ple, and the presentation by Pratt to Santos of an American flag 25 and more music by the band, the ceremony terminated.

If Mr. Pratt had possessed the slightest knowledge of Filipino customs he would have regarded the incident as of trifling importance. But his vanity led him to regard it as a great political event. The local papers published glowing accounts of the honor which had been paid the American representative and Pratt forwarded clippings to the secretary of state with the suggestion that they should be given out to the American press. But the state department declined to cause the article from the Straits Times entitled "Mr. Spencer Pratt's Serenade," to be published in the American press. Secretary Day wrote:26

"The address presented to you by the twenty-five or thirty Filipinos who gathered about the consulate discloses an understanding on their part that the object of Admiral Dewey was to support the cause of General Aguinaldo and that the ultimate object of our action is to secure the independence of the Philippines under the protection of the United States.

"Your address does not repel this implication and it moreover represents that General Aguinaldo was 'sought out by you' whereas it had been the understanding of the Department that you received him only upon the request of a British subject named Bray who formerly lived in the Philippines. Your further reference to Aguinaldo as 'the man for the occasion' and to your ‘bringing about' the ‘arrangement' between 'General Aguinaldo and Admiral Dewey which has resulted so happily' also represents the matter in a light which causes apprehension lest your action may have laid the ground of future misunderstandings and complications.

"For these reasons the Department has not caused the article

25 The Filipinos always wrote their confidential letters in Tagalog. Maj. Taylor (Phil. Insurg. Recs., 406, 7) says: "In a letter written in Tagalog to Aguinaldo on June 8 by Santos, he described the American Consul-General as having cried out, Hurrah for General Aguinaldo, hurrah for the Republic of the Philippines,' and then, having apparently taken several drinks, he passed up and down the room waving the American flag before giving it to the assembled Filipinos."

In Santos' version of Pratt's speech he is made to say that he personally was not entitled to thanks as he had only faithfully followed the instructions from his government.

26 Mr. Day to Mr. Pratt, July 20, 1898. Sen. Doc. 62, p. 356.

to be given to the press lest it might seem thereby to lend a sanction to views, the expression of which it had not authorized."

On August 2 the Department informed Mr. Pratt that it noted with pleasure that he was not having and did not propose to have any further dealings with the Philippine insurgents.

III

But as St. Clair wrote to Bray, "The vital thing, and nothing else counts, is what Dewey said and did when he at last met Aguinaldo. That is the thing, all else is empty wind."

What Admiral Dewey, General Aguinaldo and General Anderson did is easily ascertained. But what did they say?

Dewey asked Aguinaldo to come to Hong Kong, but before he arrived there the fleet sailed for Manila. With the admiral's consent the McCulloch carried Aguinaldo and thirteen of his companions to Cavite where they arrived nearly three weeks after the Spanish fleet had been destroyed. Dewey was able to take Manila at any time, but had no troops with which to garrison it. After an interview aboard the Olympia, Dewey told Aguinaldo to go ashore and organize his army and gave him some guns and ammunition with which to equip it. He soon had twenty-five or thirty thousand men and was so successful in fighting the Spaniards that they were driven within the outer defenses of Manila. With success Aguinaldo's sense of importance expanded and he proceeded to organize a government as well as an army. On May 24, he announced himself as dictator" and on July 18 proclaimed a form of dictatorial government, which on July 23 was succeeded by the Revolutionary Government with a paper organization of executive, congress and courts.28 In a proclamation of July 25 he announced that

27 "I again assume command of all the troops in the struggle for the attainment of our lofty aspirations, inaugurating a dictatorial government to be administered by decrees promulgated under my sole responsibility" until a regular government can be established.

28 For the proclamations of June 18 and June 23, and "message to foreign powers" of June 23, see Sen. Doc. 62, pp. 432-437. Also see Capt. Taylor's

the Filipinos no longer limited themselves "to asking for assimilation with the political constitution of Spain, but ask for complete separation and strive for independence, completely assured that the time has come when they can and ought to govern themselves."

By June 30, 1898, when General Anderson arrived with troops, the insurgents had become confident and were determined to fight the Americans if necessary to maintain their new government. From that time the objects of the Americans and Filipinos were conflicting and friction was inevitable.

The controversy centers about what was said by Admiral Dewey and General Aguinaldo at their first interview on the Olympia.20

During the hearing on Philippine affairs before a Committee of the Senate, Admiral Dewey gave an interesting account of his relations with the Filipino leaders:

"I should think," said he, "that about a month before leaving Hong Kong, that is, about the first of April, when it became pretty certain that there was to be war with Spain, I heard that there were a number of Filipinos in the city of Hong Kong who were anxious to accompany the squadron to Manila in case we went over. I saw these men two or three times myself. They seemed to be all very young, earnest boys. I did not attach much importance to what they said or to themselves. Finally before we left Hong Kong for Mirs Bay I received a telegram from Consul-General Pratt at Singapore saying that Aguinaldo was there and anxious to see me. I said to him, 'All right, tell him to come on,' but I attached so little importance to Aguinaldo that I did not wait for him. He did not arrive and we sailed for Mirs Bay without any Filipinos."

Dewey did not take the Hong Kong Filipinos very seriously:

Report on the Organization for the Administration of Civil Government by Emilio Aguinaldo (1903), pp. 19–31.

29 Admiral Dewey informs me that some Filipino acted as interpreter and that members of his staff were present. All the Americans who were present, except the admiral, are dead.

30 June 26, 1902, Sen. Doc. 331, 57 Cong., 1st Sess., Part 3; Sen. Doc. 62,

p. 356.

"They were bothering me," he said. "I was very busy getting my squadron ready for battle, and these little men were coming on board my ship at Hong Kong and taking a good deal of my time, and I did not attach the slightest importance to anything they could do, and they did nothing; that is, none of them were with me when I went to Mirs Bay. There had been a good deal of talk, but when the time came they did not go. One of them didn't go because he didn't have any tooth brush.”

Such an excuse naturally left a bad impression on the mind of the American commander, who was not familiar with Malay reasons and evasions.31

Dewey's first official reference to Aguinaldo was in a despatch of May 20, in which he informed the Navy Department that the insurgent leader had been brought down from Hong Kong and was engaged in organizing a force of natives which might render valuable assistance. He was immediately cautioned that it was "desirable as far as possible and consistent for your success and safety, not to have political alliances with the insurgents or any faction in the islands that would incur liability to maintain their cause in the future." Commodore Dewey replied on June 3, assuring the Department that he had acted from the beginning in the spirit of these instructions and had "entered into no alliance with the insurgents or with any faction."32

Dewey's account of his first meeting with the Filipino general shows the patronizing attitude which he assumed. Aguinaldo was not received with any special honors.33

"Aguinaldo came to see me. I said, 'Well now, go ashore there, we have got our forces at the arsenal at Cavite. Go ashore

31 See also, Dewey, Autobiography, pp. 245-247.

32 Dewey added: "This squadron can reduce the defenses of Manila at any time, but it is considered useless until the arrival of sufficient United States forces to retain possession." Rept. Bureau of Navigation, 1898, p. 103. In this despatch Dewey stated that in his opinion the Filipinos were more capable of self-government than the Cubans, but he stated later that he thought neither was capable. Sen. Doc. 331, 57 Cong., 1st Sess., p. 2983; Autobiography, Appendix E.

33 See Admiral Dewey's testimony, Con. Rec., Vol. XXV, 57th Cong., Ist Sess., pp. 2928 et seq.

and start your army.' He came back in the course of a few hours and said, 'I want to go to Japan.' I said, 'Don't give it up, Don Emilio.' I wanted his help, you know. He did not sleep ashore that night. He slept on the ship. The next morning he went on shore, still within my lines, and began recruiting

men.

In order to aid him to "start his army" Aguinaldo was given a few guns and allowed to help himself from the arms which had been captured at Cavite. Apparently that was the extent of the active assistance rendered him.

As to the wishes of the natives, Dewey testified, "They wanted to get rid of the Spaniards; I do not think they looked much beyond that." He did not know what the future policy of the government would be, and simply used his best judgment. The first that Dewey heard of independence in the Philippines was when Aguinaldo issued his proclamation of June 15.

"I attached so little importance to this proclamation that I did not even cable its contents to Washington, but forwarded it through the mails. I never dreamed that they wanted independence. . . . I was," he says, "waiting for troops to arrive, and felt sure the Filipinos could not take Manila, and I thought that the closer they invested the city the easier it would be when our troops arrived to march in. The Filipinos were our friends assisting us; they were doing our work."

Up to the time the army arrived Aguinaldo did everything that Dewey requested. "He was most obedient; whatever I told him to do he did. I saw him almost daily."

Having been instructed to report fully any conferences, relations, or cooperations, military or otherwise, which he had had with Aguinaldo, the admiral on June 27, summarized the situ

34 Dewey (Autobiography, p. 247) says: "Aside from permitting him to establish himself ashore, the only aid rendered him was a gift of some Mauser rifles and an old smooth-bore gun that had been abandoned by the Spanish. He mounted the gun on a float, but I declined to grant his request that our launches tow it across the bay. In short, my policy was to avoid any entangling alliance with the insurgents, while I appreciated that pending the arrival of our troops they might be of service in clearing the long neck of land that stretches out from Cavite Peninsula to the environs of Manila."