The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-22

Admiral Dewey's victory of Manila
Bay has, so far, stood out as the one
unsullied achievement of the war with
Spain. The Santiago battle has been
smirched by quarreling and vituper-
alton, and even San Juan Hill has been
forced to undergo a second severe at
tack, of criticism. 1t was sincerely
hoped that Dewey would be left to us
as hero who might wear his laurels
unquestioned and to whom we might
bow the reverential knee. But it seems
that not even he is to escape the fate
which is apparently in store for our
latter-day heroes.
We are now asked to believe, on the
authority of an American newspaper
published in Manila, that Deweys VIC
tory was pretty much a sham; that his
ships were never in any real danger;
that the Spanish vessels were not sunk
as q result of the fire of the Americans
| but that they were scuttled by order
of their own commanders and sent to
the bottom to prevent them from fall
ing into the hands of the enemy
The sunken Spanish vessels were
some time ago ordered raised and re-
| paired. That work is now well adj
vanced; far enough, indeed, for a
fair idea of the cause of their
destruction to be ascertained. The
Manila American says that in the
case of one of the vessels raised it was
trated by only one shot, which was
above the water line and did no APP
preciable damage. The steel cruiser
Ulloa, the largest vessel of the Spanish
feet instead of being riddled below the
water line, was found to have sustain
ed very few hits and there were evil
dences that she had been sent to the
bottom by the scuttling process. at is
| likely" says the American, that when
the remainder of the vessels are raised
it will be found that the battle of May
/ was more of an opera bouffe affair
than the land battle of August 10, of
which the hero of the first affair has
| spoken so disparagingly."
All this is very regrettable, but it
is not the worst. Admiral Dewey has
asked, on behalf of himself and his
men, that he be awarded $10S, 900 prize
money for the destruction of these
ships. There is a difference between
prize money and bounty money. If the
vessels were paid for under the bounty
system, Dewey and his men would get
only $4,000. In order for Dewey to
make out his case, which is pending
before one of the higher courts, he
must show among other things that his
victory was won without assistance
A brief just filed with the court by the
attorney for the United States govern
ment asserts that the Filipinos were
Dewey's allies in the action, and that
he supplied them with arms and am
munition to be used against the Span
iards. This statement is in direct con-
fiict with the statement made by Ad-
miral Dewey before the Senate investi-
eating committee on the Philippines,
and differs from the position the gov
eminent has heretofore assumed when
this question has been raised. Argu-
menus Oh lHS OiiSA VIII NC hSaiu THIS
week, when, if the contention is main
tanned, an effort will have to be made
on the part of the government to show
that the Filipinos were it's allies.
Nevertheless it is still the unaltered
fact that Dewey did what he was, or
dered to do in Manila Bay. His in
structions were to capture or destroy
the enemy. When he had finished with
them there was not a fighting craft
above water. Whether they went
down from the effect of shots, or were
scuttled, is immaterial in so far as the
general result is concerned. They were
out of the fight, and that was the main
point.