Spain because they held Spanish bonds. They were in favor of our conquering the Filipinos because they would like to get more of the bonds of the United States. The great money oligarchy which has ruled the world for the last twenty or thirty years, dictated the march of armies, and the movement of navies, bidding war to commence or war to cease, has now crossed the Atlantic, and is to-day wielding the destinies of the great republic and directing every movement, every thought of the servile President of this most corrupt and un-American of all Administrations.

So General Merritt was to try to fool the Filipinos and prevail upon them to do what he wanted and not let them know what was his purpose. He was armed with different instructions from those that had been given to any one else. He tells General Greene to get possession of a piece of the shore; to do it without letting the Filipinos know that he recognized them in any way, but to accomplish it. Aguinaldo said he would give possession of the shore if they would make the request in writing. Upon that he withdrew his troops from the trenches and our troops took possession of 400 yards of Aguinaldo's works, from the shore part way around Manila. Without giving the request in writing, we simply promised that it should be sent the next day. This is contained in General Greene's statement.

Now what occurred? Manila surrendered. It was 14 miles around Manila, and of that 14 miles all but 400 yards was occupied by the Filipino forces. When the city surrendered we took 13,000 Spanish prisoners, according to General Greene's report, and there was no fighting. In fact, the surrender had been arranged. We were simply to make a demonstration and then the Spanish garrison was to lay down. its arms. They were to give themselves up to us that they might avoid capitulating to the Filipinos, who had surrounded them. Thus the surrender of the Spanish forces was secured without bloodshed, except for an accident, or except for such bloodshed as the generals commanding our armies thought was necessary in order to humbug the insurgents, so they would be content to allow us to enter the city without them.

Immediately upon our occupation of the city we began to push the insurgents back. We gave them nice talk. We told them we were their benefactors. We pointed to our resolution with regard to Cuba. We declared that we had the highest motives and that conquest would not be thought of-that it was immoral. Thus we gained possession of one point after another.

In demanding the retirement of the Filipino troops the first letter which Otis wrote to Aguinaldo is as follows: Aguinaldo had protested against retiring from territory which he had conquered by sacrificing the blood of his men. A parley ensued.

On September 8, 1898, General Otis forwarded to Aguinaldo this communication, the first one he had sent to that officer:

It only remains for me to respectfully notify you that I am compelled by my instructions to direct that your armed forces evacuate the entire city of Manila, including its suburbs and defenses, and that I shall be obliged to take action with that end in view within a very short space of time should you decline to comply with my Government's demand; and I hereby serve notice on you that unless your troops are withdrawn beyond the line of the city's defenses before Thursday, the 15th instant, I shall be obliged to resort to forcible action, and that my Government will hold you responsible for any unfortunate consequences which may ensue.

Here, then, on the 8th of September was a declaration of war, a threat to an ally who had done as much against the common enemy as we had done.

Permit me to believe that my confidence in the sound judgment and patriotism of yourself and associates is not misplaced.

We were parleying with Spain. It was long before the treaty was made and many months before it was ratified.

You will please pardon me for my apparent unnecessary delay in replying to your communication of the 27th ultimo, but press of the duties connected with the administration of the affairs of this city is my

excuse.

In conclusion, I beg to inform you that I have conferred freely with Admiral Dewey upon the contents of this communication and

am delegated by him to state that he fully approves of the same in all respects; that the commands of our Government compel us to act as herein indicated, and that between our respective forces there will be unanimity and complete concert of action.

Now, this is Otis's report, from which I read:

On September 13 a commission sent by Aguinaldo and consisting of three members, one of whom was the treasurer and another the attorney-general of the insurgent government, called for the purpose of discussing the subject of my letter of the 8th. They asked me to withdraw it and simply request in writing that the insurgent troops retire to the line designated by General Merritt, which I refused to do, stating that unless they withdrew as directed we would be obliged to resort to force.

Pretty talk, is it not, toward an ally who was fighting with us? If this Administration had a spark of honor when they sent General Merritt there they would have told the whole truth in his instructions to the insurgents, would have told them that they had nothing to expect but slavery at their hands, instead of still parading as their friends.

They then asked that I withdraw the letter and issue a request unaccompanied by any threat to use force, as Aguinaldo was fearful that he would be unable to remove his troops upon a demand, to which I replied that the letter of the 8th instant would stand. They then said that as the demands of that letter must remain unchanged, the insurgents would withdraw as directed therein, but that if I would express in writing a simple request to Aguinaldo to withdraw to the lines which I designated-something which he could show to the troops and induce them to think that he was simply acting upon a request from these headquarters--he would probably be able to retire his men without much difficulty; that, of course, they themselves understood the direction to withdraw, which he obeyed, and thereupon repeated their desire to obtain a note of request, whereupon I furnished them with the following.

Then comes a request simply to withdraw, designating the line, and this request was complied with.

Now we complain and the Administration justifies its commencement of the war upon these people because they were uneasy during this time; that threats were heard; that assertions were made that they had a right to independence. Aguinaldo issued a proclamation in answer to the President's

proclamation, declaring that he sought independence for his people.

Now, Mr. President, who did begin the war? Here is Otis's letter of the 8th of September, saying that he would resort to war if they did not surrender to him some of the territory which they had conquered from Spain. Here is the President's proclamation, saying, "If you do not surrender the islands on the 21st of December, I will wage war against you to the death."

What is more, it is well to inquire who fired the first shot. It appears that there was a town between the lines of the two armies, occupied by the forces of Aguinaldo-a town 150 yards in advance of the line of the American troops-and that Otis wished to obtain possession of it. He therefore entered into an agreement to have Aguinaldo withdraw his pickets therefrom and retire to a greater distance.

This was done. On the night after this had been accomplished a patrol of the insurgents entered the abandoned town. A patrol is not a war party; a patrol is simply to pick up stragglers. They had occupied the place the night before, and they sent a patrol in the evening to see if any of their men had remained behind-if there were any stragglers in this village. We had occupied the place as a picket station, and when these Malays, who do not speak our language, came along, a、 Nebraska boy ordered them to halt, and they did not halt.

It is very strange, is it not, that the insurgents did not understand the Spanish or the Malay tongue of the Nebraska boy? He fired upon them and killed a lieutenant, and within a few minutes two or three more Filipinos were killed; and thus the war was begun. And who started it? We commenced it by the declaration of war on the part of our President, by every act of ours which indicated that we did not propose to give them their freedom. We inaugurated the conflict by killing the first man. But what does General Otis say about this? On page 92 of this report you will find the following statement:

It is not believed that the chief insurgent leaders wish to open hostilities at this time

It is not believed they wished to open hostilities. Let us see. On the same page he describes the battle of Manila:

The battle of Manila commenced at half past 8 o'clock on the evening of February 4 and continued until 5 o'clock the next evening.

The engagement was one strictly defensive on the part of the insurgents and of vigorous attack by our forces.

Here, then, Mr. President, is the killing of two or three or four Filipino soldiers who composed the patrol, which was not a war party, by a picket of ours; and then what? "The engagement was one strictly defensive on the part of the insurgents and of vigorous attack by our forces." Then we rushed upon their works, and the killing and destruction were well under way. We took their trenches and drove them back. And yet it is claimed by the President, in his proclamation, that the Filipinos struck a foul blow. Who really struck the foul blow? Who was guilty of duplicity? Who was guilty of deception through the whole of this miserable transaction?

General Otis conceals the rest of the facts. The report of General MacArthur is not here, but I have read the reports of various soldiers, for the South Dakota troops were along this line. I have talked with many of them, and there is no possible question but that we were first guilty of shedding blood; that we began the attack, and that we followed it up.

What occurred, Mr. President? General Rives, of Minnesota, who was in charge of the city of Manila at the time fighting commenced, in an interview said:

But I can tell you one piece of news that is not generally known in the United States. On Sunday, February 5, the day after the fighting began, General Torres, of the insurgents, came through our lines under a flag of truce and had a personal interview with General Otis, in which, speaking for Aguinaldo, he declared that the fighting had been begun accidentally and was not authorized by Aguinaldo; that Aguinaldo wished to have it stopped, and that to bring about a conclusion of hostilities he proposed the establishment of a neutral zone between the two armies of any width that would be agreeable to General Otis, so that during the peace negotiations there might be no further danger of conflicts between the two armies. To these representations of General Torres General Otis sternly replied that the fighting, having once begun, must go on to the grim end.