Militarism in the Philippines:

proved of the action of the latter. General Merritt boasts of his
repeated refusal to receive General Aguinaldo, or to take any notice
of his letters. Admiral Dewey, however, constantly received
General Aguinaldo on board his flagship with full military honours.
General Anderson, commander of Cavite, attended the reception
in the Rizal Athenaeum, and General Green, during the voyage
from Hong Kong to San Francisco on board the American transport China, treated me with the greatest consideration.' He always
allotted me the place of honour, as the official and legal representative of the National Government of the Philippine Republic.
Furthermore, President McKinley,,^attended by one of the UnderSecretaries of the Foreign Department, received me with every
courtesy at the White House. In respect to General Merritt s.
statement that he did not recognise either Aguinaldo or his troops,
and that he purposely gave no notice of the attack on Manila, I
may mention that Aguinaldo had previously to that established his
Government and controlled the whole Island of Luzon without
opposition from General Merritt. Indeed, on the contrary, the
local American authorities entered into arrangements such as are
accepted by the equity of nations between the authorities and
officials of t-wo different States. Perhaps General Merritt did not
need the co-operation of the Filipino troops, but he forgets that
Admiral Dewey supplied Aguinaldo, on the arrival cf the latter at
Cavite, with I50 rifles to commence operations against the Spanish
army, and that Aguinaldo was implored by the Commander of the
"Petrel," by the Consuls of Singapore, Hong Kong and Manila, and
by other officers, to lead the natives against the Spaniards in combination with the American forces and with that object in view, he,
with seventeen of his staff, was taken from Hong Kong to Manila
in an American transport. To pretend that the American army was
solely responsible for the so-called conquest of Manila and Cavite
and to refuse the Filipino troops their share of that work is unfair
and the reverse of the truth.
"Sehor Agoncillo indignantly denies the suggestions of looting
or outrages by the Filipinos. Such accusations, he says, are simply
baseless. The first act of Admiral Dewey was to deliver to
Aguinaldo the prisoners taken by the Americans in the battle of the
Bay of Manila. Before the arrival of General Merritt, the insurgents were in possession of the whole province of Cavite and a
portion of Luzon. After his arrival they continued their conquest,
and secured victories both in Luzon and in Bisayas. Although
they now have in their possession I4,000 prisoners, they never loot,