CHAPTER III

ANDERSON AND AGUINALDO

Well, honor is the subject of my story.

Julius Caesar, Act. I, Sc. 2.

The destruction of the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, ten days after the outbreak of the war with Spain, having necessitated sending troops to the Philippines to complete the reduction of the Spanish power in that quarter, Major-General Wesley Merritt was on May 16th selected to organize and command such an expedition.

"The First Expedition," as it was always distinguished, by the officers and men of the Eighth Army Corps, there having been many subsequent expeditions sent out before our war with the Filipinos was over, was itself subdivided into a number of different expeditions, troops being hurried to Manila as fast as they could be assembled and properly equipped in sufficient numbers. The first batch that were whipped into shape left San Francisco under command of Brigadier-General Thomas M. Anderson, on May 25th, and arrived off Manila, June 30th. General Merritt did not arrive until July 25th. It was General Anderson, therefore, who broke the ice of the American occupation of the Philippines.

In his annual message to Congress of December, following, [62] summing up the War with Spain and its results, Mr. McKinley gives a brief account of the First Expedition. After recounting Admiral Dewey's victory of May 1st previous, he states that "on the seventh day of May the Government was advised officially of the victory at Manila, and at once inquired of the commander of the fleet what troops would be required." President McKinley does not give the Admiral's answer, though he does state that it was received on the 15th day of May. The Admiral's answer appears, however, in the Report of the Navy Department for 1898, Appendix, page 98. It was: "In my best judgment, a well-equipped force of 5000 men." But the President's message does state that he at once sent a "total force consisting of 641 officers and 15,058 enlisted men."

The difference of view-point of the Admiral and the President is clear from the language of both. In recommending 5000 troops, the Admiral had said they would be necessary "to retain possession [of Manila] and thus control Philippine Islands." This counted, of course, on the friendship of the people, as in Cuba. "I had in view simply taking possession of the city." said Admiral Dewey to the Senate Committee in 1902. [63]

The purpose of the President in sending three times as many troops as were needed for the purpose Admiral Dewey had in mind is indicated in his account of what happened. After describing the taking of Manila by our troops on August 13th, the presidential message says:

By this the conquest of the Philippine Islands, virtually accomplished when the Spanish capacity for resistance was destroyed by Admiral Dewey's victory of May 1st, was formally sealed. [64]

Admiral Dewey contemplated that we should merely remain masters of the situation out where he was until the end of the war. President McKinley set about to effect "the conquest of the Philippine Islands." The naval victory of Manila Bay having made it certain that at the conclusion of our war against a decadent monarchy we would at last have an adequate coaling station and naval base in the Far East, the sending of troops to the Philippines, in appropriate prosecution of the war, to reduce and capture Manila, the capital and chief port, raised the question at once "And then what?"

The genesis of the idea of taking over the archipelago is traceable to within a few days after the destruction of the Spanish fleet.

Within a few days after the official news of the battle of Manila Bay reached Washington, the Treasury Department set a man to work making a "Report on Financial and Industrial Conditions of the Philippine Islands." [65] The Interior Department also awoke, about the same time to possibilities of an El Dorado in the new overseas conquest. "In May, 1898," says Secretary of the Interior, C. N. Bliss, in a letter intended for the Peace Commissioners who met at Paris that fall, "by arrangement between the Secretary of War with this Department"--Mr. Bliss's grammar is bad, but his meaning is plain--"a geologist of the United States Geological Survey accompanied the military expedition to the Philippines for the purpose of procuring information touching the geological and mineral resources of said islands." [66] This report, which accompanies the Bliss letter, reads like a mining stock prospectus. That summer an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, presumably echoing the sentiments of the Administration, came out in one of the great magazines of the period, the Century, with an article in which he said: "We see with sudden clearness that some of the most revered of our political maxims have outlived their force. * * * A new mainspring * * * has become the directing force * * * the mainspring of commercialism." [67] Of course, the writer did not mention that Manila is an out-of-the-way place, so far as regards the main-travelled routes across the Pacific Ocean, and also forgot that, as has been suggested once before, the carrying trade of the world, and the shippers on which it depends, in the contest of the nations for the markets of Asia, would never take to the practice of unloading at Manila by way of rehearsal, before finally discharging cargo on the mainland of Asia, where the name of the Ultimate Consumer is legion. Nevertheless "Expansion"--of Trade, mainly--was the slogan of the hour, and any one who did not catch the contagion of exuberant allusion to "Our New Possessions" was considered crusty and out of date. People who referred back to the political maxims of Washington's Farewell Address, and the cognate set represented by the Monroe Doctrine, were regarded merely as not knowing a good thing when they saw it. So on rode the country, on the crest of the wave of war. When President McKinley sent the troops to the Philippines, their job was to hurry up and effect what his subsequent message to Congress describing their work called "the conquest of the Philippine Islands." That is, they were to effect a constructive conquest of the archipelago before Spain should sue for peace. It never seemed to occur to anybody at home that the Filipinos would object. If the country had, through some divine interposition, gotten it into its head that the Filipinos were quite a decent lot and really did object very bitterly, it would have risen in its wrath and smitten down any suggestion of forcing a government on them against their will. But nobody knew anything about them. They were a wholly new proposition.

General Anderson was of course furnished with a copy of the President's instructions to his chief, General Merritt. They are quite long, and go into details about a number of administrative matters that would necessarily come up after the city should surrender, such as the raising of revenue, the military commander's duty under the law of nations with regard to the seizure of transportation lines by land or sea, the protection of places of worship from desecration or destruction, and the like. The only portion of them that is essential to a clear understanding of subsequent events is now submitted: They are dated Executive Mansion, May 18, 1898, and read in part [68]:

PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL MERRITT

The destruction of the Spanish fleet at Manila, followed by the taking of the naval station at Cavite, the paroling of the garrisons, and acquisition of control of the bay, have rendered it necessary, in the further prosecution of the measures adopted by this Government for the purpose of bringing about an honorable and durable peace with Spain, to send an army of occupation to the Philippines for the twofold purpose of completing the reduction of the Spanish power in that quarter, and of giving order and security to the islands while in the possession of the United States.

For the command of this expedition I have designated Major-General Wesley Merritt, and it now becomes my duty to give instructions as to the manner in which the movements shall be conducted.

The first effect of the military occupation of the enemy's territory is the severance of the former political relations of the inhabitants and the establishment of a new political power. Under this changed condition of things the inhabitants, so long as they perform their duties, are entitled to security in their persons and property and in all their private rights and relations. It is my desire that the people of the Philippines should be acquainted with the purpose of the United States to discharge to the fullest extent its obligations in this regard. It will therefore be the duty of the commander of the expedition, immediately upon his arrival in the islands, to publish a proclamation declaring that we come not to make war upon the people of the Philippines nor upon any party or faction among them, but to protect them in their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious rights. All persons who, either by active aid or by honest submission, co-operate with the United States in its efforts to give effect to this beneficent purpose will receive the reward of its support and protection. Our occupation should be as free from severity as possible. Though the powers of the military occupant are absolute and supreme and operate immediately upon the political condition of the inhabitants, the municipal laws of the conquered territory, such as affect private rights of persons and property and provide for the punishment of crime, are to be considered as continuing in force, so far as they are compatible with the new order of things, until they are suspended or superseded by the occupying belligerents; and in practice they are not usually abrogated, but are allowed to remain in force and to be administered by the ordinary tribunals substantially as they were before the occupation. This enlightened practice is, so far as possible, to be adhered to on the present occasion. * * * The freedom of the people to pursue their accustomed occupations will be abridged only when it may be necessary to do so.

While the rule of conduct of the American commander-in-chief will be such as has just been defined, it will be his duty to adopt measures of a different kind if, unfortunately, the course of the people should render such measures indispensable to the maintenance of law and order. He will then possess the power to replace or expel the native officials in part or altogether, to substitute new courts of his own constitution for those that now exist, or to create such supplementary tribunals as may be necessary. In the exercise of these high powers the commander must be guided by his judgment and experience and a high sense of justice.

While this document declares the purpose of our government to be a "two fold purpose," viz., first, to make an appropriate move in the game of war, and, second, to police the Islands "while in the possession of the United States," it is wholly free from inherent evidence of any intention out of harmony with the policy as to Cuba. In fact when the city of Santiago de Cuba surrendered to our forces in July thereafter, and it became necessary to issue instructions for the guidance of the military commander there, exactly the same instructions were given him, [69] verbatim et literatim. But in respect of the Cuban instructions there was never any concealment practised or necessary because the Cubans had been assured by the Teller amendment to the resolutions declaring war against Spain that we had no ulterior designs on their country, and that, as soon as peace and public order were restored, we intended "to leave the government and control of the island to its people." The Cuban instructions were therefore frankly and promptly published in General Orders No. 101 by the War Department, July 18, 1898, five days after they were received from the President, and were then translated into Spanish and spread broadcast over Santiago province without unnecessary delay. I remember poring over a Spanish copy of General Orders 101, at Santiago de Cuba, shortly after the fall of that city, which copy was one of many already posted about that city by direction of General Wood. The words "the powers of the military occupant are absolute and supreme and operate immediately upon the political condition of the inhabitants" never disturbed the Cuban leaders in the least, because they were read in the light of the disclaimer contained in the declaration of war. On the other hand, the proclamation which the military commander in the Philippines was enjoined by his instructions to publish "immediately upon his arrival in the islands," which arrival occurred July 25th, was not so published until after we had taken Manila, August 13th, and then it copied only the glittering generalities of the instructions themselves, such as the part assuring the people that we had not come to make war on them and that vested rights would be respected, but it carefully omitted the words about the powers of the military occupant being absolute and supreme, because when the army arrived it found a native government that had already issued its declaration of independence, was making wonderful progress against the common enemy, and was able to put up a right good fight against us also, in case we should deny them independence. [70]

General Anderson arrived in Manila Bay, June 30, 1898, with about 2500 men, and when General Merritt arrived, July 25th, we had about 10,000 all told, while the Filipinos had half again that many, and there were 12,000 Spanish soldiers in Manila. General Anderson had not been long camped on the bayshore, under cover of the Navy's guns and in the neighborhood of Aguinaldo's headquarters, before he understood the whole situation clearly and wrote the War Department as follows:

Since reading the President's instructions to General Merritt, I think I should state to you that the establishment of a provisional government on our part will probably bring us in conflict with insurgents.

This letter is dated July 18, 1898. [71]

When General Anderson arrived in the islands on June 30th, the Washington Government was still wrestling with the angel of its announced creed about "Forcible Annexation" being "criminal aggression," and Mr. McKinley had to get both that angel's shoulders on the mat and put him out of business before he could get his own consent to giving any instructions to his generals which might sanction their killing people for objecting to forcible annexation. Hence his early anxiety to avoid a rupture with the Filipino leaders. The first stage of this wrestling coincides in point of time with General Anderson's tenure as the ranking military officer commanding our forces in the Philippines, which was from June 30th until the date of General Merritt's arrival, July 25th. As already made plain, the President's instructions for the guidance of the military commander were entirely free from any land-grabbing suggestion. On the other hand, when General Anderson left San Francisco for Manila, May 25th, there was already talk in the United States about retaining the Islands, if they were captured, for he so informed Admiral Dewey in the first interview they had after the transports which brought his command cast anchor near our squadron in Manila Bay on the last day of June. "I was the first to tell Admiral Dewey," says he, in the North American Review for February, 1900, "that there was any disposition on the part of the American people to hold the Philippines, if they were captured. The current opinion was setting that way when the expeditionary force left San Francisco, but this the Admiral had no reason to surmise."

Relegated by the circumstances to his own discretion as to how he should act until Washington knew its mind, General Anderson's attitude in the outset represented a "peace-at-any-price" policy, suffused with benevolent pride at championing the cause of the oppressed, but secretly knowing from the beginning that it might become necessary later to slaughter said "oppressed," should they seriously object to a change of masters.

"On July 1st," says General Anderson, in the North American Review article above quoted, "I called on Aguinaldo with Admiral Dewey." Of the Admiral's dealings with the insurgent chief prior to this time, the General says in this same article:

"Whether Admiral Dewey and Consuls Pratt, Wildman, and Williams did or did not give Aguinaldo assurances that a Filipino government would be recognized, the Filipinos certainly thought so, probably inferring this from their acts rather than from their statements." This last quoted passage was read to Admiral Dewey by a member of the Senate Committee in 1902, along with other parts of the magazine article cited, and he was asked to comment on the same. He said:

"These are General Anderson's statements. They are very interesting, indeed; I am here to make my own statements."

He had stated that he never did specifically promise Aguinaldo independence, and the questioner was trying to show that his acts had amounted to assurances and therefore had committed the Government to giving the Filipinos their independence. Then Senator Patterson began another question, and had gotten as far as "I want to know whether your views--" when out came this, as of a sailor-man clearing decks for action:

"I do not like your questions a bit. I did not like them yesterday and I do not like them to-day." So the Admiral's feelings were respected and the question was not pressed. There is no doubt at all that in the Philippines in the summer of 1898 the army turned the back of its hand to Aguinaldo as soon as it got there and baldly repudiated what the navy had done in the way of befriending the Filipinos. But both had acted under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy--the President. The Admiral's sensitiveness on the subject ought to have been respected. And it was.

By the time Admiral Dewey and General Anderson decided to call on "Don Emilio," the day after the General's arrival, the unexpected intimations which the latter brought, as to the Washington programme for the Philippine revolutionists being different from that as to Cuba, had begun to get in its work on the former. Not being a politician, the gallant Admiral was there ready and able to carry out any orders his government might send him, whenever the politicians should decide what they wanted to do. But in the absence of orders, he began to trim his sails a bit, so as to be prepared for whatever might be the policy. Accordingly, before he and the General started out to pay their call on "Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, President of the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines and General in Chief of its Army"--as he had styled himself in his proclamation of June 23d,--the Admiral said, "Do not take your sword or put on your uniform, but just put on your blouse. Do not go with any ceremony." And says he, in telling this, "We went in that way." [72] The reason of thus avoiding too much ceremony toward our "ally" claiming to represent an existing government which had lately declared its independence, is explained by an expression of the Admiral's concerning said Declaration of Independence itself: "That was my idea, not taking it seriously." At that same hearing the Admiral explained with much genuine feeling that from the day of the naval battle of May 1st until the arrival of the army "these great questions" were coming up constantly and he simply met them as they arose by acting on his best judgment on the spot at the time. But what a terrible mistake it was not to take that Declaration of Independence of June 23d, seriously, backed as it was by an army of 15,000 men flushed with victory, and under the absolute control of the author of the Declaration! Of course the Declaration had been published to the army. Could its author have checked them by repudiating it even if he had wanted to? As Aguinaldo himself expressed what would happen in such a contingency, "They would fail to recognize me as the interpreter of their aspirations and would punish me as a traitor, replacing me by another more careful of his own honor and dignity." [73]

This Dewey-Anderson call on Aguinaldo was on July 1st. Admiral Dewey now began to foresee that the Washington programme was going to put him in an awkward position. So he began to take Aguinaldo more seriously. On July 4th, he wired Washington: "Aguinaldo proclaimed himself President of the Revolutionary Republic on July 1st." [74] It was on July 7th that Admiral Dewey captured 1300 armed Spanish prisoners, the garrison of Isla la Grande, off Olongapo, and turned them over to the forces of the Aguinaldo government because he had no way to keep them. [75] Was not that taking that government a bit seriously? How wholly unauthorized by the facts was this of "not taking it seriously," on the part of "The Liberator of the Filipinos," [76] the immortal victor of Manila Bay, who two months before had taught the nation the magnitude of its power for good, in a cause as righteous as the crusades of old, and more sensible!

But to return to General Anderson's account in the North American Review of his call, with Admiral Dewey, on the insurgent chief: "He asked me at once whether the 'United States of the North' either had, or would recognize his government. I am not quite sure as to the form of the question, whether it was 'had' or 'would'? In either form it was embarrassing." General Anderson then tells of Aguinaldo's returning his call: "A few days thereafter he made an official call, coming with cabinet, staff, and band. He asked if we, the North Americans, as he called us, intended to hold the Philippines as dependencies. I said I could not answer that, but that in 122 years we had established no colonies. He then made this remarkable statement: 'I have studied attentively the Constitution of the United States, and I find in it no authority for colonies, and I have no fear.'" General Anderson adds: "It may seem that my answer was evasive, but I was at the time trying to contract with the Filipinos for horses, fuel, and forage."

While this history must not lapse into an almanac, it may not be amiss to follow these early stages of this matter through a few more successive dates, because the history of that period was all indelibly branded into Filipino memory shortly afterward with the red-hot iron of war.

July 4th, General Anderson writes the Filipino candidate for Independence inviting him to "co-operate with us in military operations against the Spanish forces." [77] This was written not to arrange any plan of co-operation but in order to get room about Cavite as a military base without a row. In his North American Review article General Anderson says that on that same day, the Fourth of July, Aguinaldo was invited to witness a parade and review "in honor of our national holiday." "He did not come," says the article, "because he was not invited as President but as General Aguinaldo." An odd situation, was it not? Here was a man claiming to be President of a newly established republic based on the principles set forth in our Declaration of Independence, which republic had just issued a like Declaration, and he was invited to come and hear our declaration read, and declined because we would not recognize his right to assert the same truths. On subsequent anniversaries of the day in the Philippines it was deemed wise simply to prohibit the reading of our Declaration before gatherings of the Filipino people. It saved discussion.

July 6th, General Anderson writes telling Aguinaldo that he is expecting more troops soon and therefore "I would like to have your excellency's advice and co-operation." [78]

July 9th, General Anderson writes the War Department that Aguinaldo tells him he has about 15,000 fighting men, 11,000 armed with guns, and some 4000 prisoners, [79] and adds: "When we first landed he seemed very suspicious, and not at all friendly but I have now come to a better understanding with him and he is much more friendly and seems willing to co-operate."

July 13th, we find Admiral Dewey also still in a co-operative mood. On that day he cables the Navy Department of the capture of the 1,300 prisoners on July 7th, mentioned above, which capture was made, it appears, because Aguinaldo complained to him that a German war-ship was interfering with his operations, [80] the prisoners being at once turned over to Aguinaldo, as stated above.

July 18th, is the date of the letter to the War Department in which General Anderson states that the establishment of a provisional government by us will probably mean a conflict with the insurgents. This was equivalent to saying that they will probably be ready to fight whenever we assert the "absolute and supreme" authority that the President's instructions had directed to be asserted by the army as soon as it should arrive in the Philippines. Yet in the fall of 1899, President McKinley said he "never dreamed" that Aguinaldo's "little band" would oppose our rule to the extent of war against it. It would have been more accurate if the martyred Christian gentleman who used those words had said he "always hoped" they would not, instead of "never dreamed" they would. This letter of July 18th, informs the Department:

Aguinaldo has declared himself dictator and self-appointed president. He has declared martial law and promulgated a minute method of procedure under it.

July 19th, General Anderson sends Major (now Major-General) J. F. Bell, to Aguinaldo, and asks of him a number of favors, such as any soldier may properly ask of an ally, for example, permission to see his military maps, etc., and that Aguinaldo "place at his [Bell's] disposal any information you may have on the above subjects, and also give him [Bell] a letter or pass addressed to your subordinates which will authorize them to furnish him any information they can * * * and to facilitate his passage along the lines, upon a reconnaissance around Manila, on which I propose to send him." [81] All of which Aguinaldo did.

Military training is very keen on honor. Talk about what the French call foi d'officier,--the "word of an officer"! Did ever a letter from one soldier to another more completely commit the faith and honor of his government, to recognition of the existence of an alliance? "In 122 years we have established no colonies," he had told Aguinaldo. "It looks like we are about to go into the colonizing business," he had, in effect, said to Admiral Dewey, about the same time.

July 21st, General Anderson writes the Adjutant-General of the army as follows:

Since I last wrote, Aguinaldo has put in operation an elaborate system of military government. * * * It may seem strange that I have made no formal protest against his proclamation as dictator, his declaration of martial law, etc. I wrote such a protest but did not publish it at Admiral Dewey's request. [82]

When he wrote this letter, General Anderson was evidently beginning to have some compunctions about the trouble he now saw ahead. He was a veteran of the Civil War, whose gallantry had then been proven on many a field against an enemy compared with whom these people would be a picnic. But things did not look to the grim old hero like there was going to be a square deal. So he put this in the letter:

I submit, with all deference, that we have heretofore underrated the natives. They are not ignorant savage tribes, but have a civilization of their own, and although insignificant in appearance are fierce fighters and for a tropical people they are industrious. A small detail of natives will do more work than a regiment of volunteers.

Of course, this slam at "volunteers" was a bit rough. But the battle-scarred veteran's sense of fair play was getting on his nerves. He foresaw the coming conflict, and though he did not shirk it, he did not relish it. He understood the "game," and it seemed to him the cards were stacked, to meet the necessity of demonstrating that forcible annexation, instead of being criminal aggression, was merely Trade Expansion, and that his government was right then irrevocably committing itself, without any knowledge of, or acquaintance with, the Filipinos, to the assumption that they were incapable of running a government of their own.

The next day, July 22d, General Anderson wrote Aguinaldo a letter advising him that he was without orders as yet concerning the question of recognizing his government. But that this letter was neither a protest nor in the nature of a protest, is evident from its text:

I observe that Your Excellency has announced yourself dictator and proclaimed martial law. As I am here simply in a military capacity, I have no authority to recognize such an assumption. I have no orders from my government on the subject. [83]

Yet General Anderson's letter to the Adjutant-General of the army of July 18th [84] uses the words "since reading the President's instructions to General Merritt," etc., showing that he had a copy of them; and those instructions order and direct (see ante) that as soon as the commanding general of the American troops arrives he is to let the Filipinos know that "the powers of the military occupant are absolute and supreme and immediately operate upon the political condition of the inhabitants." A charitable view of the matter would be that, technically, those were Merritt's orders, not Anderson's. But the whole scheme was to conceal the intention to assume supreme authority and keep Aguinaldo quiet "until," as General Merritt afterwards expressed it in his report, "I should be in possession of the city of Manila, * * * as I would not until then be in a position to * * * enforce my authority, in the event that his [Aguinaldo's] pretensions should clash with my designs." [85]

The same day that General Anderson wrote Aguinaldo his billet doux about the dictatorship, viz., July 22d, he cabled Washington a much franker and more serious message; which read: "Aguinaldo declares dictatorship and martial law over all islands. The people expect independence." The very next day, July 23d, he wrote Aguinaldo asking his assistance in getting five hundred horses, and fifty oxen and ox-carts, and manifesting considerable impatience that he had not already complied with a similar request previously made "as it was to fight in the cause of your people." [86] The following day, July 24th, replying to General Anderson's letter of the 22d wherein General Anderson had advised him that he was as yet without orders concerning the question of recognizing his government, Aguinaldo wrote:

It is true that my government has not been acknowledged by any of the foreign powers, but we expected that the great North American nation, which had struggled first for its independence, and afterwards for the abolition of slavery, and is now actually struggling for the independence of Cuba, would look upon it with greater benevolence than any other nation. [87]

That cablegram of July 22d, above quoted, in which the commanding general of our forces in the Philippines advises the Washington government, "The people expect independence," is the hardest thing in the published archives of our government covering that momentous period for those who love the memory of Mr. McKinley to get around. [88] After the war with the Filipinos broke out Mr. McKinley said repeatedly in public speeches, "I never dreamed they would turn against us." You do not find the Anderson cablegram of July 22d in the published report of the War Department covering the period under consideration. General Anderson addressed it to the Secretary of War and signed it, and, probably for lack of army cable facilities, got Admiral Dewey to send it to the Secretary of the Navy for transmission to the Secretary of War. [89] Certain it must be that at some Cabinet meeting on or after July 22, 1898, either the Secretary of the Navy or the Secretary of War read in the hearing of the President and the rest of his advisers that message from General Anderson, "The people expect independence." The object here is not to inveigh against Mr. McKinley. It is to show that, as Gibbon told us long ago, in speaking of the discontent of far distant possessions and the lack of hold of the possessor on the affections of the inhabitants thereof, "the cry of remote distress is ever faintly heard." The average American to-day, if told the Filipinos want independence, will give the statement about the same consideration Mr. McKinley did then, and if told that the desire among them for a government of their people by their people for their people has not been diminished since the late war by tariff taxation without representation, and the steady development of race prejudice between the dominant alien race and the subject one, he will begin to realize by personal experience how faintly the uttered longings of a whole people may fall on distant ears.

We saw above that in a letter written July 21st, the day before the telegram about the "people expect independence," which letter must have reached Washington within thirty days, General Anderson not only notified Washington all about Aguinaldo's government and its pretensions, but stated that at the request of Admiral Dewey he had made no protest against it. [90] Yet straight on through the period of General Merritt's sojourn in the Islands, which began July 25th, and terminated August 29th, we find no protest ordered by Washington, and we further find the purpose of the President as announced in the instructions to Merritt, "The powers of the military occupant are absolute and supreme" throughout the Islands, not only not communicated to the Filipino people, but deliberately suppressed from the proclamation published by General Merritt pursuant to those instructions. [91]

Comments and conclusions are usually impertinent and unwelcome save as mere addenda to facts, but in the light of the facts derivable from our own official records, is it any wonder that General Anderson, a gallant veteran of the Civil War, and perhaps the most conspicuous figure of the early fighting in the Philippines, delivered an address some time after he came back home before the Oregon Commandery of the Loyal Legion of the United States [92] on the subject, "Should republics have colonies?" and answered the question emphatically "No!"