The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-25
CAN THEY BE BLAMED.

In the name of our common humanity
In that of 'tthe fatherhood of God and
the brotherhood of man. let US all hope
that the news from Manila of conferences
presaging cessation of killing may prove
true in it's forecast The main difficulty,
we are told, is in the incredulity of the
Filipinos as to the sincerity of the procla-
nation of our commissioners. The Span
iards made us fair promises and broke
them; how can we trust anyone? And if
they feel thus towards US, can we blame
them2 Have they no reasonable ground
of distrust? Put ourselves in their place,
and would we not feel justified in looking
askance at fair words? Before we condemn
them and stigmatize them as "rebels,"
let US divest ourselves of our prejudices
and passions and review the events that
form the basis of their distrust
When the president sent to the congress
the message in which he threw upon con-
gress responsibility for further relations
with Spain, he declared that war for
conquest would be criminal aggression"
When the congress declared war it also
declared that Cuba, the crux of the mat
ter, SIS and Of right should be free and
independent" The Filipfnos were smart
ing under the wrong Of revolution aban-
doned in reliance upon Spanish promises
that were disregarded. Aguinaldo saw In
our war with Spain his opportunity to
gain for his people their independence
He consulted with Dewey and our con-
suls, Pratt, Wildman and Williams He
struggle against Spain. It had their ap-
prevail. He went there. Dewey gave him
the arms and ammunition captured at
Cavite. He organized an army and be-
sieged Manila He was largely instru-
mental in forcing the capitulation Natu-
rally and warrantably he expected to
join in the ceremonies Of surrender Up
to this point the Filipinos had been
treated as allies.
Putting ourselves in their place we can
better appreciate the feelings of surprise
and suspicion with which Merritts re-
fusal to let them share in the surrender
filled our allies. The surrender would
not have taken place but for their
aid, for the peace protocol had been
signed but two days before, and Dewey
and Merritt had not learned of it. The
whole Philippine situation would have
been changed had the protocol been effec-
tive in Manila Aug. II. From that time
on, the attitude of our representatives
changed. They refused to meet Aguin-
aldo or hold conferences with him. The
acts of Pratt and Wildman were disa-
vowed by the administration. The ad-
ministration had no policy, and it's rep
resentatives there could give no assur-
ance of the intentions of their govern
ment Meanwhile the treaty negotiations
were going on, and it soon became known
that we had offered Spain $4,000, 600 for
the cession of her sovereignty over the
sugar-coated with the McEnery resolu-
ton disavowing intention "to incorporate
the Inhabitants of the Philippine islands
into citizenship Of the United States, nor
is it intended to permanently annex the
islands" Would we not had we been
in their place, have asked why, then, we
should pay s2O0OO,OoO for transfer of SOW
ereignty? Would we not have looked upon
the McEnery resolution as a promise
made only to be broken when the. oppor-
tune moment came?
Mistaken they were. SO far as they mis-