Part 45 (1/2)
_Article_ 1.--The lives and properties of all foreigners shall be respected, including in this denomination the Chinese and all Spaniards who have not directly or indirectly contributed to the bearing of arms against us.
_Article_ 2.--Those of the enemy who shall surrender their arms shall be, in like manner, respected.
_Article_ 3.--Medical establishments and ambulances shall also be respected as well as the persons and effects connected therewith, provided they show no hostility.
_Article_ 4.--Persons disobeying the above three articles shall be summarily tried and executed if their disobedience should lead to a.s.sa.s.sination, incendiarism, robbery or rape.
Given at Cavite, May 24, 1898.
_Emilio Aguinaldo_.
On June 8, at 5 p.m., a Philippine deputation, headed by Dr. Santos, waited on the American Consul-General in Singapore and delivered to him a congratulatory address on the American successes in the war with Spain. In reply to this address, the Consul-General made some pleasing remarks which were received with vociferous cheers by the Filipinos for the President of the United States and all sympathizers with their welfare. At the close of the reception a band of Philippine musicians played a selection of graceful airs of their native isles.
With his despatch No. 229, dated Singapore, June 9, the Consul-General sent press reports of these proceedings to the Secretary of State in Was.h.i.+ngton, who replied as follows [196]:--
No. 87.
_Department of State_,
_Was.h.i.+ngton, July_ 20, 1898.
_Sir_,--
Your No. 229 of the 9th ultimo, inclosing printed copies of a report from the _Straits Times_ of the same day ... with a view to its communication to the Press, has been received and considered. By Department's telegram of the 17th of June you were instructed to avoid unauthorized negotiations with the Philippine insurgents. The reasons for this instruction were conveyed to you in my No. 78 of the 16th of June, by which the President's views on the subject of your relations with General Aguinaldo were fully expressed. The extract now communicated by you from the _Straits Times_ of the 9th of June, has occasioned a feeling of disquietude and a doubt as to whether some of your acts may not have borne a significance and produced an impression which this Government would be compelled to regret. The address presented to you by the 25 or 30 Filipinos who gathered about the consulate discloses an understanding on their part that the object of Admiral Dewey was to support the cause of General Aguinaldo, and that the ultimate object of our action is to secure the independence of the Philippines ”under the protection of the United States.” Your address does not repel this implication, and it moreover represents that General Aguinaldo was ”sought out by you,” whereas it had been the understanding of the Department that you received him only upon the request of a British subject ... who formerly lived in the Philippines. Your further reference to General Aguinaldo as ”the man for the occasion” and to your ”bringing about” the ”arrangement” between ”General Aguinaldo and Admiral Dewey which has resulted so happily” also represents the matter in a light which causes apprehension lest your action may have laid the ground of future misunderstandings and complications. For these reasons the Department has not caused the article to be given to the Press, lest it might seem thereby to lend a sanction to views, the expression of which it had not authorized.
Respectfully yours,
_William R. Day_.
During the first few weeks following the Cavite naval battle nothing remarkable occurred between the belligerents. The British Consul and Vice-Consul were indefatigable in the services they rendered as intermediaries between Admiral Dewey and General Augusti. The American fleet was well supplied with coal from British vessels. The Manila-Dagupan Railway was in working order, and bringing supplies into the city. The Spanish authorities issued a decree regulating the price of meat and other commodities. American vessels made occasional trips outside the Bay, and brought in captive sailing-vessels. Neutral pa.s.senger-steamers were allowed to take away refugees other than Spanish subjects. The rebels outside Manila were very active in the work of burning and pillaging churches and other property. Streams of smoke were daily seen rising from the valleys. In the outskirts of the city, skirmishes between Spanish troops and rebels were of frequent occurrence. The Spaniards still managed to preserve routes of communication with the country districts, although, little by little, the rebels were closing in upon them. Aguinaldo and his subordinate leaders were making strenuous efforts effectually to cut off all supplies to the city, with the view of co-operating with the Americans to starve the Spaniards into capitulation. The hospitals in the capital were crowded with wounded soldiers, brought in at great risk from the rural districts. Spanish soldiers sauntered about the city and Binondo--sad spectacles of emaciation in which body and soul were only kept together by small doles of rice and dried fish. The volunteers who had enlisted on the conditions of pay, food, and clothing, raised an unheeded cry of protest, and threatened revolt, whilst the officers whiled away the time in the cafes with resigned indifference. The Archbishop issued his Pastoral Letter, in which he told the natives that if the foreigners obtained possession of the Islands there would be an end to all they most dearly cherished. Their altars would be desecrated; the churches would become temples of heresy; Christian morality would be banished, and vice would become rampant. He reminded them (with the proviso ”circ.u.mstances permitting”) that he had appointed June 17 as the day on which the consecration of these Islands to the ”Heart of Jesus” would be solemnly confirmed.
To draw the remnant of loyalty to his side, the Gov.-General inst.i.tuted a reformed ”Consulting a.s.sembly” composed of 15 half-castes and natives, under the nominal presidency of Pedro A. Paterno, the mediator in the Biac-na-bato negotiations. Senor Paterno, whose sympathy for Spain was still unalienated, issued a _Manifiesto_ of which the following is a translation (published in _El Comercio_ of Manila on June 2, 1898):--
_Filipinos: Beloved Brethren_.
I love our country as none other does. I want it to be great, free, and happy, and to shape its own destinies according to its desires and aspirations. Therefore, I respect all the vital forces in it at the cost of my life and my fortune. A long time ago I risked my existence for the rights and liberties of the Philippine people, who were sorely agitated, by bringing the majority together, and directing the salvation of their interests based on liberty and justice. My ideas are neither strange nor new; they are the _result of study and political experience,_ and not recently conceived under the existing circ.u.mstances. I desire, with all the vehemence of my soul, to see my country strong and great--its honour and dignity respected and in the enjoyment of the greatest happiness. But however great our efforts may be we need an ally. Let us imitate the example of the Great Powers; they cannot exist alone, however strong and great they may be. They need help, and the union of strength increases their power. Russia seeks France; Germany seeks Italy and Austria. Unhappy is the Power that isolates itself! And what better ally can we have than Spain, a nation with which we are united for nearly four centuries in religion, laws, morals, and customs, understanding full well her virtues and her defects? The evil days of Spanish colonization are over, and by dint of experience and the sacrifice of blood Spain has understood that we are already of age, and require reforms in our territory such as the formation of Philippine Militia, which gives us the force of arms, and the Consulting a.s.sembly, which gives us the power of speech, partic.i.p.ation in the higher public employments, and the ability to control the peaceful development and progress of society. Spain is at war with the United States; we neither know that nation nor its language. The Americans will endeavour by all imaginable means to induce us to help them against Spain. And then, alas! they, the all-powerful, will absorb us and reward our treachery to Spain by betraying us, making us slaves and imposing upon us all the evils of a new colonization. On the other hand, by helping Spain, if we die, we do so in the fulfilment of our duty; if we live, we shall obtain the triumph of our aspirations without the dangers and risks of a civil war. We shall not die! No! Under the flag which s.h.i.+elds us and our garrisons, fighting with faith, decision, and ardour, as a country does which yearns to be free and great, the enemy will disappear like the wave which washes the seash.o.r.e. Let us hope to obtain from Spain all the good that the American stranger can offer to us. Let us help our old ally, our old friend Spain, and realize, with her, more quickly our aspirations. These are they:--With the greatest decentralization possible consistent with national unity, the organization and attributions of public powers must be based on three principles:--(1) Spanish sovereignty. (2) Local representation. (3) Colonial Government responsibility. Three inst.i.tutions correspond to these three principles, viz.: (1) The inst.i.tution of the General Government of the Philippines. (2) The Insular Deputation or Philippine a.s.sembly. (3) The Governative Council. In this way the rights of the Government and those of the Colony are harmonized. Let us shun the policy of suspicion and doubt. With these firm and solid guarantees let us establish civil and political liberty. The a.s.sembly, representing the will of the people, deliberates and resolves as one would treat one's own affairs in private life, and thus const.i.tutes the legislative power of the Archipelago. Its resolution will be put into practice with all fidelity by the executive power in its character of responsible government. There are only Spaniards in the Archipelago; we are all Filipinos and all European Spaniards. Such is _the programme of the party who want home rule for the Philippines--ever Spanis.h.!.+_ Thus shall we see the destinies of this country guided under the orange and red flag. Thus will my beloved country be governed, without detriment to the integrity of Spain. Finally, under Spain our future is clear, and with all certainty we shall be free and rule. Under the Americans our future is cloudy; we shall certainly be sold and lose our unity; some provinces will become English, others German, others French, others Russian or Chinese. Let us struggle, therefore, side by side with Spain, we who love the Philippines united and free. Long live Spain!
_Pedro Alejandro Paterno_.
_Manila_, _31st of May_, 1898.
This _Manifiesto_ was replied to a week later by the rebel party, who published a Refutation, of which the following is a translation:--
_Refutation_ of the _Manifiesto_ of Senor Paterno.