Report of a Visitation of the Philippine Mission of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America

Secretary We are at the end of a victorious war, but at the beginning of the momentous problems to which it has given dm. It is therefore not a time for national glorification or for appeals to greed or passion, but for thoughtful, solemn consideration of our duty. By no scheming of our own, and in ways very strange to us, we have been forced into gov emmental relations with eight millions of people on the other side of the planet. Some of them are partially civilized; many are wholly primitive, and nearly all are heathen with a thin veneer of Romanism of the mediseval Spanish type. They are variously judged. As in China, much depends upon the point of view. Many soldiers, having come to the Philippines with a military mans natural ambition to see the active service which will give the coveted opportimity for fame and promotion, see va the Filipino only an enemy. They chafe under the transfer from the absolute military supremacy, which they enjoyed prior to July fourth, to the present subordination to civil power. The guerrilla warfare which is still being waged in various parts of the I slands, notably in Cebu and Samar. has resulted in some massacres of our troops so treacherously atrocious that the typical soldier is apt to imagine that every Fihpino carries a concealed bolo which he would use if be dared, and that the wisest course would be to give the Army a free hand until the natives have learned a wholesome lesson. One of the Manila papers gives editorial expression to this view as follows: Do not let the people of the United States be deceived as to the true condition of these I slant Js. No American government not backed by bayonets can live here a month. Withdraw the troops and the Civil Governor and the Civil Conunission would be swept into the sea. It will be necessary for Congress to make an appropriation looking to the maintenance, transportin
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)