Washington sentinel., 1899-04-29

D We have received from Honl
r Kong a number OF articles from
E Hong Kong and Singapore papers
: which give US valuable informa
r tion hitherto suppressed by tn,
: United States censor. We copy
= from the Singapore Daily Press, o
. March 7, the following:
1--WE are told under the headline
First Shot of the Fight in the
Manila Tunes Of the I4th OF Feb
ruary that 'on Saturday evening
(4th) at 9 o'clock an insurgent
lieutenant advanced with a few
men and disregarded the challenge
from the sentinel near No. ?. and
endeavored to carry out his usual
plan. Private Grayson OF d Com.
pany, Nebraska, after properly
challenging the advancing party,
which paid no attention to him,
fired, killing the lieutenant and a
private. The insurgents returned
the fire and retreated. These were
the first shots, and then for a time
the firing ceased. The
battle really began when Ser
geant Oran A. Curtis ordered his
men to fire upon large body Of
insurgents who were attempting to
cross the river opposite his post
Volley after volleY was fired in
quick succession, which sent them
scrambling back to their foTtifica.
tions. Freeaom (Manila) makes
the same statement. Owing to the
collision on 4th February and the
inability Of the Filipinos to
get their side OF the affair promptly
before the American people it is
not improbable the United States
Government was able TO get the
maj joritY by which the treaty, with
the obnoxious Philippines pur-
chase clause, was carried through
the Senate. l shall have more to
say about this when l receive re-
ports from the States at an early
date. That point, however, is a
matter quite foreign to the main
issue and have no desire to waste
valuable time in discussing it.
This is not the time for recrimina-
ton. What we have to consider
is the attitude OF the Filipinos. for
if they are bent on a continuance
Of the war which has so unfortun-
ately commenced there is danger
Of the foreign trade OF the country
chiefly British-being greatlyin-
terfered with for two or three
years. And worse still: Itan OBJ
noxious system Of Government is
forced on the people at the point |
oi the bayonet / think it may be |
taken for granted that the bless
ings Of lasting peace will never be
observable in the country, and in
stead OF the United States being in
a position to render us valuable
assistance in forcing open the door
OF commerce in China, which is
now ajar and being gradually shut
by our trade rivals, which shall |
find our cousins complaining of the I
strain on their finances caused by |
a large army OF occupation in the |
Philippines, the decline of trade |
with the islands, and an utter lack |
OF disposition to expend millions,
and perhaps sacrifice valuable |
lives, in securing for all time a
dominant position in the greatest
market in the world. l am very
glad, though, to be able to assure
you, sir, that the Filipinos are as
willing to-day as they ever were to
stand by the arrangement made
with General Aguinaldo before he
returned to Cavite last May, from
Hong Kong, on board the u. S. S.
McCulloch. The Filipinos wish
tor peace, they desire that there
shall l)e "a fair field and no favor
in their country, and they desire
that the United States should es-
tablish, as originally agreed, pro-
tectorate. In conclusion l beg to
assure you that am in a position
to prove that the agreement with
General Aguinaldo, made with
Admiral Dewey through Consul
General Pratt, and sanctioned by
the United States Govern ment, was
as follows:-
I. independence of the Philip
pines under an American Protec-
torate to prevent foreign aggres-
sion.
2. The ports OF the Philippines
to be free to the trade and COM
merce Of all nations.
3. Due precautions to prevent
influx OF Chinese aliens.