The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912Blount, James H. (James Henderson)
History
The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912
Blount, James H. (James Henderson)
Philippines -- History -- 1898-1946; Philippines -- Politics and government -- 1898-1935
Villa officiated as archfiend of the
gruesome occasion. I am quite sure I would have hung Villa without any
compunction at that time, if I could have gotten hold of him. I tried
to get hold of him, but Governor Taft's Attorney-General, Mr. Wilfley,
wrote me that Villa was somewhere over on the mainland of Asia on
British territory, and extradition would involve application to the
London Foreign Office. The intimation was that we had trouble enough
of our own without borrowing any from feuds that had existed under
our predecessors in sovereignty. I have understood that Villa is now
practising medicine in Manila. More than one officer of the American
army that I know, afterwards did things to the Filipinos almost
as cruel as Villa did to that unhappy Spanish officer, Lieutenant
Piera. On the whole, I think President Roosevelt acted wisely and
humanely in wiping the slate. We had new problems to deal with, and
were not bound to handicap ourselves with the old ones left over from
the Spanish regime.
It appears that Villa became a little suspicious of the travellers. He
detained them at Carig seven days. Finally there came a telegram from
his chief at Aparri, Colonel Tirona, to our two travellers, which read:
"I salute you affectionately, and authorize Villa to accompany you to
Iligan." At Iligan, the capital of Isabela province, the travellers
were lavishly entertained. They were given a grand baile (ball) and
fiesta (feast), a kind of dinner-dance, we would call it. To the light
Messrs. Sargent and Wilcox throw on the then universal acknowledgment
of the authority of the Aguinaldo government, and the perfect
tranquillity and public order maintained under it, in the Cagayan
valley, I may add that as judge of that district in 1901-2 there came
before me a number of cases in the trial of which the fact would be
brought out of this or that difference among the local authorities
having been referred to the Malolos Government for settlement. And
they always waited until they heard from it. The doubting Thomas will
attribute this to the partiality of the Filipinos to procrastination
in general. I know it was due to the hearty co-operation of the
people with, and their loyalty to, the then existing government,
and to their pride in it. Mr. Sargent tells a characteristic story
of Villa, whose vengeful feeling toward the Spaniards showed on all
occasions. The former Spanish governor of the province was of course
a prisoner in Villa's custody. Villa had the ex-governor brought in,
for the travellers to see him, and remarked, in his presence to them,
"This is the man who robbed this province of $25,000 during the last
year of his office." From Iligan our travellers proceeded to Aparri,
cordially received everywhere, and finding the country in fact, as
Aguinaldo always claimed in his proclamations of that period seeking
recognition of his government by the Powers, in a state of profound
peace and tranquillity--free from brigandage and the like. At Aparri
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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