"_Senator Patterson_. I understand that. "_Admiral Dewey_. I received lots of advice, you understand, from many irresponsible people. "_Senator Patterson_. But Pratt was the consul-general of the Government there? "_Admiral Dewey_. Yes; he was consul-general. "_Senator Patterson_. And he communicated with you, giving you such information as he thought you might be interested in, and among other information he gave you was this concerning Aguinaldo? "_Admiral Dewey_. I don't remember; no, I really don't remember his telling me anything about Aguinaldo more than that cablegram there, and I said he might come. And you see how much importance I attached to him; I did not wait for him. "_Senator Patterson_. What you said was: 'Tell Aguinaldo to come as soon as possible.' "_Admiral Dewey_. Yes; but I did not wait a moment for him. "_Senator Patterson_. Yes; but there was a reason for that. "_Admiral Dewey_. I think more to get rid of him than anything else. "_Senator Carmack_. Rid of whom? "_Admiral Dewey_. Of Aguinaldo and the Filipinos. They were bothering me. I was very busy getting my squadron ready for battle, and these little men were coming on board my ship at Hongkong and taking a good deal of my time, and I did not attach the slightest importance to anything they could do, and they did nothing; that is, none of them went with me when I went to Mirs Bay. There had been a good deal of talk, but when the time came they did not go. One of them didn't go because he didn't have any toothbrush. "_Senator Burrows_. Did he give that as a reason? "_Admiral Dewey_. Yes; he said, 'I have no toothbrush.'" [100] However, Dewey ultimately yielded to the pressure exercised on him by Pratt and Wildman, and allowed Aguinaldo and some of his associates to be brought to Manila. Having them there he proposed to get assistance from them, not as allies, but as a friendly force attacking a common enemy, in its own way. Let us continue with his testimony as to cooperation between Aguinaldo and the naval forces of the United States:-- "_Senator Patterson_. Then, Admiral, until you knew that they were going to send land forces to your assistance you thought there was a necessity to organize the Filipinos into land forces, did you? "_Admiral Dewey_. No; not a necessity. "_Senator Patterson_. You thought it might prove of value to you? "_Admiral Dewey_. I testified here, I think, in a way that answers that. I said to Aguinaldo, 'There is our enemy; now, you go your way and I will go mine; we had better act independently.' That was the wisest thing I ever said. "_Senator Patterson_. But you stated that you were using these people and they were permitted to organize, that you might use them. "_Admiral Dewey_. They were assisting us.