The Philippines: Past and Present Volume I Part 3

In a subsequent communication written on July 28, 1898, Pratt made the following statement:--

"I declined even to discuss with General Aguinaldo the question of the future policy of the United States with regard to the Philippines, that I held out no hopes to him of any kind, committed the government in no way whatever, and, in the course of our confidences, never acted upon the a.s.sumption that the Government would cooperate with him--General Aguinaldo--for the furtherance of any plans of his own, nor that, in accepting his said cooperation, it would consider itself pledged to recognize any political claims which he might put forward." [21]

What reason if any is there for denying the truth of this allegation?

I will give in full Blount's statement as to what occurred at a meeting held at Singapore, to celebrate the early successes of Dewey and Aguinaldo, as it const.i.tutes his nearest approach to a direct claim, that any one at any time promised independence:--

"First there was music by the band. Then followed the formal reading and presentation of the address by a Dr. Santos, representing the Filipino community of Singapore. The address pledged the 'eternal grat.i.tude' of the Filipino people to Admiral Dewey and the honored addressee; alluded to the glories of independence, and to how Aguinaldo had been enabled; by the arrangement so happily effected with Admiral Dewey by Consul Pratt, to arouse eight millions of Filipinos to take up arms 'in defence of those principles of justice and liberty of which your country is the foremost champion' and trusted 'that the United States... will efficaciously second the programme arranged between you, sir, and General Aguinaldo in this port of Singapore, and secure to us our independence under the protection of the United States.'

"Mr. Pratt arose and 'proceeded, speaking in French,'

says the newspaper--it does not say Alabama French, but that is doubtless what it was--'to state his belief that the Filipinos would prove and were now proving themselves fit for self-government.' The gentleman from Alabama then went on to review the mighty events and developments of the preceding six weeks, Dewey's victory of May 1st, 'the brilliant achievements of your own distinguished leader, General Emilio Aguinaldo, _cooperating on land with the Americans at sea_,' etc. 'You have just reason to be proud of what has been and is being accomplished by General Aguinaldo and your fellow-countrymen under his command. When, six weeks ago, I learned that General Aguinaldo had arrived _incognito_ in Singapore, I immediately _sought him out_. An hour's interview convinced me that he _was the man for the occasion_; and, having communicated with Admiral Dewey, I accordingly arranged for him to join the latter, which he did at Cavite. The rest you know.'" [22]

Now, it happens that Dr. Santos himself forwarded his speech, and his version of Pratt's reply thereto, in a letter to Aguinaldo, dated Singapore, June 9, 1898. As he served as interpreter, he, if any one, should know what Pratt said. After describing the change in tone of the Singapore _Free Press_, with which strained relations had formerly existed, and the subsequent friendliness of the editor of this paper and that of the _Straits Times_, he says that on the previous afternoon he went with the other Filipinos to greet Pratt. He continues:--

"This occasion was unusually opportune by reason of ours having been victorious and immediately after the cry of our worthy chief which found an echo in this colony. For this purpose 30 or more Filipinos--9 of the higher cla.s.s, 15 musicians and the remainder of the middle cla.s.s--went to greet Consul A., here, and on the invitation of Mr. Bray we ascended. He received us in his private office, and it was imposing to see that the only decoration was the American flag which covered the desk, and in its centre, a carved wooden frame holding the portrait of our worthy chief. He shook hands with all of us, and I introduced them all. We found there also, and were introduced to, the Editor of the _Straits Times_ and the _Free Press_ of here, and after being thus a.s.sembled, after a musical selection, I read the following speech in French:--

"'_His Excellency, The Consul General of the United States of America in Singapore_:

"'_Your Excellency_: The Filipinos of all social cla.s.ses residing in this port, have come to greet Your Excellency as the genuine representative of the great and powerful American Republic in order to express to you our eternal grat.i.tude for the moral and material support given by Admiral Dewey to our General Aguinaldo in his campaign for the liberty of eight million Filipinos. The latter and we ourselves hope that the United States, your nation, persevering in its humanitarian policy, will without cessation and (with) decided energy continue to support the programme agreed upon in Singapore between Your Excellency and General Aguinaldo, that is to say, the Independence of the Philippine Islands, under an American protectorate. Accept our cordial acknowledgments and congratulations on being the first one in accepting and supporting this idea which time and events have well developed to the great satisfaction of our nation. Finally, we request you, Most Excellent Sir, to express to your worthy President and the American Republic, our sincere acknowledgments and our fervent wishes for their prosperity. I have concluded.'

"The Consul replied hereto in French, in more or less the following terms:--

"'You have nothing to thank me for, because I have only faithfully followed the instructions received from my Government; the fact of the sudden departure of your General will permit you to infer that I have done so. I shall in any case inform my Government of your good wishes and I thank you in its name. You know that your wishes are mine also, and for this reason at the last interview I had with Mr. Aguinaldo, I repeated to him that he should observe the greatest humanity possible in the war, in order that our army, our soldiers, our nation and all the other nations may see that you are humane and not savages, as has erroneously been believed.'

"After this there was enthusiastic applause for the Consul; he offered us all cigars, gla.s.ses of very fine sherry, and lemonade for the musicians and the majority. The toasts were offered with the sherry by your humble servant, Sres. Cannon, Enriquez, Celio, Reyes, the Consul, the editors of the _Free Press_, _Straits Times_ and Mr. Bray. We drank to America and her humanitarian work of redemption; to the Philippines with America; we gave thanks to the Consul, to Mr. Bray as an important defender; we drank to the _Free Press_ for taking such an interest in our affairs, and to the _Straits Times_ (sarcastically); but I was very careful not to propose a toast to our general, which was done at the proper time by 'Flaco'

[23] when we gave three cheers; for the sake of courtesy we cheered for England, which had been so hospitable to us, and when everybody had become quiet, the Editor of the _Straits Times_ took his gla.s.s in his hand and cried in a loud voice, 'The Philippine Republic,' to which we all responded. 'Flaco'

disappeared a moment, and when he returned he brought with him the American flag, and formally presented it to us in French, which I interpreted to all in Spanish, as follows: 'Gentlemen: The American Consul, with his deep affection for us, presents us this flag as the greatest and most expressive remembrance which he can give us. The red stripes stand for the generous blood of her sons, shed to obtain her liberty; the white stripes stand for her virginity and purity as our country; the blue background indicates the sky and each star represents a free and independent State; this is America, and the Consul is desirous that we also should have so glorious a history as hers and that it may be as brilliant as could be wished, securing peace with respect, and may G.o.d be our help and guide in securing liberty. Viva and with it our most sincere thanks for so signal a courtesy.' Hereupon, to the surprise of everybody as no one expected it, the Consul requested that some Filipino airs be played which seemed to please him very much. Finally, about 6.15, we left, very well satisfied with the reception accorded us and the kindness of the Consul. Mr. Bray asked me for the text of my speech, which I insert above and I secured from the Consul his French text, which I enclose in my letter to Naning. Without anything further for the present, awaiting your reply and your opinion as to the above, as also orders and instructions for the future, I am,

"Yours, etc.

(Signed) "_Isidoro de los Santos_."

To this letter Major Taylor has appended the following note:--

"(_Note by Compiler._--In a letter written in Tagalog to Aguinaldo on June 6 by Santos he describes the American consul general as having cried out 'Hurrah for General Aguinaldo, hurrah for the Republic of the Philippines' and then, having apparently taken several drinks, he pa.s.sed up and down the room waving the American flag before giving it to the a.s.sembled Filipinos (P.I.R., 406.7).)" [24]

This final statement does not present the representative of the United States government at Singapore in a very favourable light, but I take the facts as I find them. If now we compare the speech actually made by Dr. Santos with Blount's version of it, we shall find that with the exception of the words "eternal grat.i.tude" the pa.s.sages which he encloses in quotation marks are not in the original at all. The glories of independence are not alluded to, nor is there so much as a suggestion that Aguinaldo had been enabled to arouse eight millions of Filipinos to take up arms, which he certainly had not done.

Dr. Santos in his speech did resort to a stereotyped Filipino procedure so very commonly employed that those of us who have dealt much with his people have learned to meet it almost automatically. It consists in referring to one's having said just exactly what one did not say, and then if one fails to note the trap and avoid it, in claiming that because one did not deny the allegation one has admitted its truth.

Aguinaldo himself later repeatedly resorted to this procedure in his dealings with Dewey and others.

In the present instance Santos employed it rather cleverly when he expressed the hope that the United States would "continue to support the programme agreed upon in Singapore, between your Excellency and General Aguinaldo, that is to say, the independence of the Philippine Islands under an American protectorate."

Now if this was agreed to, Aguinaldo later constantly violated his part of the agreement, for we shall see that he stated over and over again, in correspondence with members of the junta and others, that a protectorate would be considered only if absolute independence finally proved unattainable, but there is no reason to believe that any such agreement was made.

Dr. Santos read his speech to Mr. Pratt in French. Blount implies, whether rightly or wrongly I do not know, that Pratt's knowledge of French was poor. At all events Pratt in his reply made not the slightest reference to the hope expressed by Santos that the United States would continue to support the programme which Santos said had been agreed upon between Pratt and Aguinaldo, and claim of a promise of independence based on these speeches must obviously be abandoned. There is no doubt that Pratt personally sympathized with the ambitions of the Filipino leaders, and openly expressed his sympathy on this and other occasions, but to do this was one thing and to have attempted to compromise his government would have been another and very different one. The shrewd Filipinos with whom he was dealing understood this difference perfectly well.

It is a regrettable fact that there exists some reason to believe that his sympathy was not purely disinterested. Aguinaldo claims that Pratt wished to be appointed "representative of the Philippines in the United States to promptly secure the official recognition of our independence"

and that he promised him "a high post in the customs service." [25]

It will be noted that several sentences and phrases in Blount's statement are enclosed in quotation marks. From what were they quoted? The next paragraph in his book tells us:--

"Says the newspaper clipping which has preserved the Pratt oration: At the conclusion of Mr. Pratt's speech, refreshments were served, and as the Filipinos, _being Christians, drink alcohol_, there was no difficulty in arranging as to refreshments." [26]

The use of this clipping from the Singapore _Free Press_ ill.u.s.trates admirably Blount's methods. The _Free Press_ had at first displayed a marked coldness toward the insurgent cause, but its editor, Mr. St. Clair, was opportunely "seen" by Bray, who reported that as a result of his visit, both the editor and the paper would thereafter be friendly, and they were. In other words, the _Free Press_ became the Singapore organ of the insurrection, and its editor, according to Bray, "a true and loyal friend" of Aguinaldo.

Blount claims to have made "an exhaustive examination of the records of that period." [27] Why then did he use as evidence a newspaper clipping from an Insurgent organ, instead of Santos's letter?

Blount endeavours to make capital out of the fact that Pratt forwarded to the State Department a proclamation which he says was gotten up by the Insurgent leaders at Hongkong and sent to the Philippines in advance of Aguinaldo's coming. He says that it was headed "America's Allies" and quotes from it as follows:--

"Compatriots: Divine Providence is about to place independence within our reach.... The Americans, not from mercenary motives, but for the sake of humanity and the lamentations of so many persecuted people, have considered it opportune, etc. [Here follows a reference to Cuba.] At the present moment an American squadron is preparing to sail for the Philippines.... The Americans will attack by sea and prevent any reenforcements coming from Spain; ... we insurgents must attack by land. Probably you will have more than sufficient arms, because the Americans have arms and will find means to a.s.sist us. _There where you see the American flag flying, a.s.semble in numbers; they are our redeemers!_" [28]

The translation that he used is that given in Senate Doc.u.ment No. 62, L. 60, and is none too accurate. He allows it to be inferred that this proclamation was actually issued. It was not. Its history is as follows:--

On May 16, 1898, J. M. Basa, a Filipino, who had lived in Hongkong since 1872, on account of his connection with the troubles of that year, wrote letters [29] to a number of friends recommending the widest possible circulation of a proclamation enclosed therewith, as an aid to the American policy in the Philippines "in the war against the tyrannical friars and the Spaniards."

With these letters there were sent two different proclamations, each beginning with the words "Fellow Countrymen." The first, which is the one referred to by Blount, continues:--

"Divine Providence places us in a position to secure our independence, and this under the freest form to which all individuals, all people, all countries, may aspire.

"The Americans, more for humanity than for self-interest, attentive to the complaints of so many persecuted Filipinos, find it opportune to extend to our Philippines their protective mantle, now that they find themselves obliged to break their friendship with the Spanish people, because of the tyranny they have exercised in Cuba, causing all Americans, with whom they have great commercial relations, enormous damages.

"At this moment an American fleet is prepared to go to the Philippines.

"We, your fellow-countrymen, fear that you will make use of your arms to fire upon the Americans. No, brothers; do not make such a mistake; rather (shoot) kill yourselves than treat our liberators as enemies.

"Do not pay attention to the decree of Primo de Rivera, calling on you to enlist for the war, for that will cost you your lives: rather die than act as ingrates toward our redeemers, the Americans.

"Note well that the Americans have to attack by sea, at the same time avoiding reinforcements which may come from Spain; therefore the insurrection must attack by land. Perhaps you will have more than sufficient arms, as the Americans have arms, and will find the means to aid you.

"Whenever you see the American flag, bear in mind that they are our redeemers." [30]

On the margin is written: "Viva, for America with the Philippines!"

Apparently what Basa here means by independence is independence from Spain, for it is known that he was in favour of annexation to the United States, and in the second proclamation we find the following:--

"This is the best opportunity which we have ever had for contriving that our country (all the Philippine Archipelago) may be counted as another Star in the Great Republic of the United States, great because of its wisdom, its wealth, and its const.i.tutional laws.

"Now is the time to offer ourselves to that great nation. With America we shall have development in the broadest sense (of advancement) in civilization.

"With America we shall be rich, civilized and happy.

"Fellow patriots, add your signatures to those which have already been given. Explain to all our fellow countrymen the benefits of this change, which will be blessed by Heaven, by men and by our children.

"Viva America with the Philippines!!!" [31]