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CHAPTER IX

WHO STARTED THE WAR?

HE Senate having under consideration the following resolution, submitted by Mr. Pettigrew on the 3d instant.

"Resolved, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, directed to inform the Senate whether General Torres, one of the officers of the Philippine army, came to General Otis with a flag of truce on February 5, 1899, the day after the fighting commenced between our forces and those of the Filipinos, and stated to General Otis that General Aguinaldo declared that fighting had been begun accidentally and was not authorized by him, and that Aguinaldo wished to have it stopped, and that to bring about a conclusion of hostillities he proposed the establishment of a neutral zone between the two armies of a width that would be agreeable to General Otis, so that during the peace negotiations there might be no further danger of conflict between the two armies, and whether General Otis replied that fighting having once begun must go on to the grim end. Was General Otis directed by the Secretary of War to make such an answer? Did General Otis telegraph the Secretary of War on February 9, 1899, as follows: 'Aguinaldo now applies for a cessation of hostilities and conference. Have declined to answer.' And did General Otis afterwards reply? Was he directed by the Secretary of War to reply; and what answer, if any, did he or the Secretary of War make to the application to cease fighting?"

So far as I am concerned, I am perfectly willing that both of the Senators from Massachusetts should make such inquiries as they choose and seek such information as they desire. I think it is entirely proper. If they believe the information is necessary in order that they may the better discharge their duties, they ought to seek it, and the Senate ought to give them the opportunity to seek it.

Of course the details of the amendment offered by the junior Senator from Massachusetts [MR. LODGE] might be 1. Speech in the Senate January 11, 1900.

considerably extended in the pursuit of valuable information for the public. We might inquire whether our soldiers did not desecrate churches and plunder sanctuaries; whether they did not kill prisoners, murder women, burn houses, rob the persons of the inhabitants of the country, both men and women, of their jewels, and so on, covering the usual train of horrors that follow the operations of hostile armies in the field.

It seems to me that my resolution is exceedingly pertinent. It pertains to questions the people of the United States ask to have answered. They want to know what our course has been in regard to the Philippine people previous to the commencement of hostilities, what our course was immediately after hostilities began, what our relations were to those people, and whether or not war on our part is justifiable. Certainly no nation should wage war unless there is the best of cause and unquestioned justice on the side of the aggressor. For the purpose of ascertaining these pertinent facts, as they seem to me to be, I introduced a resolution on the 12th of December, which read as follows:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, directed to inform the Senate whether the flag of the Philippine republic was carried by vessels in the bay of Manila, and whether the flag of the Philippine republic was ever saluted by Admiral Dewey or any of the vessels of his fleet at any time since May 1, 1898. Were Spanish prisoners delivered over to the Philippine forces at the time of the surrender at Subig Bay? Did a vessel commanded by the forces under Aguinaldo, flying the Philippine flag, accompany the vessels Concord and Raleigh back to Subig Bay in June, 1898, in order to compel the surrender of the Spanish forces?

One object in offering this resolution was to ascertain whether or not the Filipino people had been the allies of the United States Army and Navy; whether we had operated with them against a common enemy. The resolution was laid upon the table on the motion of the Senator from New Hampshire [MR. CHANDLER], and the only reason given for the attempted suppression of information was that if the Senate passed the resolution, such action would be telegraphed immediately to the insurgents.

The object in concealing conditions or operations in time. of war is to keep from an enemy information it does not already possess. If what I state in the resolution is true, the facts were well known to the insurgents at the time the facts were established. If we saluted their flag, they knew it; if their vessels came from Subig Bay to Manila, and if the insurgents asked Admiral Dewey to assist them in the conquest of the Spanish garrison at that place, and our vessels went back and captured the garrison and turned the prisoners over to the insurgents, the insurgents knew it at the time. Therefore the passage of the resolution or the promulgation of the facts to the American people could not encourage the enemy.

Mr. President, the object in this suppression of information is to keep from the American people certain transactions which after history will record. The trouble with these imperialists is that they confound the government of the United States with their puny President. The trouble is that his interests are paramount to the interests of the whole people of this country, and that the desire for political success has more bearing upon grave questions than the mere encouragement or non-encouragement of the insurgents. My resolution was laid upon the table. The information asked for was denied. I want it answered specifically, because I think it is pertinent to this controversy.

This resolution embodies direct questions. They are pertinent questions, and upon them I desire information.

MR. ALLEN. I should like to ask the Senator if he has information that the contents of the resolution are true?

MR. PETTIGREW. I do not assert in the resolution that the contents are true, but I believe they are true; for if they were false, every imperialist in this body would be in great haste to secure replies, and they would have passed my resolution without any delay whatever.

MR. ALLEN. Has the Senator any information in his own possession about the truth of the assertion contained in the resolution?

MR. PETTIGREW. I will come to that, Mr. President. The facts recited in the resolution are facts, and they are therefore true. I am much obliged to the Senator from Nebraska for bringing out this fact at this time. I will produce abundant proof of these facts later on in my remarks.

Mr. President, is war such a flippant thing to engage in that when an enemy with whom we are fighting declares that the conflict was not intentionally commenced and desires to cease fighting in order that peace may be restored and the killing of men stopped, we should answer that the war having commenced, it shall go on to the grim end, and when laterbut a few days later the request for a cessation of hostilities is again made, our general telegraphs to the Administration that he has declined to answer. It seems to me the questions are so pertinent, so pointed, so important, Mr. President, that they ought to be the subject of a separate resolution; not be clouded by a series of events which have occurred since, not clouded by those horrible deeds which occur on both sides when men are engaged in shedding each other's blood.

Therefore I believe that resolution is important. Any other resolutions which may be presented covering other phases of this controversy will not be objected to by me. If information is wanted by the junior Senator from Massachusetts [MR. LODGE], I am willing he shall secure it. But I want these questions-these two or three pertinent questions -answered, and answered directly and at once. That is why I object to the substitute. The subtsitute of the Senator from Massachusetts is what? It reads as follows:

Resolved, That the President be requested to send to the Senate, if not inconsistent with the public interest, all reports and dispatches relating to the insurrection in the Philippines, and especially any information as to communications or correspondence with the insurgents, from the 1st of January, 1898, on the part of any officer in the military, naval, consular, or diplomatic service of the United States.

I have no objection to that information being secured, but I do not wish to have action delayed on these two great important questions until the information desired by the Senator from Massachusetts can be secured; neither do I care to leave

discretion to the President as to whether his reply shall be in accord or consistent with public interests. The people of the United States, who are sovereigns in this country, have a right to know the facts regarding which I ask.

Leave it to the discretion of the President! Why, this resolution, Mr. President, should be amended so that it will accord with the facts. The President himself is unable to distinguish between his own interests and the interests of his country, between the political contest which is about to come on and the question of the destiny and duty of the United States. This resolution might be changed so as to read: “If not inconsistent with the interests of the President as a candidate for reëlection," for that will govern the answer we shall get. The concealment of news, the suppression of facts, has marked the course of this miserable and wretched transaction from the beginning.

Even the report of General Otis, which is sent to us purporting to give a history of the war, does not contain all the facts and was either censored at this end of the line or the other. It does not contain his report of the 6th of April, which gives an account of how the fighting commenced and who inaugurated the war. It does not contain MacArthur's report, before whose forces the fighting was begun. MacArthur describes the opening of hostilities, but that report was not included. It does not give any recital since the war commenced of repeated efforts on the part of the insurgents to cause the cessation of hostilities; it does not give the telegram which Otis sent to the Department dated the 9th of February, 1899, and which is as follows:

Aguinaldo now applies for a cessation of hostilities and conference; have declined to answer.

His report does not contain that exceedingly important telegram. Fighting commenced on the 4th. On the 9th General Otis telegraphed the Department that Aguinaldo desired to cease fighting and have a conference, and that he had not answered. There is no reference in the report to so important