The situation is that of a convalescent patient. The affair in Samar is only a symptom. It is merely a local ulcer, resulting from the general disorder which has affected the whole body politic. The eruptions in Batangas and other localities are only other local symptoms of the general disease. The local eruptions require prompt and radical application of operative surgery for the removal of gangrenous tissue, to prevent blood-poisoning; the general condition of the patient requires steady administration of the tonics of good government, justice and education.

The local treatment indicated by the symptoms is radical extirpation. The unguents and emollients of 'clemency,' 'pardon' and 'amnesty' have been thoroughly tried, and have not, in these localities, abated the violence of the disease.

Malvar, the insurgent chief of Batangas, is a pure Tagalog. He is about forty-five years old, short, heavy set, energetic, shrewd, active, a good financier and organizer, but does not take a very active part personally in the fighting. He is an old-time revolutionist, having refused to participate in the treaty of Biak-na-Bato, and claims to be fighting for independence pure and simple . He is one of the ablest guerillas alive. He is feared by all the natives greatly admired by his followers, and dispenses effective, though rude and summary, just to those under his control. He uses the methods prescribed by the organization he serves, and does not hesitate to resort to heavy penalties to enforce his authority,

Lukban, the chieftain of Samar, is a Mestizo. He surrendered once, and took the oath of allegiance to the United States. Being defeated in an election for office under the civil government, he resumed hostilities 'about the time the volunteers left for final muster-out. This gave him a great advantage, as the new troops were necessarily unfamiliar with the conditions and with the country. He uses all the treacherous methods prescribed by the infamous organization which is the survival of the revolution. The recent loss of half a company through native treachery in Samar only emphasizes what every army officer of experience in the Philippines well knows, which is that no native who has been a Katipunan can be trusted in the present stage of our relations with them.

He is one of the ablest guerillas alive.

Captain John H. Parker, U.S.A

In such an outbreak as that in Samar justice must be done, examples made, in order that the disastrous results of such treachery be impressed on the people and future tranquillity be guaranteed. Vengeance has nothing to do with it. The best interests of the country itself require the prompt, stern application of military justice, in order to put an end to such conditions and to prevent their recurrence. To do this the guilty leaders must be caught. Among a people who are sullenly secretive and stoically indifferent by nature, who are under the awful fear of secrct assassination if they reveal anything to the detriment of these guerilla chiefs, and are panic-stricken by what has occurred among them, this information can be obtained usually only by coercion.

The essential thing is to promptly, summarily punish the leaders who incite to such acts of treachery, on the spot, in the presence of their deluded followers, as an example and a warning to the poor, misguided people that revolutions by force, fraud and treachery must end.

I trust the readers of COLLIER's will pardon me if I speak from personal experience. It has been large and varied, embracing, besides much active campaigning and many encounters, the organization of seven, and government of six, municipios, containing an aggregate of 200,000 people. Afterward it included a systematic examination of the records of all trials of natives for serious crimes from the beginning of our occupation to June 20, 1901, for the whole archipelago. Bused on that experience; speaking as candidly as man can speak; actuated by a real liking for the Filipino people, who have been more sinned against than sinning, and are to be pitied rather than condemned; actuated also by an earnest desire to set forth the real truth of the conditions there as I have seen them, with a view to their intelligent comprehension by the great American public, which pays the bills and has a right to know, and whose servant | am; it is my calm, deliberate and well-considered opinion that a few faithless, turbulent, revolutionary leaders are to blame for the whole trouble; that, but for them, the Filipino people would have waited quietly and patiently in the first place for the sympathetic and friendly action of the American people; that they would do so now, if freed from the terrorism imposed on them by these chiefs, and are doing so wherever that constraint is removed; that such men cannot now be trusted, and that whenever they are caught and proof of their guilt can be adduced the good of their own country requires that they be dealt with according to their offences.