Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-18

Conaict of ideas About the Capture
of ManiIa.
Baltimore American.

Baltimore American.
It is natural for General Anderson a. q
soldier to be Jealous Of the fame and the
achievements Of the American army, Of
which he was so long an %ofieer; but fully
appreciating the motives that may have
inspired his action. It cannot be denied
that he blundered in his attempt to con-
vince the American people that Admiral
Dewey gave, Willingly or unwittingly,
false testimony before the senate commit
tee on the Philippine islands. Admiral
Dewey was in a position to know more Of
what transpired In connection with the ar
engagements for the surrender Of Manila
than Anderson could possibly Rave been.
The former was commander-i n-chief Of the
naval forces engaged, while General An
derson occupied the somewhat subordinate
position Of a brigade commander in Gen.
eral Merritt's Ian force. That General
Anderson actually believes what he has
somewhat laboriously and grandiloquently
set forth In the letter published Il not to be
questioned. The trouble is that he simply
did not know all of the details connected
with the affair about which he undertook
to controvert Dewey In order that the Amer
lean people might know the truth.
In support Of Admiral Dewey's testi-
mony We have detailed an explicit evil
dence. A newspaper correspondent who
was present with the feet has caused q
signed communication to be published in
one OF the New York papers. This cor
respondent was at the time known to be
very close to Admiral Dewey and to enjoy
exceptional facilities for acquiring accurate
Information. He now says that at the
time-in August. 1sss-he knew for a fact
fha fhfnn fo vyhloh AAa,Nr.I n,ux. a-.AG
fed. He goes further and tells how Dewey
submitted to the Spanish governor general
a diagram of Che flags he would hoist de-
handing the surrender OF the city; how,
in acknowledging them, the governor gen.
eral inclosed a diagram Of the defenses
Of Manila, showing the spot at which he
would hoist the white flag; how It was
agreed that when the attack should be
made the Americans were to advance rap
Idly, passing quickly through the zone Of
a light Spanish FIRE, which would be con-
tinued over their heads, and how Admiral
Dewey was to move his ships close UP To
the city and then fire at q range of 1000
| yards, so that the shots would pass en-
tirely over the place. This arrangement,
according to the correspondent, was de-
feated by the fact that Aguinaldo and his
hordes rushed In ahead of the Americans,
who did not advance with sufficient rapid
ity. and the spaniards, becoming alarmed
at the onslaught of the insurgents, began
firing In earnest. Hence 1t was we lost 121
men.
This, we take II, 10 the true story
merely an application Of what Dewey
told the committee. In seeking to con-
trovert It General Anderson does I'll. for
the truth about the surrender of Manila
affords the country an example Of mer-
cifulness on the part Of our army. OF
that example the nation may we'll be proud
since it is one Of the few bright spots
in the record of the war, and instead
Of seeking to overthrow the belief that II
spared Spanish life and property the army
should take pride in having so done. for
such mercifulness as was exhibited Is noble
vharever II NAV he Displayed.