Evening star., 1898-08-18
PRESIDENTS DIRECTIONS TO MERRITT
All Law-Abiding People to Be
Treated Alike.
LIKE THE SANTIAGO CASE
Adiutant Generals Office.

must be no joint occupation with the
insurgents. The United States in the
possession of Manila city, Manila
bay and harbor must preserve the
peace and protect persons and prop
erty within the territory occupied by
their military and naval forces. The
insurgents and all others must rec
ognize the military occupation and
authority of the United States and
the cessation of hostilities proclaim
ed by the President. Use whatever
means in your judgment are neces-
sary to this end. All law-abiding
people must be treated alike.
BY order Secretary War
H. c. CORB1N,
Adjutant General.
Request for Instructions.
The two American commanders at Ma
| nila. Admiral Dewey and Major General
Merritt, united in a joint dispatch which /
was received here last evening. asking for 4
instructions as to the manner of dealing /
| with the various elements. particularly the
insurgents, now that the city was occupied
by American forces. After a conference at /!
the White House, in which Secretary Alger
and Acting Secretary Allen participated. +
the above instructions were sent to General
Merritt.
Hope of the officials.
The officials of the department hope there
| may be no trouble with the insurgent forces
| in the Philippines, although the dispatches
| which have been received and published in 4
| the press, together with the demand of
Aguinaldo for joint occupation, has indicat- !
ed temper on the part OF the insurgent
leaders which is rot satisfactory. The text
Of the Presidents order cannot be misun-
derstood, and the insurgents VIII be kept
out of Manila, and the city, bay and har-
Dor will be held American possession.
| The possibility of attack the city by
| the insurgent forces has been considered.
| but as the insurgents, with the bay in pos
session of Admiral Dewey for three months
and 1o.0oo American troops near the city
for a month past, were unable to cause the
| surrender of the city, it is not believed that
| they will be very formidable against the
forces of General Merritt.
Like Instructions to Lavyton.
The instructions are practically the same
| as those previously sent to General Law
ton at Santiago. The latter order spe-
cifically stated that the insurgents must
| recognize the military occupation and au-
thority of the United States, and the cessa-
| tion of hostilities proclaimed by this gov
ernment. Doubtless the same rule will be
applied to the insurgents under Aguinaldo
L is said the joint dispatch from Dewey
and Merritt did not in terms refer TO Aguin-
aldo, nor did the instructions mention the
insurgent leader by name. 1t is well
derstood, however, that the desire of the
American commanders was to have in
strucuons on the manner of dealing with
the large and menacing forces of insurgents
under Aguinaldo, who have surrounded Ma
Mia for many weeks and who, it is
thought, may have demanded the right to
occupy the city with the American forces
as the Cuban insurgents did at Santiago.
1t had been thought in some quarters here
that the showing heretofore made by the
insurgents would lead to their receiving a
certain amount of recognition, in the way
of joint action between the United States
forces and those Of the insurgents when
the city was occupied. But the instruc-
tions sent last night are based on occupa-
ton by the United States alone and. as a
high administration official summed up the
situation: There shall be no Joint action
except between Merritt and Dewey. They
will maintain law and order and will treat
insurgents and Spaniards alike, requiring
all to observe peace and order"
1t was noted that neither the first dis
patch of Admiral Dewey nor the joint dis
patch of Dewey and Merritt made any ref
erence whatever to the part which the Ger
man cruiser kaiserin Augusta took In re-
moving Captain General Augusti from Ma
Mia to Hong Kong. From this the officials
believe that the American commanders do
not attach serious significance TO the course
of the German naval authorities. The incl
dent continues to cause some irritation
here, but ii Is practically certain that no
official cognizance will be taken Of il. A
high official of the Navy Department said
that at most the course of the German
naval commander one of bad taste.'
There is no disposition in any official quar-
ter at present to carry the incident to the
point of considering it breach of neutraf-5
ty, as has been suggested in some quarters.
Terms of the Order Criticised.
The order sent to Gen. Merritt by direc-
ton of the President with relation to the
insurgents in the Philippines ignores the
fact of the surrender of the Spanish forces
on the 18th. According to the press dis
patches from Hong Kong, the surrender of
the Spanish captain general was Of the en-
tire Philippine group. The order to Gen.
Merritt, however, states that the United
States in possession of Manila bay and har-
Dor must preserve order. etc, within the
territory occupied, and further on says that
the insurgents and all others must respect
the military occupation and authority and
the cessation of hostilities proclaimed by
the President. No reference is made to the
surrender. and the wording of the order ap-
pears, with some ambiguity, to base the
authority of the United States in the Phil
ippines upon the signing of the protocol
and the proclamation of the President, and
to waive the question of surrender.
The order nay mean the basis of claim
on the part of Spain that the United Stutes
recognized the force OF the protocol and
proclamation as entedating the surrender.
though the rules of war distinctly provide
that the operation of an agreement for a
cessation of hostilities begins only after
there has been opportunity to notify tia
belllgerent forces of the agreement.
Possible Spanish Claim.
Inquiry this point was made. and in
reply IT was stated at the War Department
that tie order was not based on inforna-
ton to the character of the surrender,
and was not designed to restrict the occu-
patton of territory by our forces to tina.
specifically named in the order. nor to base
that occupation upon the protocol ana PROC