The San Francisco call., 1898-08-18
Cannot Understand the ~<.. Rules of War.
TO LOOT IS THEIR AMBITION
:. WONDER WHY AMERICANS ARE
 :: NOT THE SAME.
Aguinaldo Names a Cabinet and
 Partially Organizes His So- Called Provisional : .- Government.
Special Dispatch to The Call.


 '::CAvITE ARSENAL, July 1S.-The :: American army as l write, begins to draw it's deadly arms about Manila. It ':fs.+rue,. our good friends, the insurgents, ::haxe no hesitancy in saying they would take the city, if they could, before we enter the gates of the old walled town. 1T.he loot of centuries lies there, in the .:Churches, the rich warehouses, the splendid dwellings of the Eurasian aris !focracy. It is the loot of the forefath- CTS of these same men who are in in-
 surrection now against the power of ;;Spain Perhaps it would be but sim ..:.rle. justice to let the Tagallos take their own: Most unfortunately, the Ia .galIes have a fashion of taking more
 than their own. They have the mod .ern fashion. indeed, of taking every thing in sight. And there were others footed by the Spaniards long ago, be- sides the forbears of the Tagallos, and that loot is in Manila to this day.
 Also, there is the law of modern war fare, perfectly incomprehensible to the savage, which forbids footing alto getheT.
 :. Now, the Filipino, otherwise the Ia gallo, has never seen anybody he ad- .Inires so much as he does the Ameri- can. It is a demonstration of the power of brute force upon the crude in- ;teHect. He does not comprehend why a master hand in warfare, as he knows the American to be, should re- strain his passions, should abstain from footing and ravishing, should be mer- ciful to a fallen foe. But he compre- hends the fact perfectly, and he knows that if the American enters Manila first there Is an end of all hope of loot. .The. American will enter Manila first. ' nevertheless, and then he will settle with MT. AguinaldO and the balance of his crowd. You will hear of the fall of Manila, in my opinion, long before .: this letter reaches you. You will have - begun to hear likewise, firmly believe, .. that trouble has begun between the Americans and the natives.
 =: The Filipinos, despite the case of big -:head grown by Aguinaldo since Dewey :. has extended him so much aid, can nc more capture Manila without the aid of = fleet than they can fly. They can :-:take it from the Americans, after the ,.: Americans get possession, no more than - they can take 1t from the Spaniards .hOW. It is the blockade of Dewey that has dO0med LuZon's capital. That we twill have long and bitter light to hold what we have taken I firmly be- Iieve. It is not that the Tagallos, as "a mass care one cent who are their masters, or whether they have masters = at: all. They fight for the pure love of fighting. There are a few half .caStes and of these AguinaldO is one, : ,.eeiucated a little better than the mass :Qf their cOuntrymen, who dream dreams of a Philippine republic, who lead the ignorant natives astray, and who openly express the desire that the iCTnited States Government should ex- t1afv lad republic, because responsible for its sins before the world in return-for cer- tain trade advantages, until it is able to go alone. That will be, if I know :: anything of the Tagallo character, 'neyer-and the United States is not in that kind of business.
 The last step by Aguinaldo has been ~1n the direction of the partial organiza- :: tion of a provisional government, a government whose recognition by Ger many. for instance would tend to com plicate matters for America somewhat. -:~Tbis government was proclaimed as the .. result of consultation of rebel leaders held at Paraaque yesterday and was celebrated by a grand native feast and dance at BacOor last night. The proc
 lamation is printed in Spanish and ''.Tagallo English having not yet, ap- ..parently, been made the official tongue. In it Aguinaldo, president and dictator, :. names as his cabinet:
 Secretary of War, Don Baldonero 'kguinaldo, brother of the chief.
 Secretary of the Interior and other things Ca free translation), Don Lean ...dero Barra-
 Secretary of the Treasury and allied ; 4departments, Don Mariana Trias
 " The portfolios of foreign affairs ma-
 rii1e and commerce are expressly re '5. 5.served to the presidency until the die ; tat0r can find men who are, in his opin- . ion ~c0nDetent to fill them. Not a fiat -tering provision to the numerous smal gentlemen who strut about this neigh. b0rhoOd attached to large swords anC .plentifully adorned with gold lace. Int chances are Aguinaldo knows his oWI people a great deal better than any body else does, and this clear demon stration of the fact that he does no
 trust them will not conduce to tn speedy erection of the much desired -. American protectorate. On the whole = cunning as he is, the dictator has mad
 q mistake this time. Even the Ger
 mans cannot overlook the slur upol .:.the Tegallos contained in this bonn 'bastic proclamation.
 Of the arrival of the second expedi tien you have already been advised, o the deaths en route and of the landin :, of the troops on the south side of Ma F Iiila You see how difficult it is to writ news when the cable flashes the mea 5. of all important occurrences over 700 .' miles of space. The troops will hay been baptized in fire before this lette ::.<reaches The Calls readers. What wi not be known nor appreciated will b =: the great Joy which came to camp wit :: the arrival of the first mail. Ever, lad had a letter from mother or sweet :: heart soon after the China dropped an
 chor in the harbor on Saturday-an while you did not send me nearl,