The Philippines: Past and Present (vol. 1 of 2)
by
Dean C. Worcester
Part 9 out of 10
in the lowlands has been widened little by little, until it is now
safe for small automobiles. The maintenance of the bridges alone,
on the Benguet Road, is a very formidable item, while there is only
one short bridge on the Naguilian Road before the province of Union
is reached. As it runs on or near the crests of ridges all the way,
there are no extensive watersheds above it, and it is not liable
to serious injury during the most violent storms. The total cost
of the Benguet portion of this road to date [512] has been only
$33,405. This stretch is seventeen and a half miles in length and
does not include that portion of the road which lies within the city
of Baguio. The total distance from the centre of Baguio to Bauang,
the nearest railroad station on the coast, is thirty-four miles.
With the completion of the new government buildings and the transfer
of the several bureaus to Baguio for the season of 1910 a real boom
began. The old sanatorium building had long been leased to a private
individual who used it for hotel purposes, adding to it from time to
time. A second hotel had been built. The railroad had been extended
to Camp One and a regular automobile service established for the
convenience of the public between Camp One and Baguio. The Jesuits
had constructed a great rest house and meteorological observatory on
a commanding hill. The Dominicans had purchased a neighbouring hill
top and prepared to erect thereon a very large reenforced concrete
building to serve for college purposes and as a rest house for members
of the order who required a change of climate.
Development began early at Camp John Hay, an extensive and beautiful
military reservation set aside within the Baguio town site. Some
progress had been made in this direction prior to the coming of
Major-General Leonard Wood. That highly efficient and far-seeing
officer gave a tremendous impetus to the work. He had been something
of a sceptic on the subject of Baguio before visiting the place, but,
like all other responsible persons who take the trouble to see it,
promptly became an enthusiast when he had an opportunity to observe
conditions for himself. Many army officers and their families who
could not obtain accommodations in the limited number of buildings
on the reservation were glad to take tents for the season, and the
Camp promptly began to serve useful ends. It has steadily grown
and developed ever since, and is now a well-organized army post. Its
remarkable progress has been due in large measure to the initiative and
ingenuity of Captain M. R. Hilgard, who has been its commander since
October, 1905. Great progress has been made in erecting buildings,
but they are still far short of the needs of the service. At the
present writing [513] there are many tents in use by officers and
their families. These serve very well during the dry months, but with
the oncoming of the heavy showers, which usher in the rainy season,
become damp and uncomfortable and make it necessary for the occupants
to return to the lowlands just at the time when Baguio is growing
most attractive and the heat of Manila is becoming most oppressive.
The ground set aside in the military reservation is adequate for a
brigade post, and such a post should be established as soon as the
railroad reaches Baguio. The different commands in the islands could
then be ordered there in succession, and officers and men given the
benefits of one of the best climates in the world.
Baguio has continued steadily to develop, and the Benguet Road
no longer ends by running up a tree. The government has not only
erected a residence for the governor-general, but has established
offices for the chief executive, the secretaries of departments,
the Philippine Commission, the Executive Bureau, and the Bureaus of
Agriculture, Civil Service, Education, Forestry, Health, Public Works
and Constabulary. There are also a hospital, a series of tuberculosis
cottages for the treatment of patients from the lowlands, cottages
and dormitories for government officers and employees, a great mess
hall where meals may be had at moderate cost, an automobile station,
a garage, storehouses, a pumping plant, and labourers' quarters. At
the Teachers' Camp there are a separate mess hall, an assembly hall
and a fine athletic field.
The city of Baguio has a city hall, a storehouse, a corral and market
buildings. Lot owners who have built summer homes for themselves have
brought up friends to show them what Baguio was like. Curiously it has
never seemed possible to convey any adequate idea of its attractions
and advantages by word of mouth. Again and again I have urged sceptics
to come and see for themselves. When after the lapse of years they
finally did so, they have invariably asked me why I had not told them
about it before, forgetting that I had exhausted my vocabulary without
being able to make them understand. Practically without exception,
the persons who actually visit Baguio become "boosters."
It is fortunate in a way that the boom did not come quicker, for
the hard truth is that up to date the rapidity of the growth of the
summer capital has been determined absolutely by the local lumber
supply. The original Filipino hand-sawyers were ultimately replaced
by small portable mills, and these in turn by large modern mills
to which logs are brought by skidding engines or overhead cables,
yet it is true to-day, as it has always been true, that no sawmill
has ever been able to furnish dry lumber, for the simple reason that
the green output is purchased as fast as it can be sawed.
For a time the lumbermen took advantage of the necessities of the
public, but when timber on the government concessions first granted
them had been exhausted and they applied for new cutting areas,
my turn came. I fixed maximum prices on lumber which they might not
exceed without forfeiting their concessions. I also fixed a minimum
annual cut which they were compelled to make, and imposed a regulation
providing that at least half of the total cut should be offered for
sale to the public.
There is no justification for the claim that Baguio is a rich
man's city. The town site is very large and can be indefinitely
extended. Good lots may be had at extremely moderate prices, and the
cost of houses is strictly a matter of individual means and taste. A
large section is given up to small dwellings for Filipinos. The
man who earns his living with a bull cart has no more difficulty
in establishing a home there than does the Filipino millionnaire,
and rich and poor are building in constantly increasing numbers.
While experience has taught me that I cannot convey by words alone
any adequate conception of what Baguio is like, I must nevertheless
here make the attempt.
Twenty-one miles of well surfaced roads wind among its pine-covered
hills and afford beautiful glimpses of the luxuriant vegetation
along its numerous small streams. There are building sites to suit
all tastes, and each house owner is convinced that his particular
location is better than that of any one else. One spring supplies
exceptionally pure water sufficient for the needs of at least ten
thousand people, and an abundant additional supply can be obtained
when needed. The scenery is everywhere beautiful, and in many sections
truly magnificent.
Gently rolling hills enclose valleys with sides sometimes steep and
precipitous and sometimes gently sloping. The country is watered by
numerous streams bordered by magnificent tree-ferns, and by trees,
shrubs, and plants requiring a large amount of water, while the dry
hillsides bear noble pines standing at wide intervals and often
arranged as if grouped by a skilled landscape artist. During the
rainy season they are covered with ferns and orchids, while exquisite
white lilies, larger than Easter lilies, dot the hillsides. The dense
_cogon_ of the Philippine lowlands is absent. Bamboo grass or _runo_
occurs sparingly in the immediate vicinity of streams and springs, but
the hills are covered with a short grass seldom more than knee high,
so that one may ride or walk over them in almost any direction with
comfort. A system of excellent horse trails affords communication
with neighbouring provinces where one may see wonderful tropical
vegetation, magnificent scenery, strange wild peoples, and the most
remarkable terraced mountainsides in the world. These regions may
be visited with safety and comfort, as public order is well-nigh
perfect and rest houses have been provided at reasonable intervals
on all important main trails.
The delightfully cool climate of Baguio makes active outdoor exercise
enjoyable, and insures the speedy restoration to health and vigor
of persons suffering ill effects from tropical heat, or recuperation
from wasting diseases. Open fires are comfortable morning and evening
throughout the year, and the pitch pine wood burns beautifully. Except
during typhoons the rainy season weather is delightful. When one
wakens in the morning the atmosphere and the landscape have been
washed clean. The air is clear as crystal, and mountain peaks fifty
or seventy-five miles away stand out with cameo-like sharpness. The
needles of the pines fairly glisten and their delightful odor
is constantly in one's nostrils. The whole country is green as a
lawn. Roses, violets, azaleas, "jacks-in-the-pulpit," and several kinds
of raspberries and huckleberries, all growing wild, make one feel as
if back in America. One may visit the neighbouring Trinidad valley
and see cabbages and coffee, bananas and Irish potatoes, flourishing
on one piece of land. Strawberry plants imported from America bear
continuously from December to May. Fresh vegetables of all sorts tickle
palates which have grown weary of the eanned goods of the lowlands.
Anywhere from twelve to three o'clock, the clouds begin to roll in and
heavy showers fall, usually lasting until nine or ten at night. Then
the stars come out. The next day is like its predecessor.
After the first rains, which usually come about the middle of April,
there is as a rule a month of beautiful weather with very little
precipitation. Then the rains begin to come steadily again, and keep
it up until the end of the wet season, falling in the manner already
described so that one can get one's outdoor exercise in the morning,
while the afternoon showers are conducive to industry.
The following table shows the average maximum, minimum and mean
temperatures for each month of the year, the figures covering the
period January, 1902, to January, 1908:--
Month Average Average Mean
Maximum Minimum
deg.F. deg.F. deg.F.
January 75.1 50.2 63.3
February 75.4 45.8 61.6
March 77.5 49.4 64.1
April 78.2 51.9 65.7
May 77.7 54 66.2
June 77 56.8 66.2
July 75.9 55.9 65.4
August 76 54.9 65.1
September 75.2 56 65.2
October 76.4 53.8 65.1
November 76.4 49.8 64.1
December 76.1 50.3 64.1
All of the above figures are for temperatures at a height of six
feet above the ground. Temperatures nearer the ground are decidedly
lower. It has been found that in the Baguio plateau the lowest
temperatures correspond to the deepest valleys. In such places white
frost is not rare during the months of January, February, and March,
while on the tops of hills the temperature is milder, frost being
almost unknown. During typhoons conditions do not differ essentially
from those experienced elsewhere in the islands, except that the
rainfall is exceptionally heavy.
Major-General J. Franklin Bell, who has given special attention to
mountain resorts the world over, vigorously asserts that Baguio has
no equal on the globe. Certainly the climate is more nearly perfect
than any other of which I have personal knowledge, and the delightful
coolness and the bracing air afford heavenly relief to jangling nerves
and exhausted bodies, worn out by overwork and by a too prolonged
sojourn in tropical lowlands.
One of the very important things about the Baguio climate is its
marvellous effect upon victims of tuberculosis.
Persons suffering from this disease in its earlier stages may
confidently look forward to restored health if willing to live
out of doors under the pine trees, and there have been a number of
extraordinary recoveries among those in advanced stages.
A series of little cottages which can be thrown wide open have been
operated for some time in connection with the government hospital,
in order practically to demonstrate the effect of the climate on
tuberculosis victims.
The results are conclusive, and whenever funds are available there
should be established a settlement of such cottages on some one of
the numerous good sites sufficiently removed from the town to avoid
any possible danger of infecting healthy persons. There should also
be a large mess hall from which good nourishing food can be served,
and plenty of level ground on which tents can be erected during the
dry season. Baguio's potential importance as a resort for victims of
the great white plague justifies every cent of expenditure necessary
to make it readily accessible.
The Sisters of the Assumption have erected a handsome building which
serves as a rest house and a girls' school. The sisters known as the
"Belgian Canonist Missionaries" are erecting a building which will
afford them a place to come for recuperation when wearied by strenuous
work in the lowlands, and will make it possible for them to open a
school for Igorot girls, which they are planning to do.
Bishop Brent has established an excellent school for American boys,
situated on a sunny hilltop. The instruction is very good, the food
excellent, and a healthier, heartier-looking lot of youngsters than
those who enjoy the privileges of this institution cannot be found
anywhere. There is abundant opportunity for them to play basket-ball,
tennis and golf. Some of them indulge in polo, playing on Filipino
ponies.
Bishop Brent also has a mission school for Igorot girls, and plans
to open a boarding school for American girls in the near future.
The Belgian missionary priests, locally known as the "Missionary
Priests of the Church of San Patricio," have their headquarters at
Baguio, where the chief of their order resides and where they come
occasionally for rest and recuperation. Archbishop Harry has a modest
home on one of the numerous hilltops.
The building of a school for constabulary officers, to which young
men arriving from the United States are sent before entering upon
active service, crowns another hill and commands a magnificent view
of the surrounding country.
Several business concerns, such as the Compania General de Tabacos de
Filipinas, have erected rest houses for their officers and employees,
while the number of attractive private homes increases as rapidly as
the supply of building materials will permit. Filipino residents of
Manila have recently invested more than a hundred thousand dollars
in Baguio homes.
But this is not all. No description would be anything like complete
without mention of a unique structure which is certain to become famous
the world over. It has been built under the immediate supervision of
Major-General Bell, who has given freely of his time and thought to
make it the extraordinary success which it is. I refer to the wonderful
amphitheatre which stands at the side of the official residence of the
major-general commanding the Division of the Philippines. Advantage has
been taken of the existence of a natural amphitheatre with remarkable
acoustic properties. Man has added what Nature left undone, and the
result is an imposing and beautiful auditorium capable of seating
four thousand people, throughout which a whisper can be heard. It
is utilized for religious services, concerts, lectures, theatrical
performances and other public entertainments. No charge is exacted for
its use, but if an admission fee is collected, a liberal percentage
of the proceeds must go to some worthy charity. It has been terraced
in stone by Igorot labourers; the trees originally standing in it
have been protected, and tree ferns, shrubs and flowering plants
have been added. The result beggars description, and photographs do
it scant justice.
Igorots from Bontoc, and even Ifugaos, now visit Baguio with increasing
frequency, attracted by a large market established especially for the
benefit of the hill people, where they may sell their manufactured
articles or agricultural products, and may purchase at moderate cost
the commodities which they need. The Benguet Igorots do not raise rice
enough for their own use. Formerly they had to make up the shortage
by eating _camotes_, but they have now become so prosperous that they
can afford to buy rice, which is carted in over the Benguet Road.
There are promising gold mines close at hand. Their development would
have been impossible had not the construction of the Benguet Road
made it feasible to bring in the necessary heavy machinery.
Some of the fruits, many of the flowers and practically all of the
vegetables of the temperate zone can be advantageously produced in
Benguet. They are being shipped to Manila in steadily increasing
quantities.
One would gather from the criticisms of the enemies of the Philippine
government that the Benguet Road was a pleasure boulevard. The
government motor trucks transported over it during the last fiscal
year 22,390 passengers and 7696.24 metric tons of freight.
Railroad corporations are inclined to be a bit soulless. The Manila
Railway Company is extending its line to Baguio by means of a branch
leaving the main line at Aringay. The building of this extension is now
[514] fifty-five per cent completed, and the company is bound under
the terms of its agreement to finish the road by August, 1914. In the
event of its failure to do so, it must pay a monthly penalty amply
sufficient in amount to cover the cost of maintaining the Benguet
Road. Baguio will continue to develop steadily until the railroad
is opened and then will go ahead by leaps and bounds. It is sure to
prosper because it meets a very real and very imperative need.
In this connection the following extracts from a letter of August 7,
1913, from the director of medical services in India to the department
surgeon of the Philippines are of interest:--
"In reply to your letter of June 31st I attach a statement showing the
number and location of the hill stations in India with the approximate
capacity of each, and their height above sea-level.
"With regard to your inquiry regarding the number of cases treated in
these sanitaria we use these hill stations not only for the treatment
of convalescents, but also for giving healthy men an opportunity of
spending the Indian hot weather under the best climatic conditions
procurable. To this end, so far as is practicable, all units are sent
to the hills for the first hot weather after their arrival in India,
and they are thus able to settle down to their new conditions of
life without being immediately exposed to the trying and enervating
environment of a plains station in the summer months. We also send
as many soldiers as we can of the older residents from hot stations
to summer in the hills.
* * * * *
"Practically all soldiers' wives and families are given an opportunity
of a change from the more unhealthy stations to the hills during the
hot weather.
* * * * *
"Our experience shows that the following cases are most benefited by
a change to the hills:--
"1. All cases of malarial fever and malarial cachexia.
"2. Patients recovering from acute diseases.
"3. Convalescents after surgical operations.
"4. Cases of anaemia and debility.
"5. Cases of chronic venereal diseases.
"6. Neurasthenics."
Not only are all such cases greatly benefited at Baguio, but patients
suffering from dysentery and chronic diarrhoea are also greatly
benefited and often cured by a sufficiently long sojourn there. This
is the experience of the civil government at its hospital and of
the military authorities at the Camp John Hay hospital, according to
General Bell.
Continuing the quotations from the letter of the director of medical
services in India:--
"We have found that by the judicious use of hill stations for
convalescents both the invaliding and death rate of the British
troops in Indian have been enormously reduced and the efficiency of
the Army has been increased with a considerable financial saving to
the Government.
"It is advisable that all troops and families should be accommodated
in huts, especially during the rainy season in the hills, but there
is no doubt that they are benefited by the change even if they have
to live in tents and are thereby exposed to considerable discomfort."
The importance attached by the British to hill stations is shown by
the fact that there are no less than 29 in India, their height above
sea-level varying from 2000 to 7936 feet. Of these eleven have no
permanent accommodations and are used for men only.
I add the following extracts from a letter of Major P. M. Ashburn,
Medical Corps, U.S.A., president of the army board for the study of
tropical diseases:--
"A man can remain in the tropics indefinitely without being actually
sick, if infectious diseases are avoided. This is fast leading to
the fallacy that we can advantageously remain many years in these
latitudes. The fact that while a man may never be sick, he yet may have
his physical and mental vigour greatly impaired by prolonged exposure
to heat is thus lost sight of. No man can do his best work, either
physical or mental, if he is hot and uncomfortable. The same feeling
of lassitude and indisposition to exertion is experienced at home
during the hot summer, which after a few years here becomes chronic."
"It is a matter of official recognition that government employees
need to get away from the heat of Manila each year, hence the removal
to Baguio.
"It is likewise commonly recognized that many women and children
become so run down and debilitated as to need to go to Japan, Baguio
or the United States.
"It is often true that monotony and discomfort are the cause of
nervous and mental breakdown, witness the often-mentioned insanity
among farmers' wives and the nervous breakdowns attributable to
pain and strain, even though it be, as in many cases of eyestrain,
so slight as not to be recognized by the patient."
In short, it is the monotony of a tropical lowland climate which makes
an occasional change so imperatively necessary. Shall residents of
the Philippines be forced to seek that change, at great expense of
time and money, in Japan, the United States or Europe, or shall we
make and keep available for them a region which admirably answers
the purpose, distant only half a day's travel from Manila?
I give extracts from a memorandum of Col. William H. Arthur, Department
Surgeon of the Philippines, which are important in this connection:--
"3. Experience has shown that long residence in the Philippines has
a marked effect on the mental and physical vigour of people not
born and raised in the tropics. This is manifested in many ways,
and men, women and children who are not actually ill, seem to lose
their energy, become listless, irritable, and forgetful, and find the
least exertion burdensome. This is much aggravated in the hot season,
and very few individuals manage, without permanent mental and physical
deterioration, to live through many hot seasons in the plains.
"4. There are in the Philippine Islands two places where relief from
these conditions can be found:--(1) Camp John Hay, near Baguio, in the
mountain province of Benguet, Island of Luzon; and (2) Camp Keithley,
in the Lake Lanao District of the Island of Mindanao. Camp John Hay,
in the province of Benguet, is in the mountains at an elevation of
approximately 5000 feet and is 175 miles from Manila, most of which
distance is covered by railroad. Within 18 months it is expected that
the railroad all the way to Baguio will be completed.
"5. Experience has shown that a large number of cases of disease or
injury, or patients convalescing from surgical operations, recover
much more rapidly in the cool mountain climate of Baguio than in the
depressing heat and humidity of the plains. Before the establishment
of this mountain refuge from the heat of the plains, many cases of
this class were transferred to the United States that are now brought
back to health at Camp John Hay and Camp Keithley. The beneficial
effect of the change in climate is particularly noticeable in people
who have become run down after one or more hot seasons spent at the
lower levels.
"6. The great value of a refuge in the mountains from the effect of
prolonged heat is shown in enclosed reports, which indicate the classes
of cases especially benefited, but there are a great many others not
reported and not actually sick but whose vitality and resistance are
more or less diminished and who find great benefit from an occasional
sojourn in the mountains of Benguet or the highlands of Mindanao,
especially during the hottest part of the year."
I have quoted thus at length from communications of a distinguished
British medical officer, of a well-known and able special student
of tropical diseases, and of the ranking United States army surgeon
in the islands to show the consensus of opinion among experienced
experts as to the necessity of hill stations in the tropics. I might
give numerous additional similar opinions of equally competent men
but will only add two more statements of Major Ashburn, the latter
of which seems to me admirably to sum up the situation:--
So firm is my belief in the efficacy of the place that I have at
considerable expense kept my two sons in school there, instead of
keeping them at home in Manila at no expense for schooling, and so
satisfactory has been the result in normal, vigorous growth and robust
health for both boys, that I consider the money so spent about the
best investment I have ever made.
* * * * *
I state all this to show the faith that is in me. To experience Baguio
and to see the rapid improvement of visitors there is to be convinced
that it is a delightful and beneficial climate. To appreciate the full
degree of its delights it is only necessary to compare in one's own
experience (not in weather reports) a hot season in Manila and one
there. To appreciate its benefits it is necessary to compare in one's
own experience (not in statistics) the appearance of health of the
people seen at the two times and places. As recent work on beri-beri
has clearly shown the vast importance in diet of substances formerly
not known to have any importance, so, I think, are the factors in
climate not to be recorded by wind gauges, thermometers or other
meteorological instruments, and factors in health and efficiency not
recorded in books on physiology, bacteriology, pathology or health
statistics."
Let no one think that the summer capital of the Philippines has been
built solely for the benefit of Americans. The Filipinos need it
almost as much as we do, and many of them profit by the change with
extraordinary promptness.
It is really almost incredible that such a place should exist
within eight hours' travel of Manila, and every possible victim of
tuberculosis in the islands, which means every inhabitant of the
lowlands, has a right to demand that it should be made, and kept,
readily accessible. Existing accommodations are nothing like adequate
for the crowds which desire to take advantage of them during the
season. Hotels are filled to overflowing. There are always several
different applicants for each government cottage. Many persons who
would be glad to spend the hot months in the Benguet mountains find
it impossible to do so, because they cannot obtain accommodation,
and at present many more are obliged to shorten their stay in order
to give others a chance.
In the early days, when we were facing unforeseen difficulties and
discouragements, I was for a time the one member of the Philippine
Commission who was really enthusiastically in favour of carrying
out the original plans for the summer capital. It was then the
fashion to charge me with responsibility for the policy of opening
up communication with the place and for the mistakes made in the
construction of the Benguet Road, although I had never had any control
over the road work and had been one of five at first, and later one
of nine, to vote for every appropriation found necessary in order to
complete it.
It was the enthusiasm of Mr. Forbes which at a critical time finally
saved the situation, and now that Baguio has arrived, and the wisdom of
the policy so long pursued in the face of manifold discouragements has
been demonstrated, my one fear is that he will get all the glory and
that I shall be denied credit for the part which I actually did play
in bringing about the determination to establish quick communication
with one of the most wonderful mountain health resorts to be found in
any tropical country, and in giving that determination effect. But I
have had a more than abundant reward of another sort. My wife, my son
and I myself, when seriously ill, have been restored to vigorous health
by brief sojourns at this one of the world's great health resorts.
It has been very much the fashion for Filipino politicians to rail at
Baguio, and now that the dangerous experiment of giving them control
of both houses of the legislature is being made, they may refuse to
appropriate the sums necessary to make possible the annual transfer
of the insular government to that place. The result of such a bit of
politics would be a marked increase in the present extraordinarily
low death rate among government officers and employees, American and
Filipino, [515] beginning in about two years, when the cumulative
effect of long residence in the lowlands makes itself felt.
Meanwhile, Baguio can stand on its own feet, and if, as the politicians
suggest, the government buildings there be sold at auction, purchasers
for all dwelling houses should readily be found. Too many Filipinos
have learned by happy experience the delights of this wonderful region,
to let such an opportunity pass. Baguio has come to stay.
CHAPTER XVIII
The Cooerdination of Scientific Work
When Americans landed at Manila, they found no government institutions
for the training of physicians and surgeons and no hospital in any
sense modern or indeed worthy of the name.
There did exist the equipment of what had been called a municipal
laboratory, outfitted for a limited amount of chemical work only.
When the Philippine Commission arrived on the scene, it fell to my
lot to draft the necessary legislation for placing scientific work
on a firm foundation, and, later, as secretary of the interior, to
exercise ultimate executive control over practically all such work
carried on under the insular government.
The complete initial lack of adequate hospital facilities and of
means for making chemical and bacteriological investigations had been
promptly remedied by the establishment of army hospitals and an army
laboratory. Although these could not be placed fully at the service of
the public, they nevertheless bridged the gap for the time being, and
in formulating laws and making plans for the future I was inclined to
say, "Blessed be nothing," as we were not hampered by useless employees
or archaic equipment, but were left free to make a clean start.
I had thoroughly learned one lesson at the University of Michigan while
a member of its zooelogical staff. We had a zooelogical laboratory in
which were conducted the zooelogical half of a course in general biology
and numerous other courses in animal morphology, mammalian anatomy,
comparative anatomy and embryology. There was also a botanical
laboratory in which all of the botanical work of the institution
was carried on. This did not involve any overlapping, but there was
overlapping of the work of the zooelogical laboratory and that of the
medical department, which had an anatomical laboratory, a histological
laboratory, a pathological laboratory and a so-called hygienic
laboratory. The professor of anatomy thought that his students would
understand human anatomy better if they knew something of comparative
anatomy, and instead of sending them to us wished to start his own
courses. The histologist dabbled in embryology and was soon duplicating
our course in the embryology of the chick. He was constantly at war
with the pathologist over the question of where histology left off
and pathology began, and both of them were inclined to differ with
the man in charge of the hygienic laboratory over similar questions of
jurisdiction. Furthermore, we had a chemical laboratory split up into
various more or less independent subdivisions, and a psychological
laboratory. In these several institutions for scientific research
there was much duplication of instruction and of books, apparatus
and laboratory equipment. Great economies might have been effected
by the establishment of a central purchasing agency, which could have
obtained wholesale rates on supplies ordered in large quantity. Nothing
of the sort existed. One laboratory chief would order from the corner
drug store, while another bought in Germany.
There was danger that a similar condition of things might arise in
the Philippines. The Bureau of Health would want its chemical and its
biological laboratories; the Bureau of Agriculture would need to do
chemical work covering a wide range of subjects, and botanical and
entomological work as well. The Bureau of Forestry would of course
require a large amount of botanical work, and would also need to
have chemical work done on gums, resins and other forest products,
to say nothing of investigating insects injurious to trees and more
especially to timber after cutting. The latter class of destroyers
do enormous damage in the Philippines. Much chemical work would
be required by the Bureau of Customs, which as a matter of fact
later insisted upon the necessity of a "microscopical laboratory"
to provide facilities for the examination of fibres, etc. Obviously
there would be a large amount of work for the general government in
connection with investigation of the mineral resources of the country,
and the testing of coals, cements and road materials.
Smallpox was decimating the population. There was need of the
manufacture of great quantities of virus with which to combat it,
and of other common and necessary serums and prophylactics as well.
Here then was a golden opportunity to start right. In imagination I saw
a Bureau of Science for scientific research and for routine scientific
work, a great General Hospital, and a modern and up-to-date College of
Medicine and Surgery, standing side by side and working in full and
harmonious relationship. The medical school would give to the youth
of the land the best possible facilities for theoretical training
in medicine and surgery, while access to the wards of the hospital
would make possible for them a large amount of practical bedside
work. Its operating amphitheatres would increase the opportunity
for clinical instruction, as would a great free outpatient clinic,
conducted primarily for the benefit of the poor. Professors in the
college would hold positions on the hospital staff, not only in order
to give to them and to their students every facility for clinical
demonstration work, but to enable them constantly to "keep their
hands in." Promising Filipino graduates would be given internships
and other positions on the house staff of the hospital. Patients
would be admitted to its free beds subject to the condition that they
allow their cases to be studied by the faculty and students of the
college. The necessary biological and chemical examinations for the
hospital would be made in the laboratories of the Bureau of Science,
which would at the same time afford every facility for the carrying on
of scientific investigation by advanced students, by members of the
faculty of the college and by members of the hospital staff. Members
of the staff of the biological laboratory would have the use of the
great volume of pathological material from the hospital, and with
free access to its rooms and wards, would have an almost unparalleled
opportunity for the study of tropical diseases, while some of the
officers and employees of the Bureau of Science and of the Bureau of
Health might be made members of the faculty of the college and their
services utilized as instructors.
As we had neither laboratories, hospital nor college at the time,
the realization of this somewhat comprehensive scheme seemed rather
remote. It was commonly referred to as "Worcester's dream," and one
of my friends in the army medical corps probably quite correctly
voiced public sentiment when he said, "Poor Worcester has bats in his
belfry." However, he laughs best who laughs last! After the lapse of
a good many years my dream came true. The three great institutions
which I hoped might sometime be established are to-day in existence,
and are doing the work which I hoped that they might perform. Now
let us consider how they came to be.
In the early days I drafted an act providing for the establishment of
a Bureau of Government Laboratories which should perform all of the
biological and chemical work of the government under the direction
of one chief, and on July 1, 1901 the commission passed it.
I was more than fortunate in securing as the director of this
bureau Dr. Paul C. Freer, then professor of general chemistry at the
University of Michigan.
Dr. Freer obtained leave of absence for a year, in order to help us
get started. This leave was twice extended for additional periods of
one year each, and in the end he decided to sever his connection with
the university and throw in his lot with the Philippine government.
He remained in charge of the Bureau of Government Laboratories and
of its successor, the Bureau of Science, until his death on April
17, 1912.
Himself a chemist and investigator of note, he had a wide and
catholic knowledge of science in general, and no better man could
have been found for this important piece of constructive work. For
nearly a year the two of us laboured over plans for the laboratory
building and lists of the necessary books, instruments, apparatus,
glassware, chemicals and other supplies. At the end of this time we
submitted to the commission what I do not hesitate to say was the
most complete estimate for a large project which ever came before
it. Much forethought was necessary in order to time the orders for
books, instruments and apparatus so that it would be possible to
house them properly when they arrived, and the estimated expense was
distributed over a period of two and one-half years.
Meanwhile work had begun in cramped temporary quarters in a
hot little "shack," for it deserved no better name, back of the
Civil Hospital. Here under almost impossible conditions there were
performed a large volume of routine biological and chemical work,
and a considerable amount of research, the results of which proved
to be of far-reaching importance.
With the employment of the first chemists and bacteriologists there
arose a class of questions which I determined to settle once for
all. There is a regrettable tendency among some scientific men to try
to build barbed-wire fences around particular fields of research in
which they happen to be interested, and to shoo every one else away.
At the outset I gave all employees clearly to understand that such
an unscientific and ungenerous spirit would not be tolerated in the
Bureau of Government Laboratories. The field which opened before us
was enormous. There was work enough and more than enough for all, and
we should at the outset adopt a spirit of friendliness and helpfulness
toward every scientific man who desired to lend a hand.
This rule of conduct has been steadfastly adhered to. Numerous
well-known scientists have visited the Philippines and to each we have
extended all possible assistance, furnishing laboratory quarters,
instruments, apparatus and reagents, and, whenever practicable,
material as well. Indeed, many of our scientific guests have been
made employees of the bureau without pay, so that there might be no
questioning of their right to use government equipment.
Two important results have followed this policy. One is that we have
established the friendliest and most helpful relations with numerous
research institutions. The other is that we have been able to assist
in the performance of much valuable work which has borne important
results, and which would perhaps have remained undone had it not been
possible for us to aid those who undertook it.
In due course of time came our fine new building, with good facilities
for performing all kinds of laboratory work. When it was equipped
and occupied, we were able to say that the opportunities offered at
Manila for investigating tropical diseases were probably unequalled
elsewhere, and there was a deal of such investigation urgently needing
to be made. Our equipment for chemical research was also very complete
and the vast undeveloped natural resources of the islands presented
a practically virgin field for such investigation.
At the outset absurd rumours spread as to the cost of buildings and
equipment, and there was much popular outcry against the supposed
wastefulness of the government. A simple statement of the facts
served to kill these foolish tales, and people soon began to see that
the creation of the Bureau of Government Laboratories was merely the
application of common-sense to existing conditions and had resulted in
greatly increased economy and efficiency. Indeed, at the suggestion
of a committee appointed to make a study of the government service
and suggest measures for its betterment, the principle which I had
adopted was carried still further. Not only was all zooelogical and
botanical work transferred to this bureau, but the Bureau of Ethnology
and the Bureau of Mines were abolished as separate entities and were
made divisions of it, and its title was changed to "The Bureau of
Science." Little by little the scope of the work has steadily widened.
The scientific books and periodicals of the government were scattered
among half a dozen different bureaus and were not being well cared
for. I arranged to have them all temporarily transferred to the
library of the Bureau of Science and catalogued there. Those said
to be really needed for frequent reference were then returned to
the several bureaus but were kept under observation by the bureau of
science librarian, who took particular pains to look after the binding
of serial publications as rapidly as the volumes were completed.
The list of books requested by the several bureau chiefs for
reference was suspiciously long. I gave orders that each set of bureau
bookshelves be provided with cards and a box into which to drop them,
and each time a book was used a card was made out for it and placed
in the box. After six months I quietly gathered up the cards and had
them checked against the lists of books for which the several bureau
chiefs had asked, and was then able to order a large proportion of them
back to the library for the reason that they had not been used at all.
The result of this policy is that we have to-day a central
scientific library in which are catalogued all the scientific books
of the government. Books needed by the several bureaus for frequent
reference are placed where they can be used conveniently, and the
card catalogue indicates where they are, so that they can readily be
found. In this way it has been possible to avoid much needless and
expensive duplication. The library now contains 26,652 bound volumes.
We were extremely fortunate in the men whose services we secured
in the early days, and the volume of research work turned out was
unexpectedly large. The question of how best to arrange for the
prompt publication of our results became urgent, and in the end we
answered it by publishing the _Philippine Journal of Science_, now
in its eighth year and with an assured and enviable position among
the scientific journals of the world.
In the early days before we knew what we now know about the
preservation of health in tropical countries there was a deal of
sickness among government officers and employees. While the army was
more than liberal in helping us meet the conditions which arose,
it was of course very necessary that we should establish our own
hospital as soon as possible.
On October 12, 1901, the so-called "Civil Hospital" was opened
in a large private dwelling, obtained, as we then fondly imagined,
merely as a temporary expedient. Together with two adjoining and even
smaller buildings it continued to be our only place for the treatment
of ordinary medical and surgical cases until September 1, 1910! I
can here only very briefly outline the causes of this long delay.
At the outset the building was large enough to meet immediate needs. At
the time when it began to grow inadequate there was a plan on foot
for a large private institution, in which the government was to secure
accommodations for its patients, and a hospital building was actually
erected, but interest in this project waned, the private backing which
was believed to have been assured for it failed, and the whole scheme
went by the board. Then plans for a great general hospital were called
for. A very large amount of time was consumed in their preparation and
when they were finished the expense involved in carrying them out was
found to be far beyond the means of the government. Ultimately I was
charged with the duty of securing other plans involving a more moderate
expenditure. Again long delay necessarily ensued. When semi-final
plans were submitted, the consulting architect insisted on a series
of arches along the sides of the several ward pavilions which were
doubtless most satisfying from an artistic point of view, but would
have shut off light and fresh air to an extent which I could not
tolerate. A three months' deadlock was finally broken by his acceding
to my wishes, but in October, 1906, just as the completed plans were
finally ready to submit to the commission, I was compelled by severe
illness to return to the United States. There remained three American
and three Filipino members of the commission. One of the former was
Mr. W. Morgan Shuster, then secretary of public instruction. Prior
to the time when he became a candidate for a secretaryship he had
been bitter in his criticism of the Filipinos. Coincidently with the
development of this ambition he became almost more pro-Filipino than
some of the Filipino politicians themselves. For a time he seemed to
control the Filipino vote on the commission and largely as a result of
his activities every important matter which I left pending, including
that of the establishment of the great general hospital so vitally
needed by the people of the islands, was laid on the table. I was
informed that Mr. Shuster had announced that we could have $125,000
for the hospital and no more! We needed $400,000.
Beginning on the day after my return the following April these several
projects, including that for the Baguio Hospital and that for the
Philippine General Hospital. were taken from the table and passed.
Construction work goes slowly in the tropics. One ward pavilion of the
Philippine General Hospital was occupied on September 1, 1910. Soon
afterward the four others came into use.
On June 10, 1907, a medical college was opened. It was called "The
Philippine Medical School." Its creation at this time was made possible
by the existence of the Bureaus of Science and Health. Its staff was
at the outset recruited very largely from these two bureaus. The
director of the Bureau of Science was made its dean and continued
to hold this position until his death. To his unselfish efforts and
to those of the director of health is due the well-organized modern
college which we have to-day. In lieu of better quarters the first
classes were held in an old Spanish government building which was
altered and added to until it answered the purpose reasonably well.
The preparation of the act which provided for the establishment of
this college was intrusted to me. I called for the assistance of a
committee of technical experts and asked that they submit a draft
for my consideration, which they did. It contained a provision to the
effect that the college should be under the administrative control of
the secretary of the interior. I struck out the words "secretary of the
interior" and inserted in lieu thereof the words "secretary of public
instruction" for two reasons. First, the school theoretically belongs
under that official, in spite of its necessarily close relationship
with the Bureau of Science and the Bureau of Health. Second, I wanted
the support of the secretary of public instruction for the measure,
as it involved considerable expenditure and I was not sure how the
bill might fare in the commission. It happened that the incumbent
of that position was very much inclined to take a liberal view of
bills which extended his jurisdiction. Mr. Taft, when he visited
the Philippines in 1909, reached the conclusion that I was guilty
of an error of judgment in doing this, and a little later expressed
the view that the Medical College ought to be under the control of
the secretary of the interior, because of its intimate relationship
with the bureaus above mentioned. I might perhaps even then have had
this change made, but refrained from attempting to do so, believing
that all would go well under the existing arrangement. So long as
Dr. Freer lived this was the case.
He was a man of absolute honesty and sincerity of purpose, and
was far-seeing enough fully to realize that the interests of the
government, and of individuals as well, would best be served by
carrying out the broad and liberal policy which was then in effect.
The next event of importance was the establishment of the University
of the Philippines, which was provided for by an Act passed on June
18, 1908.
The Philippine Medical School was in due time incorporated with the
university as its College of Medicine and Surgery, passing under the
executive control of the university board of regents.
At this time the plan of which I had dreamed so many years before
was in full force and effect and was working admirably. Members of
the Bureau of Science staff served on the college faculty and held
appointments in the Philippine General Hospital as well, one of them
being the chief of a division there. Members of the college faculty
carried on research work at the Bureau of Science. The great working
library installed in the building of the latter bureau served as the
medical library. Members of the college faculty also rendered important
service in the Philippine General Hospital, where two of them were
chiefs of divisions, two held important positions on the house staff
and numerous others served as interns. Officers of the Bureau of Health
were appointed to the faculty of the college and carried on research
work at the Bureau of Science. The staff of the latter bureau made
the chemical and biological examinations needed in connection with
the work of the hospital as well as those required by the Bureau of
Health. The Bureau of Science manufactured the sera and prophylactics
required by the Bureau of Health in its work. The two large operating
amphitheatres in the Philippine General Hospital were planned with
especial reference to the accommodation of students, who could pass
along a gallery from one to the other. The work of the free clinic,
attended daily by hundreds of Filipinos seeking relief, was largely
turned over to the college faculty, and increased opportunities were
thus given for medical students to study actual cases.
The arrangement was an ideal one. It excited the admiration of numerous
visiting European and American experts, who were competent to judge
of its merits, and its continued success was dependent only upon the
honesty of purpose, loyalty and good faith of the several parties
to it.
Then came the untimely death of Dr. Freer. A few months later an
attempt was made by certain university officers to secure control of
the professional work of the hospital for that institution, leaving
the director of health and the secretary of the interior in charge
of the nurses, servants, accounts and property, and burdened with
the responsibility for the results of work involving life and death,
but without voice in the choice of the men who were to perform it.
Those who were responsible for this effort evidently had not taken
the trouble to read the law, and I had only to call attention to its
provisions in order to end for the time this first effort to disturb
the existing logical distribution of work between the two institutions.
Before I left Manila in October, 1913, a second attempt was being made
to secure control of the professional work of the hospital for the
university, but this time the plan was more far-reaching, in that it
contemplated the transfer to the university of control of the Bureau of
Science as well; and more logical, in that a bill accomplishing these
ends had been drafted for consideration by the Filipinized legislature.
The original plan for the cooerdination of the scientific work of
the Philippine government was sound in principle and will, I trust,
eventually be carried out, whatever may be done temporarily to upset
it during a period of disturbed political conditions. There is much
consolation to be derived from contemplating the fact that pendulums
swing.
NOTES
[1] Cuyo, Palawan, Balabac, Cagayan de Jolo, Jolo proper, Basilan,
Mindanao, Panay, Guimaras, Negros, Siquijor, Cebu, Bohol, Samar,
Leyte, Masbate, Marinduque and Mindoro.
[2] I employ the noun Filipinos to designate collectively the eight
civilized, Christianized peoples, called respectively the Cagayans,
Ilocanos, Pangasinans, Zambalans, Pampangans, Tagalogs, Bicols and
Visayans, or any of them; the adjective Filipino to designate anything
pertaining to these peoples, or any of them; the noun Philippines
to designate the country, and the adjective Philippine to designate
anything pertaining to the country as distinguished from its people.
[3] Busuanga, Culion, Tawi Tawi, Tablas, Romblon and Sibuyan.
[4] I use the word "Insurgents" as a proper noun, to designate the
Filipinos who took up arms against the United States, hence capitalize
it, and the adjective derived from it.
[5] General Aguinaldo.
[6] Beginning with the letters "P.I.R."
[7] See pp. 53, 55, 68.
[8] See pp. 27, 47, 49, 63 of this book for repetitions and variations
of this charge of Aguinaldo.
[9] See p. 31 of his book, "The American Occupation of the
Philippines," in referring to which I will hereafter use the word
Blount, followed by a page number.
[10] U. S. Consul General Rounseville Wildman of Hongkong.
[11] U. S. Consul O. F. Williams of Manila.
[12] Blount, p. 43.
[13] A term, more or less corresponding to mayor, then applied to
the ranking municipal officer of a _pueblo_ or town.
[14] Eight hundred thousand Mexican dollars, the actual value of
which constantly fluctuated.
[15] The Ilocanos are one of the eight civilized peoples who
collectively make up the Filipinos. They number 803,942, and inhabit
certain provinces in northern Luzon.
[16] I have not felt at liberty to correct spelling, capitalization,
punctuation or grammar in quotations, except in the case of perfectly
evident printer's errors. It should be remembered that the results
of Taylor's work were left in the form of galley proof.
[17] Taylor, 42 F Z-43 F Z.
[18] For the history of this document, see p. 51.
[19] P.I.R., 1300.2.
[20] Senate Document 62, part 1, Fifty-fifth Congress, Third Session,
P. P. 341 _et seq_.
[21] Senate Document 62, part 1, Fifty-fifth Congress, Third Session;
also P.I.R., 496.
[22] Blount, pp. 11-12.
[23] Pratt.
[24] P.I.R., 516. 4.
[25] "The Consul--after telling me that, before arriving in Hongkong
harbor, a launch would be sent by the Admiral to secretly take us to
the North American squadron, a secrecy which pleased me also, as it
would avoid giving publicity to my acts--then advised me that I should
appoint him the representative of the Philippines in the United States
to promptly secure the official recognition of our independence. I
answered that whenever the Philippine government should be formed,
I would nominate him for the office he desired, although I considered
that but small recompense for his aid, and that in case of our having
the good fortune to secure our independence I would bestow upon him
a high post in the customs service besides granting the commercial
advantages and the participation in the expenses of the war which the
Consul asked for his Government in Washington, since the Filipinos
agreed in advance to what is here stated, considering it a proper
testimonial of gratitude."--P.I.R., 1300. 2.
[26] Blount, p. 12
[27] Blount, pp. 8-9.
[28] Ibid., p. 9.
[29] The following is one of them:--
"_H. Kong_, May 16, 1898.
"Senor Don Jose Enrique Basa:
"My Dear Enrique: As an aid to the American policy in the
Philippines,--America being the most liberal and humanitarian nation
in the world,--I earnestly recommend the widest possible circulation
of the proclamation which I send herewith in order that the Americans
may be supported in the war against the tyrannical friars and the
Spaniards who have connived with them, and that public order, so
necessary under the present conditions, be preserved.
"Thy relative, twenty-six years an emigrant.
(Signed) "_J. M. Basa_."
--P.I.R., 1204-10.
[30] P.I.R., 1204-10.
[31] Ibid., 1204-10.
[32] P.I.R., 53-2.
[33] Teodoro Sandico, an influential Tagalog leader, who spoke English
well and afterward served as a spy while employed by the Americans
as an interpreter.
[34] Senor Garchitorena was a wealthy Tagalog of Manila, and, at
this time, a prominent member of the Hongkong junta.
[35] Dr. Galicano Apacible, a very intelligent and rather conservative
Tagalog physician. After Aguinaldo left Hongkong, he was the leading
member of the junta.
[36] Sr. Graco Gonzaga, a prominent Filipino lawyer of the province
of Cagayan.
[37] There is an illegible word in the original.
[38] P.I.R., 406-5.
[39] P.I.R., 398. 9.
[40] "_Hongkong_, 12 Jan. 1899,--2 P.M.
"_Senator Hoar_, Washington.
"As the man who introduced General Aguinaldo to the American
government through the consul at Singapore, I frankly state that the
conditions under which Aguinaldo promised to cooperate with Dewey
were independence under a protectorate. I am prepared to swear to
this. The military party suborned correspondents are deceiving the
American nation by means of malevolent lying statements. If your
powerful influence does not change this insensate policy there will
be a hopeless conflict with the inevitable results disastrous for
the Americans.
"_Bray_."
--P.I.R., 853-4.
[41] "Then Aguinaldo had an interview with the United States consul
in Hongkong, in which he told him that he was anxious to become an
American citizen, but this being impossible, he desired to be allowed
to return to the Philippines and place himself under the orders of
Commodore Dewey. According to the brother of that Consul, who certainly
must have had opportunities for knowing the facts in the case, he
made no demands for independence, but said that he hoped that the
Americans would not leave the Filipinos to their fate, but would annex
the Philippines and protect them against the Spaniards. He promised
the Consul that he would fight with the Americans and not attempt to
foment a revolution against the United States. His highest expressed
aim was to throw off the Spanish yoke, and, that once accomplished,
he would abide by the decision of the United States as to the ultimate
disposition of the Philippines. If Aguinaldo had expressed his real
intentions of obtaining arms and using them only for his own purposes,
and, if he found it expedient, against the United States, it is not
to be thought that he would have been returned to the Philippines on
a United States vessel."--Taylor, 44 F Z.
[42] P.I.R., 471. 7.
[43] P.I.R., 1300. 2.
[44] Admiral Dewey's testimony, from which I quote extracts, will
be found in Senate Documents, Vol. 25.57 Congress, 1st session,
pp. 2928, 2941.
[45] P.I.R., 1300.2.
[46] P.I.R., 1300.2.
[47] Taylor, 4 MG., E.
[48] Report of the Philippine commission to the President. January 31,
1900. Vol. I, p. 121.
[49] P.I.R., 396. 3.
[50] Ibid., 396. 3.
[51] P.I.R., 461.4.
[52] "My Dear Brother: I inform you that we arrived here in Cavite
at eleven o'clock and disembarked at four o'clock in the afternoon
after our conference with the American Admiral. Everything appears
to be favourable for obtaining our independence. I cannot say more
on that subject as it would take too long.
"I have no other object in writing this except to ask you and your
companions to meet at once and arrange the best way to entrap all the
enemy in your town, employing deceit, for instance, make a present
of whatever you think best to the chiefs successively and then
at once enter the houses and attack them, or if not this, do what
you think best. Show valor and resolution, brothers, the hour has
arrived for the Philippines to belong to her sons and not to them,
only one step and we shall reach Independence; be constant, brothers,
and be united in feelings, do not imitate those who show two faces,
whatever such people do sooner or later they will be slaves. Respect
foreigners and their property, also enemies who surrender.
"I want you to know that in respect toour conduct I have promised
the American Admiral and other nations, that we shall carry on modern
war. Even if a Spaniard surrenders, he must be pardoned and treated
well and then you will see that our reputation will be very good in
all Europe which will declare for our Independence; but if we do not
conduct ourselves thus the Americans will decide to sell us or else
divide up our territory as they will hold us incapable of governing
our land, we shall not secure our liberty; rather the contrary;
our own soil will be delivered over to other hands.
"Therefore, my brethren, I urge that we strive to unite our efforts,
and let us fire our hearts with the idea of vindicating our
country. Many nations are on our side."--P.I.R., 12. 1.
[53] Mabini was a Tagalog paralytic of exceptional ability. In my
opinion he was the strongest man whom the revolution produced.
[54] P.I.R., 451. 1.
[55] Extract from the Journal of Simeon Villa.
"The memorable month of August, 1896, arrived. Aguinaldo was 'master'
of the Cavite Lodge. Moreover, he was a member of the 'Katipunan'
Society and the chief of the many members who were in the pueblo of
Cavite Viejo. What was to be done? Aguinaldo, not knowing what to do,
and mindful of the fact that the curate there knew positively that
he was not only a mason, but also the chief of the Katipunans of his
pueblo, considered it expedient on the night of August 29 to at once
call a meeting of all the compromised persons in his town. Aguinaldo
made clear to them their grave situation.
"They all agreed that on the following day Aguinaldo, their chief,
should make representations to the Governor of Cavite; so he went away
very early the following morning, presented himself to the governor,
and in the name of the people of Cavite Viejo offered him their
respects and their loyalty to Spain, at the same time requesting
him to condescend to send to his town a garrison of 100 men for
its security. The governor replied that he would first consult the
captain-general, and if the proposition was approved he would send
the garrison at once.
"As Aguinaldo was greatly beloved by the governor and his wife, they
offered him wine and sweetmeats. As soon as this was over he took
his leave and returned happy to his town. On arrival in the town
he assembled all the compromised persons and informed them of the
brilliant result of his efforts. Continuing, he told them that then was
the opportune moment for rising in arms against the Spaniards. To this
they unanimously replied by saying it was terrible, because no arms
were available, and that for this reason it would certainly prove to
be a disaster for them.
"But Aguinaldo, in company with his godfather, the lamented Candido
Tirona, insisted on convincing them with their strong arguments. They
made them understand that Spanish cruelty would annihilate them
without fail, and for no other reason than that they were members of
the Katipunan.
"As it happened, at that very time there were two 'Guardia Civil'
soldiers in the court-house. So at about 2 o'clock in the morning,
Aguinaldo and Tirona went directly to the court-house. Arriving there,
these two determined insurgent chiefs intimated to the guards that
they should surrender their equipments. These replied that it was
impossible, and said they would die first. Instantly a struggle ensued
between the four men, which lasted nearly an hour. But it resulted in
favor of the insurgent chiefs who succeeded in taking the guns and
cartridges. Once in possession of these armaments, the two chiefs,
accompanied by a number of the town people, directed themselves to
the convent in order to capture the curate. Very unfortunately for
them, the curate was no longer there when they arrived; he had made
his escape. While the struggle was going on with the guards in the
court-house, he received the news and fled at once by embarking in
a native boat.
"The insurgent chiefs then returned to the court-house and immediately
prepared a communication to all the municipal captains in the provinces
of Cavite, Batangas and Laguna, inviting them to at once rise against
Spain, and stating that their own town of Cavite Viejo was already
freed from slavery.
"Each one of these communications was sent out by a mounted courier,
so that before the expiration of many hours all the towns in Cavite
Province were informed of what had taken place in Cavite Viejo.
"On the following day some of the towns took up arms. At the same
time Aguinaldo, in company with many people from his town, marched on
Imus in order to attack the Spanish troops who were there. When he
arrived in Imus the people of this town at once joined him and they
all went to the convent, in which were the friars and the soldiers
of the 'Guardia Civil.' Just as he arrived at the atrium of the
Church his companions did not wish to follow him, for fear that the
soldiers were occupying the church tower. So Aguinaldo advanced alone
until he reached the door of the convent. Once here, he called his
companions to aid him. But these were not so determined as he was,
and only about five responded. When these got to where Aguinaldo was,
he commenced breaking in the door which was soon open. They went
upstairs, but they found nobody, since the friars and soldiers had
crossed over to the treasury building.
"Aguinaldo's companions were now numerous, because the others followed
him when they saw that nothing happened to those who went up into
the convent; and all of these went immediately to the treasury
building, in which were the friars and soldiers whom they were
hunting. When they reached it they found the doors closed, so they
could not pass. Aguinaldo ordered the house burned. Those in hiding
inside the house were without any other remedy and had to surrender;
but meanwhile some of them had been burned to death, among these a
lieutenant of the 'Guardia Civil.' By this victory Aguinaldo succeeded
in taking 17 rifles and two 2 1/2 pounder guns."--P.I.R., 869.
[56] "My Beloved Countrymen: I accepted the agreement of peace
proposed by Don Pedro A. Paterno after his consultation with the
Captain-General of the islands (Philippines), agreeing in consequence
thereof to surrender our arms and disband the troops under my immediate
command under certain conditions, as I believed it more advantageous
for the country than to continue the insurrection, for which I had but
limited resources, but as some of the said conditions were not complied
with, some of the bands are discontented and have not surrendered
their arms. Five months have elapsed without the inauguration of
any of the reforms which I asked in order to place our country on
a level with civilized people--for instance, our neighbor, Japan,
which in the short space of twenty years has reached a point where
she has no reason to envy any one, her strength and ascendency being
shown in the last war with China. I see the impotence of the Spanish
Government to contend with certain elements which oppose constant
obstacles to the progress of the country itself and whose destructive
influence has been one of the causes of the uprising of the masses,
and as the great and powerful North American nation has offered its
disinterested protection to secure the liberty of this country, I again
assume command of all the troops in the struggle for the attainment
of our lofty aspirations, inaugurating a dictatorial government to be
administered by decrees promulgated under my sole responsibility and
with the advice of distinguished persons until the time when these
islands, being under our complete control, may form a constitutional
republican assembly and appoint a president and cabinet, into whose
hands I shall then resign the command of the islands.
"_Emilio Aguinaldo_.
Given at Cavite, May 24, 1898."--P.I.R. 206.6.
[57] "The great North American nation, the cradle of genuine liberty
and therefore the friend of our people oppressed and enslaved by
the tyranny and despotism of its ruler, has come to us manifesting a
protection as decisive as it is undoubtedly disinterested toward our
inhabitants, considering us as sufficiently civilized and capable of
governing ourselves and our unfortunate country. In order to maintain
this high estimate granted us by the generous North American nation
we should abominate all those deeds which tend to lower this opinion,
which are pillage, theft, and all sorts of crimes relating to persons
or property, with the purpose of avoiding international conflict
during the period of our campaign."--P.I.R., 43. 3.
[58] Of this extraordinary occurrence Taylor says:--
"Invitations to the ceremony of the declaration of independence
were sent to Admiral Dewey; but neither he nor any of his officers
were present. It was, however, important to Aguinaldo that some
American should be there whom the assembled people would consider a
representative of the United States. 'Colonel' Johnson, ex-hotel keeper
of Shanghai, who was in the Philippines exhibiting a cinematograph,
kindly consented to appear on this occasion as Aguinaldo's Chief of
Artillery and the representative of the North American nation. His
name does not appear subsequently among the papers of Aguinaldo. It
is possible that his position as colonel and chief of artillery was a
merely temporary one which enabled him to appear in a uniform which
would befit the character of the representative of a great people
upon so solemn an occasion!"--Taylor, 26 A J.
[59] P.I.R., 451.4.
[60] P.I.R., 451.4.
[61] See p. 50.
[62] "They are aware that a Government has been established here from
the beginning: first the Dictatorial, and afterwards, when several
provinces had been freed from Spanish domination, there was implanted
in the same a proper organization, and thus a new Government was
established in the form best adapted to the principles of liberty;
but notwithstanding all this and in spite of their protestations of
friendship, they have always refused to recognize that government.
"The things they request involve the recognition of a right which we
cannot and ought not to grant, unless they recognize our Government
and unless the limits of the powers of both sides be defined. If they
wish us to recognize them in Cavite, let them recognize our rights
in Paranaque.
"The United States are our creditors more than any other nation;
not only are they due the gratitude of the Filipino people, but
also they should be allowed to profit by the advantages this people
can grant them without loss of our legitimate right to a free and
independent life. Therefore we are disposed to make a treaty or
convention with them. They will be no longer able to allege the
lack of national character, for in the near future there is to be
assembled the Revolutionary Congress composed of the Representatives
of the provinces.
"They should understand that they have come to make war on the
Spaniards; that the Filipinos have risen in arms against the same enemy
to achieve their liberty and independence; and that in consequence they
cannot exercise dominion over us without violation of international
law. If they persist in refusing to recognize our Government, we shall
see ourselves obliged to come to an agreement with any other government
that will consent to recognize us on friendly terms."--P.I.R., 58.
[63] Blount, p. 24.
[64] P.I.R., 416. 1.
[65] _Ibid._, 102. 5.
[66] Senate Document 208, 1900, p. 9.
[67] Taylor, 26 A J.
[68] P.I.R., 5. 10.
[69] "Going to Singapore, I had several interviews with the Consul of
the United States, Mr. Spencer Pratt, who informed me that the war was
directed against Spain only and that in addition your action in the
Philippines had as an object the independence of my beloved country.
"The Commander of the _MacCulloch_ telegraphed me also from Hongkong,
offering in the name of Commodore Dewey, to take me to Cavite, in
order to raise the Filipinos against Spain.
"Without any written treaty, counting only upon the sacred word of
American citizens, I went to Hongkong, embarked on the _MacCulloch_
and a few days later had the honor to make the acquaintance of the
victorious Commodore Dewey, who likewise informed me that he had
come to make war against Spain, that he had annihilated the fleet
of Admiral Montojo and that the United States desired to give the
Philippines their independence."--P.I.R., 441.2.
[70] P.I.R., 102. 1.
[71] P.I.R., Books C-1.
[72] P. 39.
[73] For J. M. Basa.
[74] P.I.R., 507-7.
[75] P.I.R., 477. 1.
[76] "Until the Philippine question is finally decided, you would do
well in not having any controversy with the Americans. After having
secured the extinction of Spanish control for good, you may then
liquidate accounts with the United States in the event that they wish
to control in the interior; but in the meantime, let what will occur,
do not allow yourself to have any controversy with them. Matters are
in a very delicate state at the present time."--P.I.R., 398. 3.
In a postscript to the same letter Bray says:--
"America is a great nation and does not wish that conditions be
dictated to her. I am more than ever convinced that you must be
patient and await what they propose, without opposing their wishes
and insanities, before the questions before the Paris Congress are
definitely settled and the islands ceded by Spain; then there would
still be time to show your teeth if they try to govern the country. I
would not object at present to them taking up their residence there
and acting in the capacity of guard for good government, placing
our trust for the future in Providence which will never abandon the
Philippines."--P.I.R.
[77] Blount, p. 283.
[78] _Ibid_., p. 283.
[79] See p. 74.
[80] "Both Spanish fleets had been destroyed and Spain had but one
left to protect her own coast cities. The death knell of her once
proud colonial empire had sounded. Decrepit as she was, she could not
possibly have sent any reinforcements to the Philippines. Besides,
the Filipinos would have 'eaten them up.'"--Blount, p. 127.
[81] P.I.R., 471.4.
[82] _Ibid_., 471.4.
[83] _Ibid_., 450. 2.
[84] P.I.R., 471.4.
[85] "You should not forget what I have stated at the beginning of this
letter; because I am of the opinion that those questions should be well
considered by all of you. If our people desire independence under the
American protectorate, it is necessary that our representatives to
the United States be given instructions as to the conditions which
we should grant to the United States. The peace negotiations are in
full blast, and it is probable that we will be rather late in sending
our representatives. Therefore, if you agree to independence under a
protectorate, you should recommend it at once. I leave it, however,
to your care, as you are better qualified than myself concerning the
conditions of our country."--P.I.R., 471.4.
[86] "My Dear Friend: ... The last telegrams from Europe which
Felipe will send you by this mail are alarming for our future. The
preliminaries of peace are announced. The demand of America is,
annexation of Porto Rico and the Ladrone Islands, independence of
Cuba under an American protectorate and an American coaling station
in the Philippines. That is, they will again deliver us into the hands
of Spain. On the other hand, all the powers will unite to prevent the
annexation of the Philippines, according to the telegrams of Regidor;
the American cabinet hesitates about including us in the negotiations
for peace from fear of a conflict with us and the Filipinos in Europe
advise us to send a message to America giving our unconditional
adhesion. If events will be what these telegrams indicate, we have a
dark and bloody future before us. To be again in the hands of Spain
will mean a long and bloody war, and it is doubtful whether the end
will be favourable to us. The treaty of peace sanctioned by the other
powers will assure the dominion of Spain. Spain free from Cuba and
her other colonies will employ all her energy to crush us and will
send here the 150,000 men she has in Cuba. I do not think that the
Filipinos will again submit to their tyrants and there will be a long
and bloody war. And on account of the treaty the other powers will
aid Spain to completely dominate us and place all possible obstacles
in our way to prevent shipment of arms and all kinds of revolutionary
labours. In view of all this and bearing in mind the present urgency
of the matter, it is necessary for that government to establish and
publish its policy. We believe that the best for us and the only
feasible one, if we want to establish negotiations with America,
is independence under an American protectorate."--P.I.R., 453.3.
[87] "The policy which you will pursue in the United States is the
following one:--
"Make them understand that whatever may be their intention towards us,
it is not possible for them to overrule the sentiments of the people
represented by the government, and they must first recognize it if
we are to come to an agreement. Still do not accept any contracts
or give any promises respecting protection or annexation, because we
will see first if we can obtain independence. This is what we shall
endeavour to secure; meanwhile, if it should be possible to do so,
still give them to understand in a way that you are unable to bind
yourself but that once we are independent, we will be able to make
arrangements with them."--P.I.R., Books C-1.
[88] P.I.R., 5. 7.
[89] In a letter written on that date to Agoncillo he says:--
"Notwithstanding, I enclose you the credentials as requested; thereby
you will see that in addition to your representing us at Washington,
you may assist the commission they have formed for the purpose of
determining the future condition of the Philippines.
"But you must act in such manner that they may not be able to say
that we have accepted the said commission, because it is my wish to
protect [protest? D. C. W.] at all times against their being charged
with determining our destiny. You must bear in mind that the policy of
the government is to obtain absolute independence, and if perchance
we should know by the course of events that such cannot be the case,
we will then think of protection or annexation."--P.I.R., Books C-1.
[90] On August 30, 1898, Aguinaldo wrote Agoncillo:--
"It is said that General Merritt is going away to take part in the
work of the Commission. On this account it is important that you
proceed as quickly as possible to America, in order to know what
takes place. If perchance we should go back to Spanish control, ask
them to help us as the French helped them during their own revolution
and ask also the terms."--P.I.R., Books C--1.
[91] Taylor, 18 AJ.
[92] See p. 61.
[93] _Ibid_.
[94] Some time during August, 1898, Sandico wrote a letter to Aguinaldo
of which the postscript reads as follows:--
"P.S.--If you think of appointing me as Delegate to Manila, please
send me my credentials. There are also annexationists here [_i.e._,
in Manila.--D. C. W.]."--P.I.R., 416. 3.
[95] Now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippine
Islands. He is a man of excellent character, high attainments and
great ability. He held important legal positions under the Spanish
government. In October, 1898, he was appointed Secretary of Foreign
Relations of the "Philippine Republic," but never served as such
officer. He was given the degree of Doctor of Law by Yale University
in 1904.
[96] Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera, one of the most brilliant living
Filipinos. He had spent many years in Paris, was a talented physician,
and under American rule served for more than seven years as a member
of the Philippine Commission.
[97] Taylor, 55 AJ.
[98] Taylor, 26 AJ.
[99] Senate Documents, Vol. 25, Fifty-seventh Congress, First Session,
p. 2969.
[100] Senate Documents, Vol. 25, pp. 2931-2932.
[101] Senate Documents, Vol. 25, p. 2956.
[102] _Ibid_., p. 2966.
[103] _Ibid_., p. 2966.
[104] Senate Documents, Vol. 25, p. 2955.
[105] _Ibid._, p. 2952.
[106] The following passage is an extract from an unsigned order
dated July 22, 1898:--
"For the preservation of peace and good order in the community and
to put an end to the acts of those who within and without the city
of Manila and in the neighboring provinces not under the control
of the Spanish Government, are evading the orders issued by these
Headquarters, and in view of the large number of those who are
storing and monopolizing food and other most necessary articles,
under the pretence of desiring to sell them to the Americans, but
whose real intention is to ship them secretly to Manila where they
receive higher prices for their merchandise, without regard for the
injury they are doing the cause of our independence, I have seen fit
to decree the following: ... " P.I.R., 45.5 and 125. 3.
Relative to this matter, Taylor says:--
"The defection of Buencamino and Pilar had opened the road to
Aguinaldo, but at first the blockade was not effective. There were too
many natives there with friends and relations in Aguinaldo's camp to
make him desire to subject the city to the hardships of an effective
siege. And, furthermore, he did not have the force, nor did his men
have the necessary discipline, to prevent the ingress of supplies. It
was not until the first part of July that the price of provisions
increased. It was at no time found necessary by the authorities to take
over all the stores of provisions in the city. Indeed, there seems to
have been a fairly steady traffic in supplies between Manila and the
country to the north. It was a traffic in which it has been charged
that certain Spanish officers of rank made large sums. Aguinaldo
permitted it, and on July 26, 1898, signed an order directing that
food should be sent into Manila from the north to prevent starvation
in the city, and ordered the heads of the towns in the vicinity not
to interfere with this traffic (P.I.R., 1087-4). The entrance of food
supplies was confined to the northern line, for then it would not be
known to the Americans who, after July 30, occupied the entrenchments
in front of San Antonio Abad. It was not expedient for them to see
too much of Aguinaldo's methods."--Taylor, 14 AJ.
[107] P.I.R., 398. 2.
[108] Senate Document 331, p. 2976, 1902.
[109] P.I.R., 102-10.
[110] P.I.R., Books C-1.
[111] P.I.R., 102-10.
[112] _Ibid._
[113] P.I.R., 102. 10.
[114] _Ibid_., Books C-1.
[115] _Ibid_., 102-10.
[116] P.I.R., 102-10.
[117] Now a major-general.
[118] P.I.R., 102-10.
[119] _Ibid._
[120] _Ibid._
[121] "Debtor to the generosity of the North Americans, and to the
favors we have received through Admiral Dewey and (being) more desirous
than any other person of preventing any conflict which would have as
a result foreign intervention, which must be extremely prejudicial,
not alone to my nation, but also to that of Your Excellency, I consider
it my duty to advise you of the undesirability of disembarking North
American troops in the places conquered by tho Filipinos from the
Spanish, without previous notice to this government, because as no
formal agreement yet exists between the two nations the Philippine
people might consider the occupation of its territories by North
American troops as a violation of its rights.
"I comprehend that without the destruction of the Spanish squadron the
Philippine revolution would not have advanced so rapidily. Because
of this I take the liberty of indicating to Your Excellency the
necessity that before disembarking, you should communicate in writing
to this government the places that are to be occupied and also the
object of the occupation, that the people may be advised in due
form and (thus) prevent the commission of any transgression against
friendship."--P.I.R., Books C-1.
[122] Blount, p. 59.
[123] On July 15 General Noriel telegraphed Aguinaldo as follows:--
"Urgent. Received a telegram from the captain adjutant, who is in
Paranaque, of the following tenor: 'I inform your excellency that
two cascos of armed Americans have arrived at this point. I await
orders from Your Excellency.' Which I hasten to communicate to Your
Excellency for the proper action."--P.I.R., 849.
Later on the same day Arevalo telegraphed Aguinaldo as follows:--
"Lieutenant-Colonel Duboce with three hundred men waiting for more
troops from Cavite, and also orders, but not to attack."--P.I.R., 849.
[124] Captain Torres telegraphed Aguinaldo on July 15 as follows:--
"I have read all your telegrams and carried out the same, and I
incidentally questioned them about their purposes, [they] replying that
they will aid; let time demonstrate it. They also intend to encamp over
here at Paranaque. I will report to you any occurrence."--P.I.R., 69.6.
[125] P.I.R., 69. 5.
[126] Ibid., 849.
[127] "Admiral Dewey's Aide was here to-day. I told him I was ignorant
of your whereabouts and, if he had no objection, he might talk with
me as I am your representative; but he said that he could not do so,
as he had orders to speak with you personally, about something very
important. He then departed."--P.I.R., 1179. 5.
[128] The following telegram was addressed to the President or the
Secretary of War by Sulpicio at Bacoor, on August 8, 1898:--
"Last night I received a telegram from General Noriel, asking
for 100 cavanes of rice which he needs immediately, since he has
ordered to send him all the troops here on account of the landing of
Americans in Paranaque. General Mascardo will send him the troops
which are here. There are 56 bundles [of rice.--TR.] deposited in
this storehouse."--P.I.R., 1179. 5.
[129] This man's record is not known to me. Apparently he was an
officer in the Spanish army, for he is later reported as surrendering
to the Insurgents at Santa Ana on August 13, 1898. See footnote 4,
p. 104.
[130] Taylor, 33 AJ.
[131] Artemio Ricarte was one of the ranking Insurgent generals
directing operations against Manila.
[132] P.I.R., 1087. 5.
[133] Taylor, 30 AJ.
[134] Taylor, 30 AJ.
[135] P.I.R., 849.
[136] On August 2, 1899, Agoncillo wrote Mabini:--
"I send Don Emilio the information I have been able to obtain here,
in order that in view thereof you [plural] may consider the best
solution of our present political problem, which is an exceptional
case in history. In my opinion, the most critical moment, which I
call agonizing, whether correctly or not I know not, is the capture of
Manila, where General Merritt will constitute a provisional government,
in compliance with the instructions from his Government. It is
unnecessary to recommend that you observe great tact, great prudence,
when this event occurs. Ascertain the real wishes of the people in
this conflict and the war resources at our disposal and those which
you may count on during the struggle until its termination."
--P.I.R., 451.3.
In his document entitled "Means for Attaining Filipino Independence"
Aguinaldo had written:--
"VIII. Exterior attack. Above everything the Revolutionists must occupy
all Manila including the Walled City with the object and purpose that
the nation possessing the Philippines according to the decision of the
Powers will be forced to come to an understanding with the Filipinos
to avoid the shedding of blood."--P.I.R., 457. 5.
[137] Taylor, 29 AJ.
[138] That is, the surrender of Manila.
[139] Fort San Antonio A'bad.
[140] Senate Documents, Vol. 25, p. 2943.
[141] "I must tell you that I feel as you should feel in regard to
our government not having officially participated in the capitulation
of Manila. Accordingly the war must be continued with Spain, because,
if we attack to-night, the Americans, acting upon the request of the
Spaniards and foreigners in addition to those who took part in the
capitulation, will have to ask us to suspend operations; hence we shall
be included in the negotiations and this will work to our advantage.
"To-night at 2 A.M. you will attack without fail in order that we may
be included in the capitulation which the Americans made to-day. You
must not stop the attacks because they do, and this is also the opinion
of our partisans among the foreigners."--P.I.R., 1179. 5 & 427. 5.
[142] "Our Rule in the Philippines," The _North American Review_,
1900, No. 170.
[143] General Ricarte to Aguinaldo, August 12, 1898, 11.15 P.M.:
"Have received the telegram from your honourable person regarding
attack at four o'clock in the morning, although we will make the
attack anyway. I have directed Gen. Pio Del Pilar begin firing cannon
at the hour set. At the present time we are making preparations and
will also give orders to the chiefs of the columns."--P.I.R., 849.
[144] "August 13, 1898.
"Dated. Camp Dewey 13. To General Aguinaldo. Commanding Philippine
Forces, Bacoor: Do not let your troops enter Manila without the
permission of the American commander on this side of Pasig river. You
will be under our fire.
"_Anderson_, Brig. General."
--P.I.R., 102-10.
[145] "Copy: Gen. Riego, Cavite: Have just received a note from
Gen. Anderson saying to me he does not permit my troops to enter Manila
without permission from the American commander on this side of the
Pasig River. They will be under his fire. Go with Senor Buencamino
and ask for an explanation, in writing if possible, as to the motive
for said note, without losing a moment. August 13, '98. E.A."
--P.I.R., 849.
[146] "I received a telegram. My interpreter is in Cavite. In
consequence of this I have not answered until now. My troops are
forced by yours, by means of threats of violence, to retire from
positions taken. It is necessary to avoid conflict, which I should
lament, that you order your troops that they avoid difficulty with
mine, as until now they have conducted themselves as brothers to take
Manila. I have given strict orders to my chiefs that they preserve
strict respect to American forces and to aid them in ease they are
attacked by a common enemy."
[147] Gregorio Araneta, later a member of the Philippine Commission
and Secretary of Finance and Justice. He was Secretary of Justice
under the Malolos government, and was also secretary of the Insurgent
Congress. He was at this time a bright young lawyer of good ability
and character.
[148] P.I.R., 849.
[149] _Ibid_.
[150] P.I.R., 849.
[151] _Ibid_., 849.
[152] _Ibid_., 1179. 5.
[153] _Ibid_.
[154] _Ibid_.
[155] Report of War Dept., 1898, Vol. I, part 2, p. 69.
[156] Taylor, Exhibit 739.
[157] The following two telegrams were sent by General Pio del Pilar
to Aguinaldo at 9.30 P.M.:--
"I inform you that the Bayambang troops who have presented themselves
before me when we entered Santa Ana this afternoon, are: 4 lieutenants,
171 soldiers with their respective rifles and ammunitions, Major
Fernando Acevedo, Captain Licerio Geronimo, 1 Spanish lieutenant,
and 1 prisoner by the name of Enrique Flores. All of them I put under
your orders."--P.I.R., 1179.5.
"Very urgent. I inform you of the capture made by my soldiers:
2 lieutenants of the Marine Corps, 2 lieutenants of the Spanish
Infantry, 52 soldiers. Rifles about 400. I put them under your orders
and await your instructions."--P.I.R., 1179. 5.
[158] The Spanish Governor-General.
[159] P.I.R., 1300. 2.
[160] Taylor, 58 HJ.
[161] _Ibid_., 59.
[162] See footnote 2, p. 108.
[163] P.I.R., Books C-1.
[164] Taylor, 15 AJ.
[165] The word Indios, here translated "Indians," means Malayan
Filipinos of pure blood as distinguished from _mestizos_ or people
of mixed blood.
[166] P.I.R., 918. 2.
[167] The following telegram was sent by Colonel Jose to Aguinaldo:--
"Urgent. August 20, 1898: Colonel Lopez reports that our troops are
still sacking and committing outrages in Malate, Paco and Ermita,
even menacing people with their arms. Urge you to take proper measures
to stop these abuses."--P.I.R., 1167. 3.
[168] Extract from a letter of August 20, 1899, from Mabini to
Aguinaldo:
"Senor Lopez, your adjutant, arrived and told me of many complaints
regarding the behaviour of the soldiers. He says that our officers
carry off many horses, some of them belonging to foreigners. If the
foreigners should enter a protest against such doings, I do not know
what will be thought of our government.
"It is also absolutely necessary that a stop should be put to the
passes, and that the tax on merchandise entering Manila, should no
longer be exacted. It is absolutely necessary, if you think well
of it, for us to promote General Pio, and make him your second in
command. It is necessary for him to leave the vicinity of Manila,
as we cannot remove him by force; and do not reprimand him.
"If you approve, I will write a Decree, but I reflect that nothing
will succeed, if our commanders are not obliged to comply."
--P.I.R., 472. 13.
[169] _I.e._ the Americans.
[170] P.I.R., 458. 8.
[171] Major J. F. Bell accompanied Sandico on this trip.
[172] P.I.R., 1166. 12.
[173] "I regret very much to have to inform you that as long as
personal property is not respected here in Manila especially, by some
of our men, as long as personal security does not exist and as long
as prisoners are tortured, we cannot hope to deserve the confidence
of the other governments. Murders, thefts of carriages and horses,
are very frequent here, as is kidnapping,...
"Sergeant Barcena, of the Fifth Company of the Second Zone, that
is the zone of General Pio del Pilar, informed me that the cruel
officers of that Zone, were Major Carmona and a lieutenant who was
formerly a barber.
"I know that the Government has ordered that private persons and
property be respected and has withdrawn from the military the power of
trying civilians; but in view of the fact that notwithstanding this
restriction some of them continue to discharge powers of which they
have been divested, I find it necessary to call your attention thereto,
in order that more energetic measures may be adopted so that other
nations may not be led to believe that our government is very weak.
"In the jurisdiction of the Americans, I have surprised small groups
of officers, who devote themselves to summoning persons before them
and arresting them. These groups can be found in Binondo, Tondo and
Trozo. I have used all friendly measures to secure their dissolution,
but if they continue their conduct, I shall be obliged to turn them
over to the American authorities, although I inform you that I shall
not make use of such measures, until diplomatic means are exhausted.
"I understand very well that in endeavouring to stop the abuses
committed by our officers and by the Filipinos who claim to belong to
us, in Manila, I expose myself to becoming a victim of their vengeance;
nevertheless, this does not terrify me, because my duty to the country
requires it.
"I beg of you that if you take any steps against Major Carmona and the
barber lieutenant, to be very careful and call General Pio del Pilar
and come to an understanding with him as to the mode of punishment
of these officers ....
"I have discovered grave cases which are occurring in the Presidio of
Manila, which I propose to relate to you when I shall have the honor
to see you personally. The Americans are already aware of these cases,
and are working in their own interest untiringly.
"I could tell you a good many other things, but I do not do so on
account of lack of time, and because I wish to reserve them until I can
speak to you privately. In the meantime, order me as you will, etc."
--P.I.R., 416. 7.
[174] "General Anderson received us very well, but in the proposed
agreement the clauses requiring the prior permission of our commanders
before American troops could pass or approach our lines displeased him
very much. Gen. Anderson refuses to treat until after the withdrawal
of Noriel's troops. I think it prudent to yield. This telegram is in
amplification of another which, at the request of Gen. Anderson, we
sent through his telegraph station to your excellency."--P.I.R., 849.
[175] "It is impossible to order General Noriel to fall back because
if we order it they will ask the same thing from General Pio and
we shall get nothing ourselves. And the worst is that after we have
evacuated Manila and its environs they will follow us up to our new
positions to take them too without our being able to obtain from
them any formal statement of the concession signed in duo form. Tho
conflict is coming sooner or later and we shall gain nothing by asking
as favours of them what are really our rights. We shall maintain them
as long as we are able, confiding in Providence and in Justice. I
confirm my last telegram. Tell General Anderson that we shall hold
a meeting of the council of Government in order to decide. Please
return here soon with your companions. I inclose the map which I hope
you will return."--P.I.R., 427. 1.
[176] Senate Document No. 208, p. 22.
Back to Full Books
|