American Rule in Manila Compared With Spanish
In the Independent, Mr. Poultney Bigelow, writing of the difference between Spanish and American rule in Manila, and giving the word of a gentleman who “stands at the top of the mercantile community in the far East,” says: “I asked him if he thought the American officials were worse than the Spanish ones. He said: ‘Yes; the Spaniards were content with smaller bribes. . . . The present state of things eclipses anything we have suffered from the Spaniards, whom we were accustomed to look upon as first-class obstructionists.’” And, says Mr. Bigelow: “During my short stay in Manila, there were already signs that the professional politician was about to inaugurate his rule there; but merchants treated the matter hopefully, thinking that a better system would prevail so soon as peace was established.”