The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1899-01-27
NAY ARREST AGONCILLO
Aguinaldo's Envoy Is Under
Surveillance.
A SECRET DISPATCH TO HoNeKoNG


He Cables to the Juntn the Status OF
the Treaty and Advises 1t That
Now Is the Time to Strike For
independence.
New York, Jan. 27,-The Suns Wash
ington correspondent says:
Evidence of a damaging character
against Felipe Agoncillo, the agent sent
to Washington by Aguinaldo, has been
discovered by the government, and the
nature of Agoncillos offense is regarded
as so serious that no doubt is felt in
official circles that positive measures to
! put a stop to the system of espionage
established by the Filipino emissary will
| be justified. The government has come
into possession of a dispatch filed by
Agoncillo yesterday for transmission
to the Filipino junta at Hongkong which
contains the evidence in question. This
dispatch was not obtained by the feder-
al authorities here until after it had
| been transmitted.
"In substance Agoncillo informed his
! Hongkong compatriots who act as the
official channel of communication be-
| tween the Filipino diplomatic agents
and Aguinaldo, that the senate had
agreed to take vote on the peace treaty
L
bly, be ratified; that it was the purpose
of the president to pursue an aggressive
policy in the Philippines when the rati-
fcation had been obtained; that re-en-
forcements sent to General Otis would
arrive in Manila about that time; that
if the Filipinos wanted independence
they would have to fight for it, and that
now was the time to act before the
American lines were strengthened by
re-enforcements.
whether the dispatch was written in
a secret cipher or in Spanish or some
other language was not ascertained, but
at any rate the government succeeded
in obtaining a copy of the message in
it's plain English version. The message
was read and discussed by the admin
istration officials concerned and as a
result of their conference its text was
transmitted to Manila for the informa-
ton of General Otis.
AgonciII0 Closely Watched.
What action the government will
take in dealing with Agoncillo remains
to be seen. 1t is evident, from the fact
that the message was received no
promptly, that Agoncillo is being close
ly watched. There is reason to believe
that he will not be taken into custody
at this time or otherwise made to APP
preciate the seriousness of his offense,
but there is strong feeling in official
circles that his attitude toward the
United States should not be tolerated
any longer. 1t cannot be told with any
degree of positiveness what the govern
ment intends to de, and in spite of the
belief that Agoncillo will not be modest
ed for the present the assertion of the
al. III -
cur unexpectedly
1.-THE dispatch is construed to place
Agoncillo in the attitude of an enemy
of the United States, and as such he
can be prosecuted without regard to his
political status After a consideration
of the subject the government authori-
ties have decided that until the treaty
of peace has been ratified all F'ilipinos
who have not foresworn the sovereignty
of Spain for that of some recognized
| government are to be considered as
Spanish subjects. Agoncillo comes with
| in this class and can be arrested and
tried as spy.
Not His First Offense.
This is not the first offense of the
kind committed by Agoncillo of which
the government has knowledge. A copy
of the instructions sent to General Otis
by the secretary of war in regard to the
situation at Iloilo. in which the purpose
of the president to avoid conflict with
the Filipinos was set forth, was trans
mitted by Agoncillo to the Hongkong
junta a few hours after the newspaper
in which the instructions were publish
ed reached Washington.
Soon after the knowledge of this ac-
ton on Agoncillo's part came to the
government General Otis established a
strict censorship over kilograms at Ma
Mia, and the only way in which Agon-
clio can now communicate quickly with
! Aguinaldo is by telegraphing to the
! junta at Hongkong and trusting to the
| iunta to send the message to the Phil
| ippines by steamer. The defiant atti-
| tude of the Filipinos at Manila and
Iloilo is believed here to be due to the
delivery to them of the instructions to
General Otis contained in Agoncillo's
message"