permissible in mmanding ofiicers, and therefore in his report General Funston becomes thg cen- tral figure of the Aguinaldo capture’ A great deal of the delay toward the pacification of theislands has been caused by the difficulty of transplanting into the Filipino.language the actual policy of the administration in the Philippines. “Persons residing within an occupied place who do things inimical to the inter- ests of the occupying army are known as war rebels,” General MacArthur wrote in his proclamation to the people of the archipelago explaining to them the laws of war. This proclamation enlightened conditions that had previously been bar- baric. In some respects this proclama- tion was a humanitarian instrument un- surpassed by any effort of its special character to make a foreign people un- derstand the restrictive motives of an oc- cupying army. One of the concluding sen- tences in this proclamation reflects the true sense of American government and American liberty as it has not been ex- pressed for vears. teneral MacArthur wrote in his procla- mation: ““War in its earliest form was an act of violence which, from the very nature of primitive humanity and of the forces employed, knew no bounds. Man- kind from the beginning of civilization, however, has tried to mitigate and to es- cape, as far as possible, from the conse- quences of this barbarous conception of warlike action.” The sentiment and policy of the admin- istration—and it has rarely performed an action without an underlying American sentiment—as represented by its Military Governor in the Philippines has always been humane and kindly. The personality of General MacArthur was especially fit- ted for the purposes of the administra- tion in the archipelago. He always has an eve upon the social side of interna- tional matters. ““There is a vast difference between 1ib- erty and independence,” said the general, “‘and the trouble was that in the language of the Filipinos liberty was translated as independence. Now, independence may represent a government of absolute ty- ranny, without justice for the individual or law for the masses, whereas liberty means that state of freedom for the indi- vidual that shall at once entitle him to demand protection for a free exercise of his personal interests and beliefs in ac- PR IR, THE SUNDAY CALL. TLY MILITARY GOVE THE PHILIPPINES it {t THOSE LITTLE PEOPLE OVER THERE WILL BE LIRKED BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE \ “T ALWAYS LOOK TOO SEVERE IN A PHOTO- GRAPK”, SAID THE GENERAL . “A HILITAR;!IOBS!WATIGN 1S NOT THE ST SOCIAL ONE* cordance with their general utility to the benefit of the community. It was difficult to make the Filipinos understand this, owing to the restrictions of their native language. To-day the native Filipino en- j 11 the privileges of an American cit- except the right to carry arms.” “Do_they take kindly to the form of American government?” I inquired. “My position, commanding an occupying army, was not the most auspicious to ob- serve the social side of the Filipincs. We naturally regarded them at first with sus- picion. We were always on the alert for surprises. But there are all classes in Manila, as there are elsewhere., The cos- mopolitan Filipino, who has traveled and quite understands’the social relations of the American form of government, is as clever, polished, intelligent and courteous an inaividval as one can meet anywhere, 1 gave one or two functions while I was there, at which over 1000 Filipinos were resent, and the occasion was quite equal n manner and dignity to a reception at the White House. There are the very rich and the very poor, and they differ accord- ing to the material conditions that sur- round them. Of course, the Spanish man- ner of speech and thought is very pro- nounced in them. For instance, a Filipino prisoner was once brought in to me with whom I wished to converse at length. He was a very clever fellow and I had a very long chat with him, but he braced himseif evidently for the occasion. When he was brought in, before I could say a word, he said to me quite grandiosely: “ ‘I am permeated with the atmosphere of Buropean Cabinets. I therefore am pre- pared to discuss this question on the high- est plane of statesmanship.’ ” The general jaughed heartily as he re- called this incident, for the humor of it to the American mind was its affectation of self-importance. ““We shall like these people?” I asked. “When the American public learns to know the Filipinos I think these ]ittle_lpeo- ple will become very popular with us. They are impulsive, generous and always cour- teous. They have a ready wit, also, which is most solemnly delivered. A distinguished Filipino, while in conversation with an eminent American officer in Manila, showed this faculty very keenly. The offi- cer said to him: ‘You are a queer sort of gdeopleA You leave all your families in anila, under the protection of the Amer- ican soldiers, and then steal outside and take up arms against us. What do you say to that? ‘“ ‘What else could be expected from the most powerful, richest, most highly culti- vated nation In the world? he replied, ractically silencing the American officer or good.” “What do you consider are the commer- cial prospects of the Philippine Islands for the United States market?"’ The general hesitated a minute, and finally referred me to that portion of his report bearing upon that question, as he had therein answered the matter more thorougnly than he could at random. “As a matter of fact, having reference to the present and immediate future, it is not apparent how political control of the archipelago is to bring sudden and large additions to the national wealth of the United States,” he wrote to the depart- ment in Washington. “Looking to the future, however,” con- tinues General MacArthur in his Teport, ‘“with relation to ultimate effects, this is perhaps the most fortunate circumstance connected with American occupation, as it may afford favorable conditions for the solution of the main Philippine problem, which in its present aspect involves com- plete reorganization of the civil institu- tions and social habits of a dense popula- tion, held together for the time being by force of habit only and the conservative influence of an American army. If a spirit of Philippine speculation should seize the public mind in the United States and be emphasized by means of grants, concessions and special franchises for the purpose of-quick exploitation, the political situation and the permanent interests of all concerned might be seriously jeopard- zed. The strategical position of the archipel- ago, General MacArthur wrote to the de- partment, must exert an active and po- tential influence upon the affairs of Asia, and in this relation the general has confi- dence in the ultimate loyalty of the Fili- pinos to the American Government, for he adds in his report: “SOME OF THE FILIPINOS ARE “When the Filipino people realize the grandeur of their future destiny by rea- son of association with the great repub- lic and come to understand that they are a chosen people to carry not only Ameri- can commerce but also republican insti- tutions and the principles of personal lib- erty throughout Asia, they may be relied upon to rally to the inspiring thoughts thus suggested and follow and support the American flag in whatever contests the future may have in store for it as the symbol of human liberty throughout the world.” I asked the general what the Filipino woman was like, that the American girl might form some opinion whether she could Americanize her or not. “The Filipino women are not pretty, perhaps, but they are bright and interest- ing,” sajd the general. “They always wear a_ decollets gown, but most decorously and modestly con- structed. They have the handsomest necks and shoulders of all the women I have ever seen.” The impression that General MacArthur was a severe and stoical-man, similar in some degree to General Kitchener, if it ever existed, as I believe it did, is entirely wrong. 1 have tried to e it clear that as a man the major general is not at all the martinet soldler some believed him to be, but in Pl;&lpfif:‘:’,‘u rg:nyhl‘;h of his report to Was on show him an ideal type of a modern army oflm.”'