Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-03-02
TRYING TO ANSWER AGurNALDo.

Evidently the administration has
been putting the screws onto Gen.
Thomas M. Anderson. whose official
statements, now part of the govern
nt record, plainly show the rank
trecchery on the part of the admins
tration toward our former allies, the
Filipinos.
Gen. Anderson was among the first
American officers on the ground and
his official reports, oft quoted in these
columns, constitute very strong in
dictment of the administration. None
know this better than administration
politicians Consequently the pow
er of the Washington administration
has been brought to bear on Gen.
Anderson to make some sort of Eek
PLANTATION favorable to the second
term syndicate and contradict Ander-
sons earlier and official dispatches to
the department, now down in black
ard white. Anderson did his best to
comply and defend the policy of the
administration us his published letter
shows. Being a soldier, however, and
a gallant one, he declined to deliber-
ately falsify himself. He contradicts
!. Aguinaldo IA some minor and unim-
portant matters of detail, but in the
main bears out the Filipino leader.
In answer to the assertion that
Aguinaldo was assured by American
officials that the American people in
tended to give the people of the ISL g.
ands their independence General An
derson says: What is the fact.
believe it to be this: That every
American citizen who came in contact
with the Filipinos at the inception of
the Spanish war or at any time within
few months after hostilities began
probably told those he may have
talked with on the subject that we
intended to free them from Spanish
oppression. And here came in nat
ural misconception and misunder-
standing. The general ex-
preston was: We intend to whip the
Span1ardS and set you free.
This bears all the earmarks of
distinction without a difference. What
else could the Filipinos understand by
the language except that they were to
be given their independence as the
Cubans had been promised it? How
were they to understand that Mr.. Nc
L iyo1a M hot 10
them free from Spain to place our
own yoke upon them? Gen. Anderson
admits that the misconception and
misunderstanding on the part of the
Filipinos was natural" Well rather.
"We intend to whip the Spaniards and
set you free" said the Americans.
What were the Filipinos to infer from
this except that they were to be given
their independence as Congress had
promised it to Cuba-a fact the Fill
pinos were we'll aware of.
Did Gen. Anderson do anything to
remove this misunderstanding? APP
parently not, but he makes this con-
fession in his own behalf: Referring
to statement by Aguinaldo that
Dewey assured him that we were hon
orable, and having plenty of land, de-
sired no colonies General Anderson
says; "Aguinaldo is mistaken in at
tributing this remark to the Admiral.
I must plead guilty to this Delphic
utterance at subsequent interview"
1t would be interesting to know what
Gen. Anderson means by "Delphic"
here. If he deliberately intended to
deceive the Filipinos "Delphic" is a
rather too mild adjective
Again, General Anderson accuses
Aguinaldo of misquoting him and ex-
plains: What l did say was that we
had come to whip the Spaniards, and
that as we were fighting a common
enemy | hoped we would get along
amicably together. All the rest is Fill
ipino embroidery" He told the Fill
pinos that I'VE were fighting COM
mon enemy and yet he accuses them
CT "embroidering" his statement when
the Filipinos claim that they were our
allies 1t would be interesting to
know Gen. Anderson's idea OF an ally
in war. Why did he talk TO Aguinaldo
about fighting in harmony against
common enemy if he did not want the
Filipinos to regard the Americans as
alliesf
Gen. Ande mar II n plain and