The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-03
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..AEu1nalQO mas no power " 1clCdoc u
prisoner of WARP"
He has no power The matter muse
be laid before his advisers"
l.. Els .Aguinaldo, then, not the Presi-
dent?''
He is President"
without. the pardoning power?"'
"He must consult the Council Of Six.
Then what is he in the Government
"a mere figurehead?"
LAS you have said. He has no
power"
him?"
;; "Oh, certainly. You are going to Bu-
lacan Well. you drive over there; IT
is :three-quarters of an hour by cara
malta; and 1 will wire you at o o'clock
what the President says. You can then
return TO Guiginto, which is nearer TO
Buiacan than Malolos, in time to take
I:the train for Manila.
That was the best 1 could do. you
will give me pass to see Padre Garcia
and the priests at Bulacan?
:. II will telegraph the pass to Bula-
can" =.
:. I went to Bulacan. The rain was fall
,execrable, and 1 was g. good
three hours on the road. 1 stayed
there until 5 D. m. and saw IOo
Spanish prisoners who were Literally
starving to death, who were i'll and
without drugs or medical attendance
The pass to see Padre Garcia and the
.twenty-four captive priests, held in
communicate in dungeon unspeak-
ably vile, came along by wire at a lit
tie after o'clock, giving me just time
to- see the prisoners for five minutes
before the departure Of my train. The
conclusion of the mind of the dictator
upon my application for Garcia's lib
~ oil
had settled that matter while l was
talking to him at Malolos.
On the day following my visit there
was a meeting of the secret Council OF
Six at MaloloS, and Aguinaldo himself
was turned down" somewhat abrupt
ly 1t seems that a promise had been
given to the Archbishop of Manila some
time ago by the dictator himself that
all the Spanish priests and civil prison
ers In the hands Of the rebels would be
set. free. The secret council decided
that the prisoners, priests, women, chill
:dren and made civilians, should be held.
The Most Illustrious Senior Don Emilio
Aguinaldo meekly acquiesced in this
ruling. The Most Illustrious Senior Don
probably argued that SO long as his
confidential advisers permit him to live
he does not care a great deal for what
happens to the rest Of mankind. l do
not believe, as a matter of fact, that
once Palermo and the rest find out that
the Americans have fathomed the little
game they are playing, they VIII hest
tate a moment to cut Aguinaldo's
throat A figurehead always loses its
effect in statecraft once its true pur
pose becomes apparent to the world.
The way in which sickness is increaS-
ing in the army is calculated to create
grave uneasiness, once the facts be-
come known at home. To begin with.
we are not permitted to cable the true
condition: The purpose of press CEN
sorship, so far as I have been able to
observe. seems to be to prevent the peo-
pie at home finding out too much.
Whether this is good policy the events
will probably show, but / do not be-
iieye, myself, that anything is ever
gained by concealment. Besides, they
do not censor letters-and every man in
every regiment here will write home,
and write in a much more alarming
way than the newspaper correspond
ents would in any event. Every Ameri-
can soldier here knows that sickness is
increasing in the most alarming way.
The California regiment, for instance,
which was the healthiest on the
ground up to the time the city
fell, has over $50 men on the sick list
now, and has been compelled to secure
a hospital of its own because in the
first place, there was no more room in
the division hospital, which answered
all the needs of the Spanish garrison
before we came in, and because the
men sent to the division hospital did not
and could not receive that care and at
tention to which Colonel Smith deemed
his BOYS entitled. Take the case. for
example, of young Horace Powers, the
lad who died on Sunday last of small
pox. Powers was a member of the
Third Battalion, which is CHARTERED
apart from the balance of the regiment.
DR.. Farrell holds sick call for the Third
Battalion boys every day, and when he
discovered that young Powers was Sc
riously i'll, and with smallpox, he or
dered him at once to the division hospi-
tai. The man lay in his quarters for
three days after that, because there
was not. room enough for him at the
hospital, and was privately taken to the
nesthouse, where he died. The pest
house. by the way, is in charge of DIR.
O'RrIen. of the First California Regi-
ment. He lives there, apart from his
friends, nobly doing the work of hui
manity.
Leading Lawyer of Georgia Dead.
cor oDAnn SPRINGS Colo NOV, o =