The Forrest City times., 1899-11-10
1T CITY, ARK. FRIDAY AFTERNOON, NOVEMBER TO- 1sse

came to Manila as governor general at
 thls Juncture, and war broke out between
 spain and the United States. Auglisiin
 sought to secure the support of the Fili-
 plnus 10 defend Spain against America,
 pl omising them autonomy but the Fiji
 pinos did not trust him.
 Dewey and Aguinslac.
 Thea came the first of May. and the de-
 struction of the Spanish fleet by Dewey
 with the resulting loss of perstige to
 Spain. Then. in June, Aguinaldo came
 on this point the commission says:
 The following memorandum on this
 subject has been furnished the comHlis-
 sion by Admiral Dewey:
 Memorandum of Relations with Agui-
 naldo.-On April 24. 1898, the following ci-
 pher dispatch was received at Hong Kong
 from MT E Spencer Pratt. United States
 consul general at Singapore: 'AgunalGo
 insurgent leader, here. Will come Hong
 Kong. Arrange with commissioners 10.
 1T desired. Telegraph. Pratt
 on the same day Commodore Dewey
 teiegraphed MT. Pratt: Tell Aguinaldo
 haste being due to the fact that the
 squadron had been notified by the Hong
 Kong government. to leave those waters
 by the following day. The squadron lief
 Hong Kong on the morning of the 25th and Mfrs bay on the 27th. Aguinaldo did
 not leave Singapore until the 26th. and so did not arrive in Hong Kong in time
 to have conference with the admiral Tt had been reported to the commodore
 as early as March l, by the United State
 consul at Manila and others, that the t1ipinos had broken out in insurrectior
 against the Spanish authority in the vi
 9inity of Manila, and on March 30 MT Williams had telegraphed: Five thou sand rebels armed in camp near city Loyal to us in case of war
 Upon the arrival of the squadron at Manila 1t was found that there was nc
 insCrrection to speak of, and it was ac- ccrdingly decided to allow Aguinaldo to come to Cavite on board the McCuloch la crtfx~n 4t~ slz.- t.... May l9, and immediately came on board the Olympia to call on the commander in-chief. after which he was allowed to land at Cavite and organize an army This was done with the purpose of strengthening the United States forces and weakening those of the enemy. No alliance of any kind was entered into with Aguinaldo, nor was any promise of independence made to him, then or at any other time"
 First Idea of Independence. The commissioners report then rapidly sketches events now historical. It tells | in substance how the F'ilipinos attacked | the Spanish, and how Gen. Anderson ar rived, and Aguinaldo. at his request | moved from Cavite to Bacoor. Says tine commissions:
 Now for the first time rose the idea of national independence. Aguinaldo issue1
 a proclamation in which he took the re- sponS1bf1ty of promising it to his people | on behalf of the American government L. although he admitted freely in private conversation with members of his cabinet | that neither Admiral Dewey nor any orh- | CT American had made him any such promise"
 The report states that Aguinaldo wished | to attack the Americans when they land | ed at Paranaque. but was deterred by lack of arms and ammunition. From that point on there was growing friction be- tween the Filipinos and the American | troops.
 There were no conferences says the report. between the officers of the Fill pinos and our officers with a view to or- erating against the Spaniards, nor was there cooperation of any kind. There never waa any preconcerted opera : ions or any combined movement by the United States and Filipinos against the Spanisrds''
 Reference is made to Aguinaldos de- mand that he be allowed to loot Manila and take the arms of the Spaniards. The latter demand is said to confirm the state
 men, that he intended to get possession
 F,rth 8i the arms andas to attaek the Americans. of the Filipinos was found in the organi- zation of popular clubs which later
 on furnished local militia to attack the Americans. The decrees of the Filipino congress are also cited. as well as the making of bolos tknives) in every shop
 m Manila. IL is shown that considera-. blc element in the Filipino congress wished to address to President Mckinley a re- quest not to abandon the Filipinos Cat this
 stage the Paris conference was discussns the future of the Philippines). The presi- dent was also to be asked his desire as to the form of government he wished to es- taklish. But all this time Aguinaldo was pTeparing for war and delaying these messages. and 1t was understood that the attack would come upon the first act by the American forces which would afford a pretext.
 The War Was Unavoidable. 4 brief chapter then tells of the lack of success attending the effort made at this time by Gen Merritt through a com mission; to arrive at mutual understand inS With Aguinaldo as to the intentions. purposes and desires of the Filipino peo- pie This brings the story up to the out break on the evening of the 4th of Feb ruary, with the attack upon the American n troops following the action of the Ne braskan sentinel.
 The commission. in concluding this chap tcr says:
 After the landing Of our troops Agui- naldo made up his mind that it would be necessary to fight the Americans and af- ter the making of the treaty of peace at Paris this determination was strene th- ened. He did not openly declare that he intended to fight the Americans, but ne
 excited everybody, and especially the mil itary men. by claiming independence, and il is doubtful whether he had the power to check or control the army at the time kostilities broke out.
 'Deplora ble as war Is, the one in which we are now engaged was unavoidable b;' us. We were attacked by bold adven- turcls and enthusiastic army No alter native was left to us except ignominious retreat. It is not to be conceived of that any American would have sanctioned the surrender of Manila to the insurgents Our obligations to other nations, and to
 the friendly Filipinos, and to ourselves and our flag demanded that force should be met by force. Whatever the future of the Philippines may be. there is TO course open to us now except the prose- cution of the war until the insurgents arc reduced to submission.
 '"Ihe commission Is of the opinion that there has been no time since the destruc- tion of the Spanish squadron by Admiral Dewey when il was possible to withdraw our forces from the islands. either With honor to ourselves or with safety to the inhabitants
 Reign of Terror at Manila. The commission then takes up the con ditsSns of the country at the time of their arrival, comparing 1t with condition ex- sting at the time they left short time ago. A vivid picture is given of the an archy existing among the inhabitants in and about Manila during the early spring The situation in the city, says the commission, was bad. Incendiary fires ] occurred daily. The streets were almost deserted. Half of the native population had fled, and most of the remainder were shut in their houses. Business was at a standstill. lnsurgent troops everywhere faced our lines, and the sound of rifle fire
 was frequently audible in our house A reign of terror prevailed. Filipinos who had favored Americans feared aSSaSSina-