CONGRESS. (THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



151 



the military occupation and authority of the 

 United States. As early as Dec. 4, before the 

 cession, and in anticipation of that event, the com- 

 mander in Manila was urged to restore peace and 

 tranquillity and to undertake the establishment 

 of a beneficent government, which should afford 

 the fullest security for life and property. 



On the 21st of December, after the treaty was 

 signed, the commander of the forces of occupation 

 was instructed " to announce and proclaim in the 

 most public manner that we come, not as invaders 

 and conquerors, but as friends to protect the na- 

 tives in their homes, in their employments, and in 

 their personal and religious rights." On the same 

 day, while ordering Gen. Otis to see that the peace 

 should be preserved in Iloilo, he was admonished 

 that " it is most important that there should be 

 no conflict with the insurgents." On the 1st day 

 of January, 1899, urgent orders were reiterated 

 that the kindly intentions of this Government 

 should be in every possible way communicated to 

 the insurgents. 



On the 21st of January I announced my inten- 

 tion of dispatching to Manila a commission com- 

 posed of three gentlemen of the highest character 

 and distinction, thoroughly acquainted with the 

 Orient, who, in association with Admiral Deweyand 

 Major-Gen. Otis, w r ere instructed " to facilitate the 

 most humane and effective extension of authority 

 throughout the islands, and to secure with the 

 least possible delay the benefits of a wise and gen- 

 erous protection of life and property to the inhab- 

 itants." These gentlemen were Dr. Jacob Gould 

 Schurman, president of Cornell University; the 

 Hon. Charles Denby, for many years minister to 

 China; and Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan, who had made a most careful 

 study of life in the Philippines. While the treaty 

 of peace was under consideration in the Senate 

 these commissioners set out on their mission of 

 good will and liberation. Their character was a 

 sufficient guarantee of the beneficent purpose with 

 which they went, even if they had not borne the 

 positive instructions of this Government, which 

 made their erand pre-eminently one of peace and 

 friendship. 



But before their arrival at Manila the sinister 

 ambition of a few leaders of the Filipinos had 

 created a situation full of embarrassment for us 

 and most grievous in its consequences to them- 

 selves. The clear and impartial preliminary re- 

 port of the commissioners, which I transmit here- 

 with, gives so lucid and comprehensive a history 

 of the present insurrectionary movement that the 

 story need not be here repeated. It is enough to 

 say that the claim of the rebel leader that he was 

 promised independence by any officer of the United 

 States in return for his assistance has no founda- 

 tion in fact and is categorically denied by the very 

 witnesses who were called to prove it. The most 

 the insurgent leader hoped for when he came back 

 to Manila was the liberation of the islands from 

 the Spanish control, which they had been laboring 

 for years without success to throw off. 



The prompt accomplishment of this work by the 

 American army and navy gave him other ideas 

 and ambitions, and insidious suggestions from 

 various quarters perverted the purposes and inten- 

 tions with which he had taken up arms. No sooner 

 had our army captured Manila than the Filipino 

 forces began to assume an attitude of suspicion 

 and hostility which the utmost efforts of our offi- 

 cers and troops were unable to disarm or modify. 

 Their kindness and forbearance were taken as a 

 proof of cowardice. The aggressions of the Fili- 

 pinos continually increased until finally, just be- 

 fore the time set by the Senate of the United 



States for a vote upon the treaty, an attack, evi- 

 dently prepared in advance, was made all along 

 the American lines, which resulted in a terribly 

 destructive and sanguinary repulse of the insur- 

 gents. 



Ten days later an order of the insurgent govern- 

 ment was issued to its adherents who had remained 

 in Manila, of which Gen. Otis justly observes that 

 " for barbarous intent it is unequaled in modern 

 times." It directs that at 8 o'clock on the night 

 of the 15th of February the " territorial militia " 

 shall come together in the streets of San Pedro 

 armed with their bolos, with guns and ammuni- 

 tion where convenient; that Filipino families only 

 shall be respected; but that all other individuals, 

 of whatever race they may be, shall be extermi- 

 nated without any compassion, after the extermi- 

 nation of the army of occupation, and adds: 

 " Brothers, we must avenge ourselves on the Amer- 

 icans and exterminate them, that we may take 

 our revenge for the infamies and treacheries which 

 they have committed upon us. Have no com- 

 passion upon them; attack with vigor." A copy 

 of this fell by good fortune into the hands of our 

 officers, and they were able to take measures to 

 control the rising, which was actually attempted 

 on the night of Feb. 22, a week later than was 

 originally contemplated. Considerable numbers of 

 armed insurgents entered the city by water ways 

 and swamps, and in concert with confederates in- 

 side attempted to destroy Manila by fire. They 

 were kept in check during the night, and the next 

 day driven out of the city with heavy loss. 



This w r as the unhappy condition of affairs which 

 confronted our commissioners on their arrival in 

 Manila. They had come with the hope and inten- 

 tion of co-operating with Admiral Dewey and 

 Major-Gen. Otis in establishing peace and order 

 in the archipelago and the largest measure of self- 

 government compatible with the true welfare of 

 the people. What they actually found can best 

 be set forth in their own words : 



" Deplorable as war is, the one in which we are 

 now engaged was unavoidable by us. We were 

 attacked by a bold, adventurous, and enthusiastic 

 army. No alternative was left to us except igno- 

 minious retreat. 



" It is not to be conceived of that any American 

 would have sanctioned the surrender of Manila to 

 the insurgents. Our obligations to other nations 

 and to the friendly Filipinos and to ourselves and 

 our flag demanded that force should be met by 

 force. Whatever the future of the Philippines may 

 be, there is no course open to us now except the 

 prosecution of the war until the insurgents are 

 reduced to submission. The commission is of the 

 opinion that there has been no time since the de- 

 struction of the Spanish squadron by Admiral 

 Dewey when it was possible to withdraw our forces 

 from the islands either with honor to ourselves or 

 with safety to the inhabitants." 



The course thus clearly indicated has been un- 

 flinchingly pursued. The rebellion must be put 

 down. Civil government can not be thoroughly 

 established until order is restored. With a devo- 

 tion and gallantry worthy of its most brilliant 

 history, the army, ably and loyally assisted by 

 the navy, has carried on this unwelcome but most 

 righteous campaign with richly deserved success. 

 The noble self-sacrifice with which our soldiers and 

 sailors whose terms of service had expired refused 

 to avail themselves of their right to return home 

 as long as they were needed at the front forms one 

 of the brightest pages in our annals. Although 

 their operations have been somewhat interrupted 

 and checked by a rainy season of unusual violence 

 and duration, they have gained ground steadily- 



