Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1900-09-06

ny wanted to buy the islands of
Spain. England didn'twant Germa-
NJ for . neighbor in the South seas.
She could not control German
statesmen 90 she could American
politicians; She could not dictate
German policy as she could Amer
lean policy therefore, IL she could
not have the islands herself, tho
next best thing was to have them
held BY an administration which
she could control hence the desire
that We shoald keep them.
Instantly the syndicates Of Amer
lea and the forces q greed. rapaoity
and corruption united in favor of
that policy. II meant new con-
tracts, it meant commissions in the
army for the sons of the rich, it
meant opportunities for bonding,
and for despoiling weaker nations.
Dewey Heard From.
Meantime Dewey furnished Agui-
naldo arms. and on June 27, 1898.
wrote to the department at Wash
ington as follows: 81 have given
Aguinaldo to understand that |
consider the insurgents as friends,
being opposed to the common ene-
my. He has gone to attend
meeting of insurgent leaders for
the purpose of forming a civil gov
ernment. His progress has been
wonderful. have allowed him
to pass recruits, arms and ammuni
ton and to take sucn Spanish arms
and ammunition from the arsenal
as he needed. have advised
him frequently to conduct the
war humanely, which be has
done invariably" Here tho
government at Washington was ad-
vised that Admiral Dewey was treat
ing AguinalGo and the other insur-
gents as allies engaged II war
against common enemy, and was
further advised that Aguinaldo and
his associates were establishing
civil government. Mind ron, not
an American government, but q
Philippine government. This gov
ernment was modelled after our
Constitution. 1t had an executive,
legislative and judicial department.
On July 4, 1898, General Ander-
son, who then commanded our
land forces at Manila, wrote to
Aguinaldo % follows:
"Dear General 81 desire to have
the most amicable relations with
you and have you and your people
cooperate with us in the military
operations against the Spanish
forces"
Here was recognition from the
General in command of the Ameri-
can forces to Aguinaldo and his
government. treating them as allies
and asking for their cooperation.
Philippine Army.
During the summer and fall of
1898 Aguinaldo's government ap-
piled repeatedly to President Nc
Kinley for an expression as to the
policy that he intended to pursue
toward the Philippines, asking
whether the Philippine people were
to be treated like the Cubans. This
was all they wanted. They were
already cooperating with us against
Spain. They had hailed US as
friends and shey simply wanted q
declaration as to our intentionss
But the President having already
secretly embarked upon policy Of
i'm perialism, evaded an answer. lie
gave them lofty platitudes about
the blessings of civilization and
about our benevolent purpose, bot
this was all. Had be told them
they were TO be treated like the
Cubans, not man would have been
killed in the Philippines. In the
meantime, the Philippine army,
which numbered about thirty thous-
and men altogether, made itself
master of the whole Of the Philip
pine islands, excepting Manila,
which was held By as. Remember,
il was the Philippine army and not
the American army that did the
fighting on the Philippine Islands.
They whipped the Spaniards and
took them prisoners they made the
escape Of the Spanish army fro m
Manila even impossible /; they cap
tured all the cities Of the archipel O.
go excepting Manila. We have q on
the indisputable evidence Of men
Who were on the ground, who trav-
eled over the country and saw the
conditions with their own eyes, that
the Philippine government mp to
4 the fima a wsa daafraved hw aur