Each stream is a treasure, and its banks are rich with verdure. There are sleek cows on bright grass. The mountains are no longer forbidding. They take on robes of loveliness. The valleys broaden and on the easy slopes there are orchards where the oranges glisten. There are clusters of grapes. We have come upon that magic land, California. There is golden music in the name. This is a conquest. The war in which it was won was not one of philanthropy. We gathered an empire.

General Merritt never minded the weather, whether the wind blew or not, and instead of holding his ship for several hours after the appointed time, wanted to know five minutes after 10 o'clock whether the time for starting was not 10 o'clock and by whom the boat was detained. At ten minutes after 10 the gangplank was swung free, with a desperate man on it who scrambled on with the help of long legs and a short rope. As the ship swung from the dock and got a move on there were thousands of men and women exalted with emotion, and there were crowded steamers and tugs toppling with swarming enthusiasts resounding with brass bands and fluttering with streaming flags. The ladies were especially frantic. Spurts of white smoke jetted from forts and there were ringing salutes. Steam whistles pitched a tune beyond the fixed stars. The national airs with thrilling trumpet tones pierced the din, and a multitude of voices joined with the bands giving words and tone to the magnetic storm. How many miles the Newport was pursued I cannot conjecture. There were tall ladies standing on the high decks of tugs that were half buried in the foam of the bay, but as long as they could hold a "Star Spangled Banner" in one hand, and a few handkerchiefs in another, their skirts streaming in grace and defiance before the rising gale, they sang hosannas, and there were attitudes both of triumph and despair as the fair followers, dashed with spray, gave up the chase, passionately kissing their hands god-speed and good-by. This was going to the Indies through the Golden Gate!

A breakage of dishes, that sounded as though the ship were going to pieces, belied the prophesy that beyond the bar there was to be no moaning; and the Pacific would not be pacified. However, the reputation of the ocean was good enough to go to sleep on, but the berths squirmed in sympathy with the twisting and plunging ship. It was not a "sound of revelry by night," to which the wakeful listened through the dismal hours, and in the morning there was a high sea—grand rollers crowned with frothy lace, long black slopes rising and smiting like waves of liquid iron.

The Pacific was an average North Atlantic, and it was explained by the tale that the peaceful part of this ocean is away down South where the earth is most rotund, and the trade winds blow on so serenely that they lull the navigators into dreams of peace that induce a state of making haste slowly and a willingness to forget and be forgotten, whether—

Of those who husbanded the golden grain Or those who flung it to the winds like rain,

The gulls are not our snowy birds of the Atlantic. We are lonesome out here, and the Albatross sweeps beside us, hooded like a cobra, an evil creature trying to hoodoo us, with owlish eyes set in a frame like ghastly spectacle glasses.

General Merritt's blue eyes shone like diamonds through the stormy experiences while the young staff officers curled up as the scientists did on the floor, and smiled a sort of sickly smile! The highest compliment that can be paid them is that the group of officers and gentlemen surrounding the commander of the expedition to the Philippines, express his own character.

It was funny to find that the private soldiers were better served with food than the General and his staff. There was reform, so as to even up the matter of rations, but the General was not anxious and solicitous for better food. His idea of the correct supper after a hard day's service is a goodly sized sliced onion with salt, meat broiled on two sticks, hard tack, a tin cup of coffee, for luxuries a baked potato, a pipe of tobacco, a nip of whisky, a roll in a blanket and a sleep until the next day's duties are announced by the bugle.

As the gentlemen of the staff got their sea legs, and flavored the narration of their experiences with humor, I found myself in a cloudy state and mentioned a small matter to the brigadier surgeon, who whipped out a thermometer and took my temperature, and that man of science gave me no peace night or day, and drove me from the ship into Paradise—that is to say I was ordered to stay at Honolulu. Through a window of the Queen's hospital I saw lumps of tawny gold that were pomegranates shaking in the breeze, another tree glowed with dates, and a broad, vividly green hedge was rich with scarlet colors. I was duly examined by physicians, who were thorough as German specialists. I had, in the course of a few hours, a nap, a dish of broth, a glass of milk, a glass of ice water and an egg nog. That broth flowed like balm to the right spot. It was chicken broth. When I guzzled the egg nog I would have bet ten to one on beating that fever in a week, and the next morning about 4:30, when there was competitive crowing by a hundred roosters, I was glad of the concert, for it gave assurance of a supply of chickens to keep up the broth and the eggs that disguised the whiskey.

Two days later I gave up the egg nog because it was too good for me. I knew I did not deserve anything so nice, and suspected it was a beneficence associated with a cloud on my brow. I had the approval of the hospital physician as to egg nog, and he cut off a lot of dainties sent by the Honolulu ladies, who must have imagined that I was one of the heroes of the war. Their mission is to make heroes happy. I was detained under the royal palms, and other palms that were planted by the missionaries, four weeks, and got away on the ship Peru with Major-General Otis, and when we had gone on for a fortnight, as far as from the Baltic to Lake Erie, we saw some rocks that once were Spanish property.

As we left Honolulu the air was already a-glitter with Star Spangled Banners. There are three great points to be remembered as to the annexation of Hawaii:

1. There is not to be a continuance of the slavery of Asiatics in the new possession.

2. "Manhood suffrage" is not to be extended to Asiatics, often actually as under strictly conventional constitutional construction.

3. The archipelago is to be a United States territory, but not a State of the United States. Ex-President Harrison says in his most interesting book: "This Country of Ours," which should be one of our national school books:

"Out of the habit of dealing with the public domain has come the common thought that all territory that we acquire must, when sufficiently populous, be erected into States. But why may we not take account of the quality of the people as well as of their numbers, if future acquisitions should make it proper to do so? A territorial form of government is not so inadequate that it might not serve for an indefinite time."

It is to be remarked of the Hawaiian Islands that they did not possess the original riches of timber that distinguished the West Indies, especially Cuba, where Columbus found four varieties of oranges. One of the features of Hawaiian forestry is the Royal Palm, but it was not indigenous to the islands. The oldest of the stately royalists is not of forty years' growth, and yet they add surprising grace to many scenes, and each year will increase their height and enhance their beauty.

Hawaiians will be saved from extinction by miscegenation. There will be no harm done these feeble people by the shelter of the flag of the great republic. The old superstitions prevail among them to an extent greater than is generally understood. I had the privilege of visiting an American home, the background of which was a rugged mountain that looked like a gigantic picture setting forth the features of a volcanic world. Far up the steep is a cave in which the bones of many of the old savages were deposited in the days of civil war and inhuman sacrifices. The entrance was long ago—in the days the Hawaii people describe as "Before the Missionaries." The hole going to the holy cavern was closed, but there is still pious watching over the place of bones, and if there are climbers of the mountain not to be trusted with the solemn secrets of ancient times, they are stalked by furtive watchmen of the consecrated bones, and no doubt the ever alert sentinels would resist violation of the sepulchre in the rocks; and the natives are careful to scatter their special knowledge that the spot is haunted by supernatural shapes and powers. The Americans living in the midst of these mysteries are rather proud of the ghosts they never see, but have to put up with the haunting guard still ministering to the gods that dwelt in the shrines where the shadows of extinct volcanoes fall, long before the masterful missionaries planted their first steps in the high places.

After twenty-two days' steaming from San Francisco—Queen's Hospital time not counted—we were directly south of China's Yellow Sea, and within a few hours of sighting the isle of Luzon.

Only at Honolulu, all the way from San Francisco, was there a sail or a smoke not of a vessel of the Philippine expedition. All the long days and nights the eye swept the horizon for companionship, finding only that of our associates in adventure, and very little of them. Even the birds seem to shrink from the heart of the watery world spread between America and Asia; and the monsters of the deep are absent. One day, about a thousand miles from California, a story spread of a porpoise at play, but the lonely creature passed astern like a bubble. Bryant sang of the water fowl that flew from zone to zone, guided in certain flight on the long way over which our steps are led aright, but the Pacific zones are too broad for even winged wanderers. The fish that swarm on our coast do not seem to find home life or sporting places in this enormous sea. Only the flying fish disturb the silky scene and flutter with silver wings over the sparkling laces that glisten where the winds blow gently, and woo the billows to cast aside the terrors of other climes and match the sky of blue and gold in beauty; but, unlike the stars, the waves do not differ in glory, and the spread of their splendor, when they seem to roll over a conquered universe, appeals to the imagination with the solemn suggestion not that order rules but that old chaos settles in solemn peace. The days terminate on this abyss in marvelous glories. The glowing spectacle is not in the west alone, but the gorgeous conflagration of the palaces we build in dreams spreads all around the sky. The scene one evening in the vicinity of the sun departing in Asia to light up the morning of the everlasting to-morrow touching America with magical riches, was that of Niagara Falls ten thousand times magnified and turned to molten gold, that burned with inconceivable luster, while the south and north and east were illuminated with strange fires and soft lights, fading and merged at last in the daffodil sky. Then the west became as a forest of amazing growth, and the ship entered its dusky recesses like a hunter for game such as the world never saw—and we looked upon the slow-fading purple islands that are the northern fringes of the greater one of the Philippines, and studied the rather faint and obscure Southern Cross and the stately sheen of the superb constellation of the Scorpion. It is a pity to have to say that the Cross of the South is a disappointment—has to be explained and made impressive by a diagram. It is more like a kite than a cross; has a superfluous star at one corner, and no support at all of the idea of being like a cross unless it is worked up and picked into the fancy. The North Star shines on the other side of the ship, and the Great Dipper dips its pointers after midnight, into the mass of darkness that is the sea when the sun and moon are gone.

The voyage from Honolulu to the farther Pacific was not so long that we forgot the American send-off we got in that Yankee city. The national airs sounded forth gloriously and grand. Flags and hankerchiefs fluttered from dense masses of spectators, and our colors were radiant above the roofs. There was, as usual, a mist on the mountains, and over Pearl Harbor glowed the arch of the most vivid rainbow ever seen, and Honolulu is almost every day dipped in rainbows. This was a wonder of splendor. The water changed from a sparkling green to a darkly luminous blue. From the moment the lofty lines of the coast—our mountains now—faded, till the birds came out of the west, the Pacific Ocean justified its name. The magnificent monotony of its stupendous placidity was not broken except by a few hours of ruffled rollers that tell of agitations that, if gigantic, are remote.

The two thousand and one hundred miles from California to Honolulu seemed at first to cover a vast space of the journey from our Pacific coast to the Philippines, but appeared to diminish in importance as we proceeded and were taught by the persistent trade winds that blew our way, as if forever to waft us over the awful ocean whose perpetual beauty and placidity were to allure us to an amazing abyss, from which it was but imaginative to presume that we, in the hands of infinite forces, should ever be of the travelers that return. Similar fancies beset, as all the boys remember—the crews of the caravels that carried Columbus and his fortunes. There were the splendors of tropical skies to beguile us; the sea as serene as the sky to enchant us! What mighty magic was this that put a spell upon an American army, seeking beyond the old outlines of our history and dreams, to guide us on unfamiliar paths? What was this awakening in the soft mornings, to the thrilling notes of the bugle? The clouds were not as those we knew in other climes and years. We saw no penciling of smoke on the edges of the crystal fields touched up with dainty ripples too exquisite to be waves—that which is a delight for a moment and passes but to come again, in forms too delicate to stay for a second, save in those pictures that in the universe fill the mind with memories that arc like starlight. The glancing tribes of flying fish became events. We followed the twentieth parallel of longitude north of the equator, right on, straight as an arrow's flight is the long run of the ship—her vapor and the bubbles that break from the waters vanishing, so that we were as trackless when we had passed one breadth after another of the globe, as the lonesome canoes of the Indians on the Great Lakes.



CHAPTER IV

Interview with General Aguinaldo.

The Insurgent Leader's Surroundings and Personal Appearance—His Reserves and Ways of Talking—The Fierce Animosity of the Filipinos Toward Spanish Priests—A Probability of Many Martyrs in the Isle of Luzon.

Practically all persons in the more civilized—and that is to say the easily accessible—portions of the Philippine Islands, with perhaps the exception of those leading insurgents who would like to enjoy the opportunities the Spaniards have had for the gratification of greed and the indulgence of a policy of revenge, would be glad to see the Americans remain in Manila, and also in as large a territory as they could command.

Spaniards of intelligence are aware that they have little that is desirable to anticipate in case the country is restored to them along with their Mausers and other firearms, great and small, according to the terms of capitulation. They get their guns whether we go and leave them or we stay and they go. It is obvious that the insurgents have become to the Spaniards a source of anxiety attended with terrors. The fact that they allowed themselves to be besieged in Manila by an equal number of Filipinos is conclusive that their reign is over, and they are not passionately in favor of their own restoration. Their era of cruel and corrupt government is at an end, even if we shall permit them to make the experiment. Their assumed anxiety to stay, is false pretense. They will be hurt if they do not go home.

The exasperation of the Filipinos toward the church is a phenomenon, and they usually state it with uncandid qualifications of the inadequate definition of the opinions and policy made by General Aguinaldo. Representations of my representative character as an American journalist, that gave me an importance I do not claim or assume to have, caused the appearance at my rooms, in Manila, of insurgents of high standing and comprehensive information, and of large fortunes in some cases. I was deeply impressed by their violent radicalism regarding the priests. At first they made no distinction, but said flatly the priests were the mischiefmakers, the true tyrants, and next to the half-breed Filipinos crossed with Chinese—who are phenomenal accumulators of pecuniary resources—the money-makers, who profited wrongfully by the earnings of others.

And so "the priests must go," they said, and have no choice except that of deportation or execution. In few words, if they did not go away they would be killed. When close and urgent inquiry was made, the native priests were not included in the application of this rule. The Spanish priests were particularly singled out for vengeance, and with them such others as had been "false to the people" and treacherous in their relations to political affairs.

The number to be exiled or executed was stated at 3,000. The priests are panicky about this feeling of the natives, as is in evidence in their solicitude to get away. They at least have no hope of security if the Spaniards should regain the mastery of the islands. Two hundred and fifty of them in vain sought to get passage to Hongkong in one boat. I was informed on authority that was unquestionable that the eviction or extermination of the Spanish priests was one of the inevitable results of Filipine independence—the first thing to be done.

It was with three objects in view that I had an interview with General Aguinaldo: (1) To ascertain exactly as possible his feeling and policy toward the United States and its assertion of military authority; (2) to inquire about his position touching the priests, (3) and to urge him to be at pains to be represented not only at Washington, but at Paris. As regards the latter point, it was clear that the people of the Philippines, whatever they might be, ought to be represented before the Paris conference. No matter what their case was, it should be personally presented, even if the representatives were witnesses against rather than for themselves. In the interest of fair play and the general truth the Philippine population should put in an appearance at the seat of the government of the United States for the information of the President, and at the scene of the conference to testify; and I was sure it would appear in all cases that they were at least better capable of governing themselves than the Spaniards to govern them. There could be no form of government quite so bad as that of the fatal colonial system of Spain, as illustrated in the Philippines and in the Americas.

General Aguinaldo was neither remote nor inaccessible. His headquarters were in an Indian village, just across the bay, named Bacoor, and in less than an hour a swift steam launch carried Major Bell, of the bureau of information, a gallant and most industrious and energetic officer, and myself, to water so shallow that we had to call canoes to land in front of a church that before the days of Dewey was riddled by the fire of Spanish warships because occupied by insurgents. The walls and roof showed many perforations. The houses of the village were of bamboo, and there were many stands along the hot and dusty street on which fruit was displayed for sale.

The General's house was about as solid a structure as earthquakes permit, its roof of red tile instead of the usual straw. His rooms were in the second story, reached by a broad stairway, at the top of which was a landing of liberal dimensions and an ante-room. The General was announced at home and engaged in writing a letter to General Merritt—then his rather regular literary exercise. There were a dozen insurgent soldiers at the door, and as many more at the foot and head of the stairs, with several officers, all in military costume, the privates carrying Spanish Mausers and the officers wearing swords. We were admitted to an inner room, with a window opening on the street, and told the General would see us directly. Meanwhile well-dressed ladies of his family passed through the audience room from the General's office to the living rooms, giving a pleasant picture of domesticity.

The door from the study opened and a very slender and short young man entered with a preoccupied look that quickly became curious. An attendant said in a low voice, "General Aguinaldo." He was unexpectedly small—could weigh but little over 100 pounds—dressed in pure white, and his modesty of bearing would have become a maiden. The first feeling was a sort of faint compassion that one with such small physical resources should have to bear the weighty responsibilities resting upon him. Major Bell had often met him, and introduced me. The General was gratified that I had called, and waited for the declaration of my business. He had been informed of my occupation; the fact that I had recently been in Washington and expected soon to be there again; was from Ohio, the President's state, a friend of his, and had written a book on Cuba, a task which gave me, as I had visited the Island of Cuba during the war, an acquaintance with the Spanish system of governing colonies.

The interpreter was a man shorter than the General, but not quite so slight. His hair was intensely black and he wore glasses. He is an accomplished linguist, speaks English with facility and is acknowledged by the priests to be the equal of any of them in reading and speaking Latin. It is to be remarked that while Aguinaldo is not a man of high education he has as associates in his labors for Philippine independence a considerable number of scholarly men. It is related that in a recent discussion between a priest and an insurgent, the latter stated as a ground of rebellion that the Spaniards did nothing for the education of the people, and was asked, "Where did you get your education?" He had been taught by the Jesuits.

My first point in talking with Aguinaldo was that the people of the Philippines ought to be strongly represented in Paris, and of the reasons briefly presented, the foremost was that they sought independence, and should be heard before the commission by which their fate would be declared for the present, so far as it could be, by a tribunal whose work was subject to revision. The general's information was that the Paris conference would be opened September 15, an error of a fortnight, and his impression was that the terms regarding the Philippines would be speedily settled, so that there could not be time to send to Paris, but there had been a determination reached to have a man in Washington.

It is to be taken into account that this interview was before anything had been made known as to the mission which General Merritt undertook, and that in a few days he set forth to perform, and that the terms of the protocol had not been entirely published in Manila. I told the general it was not possible that the Philippine problem could speedily be solved, and made known to him that the transport China, which holds the record of quick passage on the Pacific, was to sail for San Francisco in three days, and he would do well to have his men for Washington and Paris go on her if permission could be obtained, as there was no doubt it could, and I mentioned the time required to reach Washington and Paris—that one could be on a trans-Atlantic steamer in New York six hours after leaving Washington, that the Philippine commissioners going to Paris should make it a point to see the President on the way, and the whole matter one of urgency, but it was certainly not too late to act.

The General said it had been thought a representative of the islands and of the cause of the people should go to Washington, but the man was in Hongkong. He could, however, be telegraphed, so that he could catch the China at Nagasaka, Japan, where she would have to stop two days to take coal. The Washington commissioner might go to Paris, but instructions could not reach him before he left Hongkong, as it would not be desirable to telegraph them. Upon this I stated if it suited his convenience and he would send instructions by me, I was going on the China, and would charge myself with the special confidential care of his dispatches and deliver them to the commissioner at the coaling station, when he should join the ship; and if it was the desire of the General to have it done I would telegraph the President that Philippine commissioners were on the way. These suggestions were received as if they were agreeable, and esteemed of value.

The conversation turned at this point to the main question of the future government of the Philippines, and I inquired what would be satisfactory to the General, and got, of course, the answer, "Philippine independence." But I said after the United States had sent a fleet and destroyed the Spanish fleet and an army in full possession of Manila she was a power that could not be ignored; and what would be thought of her assuming the prerogative of Protector? She could not escape responsibility. His views as to the exact line of demarkation or distinction between the rights of the United States and those of the people of the islands should be perfectly clear, for otherwise there would be confusion and possibly contention in greater matters than now caused friction.

I endeavored to indicate the idea that there might be an adjustment on the line that the people of the Philippines could manage their local matters in their own way, leaving to the United States imperial affairs, the things international and all that affected them, the Filipinos looking to the administration of localities. I had asked questions and stated propositions as if it were the universal consent that General Aguinaldo was the dictator for his people and had the executive word to say; but when it came to drawing the fine lines of his relations with the United States as the embodiment of a revolutionary movement, he became shy and referred to those who had to be consulted.

His words were equivalent to saying his counselors must, in all matters of moment, be introduced. It came to the same thing at last as to his commissioner or commissioners to Washington or Paris, one or both, and he also asserted the purpose of having the congress elected assemble at a railroad town—Moroles, about fifty miles north of Manila—a movement it is understood that is under the guidance of others than the General, the bottom fact being that if there should be a Philippine Republic Aguinaldo's place, in the judgment of many who are for it, would be not that of chief magistrate, but the head of the army. There are others and many of them of the opinion that he is not a qualified soldier. The congress assembled at Moroles, and has made slow progress.

It may as well be remembered, however, that the distinctions of civil and military power have been always hard to observe, in Central and South American states, whose early Spanish education has been outgrown gradually, and with halting and bloody steps. General Aguinaldo, then engaged in evolving a letter to General Merritt, has since issued proclamations that yield no share to the United States in the native government of the islands. But there are two things definitely known, as if decreed in official papers, and probably more so; that the Filipinos of influential intelligence would be satisfied with the direction of local affairs and gladly accept the protectorate of the United States on the terms which the people of the United States may desire and dictate.

The greater matter is that whenever it is the fixed policy of the United States to accept the full responsibility of ruling the Philippines, neither Aguinaldo nor any other man of the islands would have the ability to molest the steady, peaceable, beneficent development of the potentiality of our system of justice to the people, and the preservation by and through the popular will of the union of liberty under the law, and order maintained peaceably or forcibly according to needs.

In continuation of his explanation that he had to refer matters to others called his counselors, disclaiming the presumption in my questions of his personal responsibility for the conduct of the native insurrection, General Aguinaldo said with the greatest deliberation and the softest emphasis of any of his sayings, that the insurgents were already suspicious of him as one who was too close a friend of the Americans, and yielded too much to them, and that there was danger this feeling might grow and make way with his ability to do all that he would like in the way of keeping the peace. There were, he said, inquiries to the effect: What had the insurgents got for what they had done in the capture of Manila? Were they not treated by the Americans with indifference?

Major Bell interposed to say that the Americans were in the Philippines not as politicians, but as soldiers, and had the duty of preserving order by military occupation, and it was not possible there could be maintained a double military authority—two generals of equal powers in one city under martial law. There must be one master and no discussion. The United States could take no secondary attitude or position—would treat the insurgents with great consideration, but they of necessity were exclusively responsible for the carrying out of the provisions of the capitulation.

This was exactly to the point, and the interpreter cut his rendering of it, using but few words, and they did not cheer up the General and those about him. Evidently they want to know when and where they realize. It had been noticeable that the greater importance Aguinaldo attaches to what he is saying the lower his voice and the more certainly he speaks in a half whisper with parted lips, show-in teeth and tongue; and he has a surprising faculty of talking with the tip of his tongue, extended a very little beyond his lips. There was something so reserved as to be furtive about his mouth, but his eyes were keen, straight and steady, showing decision, but guarding what he regarded the niceties of statement. However, his meaning that there were insurgents who were finding fault with him was not so much indicative of a rugged issue as a confession of impending inabilities.

He had nothing to say in response to Major Bell's explicit remark about the one-man and one-country military power, but the action of the insurgents in removing their headquarters—or their capital, as they call it—to a point forty miles from Manila, proves that they have come to an understanding that the soldiers of the United States are not in the Philippines for their health entirely, or purely in the interest of universal benevolence. The Filipinos must know, too, that they could never themselves have captured Manila. It is not inapt to say that the real center of the rebellion against Spain is, as it has been for years, at Hongkong.

I reserved what seemed the most interesting question of the interview with the Philippine leader to the last. It was whether a condition of pacification was the expulsion of the Catholic priests as a class. This was presented with reference to the threats that had been made in my hearing that the priests must go or die, for they were the breeders of all trouble. Must all of them be removed in some way or another? If not, where would the line be drawn? The lips of the General were parted and his voice quite low and gentle, the tongue to a remarkable degree doing the talking, as he replied, plainly picking words cautiously and measuring them. The able and acute interpreter dealt them out rapidly, and his rendering gave token that the Filipinos have already had lessons in diplomacy—even in the Spanish style of polite prevarication—or, if that may be a shade too strong, let us say elusive reservation—the use of language that is more shady than silence, the framing of phrases that may be interpreted so as not to close but to continue discussion and leave wide fields for controversy. The General did not refer to his counselors, or the congress that is in the background and advertised as if it were a new force.

The words of the interpreter for him were:

"The General says the priests to whom objection is made, and with whom we have a mortal quarrel, are not our own priests, but the Spaniards' and those of the orders. We respect the Catholic church. We respect our own priests, and, if they are friends of our country, will protect them. Our war is not upon the Catholic church, but upon the friars, who have been the most cruel enemies. We cannot have them here. They must go away. Let them go to Spain. We are willing that they may go to their own country. We do not want them. There is no peace until they go."

I said my information was that the objectionable Orders expressly proscribed by the insurgents were the Dominicans, Augustines, Franciscans and Recollects, but that the Jesuits were not included. This was fully recited to the General, and with his eyes closing and his mouth whispering close to the interpreter's cheek he gave his answer, and it was quickly rendered:

"The Jesuits, too, must go. They also are our enemies. We do not want them. They betray. They can go to Spain. They may be wanted there, not here; but not here, not here."

The question whether the friars must make choice between departure and death was not met directly, but with repetitions—that they might be at home in Spain, but could not be a part of the independent Philippines; and, significantly, they should be willing to go when wanted, and would be. Two Catholic priests—Americans, not Spaniards—were at this moment waiting in the ante room, to ask permission for the priests Aguinaldo has in prison to go back to Spain, and the General could not give an answer until he had consulted his council. Probably he would not dare to part with the priests, and an order from him would be disregarded. They have many chances of martyrdom, and some of them have already suffered mutilation.

Something had been said about my cabling the President as to the Filipinos' determination to send a representative to Paris, and I had tendered my good offices in bearing instructions to a commissioner from Hongkong to meet the China at Nagasaki, the Japanese railway station, where the American transports coal for their long voyage across the Pacific. But that matter had been left in the air. General Aguinaldo had said he would be obliged if I would telegraph the President, and I thought if the decision was that there was to be a Philippine representative hurried to Paris, it was something the President would be glad to know. I was aware there might be a difficulty in getting permission for a special messenger to go on the China to Japan to meet the commissioners going from Hongkong, and I would be willing to make the connection, as I had offered the suggestion. But it was necessary to be absolutely certain of General Aguinaldo's decision before I could cable the President; therefore, as I was, of course, in an official sense wholly irresponsible, I could communicate with him without an abrasion of military or other etiquette. It was the more needful, as it would be a personal proceeding, that I should be sure of the facts. Therefore I asked the General, whose time I had occupied more than an hour, whether he authorized me to telegraph the President that a commission was going to Paris, and desired me to render any aid in conveying information.

The General was troubled about the word "authorized," and instead of saying so concluded that I must have a deep and possibly dark design and so he could not give me the trouble to cable. The assurance that it would not be troublesome did not remove the disquiet. I could not be troubled, either, as a bearer of dispatches. The General could not authorize a telegram without consulting. In truth, the General had not made up his mind to be represented in Paris, holding that it would be sufficient to have an envoy extraordinary in Washington.

Others, without full consideration, in my opinion, concur in this view. I can imagine several situations at Paris in which a representative Filipino would be of service to the United States, simply by standing for the existence of a state of facts in the disputed islands. I dropped the matter of being a mediator, having planted the Paris idea in the mind of the Philippine leader, who is of the persuasion that he is the dictator of his countrymen, for the sake of his country, until he wishes to be evasive, and then he must consult others who share the burdens of authority, and told him when taking my leave I would like to possess a photograph with his autograph and the Philippine flag. In a few minutes the articles were in my hands, and passing out, there were the American priests in the ante-room, the next callers to enter the General's apartment. Their business was to urge him to permit the Catholic priests held as prisoners by the insurgents—more than 100, perhaps nearly 200 in number—to go home.

When the news came that General Merritt had been ordered to Paris, and would pass through the Red sea en route, taking the China to Hongkong to catch a peninsular and oriental steamer, I telegraphed the fact to General Aguinaldo over our military wires and his special wire, and his commissioner, duly advised, became, with General Merritt's aid, at Hongkong a passenger on the China.

He is well known to the world as Senor Filipe Agoncillo, who visited Washington City, saw the President and proceeded to Paris.



CHAPTER V

The Philippine Mission.

Correspondence With Aguinaldo About It—Notes by Senor Felipe Agoncillo—Relations Between Admiral Dewey and Senor Aguinaldo—Terms of Peace Made by Spanish Governor-General with Insurgents, December, 1897—Law Suit Between Aguinaldo and Artacho—Aguinaldo's Proclamation of May 24, 1898.

When General Merritt decided to hold the China for a day to take him to Hongkong on the way to Paris, I telegraphed Aguinaldo of the movements of the ship, arid received this dispatch from the General:

"War Department, United States Volunteer Signal Corps, sent from Bakoor August 29, 1898.—To Mr. Murat Halstead, Hotel Oriente, Manila: Thankful for your announcing China's departure. We are to send a person by her if possible, whom I recommend to you. Being much obliged for the favor.

"A. G. Escamilla," "Private Secretary to General Aguinaldo."

On the same day the General sent the following personal letter:

"Dear Sir: The bearer, Dr. G. Apacible, is the person whom was announced to you in the telegram.

"I am desirous of sending him to Hongkong, if possible, by the China, recommending him at the same time to your care and good will. Thanking you for the favor, I'm respectfully yours,

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy.

"Mr. Murat Halstead, Manila.

"Bakoor, 29th August, 1898."

General Aguinaldo proceeded vigorously to make use of his knowledge that the China would go to Hongkong for General Merritt and sent his secretary and others to me at the Hotel Oriente, but they arrived after I had left the house. They came to the China and General Merritt had not arrived and did not appear until within a few minutes of the start. Then the deputation from the insurgent chieftain had an interview with him, asking that two of their number should go to Hongkong on the China to express fully the views of the insurgent government to to the commissioner, Don Felipe Agoncillo, chosen to represent the Filipinos at Washington and Paris and to ask that he be allowed to go to the United States on the China. When the committee saw General Merritt he was taking leave of Admiral Dewey, and the General, who had not heard of this movement until that moment—the question being entirely new—invited the opinion of the Admiral, who said there was "certainly no objection," and on the contrary, it would be very well to permit the passage of the deputation to Hongkong and of the commissioner appointed from that city to Washington. General Merritt at once in half a dozen words gave the order, and the journey began.

General Greene, who reads and translates Spanish with facility and whose Spanish speech is plain, treated with marked courtesy the Filipino committee to Hongkong and thence the commissioner and his secretary from Hongkong to San Francisco, on the way to Washington and Paris. General Greene, while according distinction to the representatives of the insurgents, stated to them that his attentions were personal and he could not warrant them official recognition at Washington or anything more than such politeness as gentlemen receive from each other. The commissioner was Don Felipe Agoncillo, and his secretary, Sixto Lopez.

Saturday, September 24, the Salt Lake newspapers contained stories to the effect that the Germans had entered into an alliance offensive and defensive with the Aguinaldo government and would furnish equipments for an army of 150,000 men. We were on the Union Pacific Railroad at the time, and I called the attention of Don Felipe Agoncillo to this remarkable intelligence and asked him what he thought of it. He said emphatically that it was "Nothing," "No true," "Nothing at all," and he laughed at the comic idea. There was also in the Salt Lake newspapers a statement that the Aguinaldo 'government' had sent to President McKinley a letter strongly expressing good-will and gratitude. There did not seem to be much news in this for Don Felipe, but it gave him much pleasure, and he, not perhaps diplomatically but enthusiastically, pronounced it good.

What Agoncillo Approved.

The dispatch marked with his approbation by the Philippine commissioner was the following from Washington, under date of September 23:

"The President doubtless would be glad to hear any views these Filipinos might care to set forth, being fresh from the islands and thoroughly acquainted with the wishes of the insurgents. But it would be plainly impolitic and inconsistent for the President, at this date and pending the conclusion of the peace conference at Paris, to allow it to be understood, by according a formal reception to the delegates, that he had thereby recognized the Philippine government as an independent nationality. His attitude toward the Filipinos would be similar to that assumed by him toward the Cubans. As the Filipinos have repeatedly, by public declaration, sought to convey the impression that the United States representatives in Manila have at some time during the progress of the war recognized Aguinaldo as an independent ally, and entered into formal co-operation with him, it may be stated that the government at Washington is unaware that any such thing has happened. Admiral Dewey, who was in command of all the United States forces during the most critical period, expressly cabled the Secretary of the Navy that he had entered into no formal agreement with Aguinaldo. If General Otis followed his instructions, and of that there can be no doubt, he also refrained from entering into any entangling agreements. As for Consul-General Wildman, any undertaking he may have assumed with Aguinaldo must have been upon his own personal and individual responsibility, and would be without formal standing, inasmuch as he has not the express authorization from the State Department absolutely requisite to negotiations in such cases. Therefore, as the case now stands, the peace commissioners are free to deal with the Philippine problem at Paris absolutely without restraint beyond that which might be supposed to rise from a sense of moral obligation to avoid committing the Filipinos again into the hands of their late rulers."

Senor Agoncillo, the commissioner of the Philippine insurgents at Paris, made, in conversations on the steamer China, when crossing the Pacific Ocean from "Nagasaka to San Francisco, this statement in vindication of Aguinaldo, and it is the most complete, authoritative and careful that exists of the relations between Admiral Dewey and the insurgent leader:

Brief Notes By Senor Agoncillo.

"On the same day that Admiral Dewey arrived at Hongkong Senor Aguinaldo was in Singapore, whither he had gone from Hongkong, and Mr. Pratt, United States Consul-General, under instructions from the said Admiral, held a conference with him, in which it was agreed that Senor Aguinaldo and other revolutionary chiefs in co-operation with the American squadron should return to take up arms against the Spanish government of the Philippines, the sole and most laudable desire of the Washington government being to concede to the Philippine people absolute independence as soon as the victory against the Spanish arms should be obtained.

"By virtue of this argument Senor Aguinaldo proceeded by the first steamer to Hongkong for the express purpose of embarking on the Olympia and going to Manila; but this intention of his was not realized, because the American squadron left Hongkong the day previous to his arrival, Admiral Dewey having received from his government an order to proceed immediately to Manila. This is what Mr. Wildman, United States Consul-General in Hongkong, said to Senor Aguinaldo in the interview which took place between them. A few days after the Spanish squadron had been totally destroyed in the Bay of Manila by the American squadron, the latter obtaining a most glorious triumph, which deserved the fullest congratulations and praise of the Philippine public, the McCullough arrived at Hongkong and her commander said to Senor Aguinaldo that Admiral Dewey needed him (le necesitaba) in Manila and that he brought an order to take him on board said transport, as well as other revolutionary chiefs whose number should be determined by Senor Aguinaldo, and, in fact, he and seventeen chiefs went to Cavite on the McCullough.

"Senor Aguinaldo began his campaign against the Spaniards the very day that he received the 1,902 Mauser guns and 200,000 cartridges, which came from Hongkong. The first victory which he obtained from the Spaniards was the surrender or capitulation of the Spanish General, Senor Pena, who was the Military Governor of Cavite, had his headquarters in the town of San Francisco de Malabon, and his force was composed of 1,500 soldiers, including volunteers.

"The revolutionary army in six days' operations succeeded in getting possession of the Spanish detachments stationed in the villages of Bakoor, Imus, Benakayan, Naveleta, Santa Cruz de Malabon, Rosario and Cavite Viejo.

"On June 9 last the whole province of Cavite was under the control of the provisional revolutionary government, including many Spanish prisoners and friars, 7,000 guns, great quantities of ammunition and some cannon.

"At the same time that the province of Cavite was being conquered other revolutionary chiefs were carrying on campaigns in the Batangas, Laguna, Tayabas, Nueva Eziza, Bulcau, Batangas, Pampanga and Morong, which were under control of the revolutionary army by June 12, and such progress was made by the Philippine revolution in the few days of campaign against the Spaniards that by August 3 last it held under conquest fifteen important provinces of the island of Luzon; these provinces are being governed by laws emanating from the provisional revolutionary government and in all of them perfect order and complete tranquility reign.

"It is to be noted that the Spanish government has sent to Senor Aguinaldo various emissaries, who invited him to make common cause with Spain against the United States, promising him that the government of the Spanish nation would concede to him anything he might ask for the Philippine people. But Senor Aguinaldo has invariably replied to those emissaries, that it was too late and that he could not consider any proposition from the Spanish government, however beneficial it might be to the Philippines, because he had already pledged his word of honor in favor of certain representatives of the government at Washington.

"In view of this positive resolution of Senor Aguinaldo there began forthwith the intrigues of the Spanish enemy directed against the life of Senor Aguinaldo.

Peace Convention of December, 1896.

"Senor Aguinaldo, in his own name and in that of the other chiefs and subordinates, obligated himself to lay down their arms, which, according to an inventory, were to be turned over to the Spanish government, thus terminating the revolution. His Excellency the Governor and Captain-General, Don Fernando Primo de Rivera, as the representative of His Majesty's government in the Philippines, obligated himself on his side (1) to grant a general amnesty to all those under charges or sentenced for the crime of rebellion and sedition and other crimes of that category; (2) to introduce into the Philippines all reforms necessary for correcting in an effective and absolute manner the evils which for so many years had oppressed the country, in political and administrative affairs; and (3) an indemnity of $800,000, payable at the following dates: A letter of credit of the Spanish Filipine Bank for $400,000 against the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in Hongkong was to be delivered to Senor Aguinaldo on the same day that he should leave Biak-va-Bato, where he had established his headquarters, and should embark on the steamer furnished by the Spanish government (this letter of credit was in point of fact delivered); $200,000 was to be paid to the said Senor Aguinaldo as soon as the revolutionary general, Senor Ricarte, should receive his telegram ordering him to give up his arms, with an inventory thereof, to the commissioner designated by his excellency the Governor and Captain-General, Don Fernando Primo de Rivera; and the remaining $200,000 should be due and payable when the peace should be a fact, and it should be understood that peace was a fact when the Te Deum should be sung by order of his excellency the Governor and Captain-General of the Philippines.

"Senor Aguinaldo complied in every respect, so far as he was concerned, with the peace agreement. But the Spanish government did not observe a similar conduct, and this has been deplored and still is deeply deplored by the Philippine people. The general amnesty which was promised has remained completely a dead letter. Many Filipinos are still to be found in Fernando Po and in various military prisons in Spain suffering the grievous consequences of the punishment inflicted upon them unjustly and the inclemencies of the climate to which they are not accustomed. Some of these unfortunates, who succeeded in getting out of those prisons and that exile, are living in beggary in Spain, without the government furnishing them the necessary means to enable them to return to the Philippines.

"In vain has the Philippine public waited for the reforms also promised. After the celebration of the compact of June and the disposition of the arms of the revolutionists the Governor-General again began to inflict on the defenseless natives of the country arbitrary arrest and execution without judicial proceedings solely on the ground that they were merely suspected of being secessionists; proceedings which indisputably do not conform to the law and Christian sentiments.

"In the matter of reforms the religious orders again began to obtain from the Spanish government their former and absolute power. Thus Spain pays so dearly for her fatal errors in her own destiny!

"In exchange for the loftiness of mind with which Senor Aguinaldo has rigidly carried out the terms of the peace agreement, General Primo de Rivera had the cynicism to state in the congress of his nation that he had promised no reform to Senor Aguinaldo and his army, but that he had only given them a piece of bread in order that they might be able to maintain themselves abroad. This was reechoed in the foreign press, and Senor Aguinaldo was accused in the Spanish press of having allowed himself to be bought with a handful of gold, selling out his country at the same time. There were published, moreover, in those Spanish periodicals caricatures of Senor Aguinaldo which profoundly wounded his honor and his patriotism.

"Senor Aguinaldo and the other revolutionists who reside in Hongkong agreed not to take out one cent of the $400,000 deposited in the chartered bank and the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the only amount which Senor Aguinaldo received from the Spanish government on account of the stipulated indemnity, but to use it for arms in order to carry on another revolution in the Philippines, in case the Spanish government should fail to carry out the peace agreement, at least in so far as it refers to general amnesty and reforms. All the above named revolutionists, Senor Aguinaldo setting the example, resolved to deny themselves every kind of comfort during their stay in Hongkong, living in the most modest style, for the purpose of preventing a reduction by one single cent of the above named sum of $400,000, which they set aside exclusively for the benefit of their country.

Law Suit between Don J. Artacho and Don E. Aguinaldo.

"Senor Artacho, induced by the father solicitor of the Dominicans and the Consul-General of Spain, filed in the courts of that colony a summons against Don E. Aguinaldo, asking for a division of the above-mentioned $400,000 between those revolutionary chiefs who resided in Hongkong. Artacho and three others, who joined the revolution in its last days and rendered little service to it, were the only ones who desired a division of this money; whereas forty-seven revolutionaries, many of whom were most distinguished chiefs, were opposed to it, supporting the resolution which Senor Aguinaldo had previously taken in regard to it. Senor Aguinaldo, in order to avoid all scandal, did everything possible to avoid appearing in court answering the summons of Artacho, who, realizing that his conduct had made himself hated by all Filipinos, agreed in a friendly arrangement to withdraw his suit, receiving in exchange $5,000; in this way were frustrated the intrigues of the solicitor of the Dominican order and of the Spanish Consul, who endeavored at any cost to destroy the $400,000 by dividing it up.

"Artacho is now on trial before a judicial court on charges preferred by various revolutionists for offenses which can be proved; he has no influence in the revolutionary party."

Proclamation of General Aguinaldo.

May 24th, 1898.

Filipinos:

The Great Nation North America, cradle of true liberty and friendly on that account to the liberty of our people, oppressed and subjugated by the tyranny and despotism of those who have governed us, has come to manifest even here a protection which is decisive, as well as disinterested, towards us considering us endowed with sufficient civilization to govern by ourselves this our unhappy land. To maintain this so lofty idea, which we deserve from the now very powerful Nation North America, it is our duty to detest all those acts which belie such an idea, as pillage, robbery and every class of injury to persons as well as to things. With a view to avoiding international conflicts during the period of our campaign, I order as follows:

Article I. The lives and property of all foreigners, including Chinese and all Spaniards who either directly or indirectly have joined in taking arms against us are to be respected.

Article II. The lives and property of those who lay down their arms are also to be respected.

Article III. Also are to be respected all sanitary establishments and ambulances, and likewise the persons and things which may be found either in one or the other, including the assistants in this service, unless they show hostility.

Article IV. Those who disobey what is prescribed in the preceding articles will be tried by summary court and put to death, if such disobedience shall cause assassination, fire, robbery and violation.

Given at Cavite, the 24th of May, 1898.

Emilio Aguinaldo.

It is to be remarked of this semi-official statement that Admiral Dewey did not make any promises he could not fulfill to Aguinaldo; did not assume to speak for the President or the army of the United States, but gave guns and ammunition to the insurgents, who aided him in maintaining a foothold on the shore. The insurgents did not win Dewey's victory, but aided to improve it. Without the aid of the American army Manila might have been destroyed, but could not have been captured intact. General Merritt settled the question of the status of the insurgent army with respect to the capture of Manila in a summary and sound way when he said there could be but one military authority in a military government, and as the commanding general of the Philippine expedition of the United States, he was that authority.



CHAPTER VI

The Proclamations of General Aguinaldo.

June 16th, 1898, Establishing Dictatorial Government—June 20th, 1898, Instructions for Elections—June 23d, 1898, Establishing Revolutionary Government—June 23d, 1898, Message to Foreign Powers—June 27th, 1898, Instructions Concerning Details—July 23d, 3898, Letter From Senor Aguinaldo to General Anderson—August 1st, 1898, Resolutions of Revolutionary Chiefs Asking for Recognition—August 6th, 1898, Message to Foreign Powers Asking Recognition.

One of the most critical questions in the situation of the Philippines is the precise position of the leader of the insurgents, General Aguinaldo. His utterances in his official character of leader of the natives who for years have been in rebellion against Spain, have been but fragmentary, as they have come before the people. We give for the public information the consecutive series of proclamations.

No. 1.

To the Philippine Public:

Circumstances have providentially placed me in a position for which I can not fail to recognize that I am not properly qualified, but since I can not violate the laws of Providence nor decline the obligations which honor and patriotism impose upon me, I now salute you, Oh, My Beloved People!

I have proclaimed in the face of the whole world that the aspiration of my whole life, the final object of all my efforts and strength is nothing else but your independence, for I am firmly convinced that that constitutes your constant desire and that independence signifies for us redemption from slavery and tyranny, regaining our liberty and entrance into the concert of civilized nations.

I understand on the other hand that the first duty of every government is to interpret faithfully popular aspirations. With this motive, although the abnormal circumstances of the war have compelled me to institute this Dictatorial Government which assumes full powers, both civil and military, my constant desire is to surround myself with the most distinguished persons of each Province, those who by their conduct, deserve the confidence of their province to the end that the true necessities of each being known by them, measures may be adopted to meet these necessities and apply the remedies in accordance with the desires of all.

I understand moreover the urgent necessity of establishing in each town a solid and robust organization, the strongest bulwark of public security and the sole means of securing that union and discipline which are indispensable for the establishment of the Republic, that is Government of the people for the people, and warding off the international conflicts which may arise.

Following out the foregoing considerations I decree as follows:

Article I. The inhabitants of every town where the forces of the Spanish government still remain, will decide upon the most efficacious measures to combat and destroy them, according to the resources and means at their disposal, according to prisoners of war the treatment most conformable to humanitarian sentiments and to the customs observed by civilized nations.

Article II. As soon as the town is freed from Spanish domination, the inhabitants most distinguished for high character, social position and honorable conduct both in the center of the community and in the suburbs, will come together in a large meeting in which they will proceed to elect by a majority of votes, the chief of the town and a head man for each suburb, considering as suburbs not only those hitherto known as such, but also the center of the community.

All those inhabitants who fulfill the conditions above named, will have the right to take part in this meeting and to be elected, provided always that they are friendly to Philippine independence and are twenty years of age.

Article III. In this meeting shall also be elected by a majority of votes, three Delegates; one of police and internal order, another of justice and civil registry and another of taxes and property.

The delegate of police and internal order will assist the Chief in the organization of the armed force, which for its own security each town must maintain, according to the measure of its resources and in the preservation of order, government and hygiene of its population.

The delegate of justice and civil registry will aid the Chief in the formation of courts and in keeping books of registry of births, deaths and marriage contracts, and of the census.

The delegate of taxes and property will aid the chief in the collection of taxes, the administration of public funds, the opening of books of registry of cattle and real property, and in all work relating to encouragement of every class of industry.

Article IV. The Chief, as President, with the head men and the above mentioned delegates, will constitute the popular assemblies who will supervise the exact fulfillment of the laws in force and the particular interests of each town.

The head man of the center of the community will be the Vice President of the assembly, and the delegate of justice its secretary.

The head men will be delegates of the Chief within their respective boundaries.

Article V. The Chiefs of each town after consulting the opinion of their respective assemblies, will meet and elect by majority of votes the Chief of the Province and three councilors for the three branches above mentioned.

The Chief of the Province as President, the Chief of the town which is the capital of the Province, as Vice President, and the above named councilors will constitute the Provincial Council, which will supervise the carrying out of the instructions of this government in the territory of the Province, and for the general interest of the Province, and will propose to this government the measures which should be adopted for the general welfare.

Article VI. The above named chiefs will also elect by majority of votes three representatives for each one of the Provinces of Manila and Cavite, two for each one of the Provinces classified as terminal in Spanish legislation, and one for each one of the other Provinces and Politico-Military commands of the Philippine Archipelago.

The above named representatives will guard the general interests of the Archipelago and the particular interests of their respective Provinces, and will constitute the Revolutionary Congress, which will propose to this government the measures concerning the preservation of internal order, and external security of these islands, and will be heard by this government on all questions of grave importance. The decision of which will admit of delay or adjournment.

Article VII. Persons elected to any office whatsoever in the form prescribed in the preceding article can not perform the functions of the same without the previous confirmation by this government, which will give it in accordance with the certificates of election.

Representatives will establish their identity by exhibiting the above named certificates.

Article VIII. The Military Chiefs named by this government in each Province will not intervene in the government and administration of the Province, but will confine themselves to requesting of the Chiefs of Provinces and towns the aid which may be necessary both in men and resources, which are not to be refused in case of actual necessity.

Nevertheless, when the Province is threatened or occupied by the enemy in whole or in part, the military chief of highest rank therein may assume powers of the Chief of the Province, until the danger has disappeared.

Article IX. The government will name for each Province a commissioner, specially charged with establishing therein the organization prescribed in this decree, in accordance with instructions which this government will communicate to him. Those military chiefs who liberate the towns from the Spanish domination are commissioners by virtue of their office.

The above named commissioners will preside over the first meetings held in each town and in each Province.

Article X. As soon as the organization provided in the decree has been established all previous appointments to any civil office, whatsoever, no matter what their origin or source, shall be null and void, and all instructions in conflict with the foregoing are hereby annulled.

Given at Cavite, the 18th of June, 1898.

Emilio Aguinaldo.

No. 2.

For the execution and proper carrying out of what is prescribed in the decree of this government concerning the management of the Provinces and towns of the Philippine Archipelago, I decree as follows:

Instructions.

Concerning the Management of the Provinces and towns.

(Then follow 45 rules concerning the elections, formation of the police, the courts and the levying and collection of taxes.)

Given at Cavite, 20th of June, 1898.

Emilio Aguinaldo.

No. 3.

Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy,

President of the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines, and General in Chief of Its Army.

This government desiring to demonstrate to the Philippine people that one of its ends is to combat with a firm hand the inveterate vices of the Spanish administration, substituting for personal luxury and that pompous ostentation which have made it a mere matter of routine, cumbrous and slow in its movements, another administration more modest, simple and prompt in performing the public service: I decree as follows:

Chapter I.

Of the Revolutionary Government.

Article I. The dictatorial government will be entitled hereafter the revolutionary government, whose object is to struggle for the independence of the Philippines until all nations, including the Spanish, shall expressly recognize it, and to prepare the country so that a true republic may be established.

The dictator will be entitled hereafter President of the Revolutionary Government.

Article II. Four secretaryships of government are created; one of foreign affairs, navy and commerce; another of war and public works; another of police and internal order, justice, education and hygiene; and another of finance, agriculture, and manufacturing industry.

The government may increase this number of secretaryships, when it shall find in practice that this distribution is not sufficient for the multiplied and complicated necessities of the public service.

Article III. Each secretaryship shall aid the President in the administration of questions concerning the different branches which it comprises.

At the head of each one shall be a secretary who shall not be responsible for the decrees of the Presidency, but shall sign them with the President, to give them authority.

But if it shall appear that the decree has been promulgated on the proposition of the secretary of the department, the latter shall be responsible conjointly with the President.

Article IV. The secretaryship of foreign affairs will be divided into three bureaus, one of diplomacy, another of navy and another of commerce.

The first bureau will study and dispose of all questions pertaining to the management of diplomatic negotiations with other powers and the correspondence of this government with them. The second will study all questions relating to the formation and organization of our navy and the fitting out of such expeditions as the necessities of the revolution may require; and the third will have charge of everything relating to internal and external commerce, and the preliminary work which may be necessary for making treaties of commerce with other nations.

Article V. The secretaryship of war will be divided into two bureaus; one of war, properly speaking, and the other of public works.

The first bureau will be subdivided into four sections: One of campaigns, another of military justice, another of military administration, and another of military health.

The section of campaigns will have charge of the appointment and formation of the certificates of enlistment and service of all who serve in the revolutionary militia; of the direction of campaigns; the preparation of plans, works of fortification, and preparing reports of battles; of the study of military tactics for the army and the organization of the general staff, artillery and cavalry; and finally, of the determination of all other questions concerning the business of campaigns and military operations.

The section of military justice will have charge of everything relating to courts of war and military tribunals; the appointment of judges and counsel and the determination of all questions of military justice; the section of military administration will he charged with the furnishing of food and other supplies necessary for the use of the army; and the section of military health will have charge of everything relating to the hygiene and healthfulness of the militia.

Article VI. The other secretaryships will he divided into such bureaus as their branches may require and each bureau will be subdivided into sections according to the nature and importance of the work it has to do.

Article VII. The secretary will inspect and supervise all the work of his secretaryship and will determine all questions with the President of the government.

At the head of each bureau will be a director and in each section an officer provided with such number of assistants as may be specified.

Article VIII. The President will appoint the secretaries of his own free choice and in concert with them will appoint all the subordinate officials of each secretaryship.

In order that in the choice of persons it may be possible to avoid favoritism, it must be fully understood that the good name of the country and the triumph of the revolution require the services of persons truly capable.

Article IX. The secretaries may be present at the revolutionary congress in order that they may make any motion in the name of the President or may be interpolated publicly by any one of the representatives; but when the question which is the object of the motion shall be put to vote or after the interpolation is ended they shall leave and shall not take part in the vote.

Article X. The President of the government is the personification of the Philippine people, and in accordance with this idea it shall not he possible to hold him responsible while he fills the office.

His term of office shall last until the revolution triumphs, unless, under extraordinary circumstances, he shall feel obliged to offer his resignation to congress, in which case congress will elect whomsoever it considers most fit.

Chapter II.

Of the Revolutionary Congress.

Article XI. The Revolutionary Congress is the body of representatives of the Provinces of the Philippine Archipelago elected in the manner prescribed in the decrees of the 18th, present month.

Nevertheless, if any Province shall not be able as yet to elect representatives because the greater part of its towns shall have not yet succeeded in liberating themselves from Spanish domination, the government shall have power to appoint as provisional representatives for this Province those persons who are most distinguished for high character and social position, in such numbers as are prescribed by the above named decree, provided always that they are natives of the Province which they represent or have resided therein for a long time.

Article XII. The representatives having met in the town which is the seat of the revolutionary government, and in the building which may be designated, will proceed to its preliminary labors, designating by plurality of votes a commission composed of five individuals charged with examining documents accrediting each representative, and another commission, composed of three individuals, who will examine the documents which the five of the former commission exhibit.

Article XIII. On the following day the above named representatives will meet again and the two commissions will read their respective reports concerning the legality of the said documents, deciding by an absolute majority of votes on the character of those which appear doubtful.

This business completed, it will proceed to designate, also by absolute majority, a President, a Vice President, and two secretaries, who shall be chosen from among the representatives, whereupon the congress shall be considered organized, and shall notify the government of the result of the election.

Article XIV. The place where congress deliberates is sacred and inviolable, and no armed force shall enter therein unless the President thereof shall ask therefor in order to establish internal order disturbed by those who can neither honor themselves nor its august functions.

Article XV. The powers of congress are: To watch over the general interest of the Philippine people, and the carrying out of the revolutionary laws; to discuss and vote upon said laws; to discuss and approve prior to their ratification treaties and loans; to examine and approve the accounts presented annually by the secretary of finance, as well as extraordinary and other taxes which may hereafter be imposed.

Article XVI. Congress shall also be consulted in all grave and important questions, the determination of which admits of delay or adjournment; but the President of the government shall have power to decide questions of urgent character, but in that case he shall give account by message to said body of the decision which he has adopted.

Article XVII. Every representative shall have power to present to congress any project of a law, and every secretary on the order of the President of the government shall have similar power.

Article XVIII. The sessions of congress shall be public, and only in cases which require reserve shall it have power to hold a secret session.

Article XIX. In the order of its deliberations, as well as in the internal government of the body the instructions which shall be formulated by the congress itself shall be observed. The President shall direct the deliberations and shall not vote except in case of a tie, when he shall have the casting vote.

Article XX. The President of the government shall not have power to interrupt in any manner the meeting of congress, nor embarrass its sessions.

Article XXI. The congress shall designate a permanent commission of justice which shall be presided over by the auxilliary vice president or each of the secretaries, and shall be composed of those persons and seven members elected by plurality of votes from among the representatives.

This commission shall judge on appeal the criminal cases tried by the Provincial courts; and shall take cognizance of and have original jurisdiction in all cases against the secretaries of the government, the chiefs of Provinces and towns, and the Provincial judges.

Article XXII. In the office of the secretary of congress shall be kept a book of honor, wherein shall be recorded special services rendered to the country, and considered as such by said body. Every Filipino, whether in the military or civil service, may petition congress for notation in said book, presenting duly accredited documents describing the service rendered by him on behalf of the country, since the beginning of the present revolution. For extraordinary services, which may be rendered hereafter, the government will propose said notation accompanying the proposal with the necessary documents justifying it.

Article XXIII. The congress will also grant, on the proposal of the government rewards in money, which can be given only once to the families of those who were victims of their duty and patriotism, as a result of extraordinary acts of heroism.

Article XXIV. The acts of congress shall not take effect until the President of the government orders their fulfillment and execution. Whenever the said President shall be of the opinion that any act is unsuitable or against public policy, or pernicious, he shall explain to congress the reasons against its execution, and if the latter shall insist on its passage the President shall have power to oppose his veto under his most rigid responsibility.

Chapter III.

Of Military Courts and Justice.

Article XXV. When the chiefs of military detachments have notice that any soldier has committed or has perpetrated any act of those commonly considered as military crimes, he shall bring it to the knowledge of the commandant of the Zone, who shall appoint a judge and a secretary, who shall begin suit in the form prescribed in the instructions dated the 20th of the present month. If the accused shall be of the grade of lieutenant or higher, the said commandant shall himself be the judge, and if the latter shall be the accused, the senior commandant of the Province shall name as judge an officer who holds a higher grade, unless the same senior commandant shall himself have brought the suit. The judge shall always belong to the class of chiefs.

Article XXVI. On the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, the senior commandant shall designate three officers of equal or higher rank to the judge and the military court shall consist of the said officers, the judge, the councilor and the President. The latter shall be the commandant of the Zone, if the accused be of the grade of sergeant or less, and the senior commandant if he be of the grade of lieutenant or higher. This court shall conduct the trial in the form customary in the Provincial courts, but the judgment shall be appealable to the higher courts of war.

Article XXVII. The superior court shall be composed of six members, who shall hold rank not less than brigadier generals, and the judge advocate. If the number of generals present in the capitol of the revolutionary government shall not be sufficient the deficiency shall be supplied by representatives designated and commissioned by congress. The president of the court shall be the general having the highest rank of all, and should there be more than one having equal rank, the president shall be elected from among them by absolute majority of votes.

Article XXVIII. The superior court shall have jurisdiction in all cases affecting the higher commandants, the commandants of Zones and all officers of the rank of major or higher.

Article XXIX. Commit Military Crimes: 1st. Those who fail to grant the necessary protection to foreigners, both in their persons and property, and those who similarly fail to afford protection to hospitals and ambulances, including persons and effects which may be found in possession of one or the other, and those engaged in the service of the same, provided always they commit no hostile act. 2d. Those who fail in the respect due to the lives, money and jewels of enemies who lay down their arms, and of prisoners of war. 3d. Filipinos who place themselves in the service of the enemy acting as spies or disclosing to them secrets of war and the plans of revolutionary positions and fortifications, and those who present themselves under a flag of truce without justifying properly their office and their personality; and 4th, those who fail to recognize a flag of truce duly accredited in the forms, prescribed by international law.

Will Commit also Military Crimes: 1st. Those who conspire against the unity of the revolutionists, provoking rivalry between chiefs and forming divisions and armed bands. 2d. Those who solicit contributions without authority of the government and misappropriate the public funds. 3d. Those who desert to the enemy, or are guilty of cowardice in the presence of the enemy, being armed; and, 4th, those who seize the property of any person who has done no wrong to the revolution, violate women and assassinate or inflict serious wounds on unarmed persons and commit robberies or arson.

Article XXX. Those who commit the crimes enumerated will be considered as declared enemies of the revolution, and will incur the penalties prescribed in the Spanish penal code, and in the highest grade.

If the crime shall not be found in the said code, the offender shall be imprisoned until the revolution triumphs unless the result of this shall be an irreparable damage, which in the judgment of the tribunal shall be a sufficient cause for imposing the penalty of death.

Additional Clauses.

The government will establish abroad a revolutionary committee, composed of a number not yet determined of persons most competent in the Philippine Archipelago. This committee will be divided into three delegations; one of diplomacy, another of the navy and another of the army.

The delegation of diplomacy will manage and conduct negotiations with foreign cabinets with a view to the recognition of the belligerency and independence of the Philippines.

The delegation of the navy will be charged with studying and organizing the Philippine navy and preparing the expenditures which the necessities of the revolution may require.

The delegation of the army will study military tactics and the best form of organization for the general staff, artillery and engineers and whatever else may be necessary in order to fit out the Philippine Army under the conditions required by modern progress.

Article XXXII. The government will issue the necessary instructions for the proper execution of the present decree.

Article XXXIII. All decrees of the dictatorial government in conflict with the foregoing are hereby annulled.

Given at Cavite, the 23d of June, 1898.

Emilio Aguinaldo.

Instructions.

Desiring to bring about a proper execution of the decree dated the 23d of the present month, and to provide that the administrative measures shall not result hereafter in the paralysis of public business, but that, on the contrary, it shall constitute the best guarantee of the regularity, promptitude and fitness in the transaction of public business, I give the following instructions and decree:

(Then follow ten rules concerning the details of installing the government.)

Cavite, the 27th of June, 1898.

Emilio Aguinaldo.

Message of the President of the Philippine Revolution.

If it is true, as it is true, that political revolutions properly understood, are the violent means which people employ to recover the sovereignty which naturally belongs to them, usurped and trampled upon by a tyrannical and arbitrary government, no revolution can be more righteous than that of the Philippines, because the people have had recourse to it after having exhausted all the pacific means which reason and experience could suggest.

The ancient Kings of Castile felt obliged to consider the Philippines as a brother people, united to the Spanish in a perfect participation of aims and interests, so much so that when the Constitution of 1812 was promulgated, at Cadiz, on account of the War of Spanish Independence, these islands were represented in the Spanish Cortez; but the interests of the Monastic corporations which have always found unconditional support in the Spanish Government, overcame this sacred duty and the Philippines remained excluded from the Spanish Constitution, and the people at the mercy of the discretionary or arbitrary powers of the Governor-General.

In this condition the people claimed justice, begged of the metropolis the recognition and restitution of their secular rights by means of reforms which should assimilate in a gradual and progressive manner, the Philippines to the Spaniards; but their voice was quickly throttled and their sons received as the reward of their self-denial, deportation, martyrdom and death. The religious corporations with whose interests, always opposed to those of the Philippine people, the Spanish Government has been identified, scoffed at these pretensions and answered with the knowledge of that Government that Spanish liberties have cost blood.

What other recourse then remained to the people for insisting as in duty bound on regaining its former rights? No alternative remained except force and, convinced of that, it has had recourse to revolution.

And now it is not limited to asking assimilation to the Spanish Political Constitution, but it asks a definite separation from it; it struggles for its independence in the firm belief that the time has arrived in which it can and ought to govern itself.

There has been established a Revolutionary Government, under wise and just laws, suited to the abnormal circumstances through which it is passing, and which, in proper time, will prepare it for a true Republic. Thus taking as a sole model for its acts, reason, for its sole end, justice, and, for its sole means, honorable labor, it calls all Filipinos its sons without distinction of class, and invites them to unite firmly with the object of forming a noble society, not based upon blood nor pompous titles, but upon the work and personal merit of each one; a free society, where exist neither egotism nor personal politics which annihilate and crush, neither envy nor favoritism which debase, neither fanfaronade nor charlatanism which are ridiculous.

And it could not be otherwise. A people which has given proofs of suffering and valor in tribulation and in danger, and of hard work and study in peace, is not destined to slavery; this people is called to be great, to be one of the strongest arms of Providence in ruling the destinies of mankind; this people has resources and energy sufficient to liberate itself from the ruin and extinction into which the Spanish Government has plunged it, and to claim a modest but worthy place in the concert of free nations.

Given at Cavite the 23d of June, 1898.

Emilio Aguinaldo.

To Foreign Governments.

The Revolutionary Government of the Philippines, on its establishment, explained, through the message dated the 23d of June last, the true causes of the Philippine Revolution, showing, according to the evidence, that this popular movement is the result of the laws which regulate the life of a people which aspires to progress and to perfection by the sole road of liberty.

The said Revolution now rules in the Provinces of Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro, Tayabas, Laguna, Morong, Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Neuva-Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Union, Infanta, and Zambales, and it holds besieged the capital of Manila.

In these Provinces complete order and perfect tranquility reign, administered by the authorities elected by the Provinces in accordance with the organic decrees dated the 18th and 23d of June last.

The Revolution holds, moreover, about 9,000 prisoners of war, who are treated in accordance with the customs of war between civilized nations and humane sentiments, and at the end of the war it has more than 30,000 combatants organized in the form of a regular army.

In this situation the chiefs of the towns comprised in the above mentioned Provinces, interpreting the sentiments which animate those who have elected them, have proclaimed the Independence of the Philippines, petitioning the Revolutionary Government that will entreat and obtain from foreign Governments recognition of its belligerency and its independence, in the firm belief that the Philippine people have already arrived at that state in which they can and ought to govern themselves.

This is set forth in the accompanying documents, subscribed by the above named chiefs.

Wherefore, the undersigned, by virtue of the powers which belong to him as President of the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines and in the name and representation of the Philippine people, asks the support of all the powers of the civilized world, and earnestly entreats them to proceed to the formal recognition of the belligerency of the Revolution and the Independence of the Philippines; since they are the means designated by Providence to maintain the equilibrium between peoples, sustaining the weak and restraining the strong, to the end that by these means shall shine forth and be realized the most complete justice in the indefinite progress of humanity.

Given at Bacoor, in the Province of Cavite, the 6th day of August, 1898. The President of the Revolutionary Government, Emilio Aguinaldo.

Statement.

The undersigned chiefs of towns comprising the Provinces hereinafter named, elected as such in the manner prescribed by the decree of the 18th and the instructions dated the 20th of June last, after having been confirmed in their respective offices by the President of the Government and having taken the prescribed oath before him, have met in full assembly previously called for that purpose for the purpose of discussing the solemn proclamation of Philippine independence.

The discussion took place with the prudence and at the length which so important a question demands and, after suitable deliberation, the following declarations were unanimously adopted:

The Philippine Revolution records on the one hand brilliant feats of arms, realized with singular courage by an improvised army almost without arms, and on the other the no less notable fact that the people, after the combat, have not entered upon great excesses nor pursued the enemy further; but have treated him, on the contrary, with generosity and humanity, returning at once to their ordinary and tranquil life.

Such deeds demonstrate, in an indisputable manner, that the Philippine people was not created, as all believed, for the sole purpose of dragging the chains of servitude, but that it has a perfect idea of order and justice, shuns a savage life, and loves a civilized life.

But what is most surprising in this people is that it goes on giving proofs that it knows how to frame laws, commensurate with the progress of the age, to respect them and obey them, demonstrating that its national customs are not repugnant to this progress; that it is not ambitious for power nor honors nor riches aside from the rational and just aspirations for a free and independent life, and inspired by the most lofty idea of patriotism and national honor; and that in the service of this idea and for the realization of that aspiration it has not hesitated in the sacrifice of life and fortune.