The Portland daily press., 1900-09-06

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was our purpose to cripple Spain in the
war, 1T was necessary for us to control
her possessions In the far East until the
war was ended.
Next 1t must be relnem bered as an i'm
/ pOrGant consideration, that if we could
nave landed, simultaneously with the des-
UFuctIOn OF the Spanish dee6 an Ameri-
can armed force Of 5000 men, it could
nave gone from one end of the islands to
the other without opposition except from
! Spanish sources, and would have been re-
ce1ved everywhere by the people with well
come and acclaim. We would never have
heard, In that event. of insurrection Such
able F1l1p1nOs as MaD1ni and Buencarni-
no, who refused to follow Aguina1do un-
TIL they We're in danger of Assassination
for not doing so, often emphasized to the
! newspaper correspondents that there
would have been no opposition to Ameri -
ca II we could have landed such a force
! aO Uha6 time. Fate and fortune were, how
ever, against us.
Moreover, If it had not been for the am
bilious dictatOrial leadership of Don
Emilio AgiunaldO Fami, there never
would have been any organized rebellion
| against America, and, therefore. nOsreason
Ior the Democratic nominee false cry of
Imperialism. While admitting that
! Agu1naldO is man OF remarkable exec
utive capacity and considerable ability. II
cannot be denied chat he is as, unscrupu-
lous as he is fOroeful,
AGUINALDO AND GEORGE WASH
INGTON.
Those men who have compared Agu1n-
aldo to George Washington should re-
member the banquet at Hong Kong. Civ
en- on December II, 1897, by the Spanish
leaders, to Aguinaldo and his associates
who had just left the Philippine Islands
forever by the treaty Of BiecnabatO &C
cord1ng TO the terms of which they re-
ce1ved large sum of money from Spain
to give up their so-calIed struggle for lib
erty.
At this feast, Aguinaldo proposed the
health of Her Majesty the Queen Regent
OF Spain, and His Majesty, the boy King
of Spain, as the nObIest and fairest O f
monarchs that had ever lived, and
wished them long life and happiness, al
though he had just been speaking of
them, while in the Philippines as the most
damnable of mOnarchsl
Can any man, Democrat or Republican,
Imagine George Washington being
bought of by England, and then attend
ing banquet where he would have pro-
posed the health OF old King George as the
nobIest and fairest monarch that ever
ived?
And it is this man who VIII again be
in power in the Islands If the Democratic
nominee is elected President.
NO PROMISES TO AGUINALDO.
As one VINO was present at all the in
terV1eWs in Hong Kong between Agu1ual-
do and the American officials, | want to
say, as / have repeatedly stated in maya
zine articles and books that l have writ
ten, that no assurances or promises what.
soeveF were given AguinaldO of Ameri-
can cooperation as a result Of which he
could establish an independent govern
ment. 1t was only later when he wished
to justify his remarkable course that he
though OF contending that promises had
been made him by representatives of the
United States. When he was put aboard
the McCuIloch by Ensign Caldwell, Con-
b sui General WiIdman and myself in Hong
Kong harbOr. Caldwell stated to him in
my presence that the Admiral was not
, inviting him to come to the Philippines,
and only allowed him to go on his own
earnest representations and that the
United States assumed no responsibility
} whatsoever in connection with his going
{ VIII atever assurances had been given him
emanated from men and sources which
l the American government did not con-
troll such as Howard W. Bray, a prOmi =
nent Englishman OF Singapore, who had
stopped A guinaldO as he was en- route to
Europe and had suggested to him that he
give up his trip and join the Americans
IN their struggle against Spain. Had 1t
not been for Bray, AgutnaldO would have
gons on to Europe, and there would have
J been no insurrection against us. The
: original responsibility, therefore, rests not
J upon American authority.
Furthermore, when AguinaIdO landed
at Cavite there were not even a score or
natives to do him honor, and he was so
discouraged after his first day' S presence
that he asked Lieutenant Williams, in
command Of the American marines at the
navy yard, If there was not steamer
leaving the next day on which he could
return to Hong Kong. Unfortunately for
the United States, the opportunity was
! not open.
With Aguinaldo's lack of welcome, con-
trast the splendid reception that was Civ
en- to the American consul of Manila, who
was greeted by 20, 600 FilipinOs, men and
women, when he landed from the Bal til
more after the destruction the Spani sh
fleet
The first friction between the Filipinos
and the Americans was caused by Aguin-
aldo when he ordered the people not to
give the Americans any assistance in
> carrying provisions for the American
army which was surrounding the Span
iards in Manila. Further friction came
I when be Insisted that his troops should
be allowed to go into Manila, most of
; whom were bent, as we who were there
we'll remember, on lOotin g the city. even
; though AguinaldO and his leaders them
selves denied any such intention.
THE OPINIONS OF TWO NEBRASKA
COLONIES.
In Judging whether or not jhs Demo-
cratic nominee has a righ5ful claim to
his position on this question, let us con-
trast what he says with the words of
those who had actual knowledge Of the
situation. Colonel Bryan, though good
man be may be, was never on the firing
line and never within seven thousand
miles OF the Philippines. Depending sole
ly upon hearsay and political prejudice,
he says that America is to blame for the
insurrect1on in the Philippines; tnat we
are crushing out the spirit OF liberty and
that the American flag must be hauled
down.
Colonel S totsenberg. the commander of
the Nebraska regiment, which, by a re-
markable coincidence, was stationed at
the very point where the outbreak Oc-
CURED on the 4th of February, 1892 who
was familiar with all of the incidents
leading up to the collision and who later
fell whil9 leading his regiment in a