7YO 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



constituents that the men would not eat it, declar- 

 ing that it made them sick. It was dealt out to the 

 troops only to be thrown away, and great quantities 

 reached Cuba in a putrid condition and were thrown 

 overboard. This beef was believed to have been 

 rejected scraps and carcasses from which whatever 

 soluble nutrients they contained had been boiled 

 out to make commercial meat extract. Gen. Miles 

 bought native beasts in order to furnish his regi- 

 ments in Puerto Rico with cattle on the hoof, as has 

 been the custom in the United States arrny. 



The medical service in Cuba was so deficient that 

 the Red Cross Society came to its aid with hospital 

 equipments and medicines. So many complaints 

 were made of the commissary and quartermaster- 

 general's and the medical departments, that the 

 President appointed a commission to investigate the 

 charges of criminal neglect of the soldiers in camp 

 and field and hospital and in transport, and to ex- 

 amine the administration of the War Department 

 in all its branches. After many had declined to 

 serve, the commission was finally constituted as 

 follows: Gen. Granville M. Dodge, president, Col. 

 James A. Sexton, Col. Charles Denby, Capt. Evan 

 P. Howell. Urban A. Woodbury, Brig.-Gen. John 

 M. Wilson, James A. Beaver, Major-Gen. Alexander 

 McDowell McCook, and Dr. Phineas S. Conner. 

 They met first in Washington on Sept. 8, and ex- 

 amined witnesses there and in New \ork and Chi- 

 cago, and inspected the Southern camps. Gen. 

 Miles described the refrigerator beef supplied to his 

 army as apparently "embalmed " and causing sick- 

 ness among his men, and so objectionable that he 

 asked the War Department to send him no more. 

 He called it an experiment to supply the army with 

 refrigerated beef. Brig.-Gen. Charles P. Eagan, 

 Commissary General of Subsistence, appeared before 

 the commission and accused Gen. Miles of lying. 

 Gen. Egan was court-martialed and condemned to 

 be dismissed from the army for conduct unbecom- 

 ing an officer and a gentleman, but President Mc- 

 Kinley commuted the sentence to six years' suspen- 

 sion from duty. 



The Philippine Revolutionary Government. 

 When Gen. Anderson first landed with American 

 troops, Aguinaldo endeavored to extract from him 

 assurances that the United States would not assert 

 sovereignty over the islands. Failing to obtain 

 pledges from the American authorities, he prevented 

 the troops from getting transportation from the 

 natives. The young Filipino leader, who gained 

 recruits constantly by representing that the Amer- 

 icans intended to restore the islands to Spain, and 

 by encouraging his adherents to plunder the Span- 

 iards in the interior, removed all possible rivals and 

 all who might be favorable to American control. 

 Thus Isabelo Artacho was executed and Sandigo 

 was compelled to flee. The Spanish garrisons in the 

 smaller places were captured one by one and priests 

 and civilians also were made captives. The rich 

 booty of the convents was divided between the pro- 

 vincial leaders and the central administration. 

 Aguinaldo, who assumed the titles of President of 

 the Philippine Republic and Dictator, appointed on 

 July 5 a Cabinet in which Baldomero Aguinaldo 

 was Minister of War and Public Works. Leandro 

 Ibarra Minister of the Interior, and Mariani Trias 

 Minister of Finance. He issued on Aug. 6 a decla- 

 ration of Philippine independence and an appeal to 

 the. foreign powers to recognize the belligerent 

 rights of the revolutionary Government. He as- 

 serted that the revolution dominated the provinces 

 of Luzon and the capital city; that Government 

 was administered by the revolutionary authorities ; 

 that he had a regular army of 30,000 combatants 

 and held 9.000 Spanish prisoners of war. In various 

 public declarations he intimated that the United 



States representatives had recognized him as a mili- 

 tary ally and had formally co-operated with him 

 against the Spaniards. This impression Gen. Mer- 

 ritt removed by refusing to discuss political questions 

 with Aguinaldo, who after the fall of Manila com- 

 plained that the American commanders had attacked 

 Manila without inviting his co-operation, and had 

 not admitted him to a share of the spoils after he 

 had permitted the American troops to land and had 

 befriended and helped them in many ways. He put 

 forward a series of demands, promising to withdraw 

 his troops to certain limits close to the city, pro- 

 vided that Gen. Merritt agreed to give him certain 

 convents in Manila, to consult him about all civil 

 appointments, to permit Filipino soldiers to enter 

 the city at will with their arms, and to confine 

 the occupation to the city only, no Americans being 

 permitted to leave its limits without permission 

 from him. For some days after the surrender of 

 Manila the Spanish soldiers in the trenches on 

 the eastern and northern sides of the city re- 

 mained at their posts to co-operate with the Amer- 

 icans in keeping out the insurgents, who made 

 ineffectual attempts to break through the lines. 

 The Filipinos held the waterworks supplying 

 Manila and only by threats were they induced to 

 give up possession. Felipe Agoncillo, Vice-President 

 of the revolutionary Government, was sent as an 

 envoy to the United States to confer with President 

 McKinley with reference to the recognition of 

 Philippine independence. 



A Philippine Congress met at Malolos in Sep- 

 tember to draw up a constitution. Many influential 

 Filipinos held themselves aloof, and not all who were 

 present were opposed to American rule. On Sept. 8 

 Gen. Otis demanded that the Filipinos should 

 evacuate the suburbs of Manila, and Aguinaldo at 

 length complied to avoid a collision. Later, fearing 

 that the Americans would cut his lines of communi- 

 cation and hem in his forces south of Manila, he 

 evacuated Cavite, Bakor, and other posts and estab- 

 lished his headquarters at Malolos. His power and 

 influence grew not only in the island of Luzon, but 

 in Mindoro, Panay, Zebu, Leyte, and Samar. The 

 insurgent soldiers, undisciplined and without train- 

 ing during the siege of Manila, were afterward put 

 through a severe course of drill and schooled in 

 imitation of American methods until they attained 

 a remarkable proficiency in ordinary evolutions and 

 the manual of arms. The army was organized in 

 brigades and divisions. In civil administration the 

 revolutionary Government, after the meeting of 

 the Congress, more carefully conformed to the laws 

 and usages of civilized communities. The policy of 

 the United States Government was not defined 

 until after the signature of the treaty of peace. 

 President McKinley then instructed Gen. Otis to 

 make known to the inhabitants of the Philippine 

 Islands that, in succeeding to the sovereignty of 

 Spain, the authority of the United States is to be 

 exerted for the security of the persons and property 

 of the people of the islands and for the confirma- 

 tion oi their private rights ; and that whoever by 

 active aid or by honest submission co-op' 

 with the Government of the United States will 

 receive its support and protection, but all others 

 will be brought within its lawful rule with 

 firmness, though without severity, the municipal 

 laws of the territory continuing in force until tin- 

 legislation of the United States shall otherwise pro- 

 vide. At the end of December Aguinaldo recon- 

 structed and completed his Cabinet by appointing 

 Maliani Minister of Foreign Affairs, leoaoro San- 

 dica Minister of the Interior, and Gregoric-o < ion/aira 

 Minister of Public Works. The Spanish Govern- 

 ment entered into negotiations with the revolution- 

 ary Government for the release of the Spanish 



