The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-09-23
IT IS MONEY HE WANTS
Aguinaldo Holding Out for a
Good Fat Bribe.
THE PLEA OF THE REBELS
Newsy Letter From Manila Containing a
Budget OF Very Interesting News.
The Situation Is Simply One
of Expectancy.

Manila, Aug. 30. via San Francisco. |
Sept. 22.-The only impedment in the |
way of restoring absolute confidence Is !
Aguinaldo. who has informed Governor |
General Merritt that. in the event of |
the United States holding the Philip |
pines permanently. or at least formally |
declaring a protectorate over II, his fol-
lowers would lay down their arms. but
until that time il would not be safe for
him to do so. While all this is very
plausible. il is the consensus Of opion-
ion among the English-speaking mer-
chants and residents here that the reb-
els, and especially Agunaldo, are only
holding out i'm order to be bought. The
fact that one of Aguinaldo's lteuten-
ants is authority for the statement that
an agreement has been made with the
American officials by the terms of
which Aguinaldo was to be made gov
ernor of a province and each of his Off
ers to be given minor positions, pro-
vided his troops lay down their arms,
would tend TO show that this opinion
has some basis, particularly when Gen
eral Merritt, upon learning of this
statement, said emphatically that mo
agreement whatever had been made
with Aguinaldo upon the subject
The departure of Governor General
Merritt and his staff for Paris to-day
effectually disposes of further negotla-
tions with the insurreCtionists for the
present, whatever inducements may
have been held out to them secretly
for il is hardly to be supposed that so
delicate a duty would be delegated by
Merritt to his deputy
Ii Is significant that coincident With
the departure Of Major General Merritt
for Paris. the rebels should have spread
the report that three of Aguinaldo's
trusted lieutenants have already left
for Washington, with the avowed inten-
tion Of reaching the American capital
ahead Of Brigadier General Greene, who
is scheduled to leave to-day on board
the steamship China. Certain IL Is that
the insurrectionists held secret meetings
in various parts Of the city yesterday
! for the purpose of determining their
| future plan of campaign. The result or
! their deliberations was carefully with
| held from publication. The ecclesiasti-
| cal party has concluded to accept the
! inevitable with the best grace possible
under the circumstances. At any rate
neither the archbishop nor any of his
| satellites has made the slightest at
! tempt to interfere with the policy
| adopted by the new administration, so
| far. and unless all signs fail, no such
attempt will be made.
From an American point Of view, the
| situation here to-day Is simply one OF
| expectancy the authorities awaiting in
| structions from Washington, and their
| subordinates hoping for relief from
! their oncrous duties and a speedy re-
/ turn to their homes. The Spaniards
! firm in the belief that Manila was sur
/ rendered after the peace negotiations
! had been commenced, swagger about
| the city with an air Of confidence that
| ii will soon be restored to them. The
| Filipinos, with Characteristic nOnchal-
| ance. are making hay while the sun
| shines, relieving their American friends
| Of their hard earned cash by every con-
! ceivable means. and wondering how
much longer their good fortune will
| continue.
What the insurrectionists under
| Aguinaldo think of the situation. no one
| seems to know or care. The herculean
| task of restoring order from the chaos
| due to the shiftlessness Of the Span
! iards. is slowly but surely being accom-
| pished by the American officers detailed
| to undertake II. The brunt of the work
| is borne by Brigadier General MacAr-
| thur whose duties as military command
ant and provost marshal general Of Ma
| Mia are as multtudinous and far-reach-
ing as those Of Koko in THE Mikado."
Despite the lack Of any knowledge as
to the future Of the Philippines, busi-
| ness is decidedly brisk In Manila at
| present and there is every indication
| Of the approach OF a boom. The fact
| that everything has been practically
| tied up for the past three months nee
| essarily occasions an immense amount
! of extra work, now that the embargo
has been removed, but apart from this
| the advent OF the American admins
! tration OF affairs and the prospect Of
its being prolonged indefinitely have
lent an impetus to trade. which nothing
else could have given il.
one OF the first official acts of the
.E..W. -.
channel at the mouth OF the river
| Pasig of the Instructions placed there
| by the Spaniards, thereby reopening
the port Of Manila for commerce. I'm
mediately after this had been done the
fleet Of inter-island steamers which,
by an arrangement with Admiral Dew
ey. had been anchored out in the har-
Dor. and used as refuge ships by the
various consulates. returned to their
berths at the river quays and after dis
charging their passengers, proceeded to
refit for their former occupations, pend
ing the decision of the prize court as
| to their ultimate fate. This has caused
an enormous amount Of traffic along
the water front, and both the custom
| house and captains Of the port office
have been deIuged with business for
/ the past ten days.
/ In accordance with the requirements
/ of international law no change has as
yet been made in the customs regula-
tions. hence the tariff In force before
the war Is still maintained and the
Golfers OF the treasury are being re-
| plenished very materially. II was ma
turaIly expected that under the new
regime the import duties would BE- con-
/. siderably reduced and many merchants
, laid their plans accordingly. But In
spite Of eNorbtant duties the demand
81 far exceeds the supply that the
merchants are only too glad to get
their goods through as fast as they
arrive. Several Americans have al
p ready announced their intention OF en-
. barking in business here and an Amer
lean bi-lingual newspaper is among
the possibilities in the near future.
The re1uening Of the cable O. Hong
! Kong and resumption Of traffic alpns
= the lnteT-island telegraph lines mas