The Story of the Philippines Part 17

I. For the maintenance of law and order in those portions of the Philippines occupied or controlled by the Army of the United States, and to provide means to promptly punish infraction of the same, Military Commissions and Provost Courts, composed and const.i.tuted in accordance with the laws of war, will be appointed from time to time as occasion may require.

II. The local courts, continued in force for certain purposes in proclamation from these headquarters, dated August 14th, 1898, shall not exercise jurisdiction over any crime or offense committed by any person belonging to the Army of the United States, or any retainer of the Army, or person serving with it, or any person furnis.h.i.+ng or transporting supplies for the Army; nor over any crime or offense committed on either of the same by any inhabitant or temporary resident of said territory. In such cases, except when Courts Martial have jurisdiction, jurisdiction to try and punish is vested in Military Commissions and the Provost Court, as hereinafter set forth.

III. The crimes and offenses triable by Military Commission are murder, manslaughter, a.s.sault and battery with intent to kill, robbery, rape, a.s.sault and battery with intent to rape, and such other crimes, offenses, or violations of the laws of war as may be referred to it for trial by the Commanding General. The punishment awarded by Military Commission shall conform, as far as possible, to the laws of the United States, or the custom of war. Its sentence is subject to the approval of the Commanding General.

IV. The Provost Court has jurisdiction to try all other crimes and offenses, referred to in Section II of this order; not exclusively triable by Courts Martial or Military Commission, including violations of orders or the laws of war, and such cases as may be referred to it by the Commanding General. It shall have power to punish with confinement, with or without hard labor, for not more than six (6) months, or with fine not exceeding Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($250.00) or both. Its sentence does not require the approval of the Commanding General, but may be mitigated or remitted by him.

V. The Judge of the Provost Court will be appointed by this Commanding General. When in the opinion of the Provost Court its power of punishment is inadequate, it shall certify the case to the Commanding General for his consideration and action.

By Command of Major-General Merritt: _J.B. Babc.o.c.k_, Adjutant-General.

Official: _Bentley Mott_, Aid.

_Headquarters Department of the Pacific and Eighth Army Corps._

Manila, P.I., August 22nd, 1898.

_Special Orders_, No. 32.

1. Upon the recommendation of the Intendente General de Hacienda, Major R.B.C. Bement, Engineer Officer, U.S. Volunteers, is hereby appointed Administrator de Hacienda (Collector of Internal Revenue), and will report without delay to Brigadier-General F.V. Greene, U.S. Volunteers, Intendente General, Manila.

2. The following orders are confirmed: Special Orders No. 5, Headquarters Second Division, Eighth Army Corps, August 6th, 1898, placing First Lieutenant W.G. Haan, 3rd U. S. Artillery, in command of a separate battery to be organized by details from batteries of 3rd U.S. Artillery, to man the Hotchkiss revolving cannon brought on the transport Ohio.

3. Private H.J. Green, Company E, 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry, detailed on special duty at these headquarters, will be paid commutation of rations at the rate of seventy-five cents per diem, it being entirely impracticable for him to cook or utilize rations. He will also be paid commutation of quarters at the usual rate. Both commutations to be paid while this man is employed on his present duty and stationed in this city, and to date from and inclusive of the 16th inst.

4. Corporal Jerome Patterson, Company H, 23rd U.S. Infantry, Corporal James Maddy, Company F, 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry, Private Emmett Manley, Company D, 23rd U.S. Infantry, Private Robert M. Nichols, Company A, 1st Idaho Volunteer Infantry, Private P.H. Sullivan, Company F, 23rd U.S. Infantry, are hereby detailed on special duty at these Headquarters., and will report at once to the Adjutant-General for duty.

5. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles L. Jewett, Judge Advocate, U.S. Volunteers, is hereby appointed Judge of the Provost Court, for the city of Manila. He will hold the sessions of his court at the headquarters of the Provost-Marshal-General. The Quartermaster Department will provide the necessary offices and office furniture.

The Provost Court will be attended by one or more a.s.sistant Provost-Marshal, to be detailed by the Provost-Marshal-General, who will be charged with the duty of enforcing its orders and executing its processes. The form of accusation in the Provost Court will be substantially the same as that used in Courts Martial, and a record of all cases tried, a.s.similated to that of the summary court, will be kept.

6. Upon the recommendation of the Chief Commissary of the Department of the Pacific, the issue to Spanish Prisoners by Major S.A. Cloman, C.S., U.S. Vols., Depot Commissary, Cavite, P.I., of one (1) box of soap (60 lbs. net) is hereby confirmed.

7. Sergeant Charles H. Burritt, Company C, 1st Wyoming Volunteer Infantry, will report to Lieutenant Morgareidge, 1st Wyoming Volunteer Infantry, on board Steamer Ohio, for temporary duty in unloading commissary supplies.

Upon completion of this duty Sergeant Burritt will rejoin his Company.

8. Lieutenant Charles H. Sleeper, 1st Colorado Volunteer Infantry, is hereby appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue, and will report to Major R.B.C. Bement, U.S. Vols., Administrator de Haciena (Collector of Internal Revenue), for instructions.

9. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles L. Potter, U.S. Vols., Chief Engineer Officer, Eighth Army Corps, will a.s.sume charge of the water supply of this city, and will report to Brigadier-General Arthur MacArthur, U.S. Vols., Military Commandant of Manila, for instructions.

By Command of Major-General Merritt:

_J.B. Babc.o.c.k_, Adjutant-General.

Official: _Bentley Mott_, Aid.

The responsibilities of General Merritt in his Manila, campaign were graver than the country understands, and his success was regarded as so much a matter of course that there has been forgetfulness to take into account the many circ.u.mstances that gave anxiety preceding decisions that seem easy now that they have been vindicated by events. The departure from San Francisco of the Major-General commanding the Philippine expedition was as well known to the Spanish as to the American cabinet, and there is reason to think there were no important particulars of the sailing of the third division of our Philippine soldiers unknown to enemies. There were in gold coin, a million and a half dollars in the strong box of Merritt's s.h.i.+p, the Newport. The Spanish spies were not as well posted as an average hackman, if they did not report the s.h.i.+pment of gold. It would have been a triumph for Spain to have captured the commanding general and the gold, the Astor Battery and the regular recruits with the headquarters s.h.i.+p, The Spanish were known to have a gunboat or two lurking in the islands within striking distance of our transports, unarmed vessels--except a few deck pieces of field artillery--with more than a thousand men on each. General Merritt wanted the escort of s.h.i.+ps of war to make all secure, and application to Admiral Dewey to send one of his war boats, brought the statement that he could not spare a s.h.i.+p. Just at that time he heard of the run by Camara with the Cadiz fleet Eastward on the Mediterranean, and soon he had word that the Pelayo and her companions were in the Suez ca.n.a.l. General Greene had not arrived at Manila at that time, and the monitors Monterey and Monadnock were getting along slowly. Dewey knew he would have to evacuate the scene of his victory in case Camara was fully committed to go to Manila, and wait for the Monitors, and when he got them he said he would return and sink another Spanish fleet, but that was something it might be critical to explain, and General Merritt, after leaving San Francisco, did not get any news for twenty-six days. All that time he would have had no justification for surprise if he had been attacked by a Spanish gunboat, and if the Spaniards had pushed on their Rapide--the converted German liner the Normania--she could have been handled to cut off the American reinforcements on the way to the camps of the little American army already landed. When General Merritt reached Cavite, he found the situation difficult for the army and pushed things as the only way to get out of trouble. He had two armies to deal with, one the Spaniards, fiercely hostile, and the other, the Filipinos, factional and jealous, each outnumbering by five thousand the American forces with which the city was a.s.sailed and finally captured. There was no time lost, and if there had been any delay, even two days, the peace protocol would have found our army in the trenches, and the city belonging to the Spaniards. It was the energy of General Merritt, heartily shared by his division commanders, that prevented this embarra.s.sment, which would have been a moral and military misfortune. We have given the General's orders to his troops and the Filipinos after the fall of the city--also his original statement of policy, and noted how cleverly they supported each other, and how smoothly the work of organization and administration is carried on the world is well aware. The orders deputing the officers to discharge certain duties are plain business. There was no departure from the strict, straight line of military government, and the threatened entanglements firmly touched pa.s.sed away. There was nothing omitted, or superfluous, and the purpose and programme of policy was made clear by events. The confusion overcome by the genius of common sense there was order, all rights respected, the administration was a success from the beginning and continued, and is to be continued--security is established, there is public confidence in the air--the "faith and honor of the army"

are inviolable, Manila is ours, and there is peace. If war comes in that quarter of the globe we shall stand on ground that earthquakes cannot shake.

CHAPTER XII

The American Army in Manila.

Why the Boys Had a Spell of Home Sickness--Disadvantages of the Tropics--Admiral Dewey and his Happy Men--How Our Soldiers Pa.s.sed the Time on the s.h.i.+ps--General Merritt's Headquarters--What Is Public Property--The Manila Water Supply--England Our Friend--Major-General Otis, General Merritt's Successor.

The American soldiers in the Philippines were most devoted and cheerful, patient under hards.h.i.+p and pleasantly satisfied that they were as far to the front as anybody and seeing all there was to see during the siege of Manila. They were out in tropical rains, and the ditches they waded were deep with mud unless filled with water. They were hara.s.sed by the Spanish with the long-range Mausers at night and insufficiently provided a part of the time with rations. At best they had a very rough experience, but kept their health and wanted to go into the city with a rush. They would rather have taken chances in storming the place than sleep in the mud, as they did for twenty days.

When the defenders of Manila concluded that the honor of Spain would be preserved by the shedding of only a little blood in a hopeless struggle and fell back from very strong positions before the advance of skirmish lines, and the American columns entered the city, keeping two armies--the Spaniards and the insurgents--apart, and, taking possession, restored order and were sheltered in houses, it soon began to occur to the boys, who came out of the wet campaign looking like veterans and feeling that they had gained much by experience, that they were doing garrison duty and that it was objectionable. The soldiers who arrived on the Peru, City of Pueblo and Pennsylvania were shocked that they had missed the fight and disgusted with the news of peace. They had made an immense journey to go actively into war, and emerged from the ocean solitude to police a city in time of peace. It was their notion that they lacked occupation; that their adventure had proved an enterprise that could not become glorious.

The romance of war faded. Unquiet sensations were produced by the stories that there was nothing to do but go home, and they would soon be placed aboard the transports and homeward bound. Besides, the climate was depressing. The days were hot and the nights were not refres.h.i.+ng. The rations were better and there were dry places to sleep, but there was no inspiring excitement, and it was not a life worth living. War--"the front"--instead of offering incomparable varieties, became tedious--it was a bore, in fact. How could a crowded city and thronged streets be attractive in a military sense, or the scene of patriotic sacrifice, when the most arduous duty was that of police? Was it for this they had left homes in Oregon, Montana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Nebraska, Utah, California and Colorado?

There came an episode of homesickness. It was about time in a soldier's life to contrast it with the farms and the villages, the shops, mines and manufactories. They were kept busy on guard and in caring for themselves, in activities as the masters of a strange community, but the novelties of the tropics lost their flavor. What did a man want with oranges when there were apples? What was a rice swamp compared with a corn field? Think of the immeasurable superiority, as a steady thing, of an Irish potato to a banana, or a peach to a pineapple! What was a Chinese pony alongside a Kentucky horse, or a water buffalo with the belly of a hippopotamus and horns crooked as a saber and long as your arm to one who had seen old-fas.h.i.+oned cows, and bulls whose bellowing was as the roaring of lions? The miserable but mighty buffaloes were slower than oxen and, horns and all, tame as sheep--the slaves of serfs!

As for the Chinese, if there were no other objection, they should be condemned because too numerous--faithful, perhaps, in a way, but appearing with too much frequency in the swarming streets. And the women, with hair hanging down their backs, one shoulder only sticking out of their dresses, the skin s.h.i.+ning like a scoured copper kettle; a skirt tight around the hips and divided to show a petticoat of another tint, a jacket offering further contrasts in colors, slippers flapping under naked heels, faces solemn as masks of death heads--oh, for the rosy and jolly girls we left behind us in tears! How beautiful were the dear golden-haired and blue-eyed blondes of other days! The boys wanted at least tobacco and aerated waters to soothe themselves with, and if there was not to be any more fighting, what was the matter with going home?

They also serve, however, who only stand and wait--there are no soldiers or sailors in the world who are in a position of greater interest and usefulness than those of the American army and navy who hold fast with arms the capital city of the Philippines. The army, though much exposed, has not suffered severely from sickness. There has been an intense and protracted strain upon the men of the s.h.i.+ps, but they have recovered from the amiable weakness for home, and they are not merely well; they are more than plain healthy--they are hearty and happy! There is the light of good times in their faces. One thing in their favor is they have not been allowed to eat unwholesome food, and the floors of the warboats and every piece of metal or wood that is in sight is polished and glistening with cleanliness. The soldiers will feel better when the postoffice is in working order and they will do better by their organs of digestion when they are not deluged with fizz--that is, pop, and beer made without malt, and the strange, sweetish fruits that at first were irresistible temptations.

"Come with me and see the men of the Olympia," said Admiral Dewey, "and see how happy they are, though they have been shut up here four months." And the men did look jolly and bright, and proud of the Admiral as he of them, and they were pleased when he noticed, kindly, the hostile little monkey, who is the mascot, and the other day bit the Captain.

The health of the boys was preserved at sea by systematic exercise. Not a transport crossed the Pacific that was not converted into a military school, and each floating schoolhouse had about 1,000 pupils. They were put through gymnastics and calisthenics when, as a rule, they were barefooted and wore no clothes but their unders.h.i.+rts and trousers. There was even a scarcity of suspenders. The drill-masters were in dead earnest, and their voices rang out until the manifestation of vocal capacity excited admiration. The boys had to reach suddenly for heaven with both hands and then bring their arms to their sides with swinging energy. Then they had to strike out right and left to the order "Right!" "Left!" until the sergeant was satisfied. Next each foot had to be lifted and put down quickly at the word of command; then it was needful that the legs should he widely separated in a jump and closed up with vigor; then the spinal columns swayed forward and back and all the joints and muscles had something to do. This was no laughing matter to any one, though it was funny enough from the ordinary standpoint of civil life. This medicine was taken day after day, and seemed to vindicate itself.

It was esteemed a good thing for the boys to perspire from exercise. There was no trouble, though, when south and west of Honolulu, in having substantially Turkish baths in the bunks at night, and there were queer scenes on deck--men by hundreds scantily clothed and sleeping in att.i.tudes that artists might have chosen to advantage for life studies. It was necessary for those who walked about, during the hours thus given to repose, where the enlisted men took their rest with their unders.h.i.+rts and drawers around them, to be careful not to tramp on the extended limbs. Once I feared I had hit a soldier's nose with my heavy foot when stepping over him in a low light, and was gratified that my heel had merely collided with a big boy's thumb. He had gone to sleep with his head protected by his hand. I paused long enough to note that the sheltering hand if clinched would have been a mighty and smiting fist; and I was doubly pleased that I had not tramped on his big nose.

Not infrequently, when we were steaming along the 20th parallel of north lat.i.tude--that is to say, well in the torrid zone--and were wafted by the trade winds that were after us at about our own speed, heavy showers came up in the night and spoiled the luxurious content of those who were spread on the decks. The boys got in good form through the longest journey an army ever made--for the distance is greater from the United States to the Philippines than from Spain--and every week the skill of a soldier in acquiring the lessons of the climate and the best methods of taking care of himself will become more useful, and the tendency will be to settle down to the business of soldiering, make the best of it and accept it as educational--an experience having in it the elements of enduring enjoyments. "The days when I was in Manila, away down in the south seas, but a little way from the island from which came the wild man of Borneo," will be pleasant in remembrance, and there will be perpetually an honorable distinction in identification with an ambitious yet generous enterprise, one of the most remarkable a nation can undertake--not excepting the Roman conquests all around the Mediterranean, and that touched the northern sea, invading England.

In the later days of August there were in the prisons of Manila, which answer to the penitentiary and jail in the American States, 2,200 prisoners, one of whom was a Spaniard! The prisons are divided only by a high wall and contain many compartments to a.s.sist in cla.s.sification. There are considerable s.p.a.ces devoted to airing the prisoners, and one in which the privileged are permitted to amuse themselves with games. The guard consisted, when I visited the place, of sixty-three soldiers from Pennsylvania. There were many women imprisoned. One who had been shut up for more than a year was taken into custody because she had attempted rather informally to retake possession of a house of which she had been proprietor and out of which she had been fraudulently thrown. Her crime was a hysterical a.s.sertion of her rights and her uninvited tenants were Spaniards.

One of the buildings contained the criminals alleged to be desperate, and as they stood at the windows the chains on their right legs were in sight. It was plainly seen in several cases that the links of the chains used were about three inches long and that three or four turns were taken around the right ankle. In a group of prisoners waiting for supper to be handed them in pans in the open air a large number wore chains. Many of the prisoners were incarcerated as insurgents, having offended by refusing to espouse the Spanish cause or by some other capital criminality in that line of misconduct! A commission was investigating their cases and the Filipinos who had not satisfied the Spanish requirements were represented by an able lawyer who was well informed and disposed to do justice. Sixty-two of the inmates of the penitentiary held for discontent with the Spanish system of government were to be discharged as soon as the papers could be made out.

Many most interesting questions arise in connection with the capitulation of the Spanish army. It was agreed that the Spaniards, upon surrendering and giving up the public property, should be ent.i.tled to the honors of war. It was expressly understood that the arms the troops gave up were to be retained. In case the Americans abandoned the islands or the Spaniards departed the rifles should be given them, and usage would seem to determine that this return of weapons must include the Mausers in the hands of the troops now prisoners of war and the cartridges they would carry if they took the field.

Then arises a difficulty as to the precise meaning of the words "public property." There were laid down by the Spaniards about 12,000 Mausers and Remingtons, and there were 10,000 in the a.r.s.enals--22,000 in all. It is admitted that 12,000 personally surrendered rifles go back to the Spaniards, whether they or we go away from the islands--as one or the other is sure to do--but the 10,000 stand of arms in the a.r.s.enals come under the head of "public property," and so should be retained permanently by the Americans. The number of ball cartridges a soldier starting out to make a march carries is 100. There were surrendered more than 500 rounds to the man. The public money was public property, of course, and General Greene demanded the keys to the vault containing it. The Spanish authorities objected, but yielded after presenting a written protest. The money consisted of Spanish and Mexican dollars, a lot of silver bars and change fused into one ma.s.s, and some gold in the same state, also $247,000 in copper coin, which was regarded, under the old dispensation, good stuff to pay poor wages to poor men and women.

There are some fine points about customs. The American flag floats over the city, and the importers and exporters want to know what the charges are and how much the private concessions must be. Some of these people ran around for several days with the object of placing a few hundred Mexican dollars in the hands of officials, where they would do the most good, and could not find anybody ready to confer special favors for hard cash. These pus.h.i.+ng business men had been accustomed to meet calls for perquisites, and did not feel safe for a moment without complying with that kind of formality. They turned away embarra.s.sed and disappointed, and were surprised to learn that they were on a ground floor that was wide enough to accommodate everybody.

It should be mentioned in this connection, also, a Mexican dollar pa.s.ses in Manila for 50 cents American. The price of Mexican dollars in the banks of San Francisco and Honolulu is 46 and 47 cents. The way it works is ill.u.s.trated in paying in a restaurant for a lunch--say for two. If the account is $2 you put down a $5 United States gold piece and receive in change eight Mexican dollars. If you buy cigars at $40 per 1,000 a $20 American gold piece pays the $40 bill. There is now pretty free coinage of Mexican dollars and they answer admirably as 50-cent coins. That is one of the ways in which free coinage of silver removes prejudices against the white metal; no one thinks of objecting to a Mexican dollar as a half-dollar, and our boys, paid in American gold, have a feeling that their wages are raised because all over the city one of their dollars counts two in the settlement of debts. These useful American dollars are admitted free of duty.

The headquarters of the American administration in Manila are in the city hall, situated in the walled city, with a park in front that plainly has been neglected for some time. It also fronts upon the same open square as the cathedral, while beyond are the Jesuit College and the Archbishop's palace. Just around the corner is a colossal church, and a triangular open s.p.a.ce that has a few neglected trees and ought to be beautiful but is not. A street railroad pa.s.ses between the church and the triangle, and the mule power is sufficient to carry at a reasonable rate a dozen Spanish officers and as many Chinamen. The fare is 1 cent American--that is, 2 cents Philippine--and the other side of the river you are ent.i.tled to a transfer, but the road is short and drivers cheap. There is a system of return coupons that I do not perfectly understand. The truth about the street railway system is that there is very little of it in proportion to the size of the city, but the average ride costs about 1 cent. If the Americans stay there is an opening for a trolley on a long line.

There is no matter of business that does not depend upon the question: Will the Americans stay? If they do all is well; if they do not all is ill, and enterprise not to be talked of.

The most important bridge across the Pasig is the bridge of Spain. The street railway crosses it. The carriages and the coolies, too, must keep to the left. It is the thoroughfare between the new and old cities, and at all hours of the day is thronged. It is a place favored by the native gig drivers to whip heavily laden coolies out of the way. A big Chinaman with powerful limbs, carrying a great burden, hastens to give the road to a puny creature driving a puny pony, las.h.i.+ng it with a big whip, and scrambles furiously away from a two-wheeler whirling along a man able to pay a 10-cent fare.

In other days when one pa.s.sed this bridge he faced the botanical gardens, which had a world-wide reputation, an attraction being a wonderful display of orchids. There were also beautiful trees; now there are only stumps, disfigurements and desolation--some of the horrors of war. The gardens were laid waste by the Spaniards as a military precaution. As they seem to have known that they could not or would not put up a big fight for the city, what was the use of the destructiveness displayed in the gardens, parks and along the boulevards? The fas.h.i.+on of taking a garden and making a desert of it and calling it one of the military necessities of war is, however, not peculiar to the chieftains of Spain.