The Daily Mail of Wednesday publishes a letter from Madrid
with accounts from the Philippines, which we believe to be authentic, and which confirm the views we have ex- pressed as to the situation in those islands. Even if the report circulated on Wednesday of a most serious defeat in the field proves to be untrue, the Spaniards will lose them if they do not take care. The whole population has risen, the troops outside Manila are everywhere hemmed in by insurgent bands who fight well, and the new soldiers under General Polavieja, being young recruits, very badly fed, will suffer horribly from the climate. The writer affirms that the majority of the native troops have revolted, and mentions a curious rumour that German officers have taken command of them. (If that is true they are probably officers of the German mercantile marine, who are numerous on those coasts. It will be remembered that the only detailed account of Spanish cruelty to insurgents was forwarded by a German merchant to a German paper.) A telegram, moreover, reports the presence of a Japanese cruiser off Manila, and we see hints published in Singapore that the Japanese immigrants " favour " the insurgents. There is no doubt whatever that the Japanese Government looks with longing eyes on the Philippines, and is ready to offer an amazing price for possession of the islands. If General Polavieja executes Japanese on suspicion, as he is quite likely to do, the Spanish transports in the East will be swept off the sea, and the position of the colony will become desperate.
