Walkout and Lockout

Mutiny in the U. S. Army is very rare. When Secretary of War Weeks goes out of town over the weekend, he is not worried that the Army will turn coat or disobey during his absence.

An affair which took place recently was not really a mutiny but rather a strike.

One morning the 57th Regiment of the Filipino Scouts and part of the Twelfth Medical Regiment refused to turn out for drill and other martial exercises. Their white officers exhorted them; the 600 Filipinos shook their heads. As a matter of fact, they wanted more pay. They are paid on the same scale that American soldiers are paid, but whereas the Americans are paid dollars, the Filipinos are paid pesos. Pesos are worth 50-c- each, and the Scouts had discovered that the arrangement worked to their disadvantage. They considered what fitting action should be taken and decided to prepare and to "warrantize" a peace able strike to obtain equal pay.

Their officers explained to the men that Secretary Weeks could not tell the difference between a strike and a mutiny, that the penalties for mutiny were very severe, and that, all in all, it would be better to go to drill. To these persuasions all but some 206 yielded. The obdurate ones, believing firmly in collective bargaining, refused to budge. For the sake of ammunition and humanity they were not shot. Plans were made to court-martial those who had been active in insubordination and to discharge the rest "without honor."

This is probably the first time that the U. S. Government has tried a lock out as a means of discipline for its military forces.

Incidentally, some reports managed to infer that Bolsheviks were at the bottom of the "mutiny." The Chicago Tribune got a real thrill out of it with the announcement : "The naval authorities in Cavite [Philippines] this morning discovered a plot to blow up the arsenal in the Navy Yard. The situation is rapidly developing and may require the return of the Asiatic fleet in the opinion of some observers. Others do not think so."