The Philippines: Past and Present Volume I Part 31

"'In these publications the Filipinos were a.s.sured that the Imperialists were kept in power only by the lavish contributions of the "truts," whatever they may have been; but the people of the United States were growing weary of their domination and were about to return to the true principles of Washington and Jefferson. The ill.u.s.trious Americans "Crosvy Stickney, and Vartridge" were all laboring for the cause of Philippine independence. Long lists of American cities were given in which the ill.u.s.trious orators Mr. Croshy and Mr. Schurts had addressed applauding crowds upon the necessity of throttling the "truts" because they opposed recognition of the rights of the Filipinos. In August, 1900, "News from our agents in America" informed its readers that--

"'"W. J. Bryan has stated in a speech that his first act upon being elected President will be to declare the independence of the Philippines."

"'On June 16, 1900, Gen. Riego de Dios, acting head of the Hongkong junta, wrote to Gen. I. Torres (P.I.R., 530), the guerrilla commander in Bulacan Province, and a.s.sured him that a little more endurance, a little more constancy, was all that was needed to secure the attainment of their ends. According to their advices the Democratic party would win in the approaching elections in the United States, and--"it is certain that Bryan is the incarnation of our independence."

"'The number of men opposed to the policy of the administration was said to be continually increasing.

"'The att.i.tude of those who protect us cannot be more manly and resolute: "Continue the struggle until you conquer or die." Mr. Beecher of the League in Cincinnati writes us: "I shall always be the champion of the cause of justice and of truth," says Mr. Winslow of the Boston League. "Not even threats of imprisonment will make me cease in my undertaking,"

Doctor Denziger a.s.sures us. "I shall accept every risk and responsibility," says Doctor Leverson. "If it is necessary, I shall go so far as to provoke a revolution in my own country,"

repeats Mr. Udell. "It is necessary to save the Republic and democracy from the abyss of imperialism and save the worthy Filipinos from oppression and extermination" is cried by all, and the sound of this cry is ever rising louder and louder.'" [434]

Extract from a letter of Papa Isio [435] dated March 4, 1901:--

"I have received from Luzon an order to proceed more rapidly with my operations this month, as Bryan ordered Emilio to keep the war going vigorously until April, and he also said that if independence was not given the Philippines by that time, he, Bryan, and his followers would rise in arms against the oppressors." [436]

"_Tarlac_, Oct. 26, 1899.

"To the Military Governor of This City, and To the Secretary of the Interior.

"As a meeting shall be held on the morning of Sunday next in the Presidential Palace of this Republic in return for that held in the United States by Mr. Bryan, who drank to the name of our Honourable President as one of the heroes of the world, and for the purpose of celebrating it with more pomp and contributing to it the greater splendor with your personnel, I will be obliged to you if you will please call at this office to confer with me on the matter.

"G.o.d preserve you, etc.

(Signed) "_F. Buencamino_." [437]

In a letter written by A. Flores, acting secretary of war, to the military governor of Tarlac on October 27, 1899, there occurs the following:--

"In the United States meetings and banquets have been held in honor of our Honourable President, Don Emilio Aguinaldo, who was p.r.o.nounced one of the heroes of the world by Mr. Bryan, future president of the United States. The Masonic Society, therefore, interpreting the unanimous desires of the people, and with the approval of the government, will on Sunday the 29th instant, organize a meeting or popular a.s.sembly in the interest of national independence and in honor of Mr. Bryan of the anti-imperialist party, the defenders of our cause in the United States. The meeting will consist of two functions; first--at nine A.M. of the 29th the a.s.sembly will convene in a suitable place, a national hymn will inaugurate the exercises, after which appropriate addresses will be delivered; and second--at four P.M. a popular demonstration will take place throughout the town, with bands of music parading the streets; residents will decorate and illuminate their houses.

"Which I have the pleasure of transmitting to you for your information and guidance and for that of the troops under your command." [438]

CHAPTER XI

The First Philippine Commission

I have elsewhere mentioned the appointment of the First Philippine Commission.

On January 18, 1899, its civilian members met at Washington and received the President's instructions.

We were to aid in "the most humane, pacific and effective extension of authority throughout these islands, and to secure, with the least possible delay, the benefits of a wise and generous protection of life and property to the inhabitants."

We were directed to meet at the earliest possible day in the city of Manila and to announce by a public proclamation our presence and the mission intrusted to us, carefully setting forth that while the established military government would be continued as long as necessity might require, efforts would be made to alleviate the burden of taxation, to establish industrial and commercial prosperity and to provide for the safety of persons and property by such means as might be found conducive to those ends.

We were to endeavour, without interfering with the military authorities, to ascertain what amelioration in the condition of the inhabitants and what improvements in public order were practicable, and for this purpose were to study attentively the existing social and political state of the several populations, particularly as regarded the forms of local government, the administration of justice, the collection of customs and other taxes, the means of transportation and the need of public improvements, reporting through the Department of State the results of our observations and reflections, and recommending such executive action as might, from time to time, seem to us wise and useful.

We were authorized to recommend suitable persons for appointment to offices, made necessary by personal changes in the existing civil administration, from among the inhabitants who had previously acknowledged their allegiance to the American government.

We were to "ever use due respect for all the ideals, customs and inst.i.tutions of the tribes which compose the population, emphasizing upon all occasions the just and beneficent intentions of the United States," and were commissioned on account of our "knowledge, skill, and integrity as bearers of the good-will, the protection and the richest blessings of a liberating rather than a conquering nation." [439]

Nothing could be more false than Blount's insinuation that we were sent out to help Otis run the war. [440] There was no war when we started, and we were expressly enjoined from interfering with the military government or its officers. We were sent to deliver a message of good-will, to investigate, and to recommend, and there our powers ended.

Mr. Schurman and I, with a small clerical force, sailed from Vancouver, January 31, 1899. On our arrival at Yokohama we learned with keen regret of the outbreak of hostilities at Manila.

Blount has incorrectly stated that President McKinley had sent the commission out when the dogs of war were already let loose. [441] The dogs of war had not been loosed when we started, and one of the main purposes in sending us was to keep them in their kennels if possible.

Aguinaldo has made the following statements in his "Resena Veridica":--

"... We, the Filipinos, would have received said commission, as honourable agents of the great America, with demonstrations of true kindness and entire adhesion. The commissioners would have toured over all our provinces, seeing and observing at close range order and tranquillity, in the whole of our territory. They would have seen the fields tilled and planted. They would have examined our Const.i.tution and public administration, in perfect peace, and they would have experienced and enjoyed that ineffable charm of our Oriental manner, a mixture of abandon and solicitude, of warmth and of frigidity, of confidence and of suspiciousness, which makes our relations with foreigners change into a thousand colours, agreeable to the utmost.

"Ah! but this landscape suited neither General Otis nor the Imperialists! For their criminal intention it was better that the American commissioners should find war and desolation in the Philippines, perceiving from the day of their arrival the fetid stench emitted by the mingled corpses of Americans and Filipinos. For their purposes it was better that that gentleman, Mr. Schurman, President of the Commission, could not leave Manila, limiting himself to listen to the few Filipinos, who, having yielded to the reasonings of gold, were partisans of the Imperialists. It was better that the commission should contemplate the Philippine problem through conflagrations, to the whiz of bullets, on the transverse light of all the unchained pa.s.sions, in order that it might not form any exact or complete opinion of the natural and proper limits of said problem. Ah! it was better, in short, that the commission should leave defeated in not having secured peace, and would blame me and the other Filipinos, when I and the whole Filipino people anxiously desired that peace should have been secured before rather than now, but an honourable and worthy peace for the United States and for the Philippine Republic." [442]

These statements, made to deceive the public, make interesting reading in the light of our present knowledge as to the purposes and plans of Aguinaldo and his a.s.sociates.

On our arrival at Yokohama we were promptly informed by a secretary from the United States Legation that no less a personage than Marquis Ito had been in frequent communication with the Filipinos since 1894, that they had been looking to him for advice and support, and that he had interested himself in the present situation sufficiently to come to the American minister and offer to go to the Philippines, not in any sense as an agent of the United States, but as a private individual, and to use his influence in our behalf. His contention was that the then existing conditions resulted from misunderstandings.

He said that Americans did not understand Asiatics, but he was an Asiatic himself and did understand the Filipinos, and thought that he could settle the whole affair. The minister had cabled to Washington for instructions. Naturally the offer was not accepted.

I was reminded, by this extraordinary incident, of a previous occurrence. I spent the month of March, 1893, in Tokio when returning from my second visit to the Philippines, and was kindly invited to inspect the zoological work at the Imperial University. When I visited the inst.i.tution for that purpose, I was questioned very closely on the islands, their people and their resources. The gentlemen who interrogated me may have been connected with the university, but I doubt it.

We reached Hongkong on February 22. Here I had an interview with Dr. Apacible of the junta, while Mr. Schurman visited Canton. Apacible told me that the Filipinos wanted an independent republic under an American protectorate. Pressed for the details of their desires, he said that "the function of a protector is to protect." Further than that he could not go. I tried to convince him of the hopelessness of the course the Filipinos were then pursuing and of the kindly intentions of my government, but felt that I made no impression on him.

We arrived at Manila on March 4, 1899, too late to land. Firebugs were abroad. We watched a number of houses burn, and heard the occasional crackle of rifle fire along the line of the defences around the city. The next morning there was artillery fire for a time at San Pedro Macati. Everywhere were abundant evidences that the war was on.

This left little for us to do at the moment except to inform ourselves as to conditions, especially as Colonel Denby had not yet arrived, and General Otis was overwhelmed with work and anxiety.

I renewed my acquaintance with many old Filipino and Spanish friends and improved the opportunity, not likely to recur in my experience, to see as much as possible of the fighting in the field.

One day when I was at San Pedro Macati, Captain Dyer, who commanded a battery of 3.2-inch guns there, suggested that if I wished to investigate the effect of shrapnel fire I could do so by visiting a place on a neighbouring hillside which he indicated. Acting upon his suggestion, I set out, accompanied by my private secretary, who, like myself, was clad in white duck. The Insurgent sharpshooters on the other side of the river devoted some attention to us, but we knew that so long as they aimed at us we were quite safe. Few of their bullets came within hearing distance.

We were hunting about on the hillside for the place indicated by Captain Dyer, when suddenly we heard ourselves cursed loudly and fluently in extremely plain American, and there emerged from a neighbouring thicket a very angry infantry officer. On venturing to inquire the cause of his most uncomplimentary remarks, I found that he was in command of skirmishers who were going through the brush to see whether there was anything left there which needed shooting up. As many of the Insurgent soldiers dressed in white, and as American civilians were not commonly to be met in Insurgent territory, these men had been just about to fire on us when they discovered their mistake. We went back to Manila and bought some khaki clothes.

At first my interest in military matters was not appreciated by my army friends, who could not see what business I had to be wandering around without a gun in places where guns were in use. I had, however, long since discovered that reliable first-hand information on any subject is likely to be useful sooner or later, and so it proved in this case.

For several weeks after we reached Manila there was no active military movement; then came the inauguration of the short, sharp campaign which ended for the moment with the taking of Malolos. For long, tedious weeks our soldiers had sweltered in muddy trenches, shot at by an always invisible foe whom they were not allowed to attack. It was antic.i.p.ated that when the forward movement began, it would be active. Close secrecy was maintained with regard to it. Captain Hedworth Lambton, of the British cruiser _Powerful_, then lying in Manila Bay, exacted a promise from me that I would tell him if I found out when the advance was to begin, so that we might go to Caloocan together and watch the fighting from the church tower, which commanded a magnificent view of the field of operations.

I finally heard a fairly definite statement that our troops would move the following morning. I rushed to General Otis's office and after some parleying had it confirmed by him. It was then too late to advise Lambton, and in fact I could not properly have done so, as the information had been given me under pledge of secrecy. Accompanied by my private secretary, Dr. P. L. Sherman, I hastened to Caloocan, where we arrived just at dusk, having had to run the gantlet of numerous inquisitive sentries _en route_.

We spent the night in the church, where General Wheaton and his staff had their headquarters, and long before daylight were perched in a convenient opening in its galvanized iron roof, made on a former occasion by a sh.e.l.l from Dewey's fleet.

From this vantage point we could see the entire length of the line of battle. The attack began shortly after daylight. Near Caloocan the Insurgent works were close in, but further off toward La Loma they were in some places distant a mile or more from the trenches of the Americans.

The general plan of attack was that the whole American line should rotate to the north and west on Caloocan as a pivot, driving the Insurgents in toward Malabon if possible. The latter began to fire as soon as the American troops showed themselves, regardless of the fact that their enemies were quite out of range. As most of them were using black-powder cartridges, their four or five miles of trenches were instantly outlined. The ground was very dry so that the bullets threw up puffs of dust where they struck, and it was possible to judge the accuracy of the fire of each of the opposing forces.