The Story of the Philippines and Our New Possessions,
by
Murat Halstead
Part 6 out of 10
any of the American vessels. The Brooklyn was one and three-tenths
miles distant from the Vizcaya and slightly behind it. The Oregon
was one and a half miles from the Vizcaya, but nearer the shore and
somewhat more astern of the enemy. The Texas was two and seven-tenths
miles from the Vizcaya and directly astern of the Oregon. The Iowa
was three and two-tenths miles directly astern of the Vizcaya. The New
York was five miles behind the Iowa. The Ericsson had kept along with
the New York all the time, and was, at this position, one-half a mile
in advance of it. The Indiana was nearly four miles behind the Iowa.
"Position No. 7, 1:15 p.m. The Colon surrendered. In the two hours
and ten minutes from the last position given the vessels had coursed
westward a great distance. The Colon had run twenty-six and one-half
miles and was off the Tarquino River. The Brooklyn was the nearest
American vessel. It had sailed twenty-eight and one-half miles and was
three and four-tenths miles from the Colon. The Oregon was four and
one-half miles from the Colon and more in shore than the Brooklyn. The
Texas was three and four-tenths miles behind the Oregon. The New York
was nine and one-half miles from the Colon. No one of the other vessels
had come up save the Vixen, which was abreast of the New York. This
little vessel in the beginning of the fight steamed out to sea and
sailed westward on a course about two and one-quarter miles from that
of the nearest Spanish ships.
"The tracings of the chart show that the Spanish vessels sailed on
courses not more than three-tenths of a mile apart until the Oquendo
ran ashore. Then the Vizcaya veered out to sea and the Colon kept
nearer the shore, their courses being about seven-tenths of a mile
apart. Up to the time the Oquendo went ashore the Iowa, Indiana,
Oregon, and Texas sailed on courses within three-tenths of a mile
of each other, the Iowa being the nearest and the Texas the farthest
from the course of the Spanish ships. The Brooklyn's course was from
three-tenths to one-half of a mile outside that of the Texas. The swing
to the right which the Brooklyn made at the beginning of the engagement
shows an oval four-tenths of a mile across. It crossed the courses of
the Texas, Oregon, and Indiana twice while making the turn, but before
these vessels had gone over them. The course of the New York after
passing Morro was nearer the shore than any other United States vessel
except the Gloucester, and a mile behind where the Oquendo turned to
run ashore it passed inside the courses of the Spanish vessels. Ten
miles west of the Vizcaya disaster it crossed the Colon's track, but
followed close the course of that vessel until the latter surrendered.
"The Iowa, Indiana, and Ericsson did not go further west than where
the Vizcaya ran ashore. The Gloucester stopped by the Maria Teresa
and Oquendo, as also did the Hist. The latter vessel was not able to
keep pace with the New York and Ericsson, the vessels it was with at
the beginning of the battle."
Major General Nelson A. Miles was carrying on, as master of the art
and science of war, a prospering campaign in Porto Rico, when the
protocol of peace between the United States and Spain was signed,
and "the war drum throbbed" no longer. It is the testimony of those
who have studied the management of the invasion of Porto Rico by the
military head of the army, that it was going on guided with consummate
skill when the war closed. The American forces had the pleasure in
Porto Rico of moving in a country that had not been desolated as Cuba
was. The island was a tropical picture of peace, only the glitter of
armies breaking the spell. The defenders had the help of good roads,
by which they could, on the inner lines, shift their columns with
rapidity and ease. But the Porto Rico people were largely favorable to
United States sovereignty--just as the Cubans would be if it were not
for the selfishness and jealousies, hatreds and scheming, regardless
of the favor or prosperity of the people, that the most deplorable
warfare known in the later years of the earth has engendered. It was
on October 18, 1898, that the American flag was raised over San Juan
de Porto Rico. The telegram of the Associated Press contained this
announcement of the ceremony and symbol by which was announced the
glorious initial chapter of a new dispensation that adds to America's
territory one of the loveliest islands of the sea:
San Juan de Porto Rico, Oct. 18.--Promptly at noon to-day the American
flag was raised over San Juan. The ceremony was quiet and dignified,
unmarred by disorder of any kind.
The Eleventh Regular Infantry, with two batteries of the Fifth
Artillery, landed this morning. The latter proceeded to the forts,
while the infantry lined up on the docks. It was a holiday for San
Juan, and there were many people in the streets.
Rear Admiral Schley and General Gordon, accompanied by their staffs,
proceeded to the palace in carriages. The Eleventh infantry Regiment
and band, with Troop H of the Sixth United States Cavalry, then marched
through the streets and formed in the square opposite the palace.
At 11:40 a. m. General Brooke, Admiral Schley, and General Gordon, the
United States Evacuation Commissioners, came out of the palace, with
many naval officers, and formed on the right side of the square. The
streets behind the soldiers were thronged with townspeople, who stood
waiting in dead silence.
At last the city clock struck the hour of 12 and the crowds, almost
breathless and with eyes fixed upon the flagpole, watched for
developments. At the sound of the first gun from Fort Morro, Major
Dean and Lieutenant Castle, of General Brooke's staff, hoisted the
Stars and Stripes, while the band played the "Star Spangled Banner."
All heads were bared and the crowds cheered. Fort Morro, Fort San
Cristobal, and the United States revenue cutter Manning, lying in
the harbor, fired twenty-one guns each.
Senor Munoz Rivera, who was President of the recent autonomist council
of secretaries, and other officials of the late insular government,
were present at the proceedings.
Congratulations and handshaking among the American officers followed,
Ensign King hoisted the Stars and Stripes over the intendencia,
but all other flags on the various public buildings were hoisted by
military officers. Simultaneously with the raising of the flag over
the Captain General's palace many others were hoisted in different
parts of the city.
Washington, D. C., Oct. 18.--The War Department has received the
following to-day:
"San Juan, Porto Rico, Oct. 18.--Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.:
Flags have been raised on public buildings and forts in this city
and saluted with national salutes. The occupation of the island is
now complete.
"_Brooke_, Chairman."
The two Spanish fleets--of the East and West Indies, were annihilated,
the former May 1st, and the latter July 2nd, two months and two
days between the events. The respective fleets in Manila bay were
as follows:
_American Fleet_.
Name Class Armanent Men and
Officers
Olympia Protected Cruiser Four 8-in., ten 5-in., 24 R.F. 466
Baltimore Protected Cruiser Four 8-in., six 6-in., 10 R.F. 395
Boston Par. Ptd. Cruiser Two 8-in., six 6-in., 10 R.F. 272
Raleigh Protected Cruiser One 6-in., ten 5-in., 14 R.F. 295
Concord Gunboat Six 6-in., 9 R.F. 150
Petrel Gunboat Four 6-in., 7 R.F. 100
McCulloch Revenue Cutter Four 4-in 180
_Spanish Fleet_.
Name. Class. Armament. Men and
Officers
*Rema Cristina Steel Cruiser Six 6.2-in., two 2.7,
13 R.F. 370
Castilla Wood Cruiser Four 5.9, two 4.7, two 3.4,
two 2.9, 12 R.F. 300
Don Antonio de Ulloa Iron Cruiser Four 4.7, 5 R.F. 173
Don Juan de Austria Iron Cruiser Four 4.7, two 2.7, 21 R.F. 173
Isla de Luzon Steel Ptd. Cruiser Six 4.7, 8 R.F 164
Isla de Cuba Steel Ptd. Cruiser Six 4.7, 8 R.F 164
Velasco Iron Cruiser Three 6-in., two 2.7, two
R.F. 173
Marques del Duero Gunboat One 6.2, two 4.7, 1 R.F. 98
General Lezo Gunboat One 3.5, 1 R.F. 97
El Correo Gunboat Three 4.7, 4 R.F. 116
Quiros Gunboat 4 R.F. 60
Villalobos Gunboat 4 R.F. 60
Two torpedo boats and two transports.
The American squadron was thus officered:
Acting Rear Admiral George Dewey, Commander-in-Chief.
Commander B.P. Lamberter, Chief-of-Staff.
Lieutenant L.M. Brumby, Flag Lieutenant.
Ensign H.H. Caldwell, Secretary.
_Olympia_ (Flagship).
Captain, Charles V. Gridley.
Lieutenant-Commander, S. C. Paine.
Lieutenants: C.G. Calkins, V.S. Nelson, G.S. Morgan, S.M. Strite.
Ensigns: M.M. Taylor, F.B. Upham, W.P. Scott, A.G. Kavanagh,
H.V. Butler.
Medical Inspector, A.F. Price; Passed Assistant Surgeon, J.E. Page;
Assistant Surgeon, C.H. Kindleberger; Pay Inspector, D.A. Smith;
Chief Engineer, J. Entwistle; Assistant Engineer, S.H. DeLany;
Assistant Engineer, J.F. Marshall, Jr.; Chaplain, J.B. Frazier;
Captain of Marines, W.P. Biddle; Gunner, L.J.G. Kuhlwein; Carpenter,
W. Macdonald; Acting Boatswain, E.J. Norcott.
_The Boston_.
Captain, F. Wildes.
Lieutenant-Commander, J.A. Norris.
Lieutenants: J. Gibson, W.L. Howard.
Ensigns: S.S. Robinson, L.H. Everhart, J.S. Doddridge.
Surgeon, M.H. Crawford; Assistant Surgeon, R.S. Balkeman; Paymaster,
J.R. Martin; Chief Engineer, G.B. Ransom; Assistant Engineer,
L.J. James; First Lieutenant of Marines, R. McM. Dutton; Gunner,
J.C. Evans; Carpenter, L.H. Hilton
_U. S. Steamship Baltimore_.
Captain, N. M. Dyer.
Lieutenant-Commander, G. Blocklinger.
Lieutenants: W. Braunersreuther, F. W. Kellogg, J. M. Ellicott,
C. S. Stanworth.
Ensigns: G. H. Hayward, M. J. McCormack, U. E. Irwin.
Naval Cadets, D. W. Wurtsbaugh, I. Z. Wettersoll, C. M. Tozer
T. A. Karney; Passed Assistant Surgeon, F. A. Heiseler; Assistant
Surgeon, E. K. Smith; Pay Inspector, E. Bellows; Chief Engineer,
A. C. Engard; Assistant Engineers, H. B. Price, H. I. Cone; Naval Cadet
(engineer), C. P. Burt; Chaplain. T. S. K. Freeman; First Lieutenant
of Marines, D. Williams; Acting Boatswain, H. R. Brayton; Gunner,
L. J. Connelly; Acting Gunner, L. J. Waller; Carpenter, O. Bath.
_U. S. Steamship Raleigh_.
Captain, J. B. Coghlan.
Lieutenant-Commander, F. Singer.
Lieutenants: W. Winder, B. Tappan, H. Rodman, C. B. Morgan,
Ensigns: F. L. Chidwick, P. Babin.
Surgeon, E. H. Marsteller; Assistant Surgeon, D. N. Carpenter; Passed
Assistant Paymaster, S. E. Heap; Chief Engineer, F. H. Bailey;
Passed Assistant Engineer, A. S. Halstead; Assistant Engineer,
J. E. Brady; First Lieutenant of Marines, T. C. Treadwell; Acting
Gunner, G. D. Johnstone; Acting Carpenter, T. E. Kiley.
_The Concord_.
Commander, A. S. Walker.
Lieutenant-Commander, G. P. Colvocoreses.
Lieutenants: T. B. Howard, P. W. Hourigan.
Ensigns: L. A. Kiser, W. C. Davidson, O. S. Knepper.
Passed Assistant Surgeon, R. G. Broderick; Passed Assistant Paymaster,
E. D. Ryan; Chief Engineer, Richard Inch; Passed Assistant Engineer,
H. W. Jones; Assistant Engineer, E. H. Dunn.
_The Petrel_.
Commander, E. P. Wood.
Lieutenants: E. M. Hughes, B. A. Fiske, A. N. Wood, C. P. Plunkett.
Ensigns: G. L. Fermier, W. S. Montgomery.
Passed Assistant Surgeon, C. D. Brownell; Assistant Paymaster,
G. G. Siebells; Passed Assistant Engineer, R. T. Hall.
The marvel of the naval engagements that disarmed Spain in both the
Indies, is that only one American was killed in the Santiago action,
and the only man who lost his life on Dewey's fleet was overcome by
heat. The Spaniards were deceived as well as surprised at Manila, the
deception being their dependence upon the belief that the Americans
would take it for granted that the falsified official charts were
correct, and stand off. The course of the American fleet, finding with
the lead on the first round 32 feet of water where the chart said 15,
dismayed the enemy. The Spanish had but one chance to cripple Dewey,
and that was by closing with him, but they never seem, except in the
case of the flagship, to have contemplated taking the offensive.
In the course of the war crowded with victory, two Spanish fleets were
destroyed, two Spanish armies surrendered, thirty-six thousand soldiers
and sailors of Spain made prisoners of war, the only heavy losses of
Americans were at Santiago, and they happened because in the terrible
climate of Cuba in summer, for those unaccustomed to it and forced
to be in the rain and sleep on the ground, it was necessary to carry
the enemy's lines of defense by assault, because it was certain that
delay would be destruction of the troops. The campaign was hurried and
short, but such was the effect of the few weeks spent in Cuba that,
bloody as were the first days of July, the weeks succeeding witnessed
the death from sickness of more soldiers than fell in battle.
Not until November 5,1898, did the State Department make public the
complete text of the Protocol between the United States and Spain
for the preliminary settlement of the war. A copy was cabled to this
country from the French translation, but the department here never
gave out the text of the document in official form. The Protocol
textually is as follows:
"Protocol of agreement between the United States and Spain, embodying
the terms of a basis for the establishment of peace between the two
countries, signed at Washington Aug. 12, 1898. Protocol: William
R. Day, Secretary of State of the United States, and his Excellency,
Jules Cambon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the
Republic of France at Washington, respectively possessing for this
purpose full authority from the government of the United States
and the government of Spain, have concluded and signed the following
articles, embodying the terms on which the two governments have agreed
in respect to the matters hereinafter set forth, having in view the
establishment of peace between the two countries--that is to say:
_Article_ I.
"Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba.
_Article_ II.
"Spain will cede to the United States the Island of Porto Rico and
other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and
also an island in the Ladrones, to be selected by the United States.
_Article_ III.
"The United States will occupy and hold the City, Bay, and Harbor
of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which shall
determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines.
_Article_ IV.
"Spain will immediately evacuate Cuba, Porto Rico, and other islands
now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and to this end each
government will, within ten days after the signing of this protocol,
appoint commissioners, and the commissioners so appointed shall,
within thirty days after the signing of this protocol, meet at
Havana for the purpose of arranging and carrying out the details of
the aforesaid evacuation of Cuba and the adjacent Spanish islands;
and each government will, within ten days after the signing of this
protocol, also appoint other commissioners, who shall, within thirty
days after the signing of this protocol, meet at San Juan, Porto
Rico, for the purpose of arranging and carrying out the details of
the aforesaid evacuation of Porto Rico and other islands now under,
Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies.
_Article_ V.
"The United States and Spain will each appoint not more than five
commissioners to treat of peace, and the commissioners so appointed
shall meet at Paris not later than Oct. 1, 1898, and proceed to the
negotiation and conclusion of a treaty of peace, which treaty shall
be subject to ratification according to the respective constitutional
forms of the two countries.
_Article_ VI.
"Upon the conclusion and signing of this protocol hostilities between
the two countries shall be suspended, and notice to that effect shall
be given as soon as possible by each government to the commanders of
its military and naval forces.
"Done at Washington in duplicate, in English and in French, by the
undersigned, who have hereunto set their hands and seals, the 12th
day of August, 1898.
"William R. Day.
Jules Cambon."
CHAPTER XVI
The Peace Jubilee.
The Lessons of War in the Joy Over Peace in the Celebrations at Chicago
and Philadelphia--Orations by Archbishop Ireland and Judge Emory
Speer--The President's Few Words of Thrilling Significance--The Parade
of the Loyal League, and Clover Club Banquet at Philadelphia--Address
by the President--The Hero Hobson Makes a Speech--Fighting Bob Evans'
Startling Battle Picture--The Destruction of Cervera's Fleet--The
Proclamation of Thanksgiving.
The lessons of war--that which has been through it accomplished for the
country--the new lands over which our sovereignty is established--the
gain in the national character--the increased immensity of the outlook
of destiny, found impressive expression in the peace jubilee, the
President of the United States participating, and interpreting history
with dignity, in great Chicago, the giant of the West and North, and
Philadelphia, the holy city of Independence Hall and the liberty bell.
Of the celebrations of Peace with honor and victory, the first was
that at Chicago, and it will be memorable for remarkable speeches in
which many orators rose to the height of the occasion, their speeches
worthy of celebrity and certain to give imperishable passages to the
school books of the future. We have to pass over much of meritorious
distinction, and confine ourselves in the selections for these pages,
to the utterances of the President--Archbishop Ireland, whose golden
periods of Americanism ring through the land, and the Southern orator,
Judge Emory Speer, of Georgia, whose patriotism springs forth and
elevates the nobility of his thought, and touches with sacred fire
the ruddy glow of his eloquence.
"Lead, my country, in peace!" was Archbishop Ireland's passionate
exclamation, the key-note of his oration. He said:
"War has passed; peace reigns. Stilled over land and sea is the
clang of arms; from San Juan to Manila, fearless and triumphant,
floats the star spangled banner. America, 'Be glad and rejoice, for
the Lord hath done great things.' America, with whole heart and soul,
celebrate thy jubilee of peace.
"Welcome to America, sweet, beloved peace; welcome to America, honored,
glorious victory. Oh, peace, thou art heaven's gift to men. When
the Savior of humanity was born in Bethlehem the sky sang forth,
'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will to
men.' Peace was offered to the world through Christ, and when the
spirit of Christ is supreme, there is universal peace--peace among men,
peace among nations.
"Oh, peace, so precious art thou to humanity that our highest ideal
of social felicity must ever be thy sovereignty upon earth. Pagan
statesmanship, speaking through pagan poetry, exclaims: 'The best of
things which it is given to know is peace; better than a thousand
triumphs is the simple gift of peace.' The regenerated world shall
not lift up sword against sword; neither shall they he exercised any
more in war.
"Peace is the normal flow of humanity's life, the healthy pulsation of
humanity's social organism, the vital condition of humanity's growth
and happiness.
"'O first of human blessings and supreme,
Fair Peace! how lovely, how delightful thou.
Oh peace! thou soul and source of social life,
Beneath whose calm inspiring influence
Science his views enlarges, art refines,
And swelling commerce opens all her ports.
Blessed be the man divine who gave us thee.'
"The praise of peace is proclaimed beyond need of other words,
when men confess that the only possible justification of war is the
establishment of peace. Peace, we prize thee.
"'But the better thou,
The richer of delight, sometime the more
Inevitable war.'
"'Pasis imponero morem'--to enforce the law of peace: this, the
sole moral argument which God and humanity allow for war. O peace,
welcome again to America.
"War--how dreadful thou art! I shall not, indeed, declare thee to be
immoral, ever unnecessary, ever accursed. No; I shall not so arraign
thee as to mete plenary condemnation to the whole past history of
nations, to the whole past history of my own America. But that thou
art ever dreadful, ever barbarous, I shall not deny. War! Is it
by cunning design--in order to hide from men thy true nature--that
pomp and circumstance attend thy march; that poetry and music set
in brightest colors, the rays of light struggling through thy heavy
darkness, that history weaves into threads of richest glory the woes
and virtues of thy victims? Stripped of thy show and tinsel, what art
thou but the slaying of men?--the slaying of men by the thousands,
aye, often by the tens, by the hundreds of thousands.
"With the steady aim and relentless energy tasking science to its
utmost ingenuity, the multitudes of men to their utmost endurance,
whole nations work day and night, fitting ourselves for the quick
and extensive killing of men. This preparation for war. Armies
meet on the field of battle; shot and shell rend the air; men fall
to the ground like leaves in autumnal storms, bleeding, agonizing,
dying; the earth is reddened by human blood; the more gory the earth
beneath the tread of one army the louder the revel of victory in the
ranks of the other. This, the actual conflict of war. From north to
south, from east to west, through both countries whose flags were
raised over the field of battle, homes not to be numbered mourned in
soul-wrecking grief, for husband, father, son or brother who sank
beneath the foeman's steel or yielded life within the fever tent,
or who, surviving shot and malady, carries back to his loved ones a
maimed or weakened body. This, the result of war.
"Reduced to the smallest sacrifice of human life the carnage of the
battlefields, some one has died and some one is bereft. 'Only one
killed,' the headline reads. The glad news speeds. The newsboys cry:
'Killed only one.' 'He was my son. What were a thousand to this
one--my only son.'
"It was Wellington who said: 'Take my word for it, if you had seen
but one day of war you would pray to Almighty God that you might
never see such a thing again.' It was Napoleon who said: 'The sight
of a battlefield after the fight is enough to inspire princes with
a love of peace and a horror of war.'
"War, be thou gone from my soul's sight! I thank the good God that
thy ghastly specter stands no longer upon the thresholds of the homes
of my fellow countrymen in America, or my fellow beings in distant
Andalusia. When, I ask heaven, shall humanity rise to such heights
of reason and of religion that war shall be impossible, and stories
of battlefields but the saddening echoes of primitive ages of the race?
"And yet, while we await that blessed day, when embodied justice shall
sit in judgment between peoples as between individuals, from time to
time conditions more repellant than war may confront a nation, and to
remove such conditions as the solemn dictates of reason and religion
impose was as righteous and obligatory. Let the life of a nation or
the integrity of its territory be menaced, let the honor of a nation
be assailed, let the grievous crime against humanity be perpetrated
within reach of a nation's flag or a nation's arm, reiterated appeals
or argument and diplomacy failing, what else remains to a nation which
is not so base as to court death or dishonor but to challenge the
fortunes of war and give battle while strength remains in defense of
'its hearthstones and its altars'? War, indeed, is dreadful; but let
it come; the sky may fall, but let justice be done. War is no longer
a repudiation of peace, but the means to peace--to the soul peace a
self-sacrificing people may enjoy--peace with honor.
"A just and necessary war is holy. The men who at country's call
engage in such a war are the country's heroes, to whom must be given
unstinted gratitude and unstinted praise. The sword in their hands is
the emblem of self-sacrifice and of valor; the flag which bears them
betokens their country and bids them pour out in oblation to purest
patriotism the life blood of their hearts; the shroud which spreads
over the dead of the battlefield is the mantle of fame and of glory.
"Happy the nation which has the courage of a just war, no less than
that of a just peace, whose sons are able and willing to serve her
with honor alike in war and in peace. Happy the nation whose jubilee
of peace, when war has ceased, is also a jubilee of victory.
"'We love peace, not war, but when we go to war we send it the best
and bravest of the country.' These words, spoken a few days ago by the
chief magistrate of America, embody a great principle of American life.
Six months ago the congress of the United States declared that in the
name of humanity war should be waged in order to give to the island
of Cuba a stable and independent government. Magnificent patriotism
of America. The people of the United States at once rose in their
might. They argued not, they hesitated not. America had spoken;
theirs was not to judge but to obey. In a moment the money of America,
the lives of America, were at the disposal of the chief magistrate of
the nation, whose embarrassment was the too generous response to his
appeal for means to bring victory to the nation's flag. America had
spoken. Partisan politics, sectional disputes instantly were stilled
beneath the majesty of her voice. Oft it had been whispered that we
had a North and a South. When America spoke we knew that we were but
one people; that all were Americans. It had been whispered that social
and economic lines were hopelessly dividing the American people, and
that patriotism was retreating before the growth of class interests
and class prejudices.
"But when America spoke there was no one in the land who was not an
American; the laborer dropped his hammer; the farmer turned from his
plow; the merchant forgot his counting-room; the millionaire closed the
door of his mansion; and side by side, equal in love of country; their
resolve to serve her, they marched to danger and to death. America
can never doubt the united loyalty of her whole population, nor the
power which such united loyalty puts into her hand.
"And what may I not say in eulogy of the sentiment of humanity, that in
union with their patriotism swayed the hearts of the American people,
and in their vision invested the war with the halo of highest and
most sacred duty to fellow-men? I speak of the great multitude, whom
we name the American people. They had been told of dire suffering by
neighboring people--struggling for peace and liberty; they believed
that only through war could they acquit themselves of the sacred
duty of rescuing that people from their sufferings. I state a broad,
undeniable fact. The dominating, impelling motive of the war in
the depths of the national heart of America was the sentiment of
humanity. The people of America offered their lives through no sordid
ambition of pecuniary gain, of conquest of territory, of national
aggrandizement. Theirs was the high-born ambition to succor fellowmen.
"What strength and power America was found to possess. When war was
declared, so small was her army, so small her navy that the thought of
war coming upon the country affrighted for the moment her own citizens
and excited the derisive smiles of foreigners. Of her latent resources
no doubt was possible; but how much time was needed to utilize them,
and, meanwhile, how much humiliation was possible. The President waved
his wand; instantly armies and navies were created as by magic. Within
a few weeks a quarter of a million of men were formed into regiments
and army corps; vessels of war and transport ships were covering the
seas; upon water and land battles were fought and great victories won,
from one side of the globe to the other. I know not of similar feats
in history. What if in this bewildering rush of a nation to arms
one department or another of the national administration was unable
to put in a moment its hand upon all the details which a thoroughly
rounded equipment required? The wonder is that the things that were
done could at all have been done, and that what was done so quickly
could have been done so well. The wonder is that this sudden creation
of such vast military forces was possible, even in America.
"What prowess in action, what intellect in planning, what skill
in execution, were displayed by soldiers and seamen, by men and
officers. Magnificent the sweep of Dewey's squadron in Manila
harbor. Magnificent the broadsides from Sampson's fleet upon Cervera's
fleeing ships. Magnificent the charge of regiments of regular infantry,
and of Roosevelt's riders up the hills of El Caney. Never daunted,
never calculating defeat, every man determined to die or conquer, every
man knowing his duty, how to do it--the soldiers and seamen of America
were invincible. Spanish fleets and Spanish armies vanished before
them as mists before the morning sun; the nations of the earth stood
amazed in the presence of such quick and decisive triumphs, at what
America had done and at what, they now understood, America could do.
The war is ended. It would ill become me to say what details shall
enter into the treaty of peace which America is concluding with her
vanquished foe. I stand in the presence of the chief magistrate
of the republic. To him it belongs by right of official position
and of personal wisdom to prescribe those details. The country has
learned from the acts of his administration that to his patriotism,
his courage, his prudence, she may well confide her safety, her honor,
her destiny, her peace. Whatever the treaty of Sapin, America will be
pleased when appended to this treaty is the name of William McKinley.
"What I may speak of on this occasion is the results of the war,
manifest even in this hour to America and to the world, transcending
and independent of all treaties of peace, possessing for America and
the world a meaning far mightier than mere accumulation of material
wealth or commercial concessions or territorial extension.
"To do great things, to meet fitly great responsibilities, a
nation, like a person, must be conscious of its dignity and its
power. The consciousness of what she is and what she may be has come
to America. She knows that she is a great nation. The elements of
greatness were not imparted by the war; but they were revealed to her
by the war, and their vitality and their significance were increased
through the war.
"To take its proper place among the older nations of the earth a
nation must be known as she is to those nations. The world to-day
as ne'er before knows and confesses the greatness and the power of
America. The world to-day admires and respects America. The young
giant of the West, heretofore neglected and almost despised in his
remoteness and isolation, has begun to move as becomes his stature;
the world sees what he is and pictures what he may be.
"All this does not happen by chance or accident. An all-ruling
Providence directs the movements of humanity. What we witness is a
momentous dispensation from the master of men. 'Magnus ab integro
saeclorum nascitur ordo--with the revolution of centuries there is
born to the world a new order of things,' sang the Mantuan poet at
the birth of the Augustan age. So to-day we proclaim a new order of
things has appeared.
"America is too great to be isolated from the world around her and
beyond her. She is a world power, to whom no world interest is alien,
whose voice reaches afar, whose spirit travels across seas and mountain
ranges to most distant continents and islands--and with America goes
far and wide what America in the grandest ideal represents--democracy
and liberty, a government of the people, by the people, for the
people. This is Americanism more than American territory, or American
shipping, or American soldiery. Where this grandest ideal of American
life is not held supreme America has not reached, where this ideal is
supreme America reigns. The vital significance of America's triumphs
is not understood unless by those triumphs is understood the triumph
of democracy and of liberty.
"If it was ever allowed to nations to rejoice over the result of
their wars, America may rejoice to-day. Shall we then chant the
praises of war and change this jubilee of peace into a jubilee of
war? Heaven forbid!
"'We love peace, not war.' The greatness of America makes it imperative
upon her to profess peace--peace to-day, peace to-morrow. Her mission
as a world power demands that she be a messenger, an advocate of peace
before the world. Fain would we make her jubilee of peace a jubilee
of peace for all nations. At least the message from it to the world
shall be a message of peace.
"That at times wonderful things come through war, we must admit; but
that they come through war and not through the methods of peaceful
justice, we must ever regret. When they do come through war, their
beauty and grandeur are dimmed by the memory of the sufferings and
carnage which were their price.
"We say in defense of war that its purpose is justice; but is it worthy
of Christian civilization that there is no other way to justice than
war, that nations are forced to stoop to the methods of the animal
and savage? Time was when individuals gave battle to one another in
the name of justice; it was the time of social barbarism. Tribunals
have since taken to themselves the administration of justice, and
how much better it is for the happiness and progress of mankind.
"It is force, or chance, that decides the issue of the battle. Justice
herself is not heard; the decision of justice is what it was before
the battle, the judgment of one party. Must we not hope that with the
widening influence of reason and of religion among men, the day is
approaching when justice shall be enthroned upon a great international
tribunal, before which nations shall bow, demanding from it judgment
and peace? Say what we will, our civilization is a vain boast.
"'Till the war drum throbs no longer, and the battle flags are furled
In the parliament of man, the federation of the world.
There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber, wrapt in universal law.'
"It is America's great soldier who said:
"'Though I have been trained as a soldier, and have participated in
many battles, there never was a time when, in my opinion, some way
could not have been found of preventing the drawing of the sword. I
look forward to an epoch when a court, recognized by all nations,
will settle international differences, instead of keeping large
standing armies, as they do in Europe.' Shall we not allow the words
of General Grant to go forth as the message of America?
"Some weeks ago the Czar of Russia said: 'The maintenance of general
peace and possible reduction of the excessive armaments which weigh
upon all nations present themselves in the existing condition of the
whole world as an ideal towards which the endeavors of all governments
should be directed,' and in accordance with those views he invited all
nations to send representatives to an international peace congress, in
which the question of reducing the armaments of the several countries
of the world and otherwise preparing some plan for the prevention of
wars might be discussed.
"Shall not America send to St. Petersburg a message of good will,
a promise of earnest co-operation? America, great and powerful, can
afford to speak of peace. Words of peace from her will be the more
gracious and timely, as they who do not know her say that, maddened
by her recent triumphs, she is now committed beyond return to a policy
of militarism and of conquest.
"Lead, my country, in peace--in peace for thyself, in peace for the
world. When war is necessary, lead, we pray thee, in war; but when
peace is possible, lead, we pray thee yet more, lead in peace; lead
in all that makes for peace, that prepares the world for peace.
"America, the eyes of the world are upon thee. Thou livest for the
world. The new era is shedding its light upon thee, and through
thee upon the whole world. Thy greatness and thy power daze me; even
more, thy responsibilities to God and to humanity daze me--I would
say affright me. America, thou failing, democracy and liberty fail
throughout the world.
"And now know, in the day of thy triumphs and victories, what guards
democracy and liberty, what is thy true grandeur. Not in commerce
and industry, not in ships and in armies, are the safety and the
grandeur of nations, and, more especially, of republics. Intelligence
and virtue build up nations and save them; without intelligence and
virtue, material wealth and victorious armies bring corruption to
nations and precipitate the ruin of liberty.
"And now, America, the country of our pride, our love, our hope,
we remit thee for to-day and for to-morrow into the hands of the
Almighty God, under whose protecting hand thou canst not fail, whose
commandments are the supreme rules of truth and righteousness."
The Archbishop was followed by Judge Speer, of Georgia:
"Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: Spain had long been our near
and dangerous neighbor. Its people have a degree of reverence almost
superstitious for monarchy, and regard republican institutions
with great disfavor. It has been said of Spain that some incurable
vice in her organization, or it may be in the temper of her people,
neutralizes all of the advantages she ought to derive from her sturdy
hardihood, her nearly perfect capacity for endurance and the somber
genius alike for war, for art and for literature, which has so often
marked her sons. While this seems to be true, the Spaniard is not
only a formidable antagonist, but there is a wealth of interest and
charm in his rich, romantic history which commands the admiration of
a generous foeman. This must be accorded, whether we contemplate that
ancient people as they alternately resist the aggressions of Carthage
and of Rome, the fierce cavalry of Hamilcar, the legions of Scipio, of
Pompey and of Caesar, or in more recent times the achievements of their
renowned infantry which broke to fragments the best armies of Europe,
or the infuriated people in arms against the hitherto unconquered
veterans of Napoleon, or but now as with patient and dogged courage,
with flaming volleys, they vainly strive to hold the works of Caney and
San Juan against the irresistible and rushing valor of the American
soldier. In art the Spaniard has been not less famous. In the royal
collection of Madrid, in the venerable cathedrals of Seville, in the
Louvre, in the London National Gallery, the lover of the beautiful
may be charmed by the warmth of color, the accuracy of technique,
the rounded outline and saintly salvation of Murillo.
"Many a quaint moralist, many a stately poet, many a priestly
chronicler attests the genius of Spanish literature, but if these
had not been, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza had been its title to
immortality. The admirable attributes of Spanish character nowhere
found warmer appreciation than with our own countrymen. What Prescott
did for the statecraft, and stern martial renown of the Spaniards,
Washington Irving, with melodious prose and gentle humor, surpassed in
his kindly portrayal of Spanish character in his charming romance, The
Conquest of Granada. It is perhaps due to the drollery and Addisonian
humor of that gifted American that we have never been able to estimate
the Spaniard quite so seriously as he estimates himself, or, indeed,
as his stern and uncompromising nature deserves. The truth is, Spanish
policy has ever been insidiously and persistently inimical to the
American people, and has culminated in deeds more atrocious than those
which have rendered infamous the baleful memory of Pedro the Cruel.
"We all know how in 1492 his holiness, Alexander VI., in order to
prevent unseemly collisions between Christian princes, published a
bull by which he assigned to Spain all discoveries lying west of an
imaginary line drawn 300 leagues to the westward of the Cape Verde
islands. All discoveries to the east were confined to Portugal.
"All of South America save Brazil and the two Guineas, all Central
America, Mexico, the entire territory west of the Mississippi, now
embraced by the United States, beautiful Cuba, from whose eastern
province of Santiago Ponce de Leon across the lucent waves of the
tropical sea coveted the ambrosial forests and fertile meadows of Porto
Rico, whence he was to sail to the floral empire of Florida. But this
was not all of Spain's magnificent domain. Far across the waters of
the South Pacific was the now famous cluster of islands bearing the
name of the Spanish king. And from their great cities, via Guam, and
Hawaii, and San Francisco, to Acapulco, sailed the famous Manila fleet,
huge galleons, loaded to the gunwales with the silken and golden wealth
of the orient. Where are her colonies now? The declaration of the
senior senator from the noble state of Illinois has been fulfilled:
No race outside of her own borders, even if Spanish by origin, has
ever been able to endure her reign, and every race which has resisted
her ultimately succeeded in withdrawing from her control.
"In the meantime the Americans, as declared by the German philosopher,
Lessing, were building in the new world the lodge of humanity. The
determined malignity of the Spaniard toward the adventurous men of
our race who were fringing the Atlantic coast with sparsely peopled
and widely separated settlements was promptly disclosed. They had
threatened to send an armed ship to remove the Virginia planters. They
laid claim to Carolina, and they directed powerful armed expeditions
against the young colony of Georgia. They were now to meet, not the
helpless savages who had been their victims, but men of that same
fighting strain who in this good year breasted the hail of death,
swarmed up the heights and planted the colors on the intrenchments
of Santiago.
"That field where the Georgian and Spaniards on that momentous day
in 1742 met is yet called the Blood Marsh. The commander of our
colonial forces was James Edward Oglethorpe. To his military genius
and the heroism of his slender force is due the fact that the southern
territory of the United States was not added to the dependencies of
Spain. That illustrious Englishman should ever live in the memory and
veneration of the American people. He did more to exclude the Spaniards
from American soil than any other man of the English speaking race,
save that successor of Washington, the president, who evinces his
fervid love of country and graces the occasion by his presence to-day.
"Defeated in their scheme of invasion, the Spaniards remained intensely
inimical to our fathers. What more striking demonstration of that
superintending providence, which administers justice, not only to
individuals, but to nations, than the spectacle in this mighty city,
builded on the heritage of which Spain would have deprived this people
of this gathering of Americans to mark the epoch when the last Spanish
soldier has been driven from the last foot of soil of that hemisphere
discovered by Columbus. May we not justly exclaim with the psalmist
of old: 'Oh, clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the
voice of triumph.'
"It is perhaps impossible for Americans of this day and time to
conceive how vast was the control Spain might have exerted over the
destinies of our republic. The independence of the United States had
been recognized, the constitution had been adopted and the government
organized, and yet for many years she claimed without dispute the
peninsula of Florida, thence a strip along the gulf extending to and
including the city of New Orleans, and she held all of that territory
west of the Mississippi extending from the Father of Waters to the
Pacific ocean, and from the Gulf of Mexico northward to the undefined
boundaries of the British possessions.
"Even as it is to-day, that empire mentioned in Bishop Berkely's
prophetic stanza, 'Westward the course of empire takes its way,' which
sprang into being with the first shot of the simple, God-fearing
husbandmen on the green at Lexington extends more than half way
across the Pacific ocean, and the miner or the fisherman standing
on the ultimate island of Alaska and gazing eastward across the icy
waters may with the naked eye behold the dominions of the czar. Nor
in this do we include those distant islands, where one May morning,
ever to be famous in the annals of our race, the spicy breezes that
blow o'er Manila bay were rent by the guns of the noble Dewey as they
proclaimed that the genius of liberty had come to rid of cruelty and
avarice and crime that charming land 'where every prospect pleases
and only man is vile.'
"In this connection may it not be well for us and for some of our
distinguished representatives now in Paris to consider if it can
be ever possible for men with the American and Spanish ideas of
government to live in proximity and in peace? Contrast the character
of the average American citizen with that of the Spaniard. The
native and distinctive modesty of the national character forbids
me to pronounce an extravagant eulogium upon the American citizen,
but behold him and see what he has done and can do.
"While the human intellect has been making prodigious and unheard-of
strides, while the world is ringing with the noise of intellectual
achievements, Spain sleeps on untroubled, unheeding, impassive,
receiving no impression upon it. There she lies at the farther
extremity of the continent, a huge and torpid mass, the sole
representative now remaining of the feelings and knowledge of the
middle ages. And, what is the worst symptom of all, she is satisfied
with her own condition. Though she is the most backward country
in Europe she believes herself to be the foremost. She is proud of
everything of which she ought to be ashamed.
"How incompatible is the temperament of the American and the Spaniard.
"May the worn and wasted followers of Gomez and Garcia come to
appreciate the blessings of liberty under the law. No other wish is in
consonance with the aims of the American people. We would not, if we
could, be their masters. The gigantic power of the country has been
put forth for their salvation and for their pacification. Connected
with them by bonds of genuine sympathy and indissoluble interest,
we will labor with them to secure for them established justice,
domestic tranquility, general welfare and the blessings of liberty
to themselves and to their posterity. For the common defense, in the
blue ether above the beautiful island of Cuba is poised the eagle.'
'Whose golden plume
Floats moveless on the storm and in the blaze
Of sunrise gleams when earth is wrapt in gloom.'
"It was not enough, however, for the American people to recognize
the independence of the Spanish-American republics. It soon became
our duty to notify the world that in certain eventualities it was
our purpose to defend their national existence. The holy alliance,
as it was termed, had been formed. The great powers who signed the
famous compact declared its purpose to maintain as Christian doctrine
the proposition that useful or necessary changes in legislation, or in
the administration of states, can only emanate from the free will and
well-weighed convictions of those whom God has rendered responsible for
power. Whom had God made responsible for power? What is a well-weighed
conviction? These are questions about which the irreverent Americans
might perchance differ with royalty. We had been lead to believe, and
yet believe, that the voice of the people is the voice of God. When,
therefore, the absolution of the holy alliance, not content with
smothering a feeble spark of liberty in Spain, initiated a joint
movement of their arms against the Spanish-American republics, it
gave the people of our country the gravest concern. In the meantime
our relations with Great Britain had grown cordial. That they may
grow ever stronger and more cordial should be the prayer of every man
of the English speaking race. An unspeakable blessing to mankind of
the struggle from which we are now emerging is the genuine brotherly
sympathy for the people of the United States flowing from that land.
"And it is returned in no unstinted measure. But two months ago
the flagship of Admiral Dewey steamed slowly into the battle line
at Manila. As she passed the British flagship Immortalite its band
rang out the inspiring air 'See the Conquering Hero Comes,' and as
the gorgeous ensign of the republic was flung to the breeze at the
peak of the Olympia there now came thrilling o'er the waters from
our kinsmen's ship the martial strains of the 'Star Spangled Banner.'
"Finally, when our gallant seamen, reposing in fancied security in
the scorching blast of the treacherous explosion were cruelly and
remorselessly slain, and calm investigation had developed the truth,
we had been despicable on the historic page had we not appealed to the
god of battle for retribution. The pious rage of seventy millions of
people cried aloud to heaven for the piteous agony, for the shameful
slaughter of our brethren. Our noble navy was swiftly speeding to its
duty. Poetic genius bodied forth the spirit of our gallant seamen as
the mighty ships sped on their way.
"Let the waters of the orient as they moan through the shell-riven
wrecks at Cavite, the booming waves of the Caribbean as fathoms
deep it sweeps over Pluton and Furor and breaks into spray on the
shapeless and fire-distorted steel of Vizcaya and Oquendo, tell how
the navy has paid our debt to Spain. Nor is the renown which crowns
the standards of our army one whit less glorious. Nothing in the
lucid page of Thucydides nor in the terse commentaries of Caesar,
nothing in the vivid narrative of Napier or the glowing battle scenes
of Allison, can surpass the story how, spurning the chapparal and the
barbed wire, pressing their rifles to their throbbing hearts, toiling
up the heights, and all the while the machine guns and the Mausers
mowing the jungle as if with a mighty reaper, on and yet right on,
they won the fiery crests, and Santiago fell. Well may we exclaim
with the royal poet of Israel:
"'Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory.'
"America! Humane in the hour of triumph, gentle to the vanquished,
grateful to the Lord of Hosts, a reunited people forever:
"'Great people. As the sands shalt thou become;
Thy growth is swift as morn, when night must fade
The multitudinous earth shall sleep beneath thy shade.'"
The band burst into the strains of "Dixie" in honor of the Southern
birth of Judge Speer, as he concluded his oration. President
McKinley, as on other occasions during the program, joined in the
hearty applause. Cries of "McKinley," "McKinley," "The President,"
"The President," were heard all over the hall, and in a moment it
was seen that the President was going to respond. Every one stood
up. Ex-Governor Oglesby approached the front of the box, and said, "I
have the honor to introduce the guest of the occasion, the President."
"Leaning forward," we quote the Tribune, "from his box in the
earnestness of his utterance, speaking in the tones of emotion
having birth in the fullness of heart, President William McKinley,
at the Auditorium jubilee meeting yesterday morning gave to the
people a message of simple thanks and significant augury. Save for
a wave of applause at the mention of American charity, the terse,
reverent address was heard in silence. An added hush fell upon the
intent throng when the President began the portentous concluding
paragraph, and when he ceased speaking and stood before them grave
and masterful, the quiet was breathless, tense under the force of
repression. Then the meaning of the words of the Executive coursed
from heart to brain, and men's minds grasped the fact that they had
heard the President's lips declare that he had seen the direction of
the flow of the currents of destiny, that he recognized their majesty,
and that his purpose was in harmony with the common will--the force
working for the retention of the conquered islands in the distant
Pacific and for the policy of national growth.
"The applause broke the louder for the preceding calm and the deeper
for the inspiring motive. Hats were swung and handkerchiefs waved. Men
climbed on chairs to lead the cheering and women forgot gloved hands
and applauded with energy. At the last, ex-Governor Richard J. Oglesby,
who had a seat in the President's box, led in three cheers."
The message of the President was:
"My Fellow Citizens: I have been deeply moved by this great
demonstration. I have been deeply touched by the words of patriotism
that have been uttered by the distinguished men so eloquently in your
presence. It is gratifying to all of us to know that this has never
ceased to be a war of humanity. The last ship that went out of the
harbor of Havana before war was declared was an American ship that
had taken to the suffering people of Cuba the supplies furnished
by American charity, and the first ship to sail into the harbor
of Santiago was another American ship bearing food supplies to the
suffering Cubans.
"I am sure it is the universal prayer of American citizens that
justice and humanity and civilization shall characterize the final
settlement of peace as they have distinguished the progress of the war.
"My countrymen, the currents of destiny flow through the hearts
of the people. Who will check them? Who will divert them? Who will
stop them? And the movements of men, planned by the master of men,
will never be interrupted by the American people."
The Philadelphia celebration was a scene of a demonstration of
popular interest and patriotic feeling amazing in its multitudinous
enthusiasm. The Loyal League was out in full force, the parade was
a prodigy of display, and the Clover Club gave a brilliant dinner,
and the cleverness of the President's speech carried the club by
storm. He said:
"I cannot forego making acknowledgment to this far-famed club for the
permission it has granted me to meet with you here to-night. You do
not seem half so bad at this stage as you have been pictured. No one
can unfold the future of the Clover Club. (Laughter.)
It has been so gratifying to me to participate with the people of the
city of Philadelphia in this great patriotic celebration. It was a
pageant the like of which I do not believe has been seen since the
close of the great Civil War, when the army of Grant, Sherman and
Sheridan, and the navy of Dupont, Dahlgren and Porter gave the great
review in the capital city of the nation. And I know of no more fitting
place to have a patriotic celebration than in this great city, which
witnessed the first consecration of liberty and of the Republic. As
I stood on the great reviewing stand, witnessing the soldiers and
sailors passing by, my heart was filled only with gratitude to the
God of battles, who has so favored us, and gratitude to the brave
soldiers and sailors who had won such signal victories on land and
on sea, and had given a new meaning to American valor.
"It has been especially gratifying to me to participate not only with
the people of Philadelphia, but with the people of the great West,
where I have recently visited, in doing honor to the American army
and the American navy. No nobler soldiers or sailors ever assembled
under any flag. You had with you to-day the leaders of Santiago,
Porto Rico and Guantanamo. We unfortunately had none of the heroes of
Manila with us. But I am sure that our hearts go out to them to-night
and to the brave Dewey and Otis and Merritt, and all the other gallant
men that are now sustaining the flag in the harbor city of Manila."
(A voice, "How about Hobson?")
"The American people are always ready for any emergency, and if
the Merrimac is to be sunk there is an American officer to do it. He
succeeded in doing what our foe has been unable to do, sink an American
ship. (Applause.)
"I ask you, gentlemen of the Clover Club, to unite with me in
toasting the Army and Navy of the United States, without whose
valor and sacrifice we could not celebrate the victory we have been
celebrating to-day. Not only the men at the front, not only the men
on the battleships and in the battle line, but the men at home with
ambition to go to fight the battles of American civilization, should
be the recipients of the gratitude of the American people."
Hobson and his men were a great feature of the parade in the
four-in-hand. Hobson, during this visit to Philadelphia was caught,
surrounded and captured at his hotel and was forced to make a speech,
of which there is this report:
"The young officer was plainly embarrassed. His red face suggested it,
his trembling voice told it. In a low tone and frequently pausing,
as if from a loss of a word, he said:
"'Your reception has been so very kind that it seems almost as if I
had lost the power to say anything.'
"Someone called out: 'Never mind, you had nerve enough to go into
Santiago Harbor,' and then the crowd gave three cheers for Hobson.
"He began again. 'The incident you have referred to is one you unduly
magnify. Believe me, it was really nothing more than a little bit of
work, which came to my men and to me to do in the ordinary course
of strategy in warfare. That was all it was, a little bit of work,
and it is sheer exaggeration to say anything else.'
"'Can't agree with you! Can't agree with you!' was the shouted answer
from the crowd."
At the Clover Club jubilee dinner, Captain "Fighting Bob" Evans gave a
wonderfully interesting account of the destruction of Cervera's fleet,
closing with a grim picture of war the celebration of peace. He had
been speaking of the blockade of Cuba, and insistently called upon
to tell about Santiago, said:
"Of our little scrap, it was the prettiest mix-up that was ever
seen. I want to say that no fleet ever met a braver enemy than we
did at Santiago. Those Spaniards stood up and got killed in the best
possible shape. Six hundred of them died in less than thirty minutes,
so you can see that there was very little flinching on Cervera's ships.
"During the fight there were two very interesting moments, the
first when the four big cruisers of the enemy came outside of the
harbor, firing away with mechanical regularity and presenting a most
magnificent spectacle. They were not hitting anything, but that made
little difference at that time, they tried hard enough. As we closed
in, there came a moment when the fleeing Spanish ships had an almost
perfect chance to use their rams on our vessels. I submit now that
not a single one changed his course a single inch. They came out
of that harbor and ran away, and that was all they attempted to do,
fighting as they went.
"The second point was when 'Dick' Wainwright misread a signal. I
know he won't admit that he did misread it; however, I'll tell you
the incident. In the Gloucester Wainwright was just off the harbor
mouth when the two Spanish torpedo boat destroyers were noticed making
straight at him. The Indiana signaled 'The enemy's torpedo boats are
coming out.' Wainwright read it 'Close in and attack enemy's torpedo
boats,' and you know the rest of the story.
"There was a dramatic picture which I want to call your attention
to. It was after the Vizcaya had run ashore, and I had to stop the
Iowa, some 400 yards away. I saw the survivors on a sand bar, which
was merely a narrow strip of about 200 yards from shore, on either
side of a small inlet. On one side a school of hungry sharks were
making fierce rushes toward the men, and on the other, the Cubans were
shooting away, utterly regardless of the fact that they were fighting
a helpless foe. Out in front we were not supposed to be very friendly.
"Finally, I saw Captain Eulate, of the destroyed ship, coming toward my
vessel in a small boat. Now Eulate is what you call a black Spaniard,
one of those fellows that would cry as though his heart would break
every few minutes when in trouble. He sat in the stern of a small
boat that had belonged to his vessel. She was partly stove in and had
about a foot of water, or I should say blood and water, in her bottom.
"As I looked down in the gangway I think it was the most horrible
sight that I ever witnessed. In the bottom of the boat lay two dead
Spaniards, one with his head completely shot away. The Spanish Captain
was wounded in three places, and each of the four men who rowed his
boat was more or less cut up. We slung a chair over the side and
carefully hauled him on board.
"As he came up to the starboard gangway the marine guard saluted and
he was received with all the honors of his rank. As he stepped toward
me he burst into tears, threw his hands up in the air, and then,
with a gesture of utter despair, but with all the grace of the pretty
gentleman, loosed his sword belt and pressing a fervent kiss on the
hilt of the weapon he extended it toward me. Every man on that ship
knew that that Spaniard was giving up something of value equal to
his life. I am not very good-natured, but I could not take that sword."
This met with loud cries of "You did right, Bob," and one lusty-lunged
individual announced that there was not a man in the country that
would take it. Captain Evans, who recognized the speaker, a friend
from the rural districts, answered: "Oh, you don't know what some of
those up-country Pennsylvanians would do. It was a pretty good sword."
Continuing, Captain Evans said: "I didn't know exactly what to do
with the Spanish Captain to get him into our sick bay. As I was about
to ask him of his wound he stepped toward the gangway and looked
shoreward. About a quarter of a mile off lay the once magnificent
vessel in which he had boasted he would tow the Brooklyn back to Spain.
"She was burning fore and aft, terrific columns of flame shooting
up around her, and suddenly, with a burst of tears, Captain Eulate
kissed his hand and bade fond farewell to the burning hulk and said
with impassioned voice, 'Adios Viscaya.' As he did this the very same
instant there came a tremendous roar and the Vizcaya's magazine blew
her superstructure hundreds of feet into the air. Had the incident
occurred that way on the stage anybody would have said it was too
well timed.
"He turned back and we got him into the ship's hospital, where the
surgeons placed him on his stomach to shave the hair around a small
cut on the back of his head. I stood alongside of him, and rolling his
eyes into the starboard corner he said to me, with a rather comical
expression, 'I think I have heard of you before.' I told him I did
not know how that could have been, and he asked: 'Did you not command
the Indiana?' 'Yes,' I said; then he said, shaking his head as well
as circumstances would permit, 'Yes, I have heard of you. You are
"Bob" Evans.'
"I have often wondered just what he referred to. I have a notion
that it would fit certain remarks regarding certain language that I
was credited with having used in reference to an attack on Havana;
language, by the way, which I never used. As I said before, the battle
before Santiago was the prettiest imaginable kind of effect. Why,
two torpedo boat destroyers came out, and inside of ten minutes we
had them sounding. One sounded in 200 fathoms of water and sunk to
rest there. The other preferred a berth with her nose on the beach.
"The Maria Teresa and Admiral Oquendo were on fire inside of five
minutes after the fight had started. They made beautiful sweeps toward
the shore, and were regular Fourth of July processions as they swept
in on the beach. We helped them along a bit by landing a few shells
in the stern. It was a pretty fight, but it should never be forgotten
that the Spaniards fought their ships as hard and with as much valor
as any men in any ships ever fought."
After the first cabinet meeting succeeding the peace jubilee, the
President issued his annual Thanksgiving proclamation:
"_By the President of the United States_.
_A Proclamation_.
"The approaching November brings to mind the custom of our ancestors,
hallowed by time and rooted in our most sacred traditions, of giving
thanks to Almighty God for all the blessings he has vouchsafed to us
during the past year.
"Few years in our history have afforded such cause for thanksgiving as
this. We have been blessed by abundant harvests, our trade and commerce
have been wonderfully increased, our public credit has been improved
and strengthened, all sections of our common country have been brought
together and knitted into closer bonds of national purpose and unity.
"The skies have been for a time darkened by the cloud of war; but as
we were compelled to take up the sword in the cause of humanity, we
are permitted to rejoice that the conflict has been of brief duration
and the losses we have had to mourn, though grievous and important,
have been so few, considering the great results accomplished, as to
inspire us with gratitude and praise to the Lord of Hosts. We may laud
and magnify His holy name that the cessation of hostilities came so
soon as to spare both sides the countless sorrows and disasters that
attend protracted war.
"I do, therefore, invite all my fellow citizens, as well those at
home as those who may be at sea or sojourning in foreign lands, to
set apart and observe Thursday, the twenty-fourth day of November,
as a day of national thanksgiving, to come together in their several
places of worship, for a service of praise and thanks to Almighty
God for all the blessings of the year, for the mildness of seasons
and the fruitfulness of the soil, for the continued prosperity of the
people, for the devotion and valor of our countrymen, for the glory
of our victory and the hope of a righteous peace, and to pray that the
Divine guidance, which has brought us heretofore to safety and honor,
may be graciously continued in the years to come.
"In witness whereof, etc.
(Signed)
"_William M'Kinley_.
"By the President:
"_John Hay_, Secretary of State."
CHAPTER XVII
Early History of the Philippines.
The Abolishment of the 31st of December, 1844, in Manila--The Mystery
of the Meridian 180 Degrees West--What Is East and West?--Gaining and
Losing Days--The Tribes of Native Filipinos--They Had an Alphabet and
Songs of Their Own--The Massacre of Magellan--His Fate Like That of
Captain Cook--Stories of Long Ago Wars--An Account by a Devoted Spanish
Writer of the Beneficent Rule of Spain in the Philippines--Aguinaldo
a Man Not of a Nation, But of a Tribe--Typhoons and Earthquakes--The
Degeneracy of the Government of the Philippines After It Was Taken
from Mexico--"New Spain"--The Perquisites of Captain-Generals--The
Splendor of Manila a Century Ago.
The 31st of December was abolished in Manila in 1844. Up to that time
it had been retained as the discoverers fixed it by pure piety and
patriotism. Pope Alexander VI had issued a bull on the 4th of May,
1493, dividing the world into two hemispheres, which was quite correct,
though it did not correspond to the secular lines of more modern
days. The gracious object of His Holiness was to keep the peace of
the world by dividing the lands taken from the heathen between the
Spaniards and Portuguese. The East was to belong to Portugal. The
line was drawn to include Brazil. The west was the hunting ground
for heathen of Spain. The claim of Spain for the Philippines was that
they were west. That was the way Magellenas (Magellan), the Portuguese
navigator sailed through the straits named for him, and westward found
the alleged Oriental islands, in which we, the people of the United
States, are now so much interested. When sailing into the sunset
seas he picked up a day, and never discovered his error for he did
not get home, and the Captain who navigated his ship did not know he
was out of time with the European world until he got as far around as
the Cape Verde Islands. An added day was held in Manila, as a kind
of affirmation of clear title, or trade mark of true righteousness,
on the part of Spain. It is one of the enduring puzzles in going
around the world that a day is gained or lost, and it is not always
a sure thing whether there is a loss or gain. The perplexing problem
is increased in its persistence if one sails westward over the 180
Meridian west from Greenwich, and goes beyond that line (which is not
the one drawn by Alexander VI)--say to the Philippines, and turns back,
as is done in the voyage from San Francisco to Manila, and vice versa.
In this case, the mystery of the meridian becomes something
dreadful. One loses a day going west and gains one coming east, and it
is a difficulty for a clear mind not to become cloudy over the account
of loss and gain--or perhaps we may say profit and loss, when the
account is closed. "The historian of the Philippine Expedition" lost
a Wednesday going out, jumping from Tuesday to Thursday, and found an
extra Thursday on the return--celebrated his birthday on another day
than that on which he was born, and had to correct the ship account
of his board bill, by adding a day. The Captain's clerk had forgotten
it because it was not in the Almanac. Ship time begins a day at noon
(and ends another), so when we crossed the meridian 180 degrees west
at 2 p. m. by the sun, and the day was Thursday and to-morrow was
Thursday also, the forenoon was yesterday by the ship. Therefore,
Thursday was yesterday, to-day and to-morrow on the same day. The
forenoon was yesterday--from 12 to 2 p. m. was to-day--and from 2
p. m. to midnight was to-morrow! It is no wonder "the historian,"
whose birthday was September the 2nd, found as he was on the west
side of the meridian with the mystery that the folks at home in the
states had celebrated it for him two days ago--one day he had lost,
and the other they had gained. Jagor, the historian of the Philippines,
before the days when Admiral Dewey grasped the reins of a thousand
islands, and a thousand to spare, says in his "Philippine Islands,"
that "when the clock strikes 12 in Madrid, it is 8 hours 18 minutes and
41 seconds past 8 in the evening at Manila. The latter city lies 124
degrees 40 min. 15 sec. east of the former, 7 h. 54 min. 35 sec. from
Paris. But it depends upon whether you measure time by moving with
the sun or the other way. If westward the course of empire takes its
way, Manila is a third of a day catching up with Madrid time. If we
face the morning and go to meet it Manila is ahead. The absence of
the right day for Sunday has long been gravely considered by the
missionaries who have gone to heathen lands beyond the mysterious
meridian that spoils all the holidays. One might establish a bank on
that line and play between days, but there is only one little speck
of land on the 180 degree meridian from pole to pole.
It may be very well worth considering whether the United States
should not reestablish the 31st of December in Manila, and assert
that we hold title to the Philippines not only by the victories
of the fleet and armies of the United States, but by the favor of
Alexander VI, whose bull the Spaniards disregarded after it had grown
venerable with three centuries of usage. We quote a Spanish historian
who colors his chapters to make a favorable show for his country
on this subject, as follows: "From the Spaniards having traveled
westwards to the Philippines, there was an error of a day in their
dates and almanacs. This was corrected in 1844, when, by order of
the Captain-General and the Archbishop, the 31st of December, 1844,
was suppressed, and the dates of Manila made to agree with those
of the rest of the world. A similar correction was made at the same
time at Macao, where the Portuguese who had traveled eastward had an
error of a day in an opposite direction." It will be noticed that
the authority of the Archbishop was carefully obtained and quoted,
but it was beyond his prerogative.
The early history of the Philippines bears few traces of the traditions
and romances of the natives, but they were in possession of an alphabet
when "discovered," and were then, as now, fond of music, singing their
own melodies. The Hawaiians were enabled to get their old stories into
print because they suddenly fell into the hands of masterful men who
had a written language. The Icelanders were too literary for their
own good, for they spoiled their history by writing it in poetry and
mixing it with fiction, losing in that way the credit that belongs
to them of being the true discoverers of America. The Filipinos were
spared this shape of misfortune, not that they lacked imagination
within a narrow range of vision, but they were wanting in expression,
save in unwritten music. Their lyrical poetry was not materialized. The
study of the natives must be studied as geology is. Geology and native
history have been neglected in the Tagala country. The rocks of the
Philippines have not been opened to be read like books. More is known
of the botany of the islands than of the formation of the mountains
and their foundations. The original inhabitants were Negritos--a
dwarfish race, very dark and tameless, still in existence, but driven
to the parts of the country most inaccessible. They are of the class
of dark savages, who smoke cigars holding the fiery ends between
their teeth! The islands were invaded and extensively harassed by
Malay tribes--the most numerous and active being the Tagala. Of this
tribe is General Aguinaldo, and it is as a man with a tribe not a
nation that he has become conspicuous. The other tribes of Malays
will not sustain him if he should be wild enough to want to make war
upon the United States. The Tagalas are cock fighters and live on the
lowlands. They eat rice chiefly, but are fond of ducks and chickens,
and they have an incredibly acute sense of smell, not a bad taste in
food, and do not hanker to get drunk.
The Visayas are also a tribe. The Igolatas are next to the Tagala
in numbers and energy. They show traces of Chinese and Japanese
blood. There are no Africans in the Philippines, no sign of their
blood. This may be attributed to Phillip's prohibition of negro
slavery. General Greene, of New York, took with him to Manila a
full-blooded black manservant, and he was a great curiosity to the
Filipinos. When the English conquered Manila in 1762 they had Sepoy
regiments, and held the city eighteen months. A good deal of Sepoy
blood is still in evidence. The Chinese have been growing in importance
in the Philippines. Their men marry the women of the islands and have
large families, the boys of this class being wonderfully thrifty. The
children of Englishmen by the native women are often handsome, and
of strong organization. The females are especially comely.
The early history of the islands consists of accounts of contests
with frontier rebels, attacks by pirates, and reprisals by the
Spaniards, great storms and destructive earthquakes. It is remarkable
that Magellan was, like Captain Cook, a victim of savages, whose
existence he made known to civilized people, falling in a sea-side
contest. Magellan had converted a captive chief to Christianity and
baptised him as King Charles. More than two thousand of his subjects
were converted in a day, and the great navigator set forth to conquer
islands for the dominion of the Christian King, who lived on the
isle of Zebu. The Christian monarch was entertained and received many
presents, making return in bags of gold dust, fruit, oil and wine. His
Queen was presented with a looking glass, and then she insisted upon
baptism, and so great was the revival that Magellan set out to capture
more people for the newly made Christian couple--invaded the island
of Matau, and with forty-two men landed where the water was shallow,
his allies remaining afloat by invitation of Magellan, to see how the
Spaniards disposed of enemies. The Spanish landed at night, and on the
morning found a great multitude of savages opposed to them, and fought
for life, but were overwhelmed by thousands of warriors. The Admiral
was in white armor, and fighting desperately, was at last wounded in
his sword arm, and then in the face, and leg. He was deserted by his
men, who sought to save themselves in the water, and killed many of his
enemies, but his helmet and skull were crushed at one blow by a frantic
savage with a huge club. There were thirty-two Spaniards killed,
and one of the squadron of three ships was burned as there were not
men enough to sail all the vessels. There is in Manila, in the walled
city, where it is seen every day by thousands of American soldiers, a
stately monument to the navigator who found the Philippines, and whose
adventurous discoveries insured him immortality. His first landing on
the Philippines was March 12th, 1521, less than thirty years after
Columbus appeared in the West Indies, believing that he was in the
midst of the ancient East Indies, and judging from the latitude in
the neighborhood of the island empire of the Great Kahn. [9]
"After the death of Magellan, Duarte Barbosa took the command and he
and twenty of his men were treacherously killed by the Christian King,
with whom they had allied themselves, one Juan Serrano was left alive
amongst the natives. Magellan's 'Victory' was the first ship that
circumnavigated the globe.
"Magellanes passed over to the service of the King of Castile,
from causes which moved him thereto; and he set forth to the Emperor
Charles V., our sovereign, that the Islands of Maluco fell within the
demarcation of his crown of Castile, and that the conquest of them
pertained to him conformably to the concession of Pope Alexander;
he also offered to make an expedition and a voyage to them in the
emperor's name, laying his course through that part of the delimitation
which belonged to Castile, and availing himself of a famous astrologer
and cosmographer named Ruyfarelo, whom he kept in his service.
"The Emperor (from the importance of the business) confided this
voyage and discovery of Magellanes, with the ships and provisions
which were requisite for it, with which he set sail and discovered
the straits to which he gave his name. Through these he passed to the
South Sea, and navigated to the islands of Tendaya and Sebu, where he
was killed by the natives of Matan, which is one of them. His ships
went on to Maluco, where their crews had disputes and differences with
the Portuguese who were in the island of Terrenate; and at last, not
being able to maintain themselves there, they left Maluco in a ship
named the Victory, which had remained to the Castilians out of their
fleet, and they took as Chief and Captain Juan Sebastian del Cano, who
performed the voyage to Castile, by the way of India, where he arrived
with very few of his men, and he gave an account to His Majesty of the
discovery of the islands of the great archipelago, and of his voyage."
The work of De Morga has value as a novelty, as it is more than a
defense--a laudation of the Spanish rule in the Philippines in the
sixteenth century. The title page is a fair promise of a remarkable
performance, and it is here presented:
The
Philippine Islands,
Moluccas, Siam, Cambodia,
Japan and China,
at the close of the Sixteenth Century
By _Antonio de Morga_.
Translated from the Spanish, with Notes and a Preface, and a
Letter from Luis Vaez De Torres, Describing His Voyage Through
the Torres Straits, by the
_Hon. Henry E. J. Stanley_.
The original work of De Morga was printed in Mexico in 1609, and has
become extremely rare; there is no copy of it in the Bibliotheque
Imperiale of Paris. This translation is from a transcription made
for the Hakluyt Society from the copy in the Grenville Library of the
British Museum; the catalogue of which states that "this book, printed
at Mexico, is for that reason probably unknown to Bibliographers,
though a book of great rarity."
The translator gives a new view to Americans of the part that Spaniards
have played in the Philippines. He plunges deep into his subject,
saying:
"The great point in which Manila has been a success, is the fact that
the original inhabitants have not disappeared before the Europeans,
and that they have been civilized, and brought into a closer union
with the dominant race than is to be found elsewhere in similar
circumstances. The inhabitants of the Philippines previous to
the Spanish settlement were not like the inhabitants of the great
Indian peninsula, people with a civilization as old as that of their
conquerors. Excepting that they possessed the art of writing, and an
alphabet of their own, they do not appear to have differed in any way
from the Dayaks of Borneo as described by Mr. Boyle in his recent
book of adventures amongst that people. Indeed, there is almost
a coincidence of verbal expressions in the descriptions he and De
Morga give of the social customs, habits, and superstitions of the
two peoples they are describing; though many of these coincidences
are such as are incidental to life in similar circumstances, they are
enough to lead one to suppose a community of origin of the inhabitants
of Borneo and Luzon." Mr. Consul Farren, Manila, March 13th, 1845,
wrote and is quoted in support of this view as follows:
"The most efficient agents of public order throughout the islands
are the local clergy, many of whom are also of the country. There are
considerable parts of these possessions in which the original races,
as at Ceylon, retain their independence, and are neither taxed nor
interfered with; and throughout the islands the power of the government
is founded much more on moral than on physical influence. The laws are
mild, and peculiarly favorable to the natives. The people are indolent,
temperate and superstitious. The government is conciliatory and
respectable in its character and appearance, and prudent, but decisive
in the exercise of its powers over the people; and united with the
clergy, who are shrewd, and tolerant, and sincere, and respectable in
general conduct, studiously observant of their ecclesiastical duties,
and managing with great tact the native character."
March 29, 1851, Mr. Consul Farren wrote: "Without any governing
power whatever, the greatest moral influence in these possessions
is that which the priests possess, and divide among the monastic
orders of Augustines, Recoletos, Dominicans, and Franciscans (who
are all Spaniards), and the assistant native clergy. A population
exceeding 3,800,000 souls is ranged into 677 pueblos or parishes,
without reckoning the unsubdued tribes. In 577 of those pueblos
there are churches, with convents or clerical residences attached,
and about 500 of them are in the personal incumbency of those Spanish
monks. The whole ecclesiastical subdivisions being embraced in the
archbishopric of Manila and three bishoprics."
"The Philippines were converted to Christianity and maintained in it by
the monastic orders, energetically protected by them (and at no very
past period) against the oppressions of the provincial authorities,
and are still a check on them in the interests of the people. The
clergy are receivers in their districts of the capitation tax paid
by the natives, and impose it; they are the most economical agency
of the government."
The Archbishop of Manila is substantially of this judgment. De Morga
opens his address to the reader:
"The monarchy of Kings of Spain has been aggrandized by the zeal
and care with which they have defended within their own hereditary
kingdoms, the Holy Catholic Faith, which the Roman Church teaches,
against whatsoever adversaries oppose it, or seek to obscure the truth
by various errors, which faith they have disseminated throughout
the world. Thus by the mercy of God they preserve their realms and
subjects in the purity of the Christian religion, deserving thereby
the glorious title and renown which they possess of Defenders of
the Faith. Moreover, by the valor of their indomitable hearts, and
at the expense of their revenues and property, with Spanish fleets
and men, they have furrowed the seas, and discovered and conquered
vast kingdoms in the most remote and unknown parts of the world,
leading their inhabitants to a knowledge of the true God, and to
the fold of the Christian Church, in which they now live, governed
in civil and political matters with peace and justice, under the
shelter and protection of the royal arm and power which was wanting
to them. This boast is true of Manila, and of Manila alone amongst
all the colonies of Spain or the other European states. If the natives
of Manila have been more fortunate than those of Cuba, Peru, Jamaica,
and Mexico, it has been owing to the absence of gold, which in other
places attracted adventurers so lawless that neither the Church nor
Courts of justice could restrain them."
It is against the orders named as worthy exalted praise that the
insurgents are most inflamed, and whose expulsion from the islands is
certain in case of Philippine jurisdiction. The truth appears to be
that the Spanish Colonial system was slower in the East Indies than
in the West Indies and South America in producing the revolutionary
rebellion that was its logical consequence, and the friars more
and more became responsible for official oppression and gradually
became odious.
It was New Spain--Mexico--that ruled the Philippines, until Mexican
independence restricted her sovereignty. When a Commander-in-Chief
died in the Philippines, it was sufficient to find amongst his
papers a sealed dispatch, as Morga records, "From the high court
of Mexico, which carried on the government when the fleet left New
Spain, naming (in case the Commander-in-Chief died) a successor to
the governorship." It was in virtue of such an appointment that
Guido de Labazarris, a royal officer, entered upon those duties,
and was obeyed. He, with much prudence, valor, and tact, continued
the conversion and pacification of the islands, and governed them,
and Morga states that in his time there came the corsair Limahon
from China, with seventy large ships and many men-at-arms, against
Manila. He entered the city, and having killed the master of the
camp Martin de Goiti, in his house, along with other Spaniards who
were in it, he went against the fortress in which the Spaniards,
who were few in number, had taken refuge, with the object of taking
the country and making himself master of it. The Spaniards, with
the succor which Captain Joan de Salzado brought them from Vigan, of
the men whom he had with him (for he had seen this corsair pass by
the coast, and had followed him to Manila), defended themselves so
valiantly, that after killing many of the people they forced him to
re-embark, and to leave the bay in flight, and take shelter in the
river of Pangasinam, whither the Spaniards followed him. There they
burned his fleet, and for many days surrounded this corsair on land,
who in secret made some small boats with which he fled and put to sea,
and abandoned the islands.
The change of the name of the islands from Lazarus, which Magellan
called them, to the Philippines and the capture of the native town
of Manila and its conversion into a Spanish city is related by Morga
in these words:
"One of the ships which sailed from the port of Navidad in company
with the fleet, under the command of Don Alonso de Arellano, carried as
pilot one Lope Martin, a mulatto and a good sailor, although a restless
man; when this ship came near the islands it left the fleet and went
forward amongst the islands, and, having procured some provisions,
without waiting for the chief of the expedition, turned back to New
Spain by a northerly course; either from the little inclination which
he had for making the voyage to the isles, or to gain the reward for
having discovered the course for returning. He arrived speedily, and
gave news of having seen the islands, and discovered the return voyage,
and said a few things with respect to his coming, without any message
from the chief, nor any advices as to what happened to him. Don Alonzo
de Arellano was well received by the High Court of Justice, which
governed at that time, and was taking into consideration the granting
of a reward to him and to his pilot; and this would have been done, had
not the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief arrived during this time,
after performing the same voyage, and bringing a true narrative of
events, and of the actual condition of affairs, and of the settlement
of Sebu; also giving an account of how Don Alonzo de Arellano with
his ship, without receiving orders and without any necessity for it,
had gone on before the fleet on entering among the isles, and had
never appeared since. It was also stated that, besides these islands,
which had peacefully submitted to His Majesty, there were many others,
large and rich, well provided with inhabitants, victuals and gold,
which they hoped to reduce to subjection and peace with the assistance
which was requested; and that the Commander-in-Chief had given to all
these isles the name of Philippines, in memory of His Majesty. The
succor was sent to him immediately, and has been continually sent every
year conformably to the necessities which have presented themselves;
so that the land was won and maintained.
"The Commander-in-Chief having heard of other islands around Sebu
with abundance of provisions, he sent thither a few Spaniards to bring
some of the natives over in a friendly manner, and rice for the camp,
with which he maintained himself as well as he could, until, having
passed over to the island of Panay, he sent thence Martin de Goiti,
his master of the camp, and other captains, with the men that seemed
to him sufficient, to the side of Luzon, to endeavor to pacify it and
bring it under submission to His Majesty; a native of that island,
of importance, named Maomat was to guide them.
"Having arrived at the Bay of Manila, they found its town on the sea
beach close to a large river, in the possession of, and fortified by
a chief whom they called Rajamora; and in front across the river,
there was another large town named Tondo; this was also held by
another chief, named Rajamatanda. These places were fortified with
palms, and thick arigues filled in with earth, and a great quantity
of bronze cannon, and other large pieces with chambers. Martin de
Goiti having began to treat with the chiefs and their people of the
peace and submission which he claimed for them, it became necessary
for him to break with them; and the Spaniards entered the town by
force of arms, and took it, with the forts and artillery, on the
day of Sta. Potenciana, the 19th of May, the year 1571; upon which
the natives and their chiefs gave in, and made submission, and many
others of the same island of Luzon did the same.
"When the Commander-in-chief, Legazpi, received news in Panay of the
taking of Manila, and the establishment of the Spaniards there he left
the affairs of Sebu, and of the other islands which had been subdued,
set in order; and he entrusted the natives to the most trustworthy
soldiers, and gave such orders as seemed fitting for the government
of those provinces, which are commonly called the Visayas de los
Pintados, because the natives there have their whole bodies marked
with fire. He then came to Manila with the remainder of his people,
and was very well received there; and established afresh with the
natives and their chiefs the peace, friendship and submission to His
Majesty which they had already offered. The Commander-in-Chief founded
and established a town on the very site of Manila (of which Rajamora
made a donation to the Spaniards for that purpose), on account of its
being strong and in a well provisioned district, and in the midst of
all the isles (leaving it its name of Manila, which it held from the
natives). He took what land was sufficient for the city, in which the
governor established his seat and residence; he fortified it with care,
holding this object more especially in view, in order to make it the
seat of government of this new settlement, rather than considering
the temperature or width of the site, which is hot and narrow, from
having the river on one side of the city, and the bay on the other,
and at the back large swamps and marshes, which make it very strong.
"From this post he pursued the work of pacification of the other
provinces of this great island of Luzon and of the surrounding
districts; some submitting themselves willingly, others being conquered
by force of arms, or by the industry of the monks who sowed the Holy
Gospel, in which each and all labored valiantly, both in the time
and governorship of the adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, and in
that of other governors who succeeded him. The land was entrusted
to those who had pacified it and settled in it, and heads named, on
behalf of the crown, of the provinces, ports, towns, and cities, which
were founded, together with other special commissions for necessities
which might arise, and for the expenses of the royal exchequer. The
affairs of the government, and conversion of the natives, were treated
as was fit and necessary. Ships were provided each year to make the
voyage to New Sapin, and to return with the usual supplies; so that
the condition of the Philippine Islands, in spiritual and temporal
matters, flourishes at the present day, as all know.
"The Commander-in-Chief, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, as has been said,
discovered the islands, and made a settlement in them, and gave a good
beginning to their subjection and pacification. He founded the city of
the Most Holy Name of Jesus in the provinces of the Pintados, and after
that the city of Manila in the island of Luzon. He conquered there the
province of Ylocos; and in its town and port, called Vigan, he founded
a Spanish town, to which he gave the name of Villa Fernandina. So also
he pacified the province of Pangasinan and the island of Mindoro. He
fixed the rate of tribute which the natives had to pay in all the
islands, and ordered many other matters relating to their government
and conversion, until he died, in the year of 1574, at Manila, where
his body lies buried in the monastery of St. Augustine.
"During the government of this Guido de Labazarris, trade and commerce
were established between great China and Manila, ships coming each
year with merchandise, and the governor giving them a good reception;
so that every year the trade has gone on increasing."
The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the Island Samai was called
Filipina by Vellalohos, who sailed from Mexico in February, 1543. The
capital was fixed at Manila in 1571, a distinction enjoyed three
hundred and twenty-seven years. It was in a letter of Lagozpis in
1567 that the name Ilas Filipinos appeared for the first time.
The Dutch became very enterprising and venturesome in the Asiatic
archipelagoes and gave the Philippines much attention, having many
fights with the Spaniards. The Ladrones became well known as a resting
place between the islands of Philip and New Spain--Mexico. The Chinese
Pirates were troublesome, and the Spaniards, between the natives,
the pirates and the Dutchmen, kept busy, and had a great deal of
naval and military instruction. There were other varieties of life
of an exciting character, in terrible storms and earthquakes. The
storm season is the same in the Philippines as in the West Indies,
and the tempests have like features. October is the cyclone and
monsoon month. The most destructive storm in the island of Luzon
of record was October 31st, 1876. Floods rolled from the mountains,
and there was a general destruction of roads and bridges, and it is
reported six thousand persons were killed.
So extensive and exposed is the Bay of Manila, it is one hundred and
twenty knots in circumference--that it is not properly a harbor, but
a stormy sheet of water. Admiral Dewey's fleet has had low steam in
the boilers all the while to quickly apply the power of the engines
for safety in case of a visitation from the dreaded typhoon, which
comes on suddenly as a squall and rages with tornado intensity.
There are many volcanoes in the islands, and they exist from the
North of Luzon to the Sulus in the extreme South, a distance as great
as from Scotland to Sicily. There is one on Luzon that bears a close
resemblance both in appearance and phenomena to Vesuvius. The likeness
in eruptions is startling. The city of Manila has repeatedly suffered
from destroying shocks, and slight agitations are frequent. Within
historic times a mountain in Luzon collapsed, and a river was filled
up while the earth played fountains of sand. The great volcano
Taal, 45 miles south of Manila, is only 850 feet high, and on a
small island in a lake believed to be a volcanic abyss, having an
area of 100 square miles. Monte Cagua, 2,910 feet high, discharges
smoke continually. In 1814 12,000 persons lost their lives on Luzon,
the earth being disordered and rent in an appalling way. There were
awful eruptions July 20 and October 24, 1867, forests of great trees
buried in discharges of volcanoes. June 3, 1863, at 31 minutes after
7 in the evening, after a day of excessive heat, there was a shock
at Manila lasting 30 seconds, in which 400 people were killed, 2,000
wounded, and 26 public and 570 private houses seriously damaged. The
greater structures made heaps of fragments. That these calamities have
taught the people lessons in building is apparent in every house, but
one wonders that they have not taken even greater precautions. The
forgetfulness of earthquake experiences in countries where they are
familiar, always amazes those unaccustomed to the awful agitations
and troubled with the anticipations of imagination. However, there
never has been in the Philippines structural changes of the earth
as great as in the center of the United States in the huge fissures
opened and remaining lakes in the New Madrid convulsions.
In a surprising extent the Spanish government in the Philippines
has been in the hands of the priests, especially the orders of the
church. In the early centuries there was less cruel oppression than
in Mexico and Peru. And yet there is in the old records a free-handed
way of referring to killing people that shows a somewhat sanguinary
state of society even including good citizens.
Blas Ruys de Herman Gonzales wrote to Dr. Morga from one of his
expeditions, addressing his friend:
"To Dr. Antonio de Morga, Lieutenant of the Governor of the
Filipine isles of Luzon, in the city of Manila, whom may our Lord
preserve. From Camboia." This was in Cochin China, one of the Kings
being in trouble, called upon Gonzales, who sympathized with him and
wrote of the ceremony in which he assisted: "I came at his bidding,
and he related to me how those people wished to kill him and deprive
him of the kingdom, that I might give him a remedy. The Mambaray was
the person who governed the kingdom, and as the king was a youth and
yielded to wine, he made little account of him and thought to be king
himself. At last I and the Spaniards killed him, and after that they
caught his sons and killed them. After that the capture of the Malay
Cancona was undertaken, and he was killed, and there was security
from this danger by means of the Spaniards. We then returned to the
war, and I learned that another grandee, who was head of a province,
wished to rise up, and go over to the side of Chupinanon; I seized
him and killed him; putting him on his trial. With all this the
King and kingdom loved us very much, and that province was pacified,
and returned to the King. At this time a vessel arrived from Siam,
which was going with an embassy to Manila, and put in here. There
came in it Padre Fray Pedro Custodio. The King was much delighted at
the arrival of the priest, and wished to set up a church for him."
Unquestionably there was degeneracy that began to have mastery in high
places, and this can be distinctly made out early in this century,
becoming more obvious in depravity, when Spain fell into disorder
during the later years of the Napoleonic disturbances, and the
authority and influence of Mexico were eliminated from Spain. I may
offer the suggestion and allow it to vindicate its own importance,
that if we have any Philippine Islands to spare, we should turn them
over to the Republic of Mexico, taking in exchange Lower California
and Sonora, and presenting those provinces to California to be
incorporated in that State as counties. It was under Mexican rule
that the Philippines were most peaceable and flourishing.
The late Government of the islands as revealed to the American officers
who came into possession of Manila, was fearfully corrupt. It was
proven by documents and personal testimony not impeachable, that a
Captain-General's launch had been used to smuggle Mexican dollars,
that the annual military expedition to the southern islands was a
stated speculation of the Captain-General amounting to $200,000,
in one case raised to $400,000, that the same high official made an
excursion to all the custom houses on the islands ordered the money
and books aboard his ship and never returned either, that one way
of bribery was for presents to be made to the wives of officials of
great power and distinction; one lady is named to whom business men
when presenting a splendid bracelet, waited on her with two that she
might choose the one most pleasing, and as she had two white arms,
she kept both.
The frequent changes in Spanish rulers of the islands are accounted
for by the demand for lucrative places, from the many favorites to
whom it was agreeable and exemplary to offer opportunities to make
fortunes. It goes hard with the deposed Spaniards that they had no
chance to harvest perquisites, and must go home poor. This is as a
fountain of little tears.
The city of Manila is not lofty in buildings, because it has been twice
damaged to the verge of ruin by earthquakes and many times searched
and shaken by tremendous gales, and is situated on the lands so low
that it is not uplifted to the gaze of mankind--is not a city upon
a hill, and yet it is "no mean city." Antonio de Morga says:
"The entrance of the Spaniards into the Philippines since the year
1564, and the subjection and conversion which has been effected in
them, and their mode of government, and that which during these years
His Majesty has provided and ordered for their good, has been the
cause of innovation in many things, such as are usual to kingdoms and
provinces which charge their faith and sovereign. The first has been
that, besides the name of Philippines, which they took and received
from the beginning of their conquest, all the islands are now a new
kingdom and sovereignty, to which His Majesty Philip the Second,
our sovereign, gave the name of New Kingdom of Castile, of which by
his royal privilege, he made the city of Manila the capital, giving
to it, as a special favor among others, a coat of arms with a crown,
chosen and appointed by his royal person, which is a scutcheon divided
across, and in the upper part a castle on the red field, and in the
lower part a lion of gold, crowned and rampant, with a naked sword
in the dexter hand, and half the body in the shape of a dolphin upon
the waters of the sea, signifying that the Spaniards passed over them
with arms to conquer this kingdom for the crown of Castile.
"The Commander-in-Chief, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, first governor of
the Philippines, founded the city of Manila, in the isle of Luzon,
in the same site in which Rajamora had his town and fort (as has
been said more at length), at the mouth of the river which pours out
into the bay, on a point which is formed between the river and the
sea. He occupied the whole of it with this town and divided it among
the Spaniards in equal building plots, with streets and blocks of
houses regularly laid out, straight and level leaving a great place,
tolerably square, where he erected the cathedral church and municipal
buildings; and another place of arms, in which stood the fort and
there also the royal buildings; he gave sites to the monasteries and
hospital and chapels, which would be built, as this was a city which
would grow and increase every day, as has already happened; because
in the course of time which passed by, it has become as illustrious
as the best cities of all those parts.
"The whole city is surrounded by a wall of hewn stone of more than two
and a half yards in width, and in parts more than three, with small
towers and traverses at intervals; it has a fortress of hewn stone at
the point, which guards the bar and the river, with a ravelin close
to the water, which contains a few heavy pieces of artillery which
command the sea and the river, and other guns on the higher part of the
fort for the defense of the bar, besides other middling-sized field
guns and swivel guns, with vaults for supplies and munitions, and a
powder magazine, with its inner space well protected, and an abundant
well of fresh water; also quarters for soldiers and artillerymen and
a house for the Commandant. It is newly fortified on the land side,
in the place of arms, where the entrance is through a good wall, and
two salient towers furnished with artillery which command the wall
and gate. This fortress named Santiago, has a detachment of thirty
soldiers, with their officers, and eight artillerymen, who guard the
gate and entrance in watches, under the command of an alcalde who
lives within, and has the guard and custody of it.
"There is another fortress, also of stone, in the same wall, at the
ditance of the range of a culverin, at the end of the wall which runs
along the shore of the bay; this is named Nuestra Senora de Guia; it
is a very large round block, with its courtyard, water and quarters,
and magazines and other workshops within; it has an outwork jutting out
towards the beach, in which there are a dozen of large and middle-sized
guns, which command the bay, and sweep the walls which run from it
to the port and fort of Santiago. On the further side it has a large
salient tower with four heavy pieces, which command the beach further
on, towards the chapel of Nuestra Senora de Guia. The gate and entrance
of this is within the city, it is guarded by a detachment of twenty
soldiers, with their officers, and six artillerymen, a commandant,
and his lieutenant, who dwell within.
"On the land side, where the wall extends, there is a bastion called
Sant Andres, with six pieces of artillery, which can fire in all
directions, and a few swivel guns; and further on another outwork
called San Gabriel, opposite the parian of the Sangleys, with the
same number of cannon, and both these works have some soldiers and
an ordinary guard.
"The wall is sufficiently high, with battlements and turrets for
its defense in the modern fashions; they have a circuit of a league,
which may be traversed on the top of the walls, with many stairs on
the inside at intervals, of the same stonework, and three principal
city gates, and many other posterns to the river and beach for the
service of the city in convenient places. All of these gates are shut
before nightfall by the ordinary patrol, and the keys are carried to
the guard-room of the royal buildings; and in the morning, when it
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