The representative., 1900-09-06
LETTER TO TEDDY
A Filipino "SavaEe' Challenges Him
to Prove His Charges.

was formerly secretary to the Filipino
commission in Washington, and who is
now in London, has been published in
the New York Herald:
Dear Sir: Ihave read your remark
| able speech, delivered recently in St.
Paul, Minnesota. in which you charge
the Filipinos with being the precise
analogies of the boxers and Apaches.
and our government with being a
"bloody Aguildoan oligarchy." Nothing
appeals to the best human emotions as
much as the spectacle of a brave man.
Permit me to say that cordially join
with the American people in admira-
tion of the chief of the Rough Riders
But, while admiring your achievements
as soldier and fearless reformer, my
admiration ceases when you strike at
what believe to be the truth. Indeed,
l am afraid that your brilliant career
may receive check in the unequal con-
test, for truth has never yet been van
Quished. l cannot believe that a gen.
! tleman and a soldier will make serious
charges against an opponent without
being in possession of absolute proof of
the truth of his statement Consequent
ly, if your charges are true, must cease
to be champion of the cause of my
people. If they are false, you ought to
cease to be the champion of yours.
Therefore, in the name of my country
men, for whom you and your colleagues
have made such lavish professions of
friendship, 1 challenge you to furnish
proof of the truth of your charges or
else to withdraw them.
Let me draw your attention to the
circumstances as we F'ilipinos view
them: You come to our country You
! call us Dear Gen. Aguinaldo. You
ask, accept and profit by our aid in the
defeat Of your enemy. You deliver
Spanish prisoners over to our charge.
You place a number of your sick and
wounded practically in our care. When
your enemy has been defeated you turn
upon us, shoot us down by thousands,
and when our resistance is greater than
you anticipated, you declare that we are
the precise analogies" of boxers and
Apaches, and him whom you once styled
Dear general when you required
his aid, you now refer to as Bloody
Aguinaldo." Honor bright, do you con-
slider all this as consistent with the con-
duct Of a gentleman and a soldier?
There is only one escape-prove your
charges.
Look at it in another light. You are
powerful and wealthy; you can bring to
your task of determination the most
deadly weapons of so-called civilized
warfare; your soldiers are we'll armed,
we'll fed, we'll quartered. We, on the
contrary, are without wealth and with
out single field piece. We have very
few arms and inferior ammunition. We
have only such food as our soldiers can
find in forest and mountain, and we
have to live in swamps and jungles
exposed to every weather.
The contest is thus very unequal but
of this we have not complained. Our
Philippine mothers have "silenced the
pang' when an imperialst shell or bull
let has robbed them of husband, father
or brother. We have fought fairly;
even your own officers have admitted
that we ''have conducted the war fairly
and in accordance with the customs of
modern war" Yet, not content with
having all advantages on your side, you
would now try to take from us our good
name. How pitiable! How. infinitessi-
NAL! A brave man will always SYM
pathize with the smaller dog" A
worthy foeman will be generous to his
weaker opponent A gentleman and a
soldier will not heap dishonor upon his
adversary. Do you believe these mere
truisms? Then there is only one es-
cape, prove your charges. Indeed, you
| ought to have proved the charges when
making them. Honor, fair play, the
generosity you should have shown to a
weaker opponent who is absent, all pro-
claim that you ought to have given
proof at the time. But let that pass.
1t is not too late even now.
It will not, however, suffice to appeal
to imagination or assumption, to rumor
or unfounded report. Such rumors and
reports cut both ways. There have
been as many evil reports against the
American soldiers as against the Fill
pinos. Your own commissioners admit
isolated occurrences, regretable, in
deed, but incident to every war;" but
they do not feel called upon to answer
the idle tales without foundation in
fact" Why do not you and they apply
this noble reasoning to the Filipinos?
Similar charges have been made against
Boer and Br1ton, against Union and
Confederate, against every army in ac-
tive war since time immemorial. We
also admit isolated occurrences which
we regret. But you, sir, have charged
us collectively of being the vilest Of
the vile. Every consideration of honor
! and fair play demands that you shall
furnish not idle tales without founda-
ton in fact" but absolute proof.
But, not content with declaring us to
be vile, you proceed to infer hypotheti-
cal acts of vileness; you declare that
If the Filipinos had gained control "the
streets of Manila would have witnessed
such scenes as those of the streets of
Pekin." Fortunately, can prove that
you are wrong. The city of Iloilo was