The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-07-22
DEWEY,s DUTY
And Some Facls Which Created it
On. the PHILIPPINES.


In the philippines.
New York Tribune: ''At the out
break Of war Admiral Dewey should
have been ordered at once to Cuba.
where he was needed. There would
then have been no pretext for costly
responsibility about the Philippines"
This proposition, long ago advanced.
has lately been renewed. The ignor-
snce which It dIscloses shows how the
minds Of men may be darkened by
failure to observe facts of high Inn
portance. At the outbreak OF the war
there was a Spanish feet in the Pacific.
For the defense of American COM
merce In that ocean and on the entire
Pacific coast there was nothing but the
fleet commanded by Dewey. II the
Spanish vessels once eluded him and
slipped away on the high sens there
was no telling whnt damage to Amer
lean commerce might be done. nor what
port, from Alaska to Southern Callfor-
MIA, might be bombarded. Dewey was
therefore ordered to seek and destroy
that Spanish fleet as the only way to
protect national rights and interests.
He found and destroyed the feet IN
Manila bay. But that gave the United
States all the possession and sovereign
ty which war could give in one of the
most important ports Of the whole
eastern world. Its value was at once
shown by the fact that II he had then,
been ordered to Cuba he could not
have gone without using Manila Bay
for coalIng and reltting. In observ-
ance Of neutrality obligations, Great
Britain and other powers had required
his departure from Hong Kong and
other ports. He could hnd no refuge at
any OF them, and was forced to hold
Manila bay us his own base long
enough to obtain supplies. It was still
possible for Spain to send fleet to
Asiatic waters, and one did in fact en-
ter the Suez canal. At Manila an
American fleet was In the best possible
position to guard against any such raid
upon Pacific commerce or the Pacific
coast. Defense Of all such interests re-
qulred the presence OF Dewey's fleet
somewhere In Asiatlc waters, and no
other port was open to 1t except the
one taken from Spain-the best Of all
In location.
Manila was a place of business at
which many Americans and many
thousand. subjects Of other pow
ers had property, families and
large business interests. To hold
the port without taking pos
session OF the city would have exposed
them all to incalculable losses and suf-
ferlngs for which the United States
would have been responsible. 1t was n
clear and imperative duty to substitute
American for Spanish rule in the city,
because order could in no other way be
established. Operations of insurgents
threatened, the Spanish fleet being de-
stroyed to cause at Manila scenes Of
horror which no civilized power could
take the responsibility OF permitting,
and destruction Of property which
would have involved the United States
In heavy loss. These are only few OF
the many details which showed Admir-
al Dewey and the President that occu-
patton Of Manila without needless de-
lay was an imperative duty. 1t was
accomplished without serious resistance
from Spaniards or harm to non-com-
batants so soon as an adequate force
could be sent thither. and from that
day n measure Of order and good gov
erhment never before known in that
city has been realized.
But by this time peace had been vir-
tually reached, although months Of ne
gotiatiOn followed and other months OF
delay before ratification Of the treaty.
That delay was the actual cause OF all
the trouble that has since occurred. 1t
is not strange that any one. uneasily
conscious Of share in responsibility
for this. should labor to drive all the
facts out Of his mind in order to find
for himself some pretense OF excuse.