The Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and the PhilippinesAnderson, Isabel
History
The Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines
Anderson, Isabel
Hawaii; Philippines
"We soon drifted into open hostility. I found but one man who appeared
to understand the situation, and he was the much hated Archbishop
Nozaleda. After we took Manila he invited me to come to see him. He
remarked in the course of our conversation that when we took the city by
storm he expected to see our soldiers kill the men and children and
violate the women. But instead he praised us for having maintained
perfect order. For reply I quoted the Latin, '_Parcere subjectis, et
debellare superbos._' Which prompted him to say in Spanish to a Jesuit
priest, 'Why, these people seem to be civilized.' To which the Jesuit
replied, 'Yes, we have some colleges in their country.'
"The statement that we seemed to be civilized calls for an explanation.
I found many Filipinos feared American rule might prove more severe on
them than the Spanish control. In a school book that I glanced at in a
Spanish school was the enlightening statement that the Americans were a
cruel people who had exterminated the entire Indian population of North
America."
The battle of Manila Bay was fought and won, as we well remember, on May
Day. Through the kind offices of the British consul the Spanish admiral
came to an understanding with Dewey. Surgeons were sent ashore to
assist in the care of the wounded Spaniards, and sailors to act as
police. The cable was cut, and the blockade was carried into effect at
once. The foreign population was allowed to leave for China. German
men-of-war kept arriving in the harbour, until there were five in all.
It was known that Germany sympathized with Spain, and only the timely
arrival of some friendly English ships, and the trenchant diplomacy of
our admiral, prevented trouble.
All the rest of that month, and the next, and still the next, the fleet
lay at anchor, threatening the city with its guns, but making no effort
to take it. The people lived in constant fear of bombardment from the
ships which they could so plainly see from the Luneta on their evening
promenades. But they could not escape, for Aguinaldo's forces lay
encamped behind them in the suburbs. In fact, the refugees were seeking
safety within the walls of the city, instead of fleeing from it, for
while they had no love for the Spaniards, and were fellow countrymen of
the rebel chieftain, they preferred to take their chances of bombardment
rather than risk his method of "peaceful occupation."
Of course there was no coöperation between the Americans and the
Filipinos, although both wanted the same thing and each played somewhat
into the other's hand. Admiral Dewey refused to give Aguinaldo any naval
aid, and the _insurrectos_ on at least two occasions found it profitable
to betray our plans to the common enemy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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