 CHAPTER XIII PART ONE OF TWENTY YEARS OF THE REPUBLIC, 1885-1905 by Henry Thurston Peck. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. THE WAR WITH SPAIN, PART ONE. Commodore Dewey on the Asiatic station had his squadron well in hand. The vessels which composed it were not reckoned among the most powerful ships of the new navy, but they were in a state of high efficiency and in their class they were as good as any in the world. Lying at Hong Kong was the flagship Olympia, a protected cruiser of 5,800 tons and carrying a fine armament of modern guns. With her were the Baltimore, a protected cruiser of 4,600 tons, and the Raleigh, a protected cruiser of 3,217 tons. At Mears Bay on the Chinese coast, 32 miles distant from Hong Kong, were the protected cruiser Boston of 3,000 tons, the gun boats Concord and Petrol, and the armed revenue cutter McCulloch together with a Collier and a supply ship. NOTE ONE, PAGE 559. Every one of these vessels had received the last touch necessary to the perfection of preparedness. The complicated machinery had been overhauled under the keen eyes of the Commodore himself. The ammunition hoists had been tested. All the bunkers were filled with coal and the magazines were stored to their full capacity. Finally the crews were superbly disciplined, devoted to their officers and eager for any duty however hazardous that it might be theirs to undertake. As the vessels lay at anchor with steam up, they resembled a group of perfectly trained athletes impatient for their summons to glorious action. They had been stripped of every inch of superfluous woodwork and their hulls no longer snowy white, were painted a sullen slate color which transformed their graceful drauntiness into a suggestion of something grim and terrible. Commodore Dewey had assumed command on January 3rd, and during the months that followed he had not merely shown himself to be a naval chief of rare ability, but he had indirectly served his country in other and less obvious ways. Here were illustrated once more the force and value of personality in the conduct of great affairs. Dewey was by birth a vermonter of the very best New England stock and had superimposed upon the sturdy qualities of his ancestry all the tactfulness, the courtesy of bearing and the clear sanity of judgment which marked the manuous had long experience of the great world. He was now in his sixtieth year, alert and vigorous, and combining the energy of youth with the sagacity of age. Professionally his career had well fitted him for great responsibility. In the Civil War he had served under Farragut in some of the hottest fights of that fierce struggle. Later he had been chief of the Naval Bureau of Equipment and a member of the Board of Inspection and Survey. All together he was at one and the same time a cultivated gentleman, a scientific expert in naval affairs, and a sailor who in battle would be inspired by the example of the great captain with whom he had once faced the flaming forts and batteries on the lower Mississippi. Hong Kong is one of the most intensely British of all the British dependencies in the East. It is strongly garrisoned and is an important naval station. In 1898 the goodwill of its people and especially of its official society was of immense importance to any combatant whose field of action lay in Asiatic waters. Spanish agents swarmed there and in a thousand subtle ways endeavored to win British sympathy for their cause and to create a feeling of antipathy towards the United States by appealing to an underlying strain of dislike and jealousy which they imagined to exist in Englishmen. That they failed utterly and hopelessly must be ascribed in part at least to the impression which Commodore Dewey and his staff created during their stay at Hong Kong from January until the end of April. The Anglo-Saxon type of sailor is the same in both of the great English-speaking nations and from the acting governor down to the youngest midi on shore leave, every Britain recognized in the chiefs of the American squadron, blood brothers who fulfilled even the exacting standard which Englishmen applied to those who claimed to be officers and gentlemen. What service was rendered to the American cause by the character and personality of the American commander at Hong Kong will presently appear. The dispatch of April 24 from Washington reached Commodore Dewey in the nick of time. An hour or two before, Great Britain's proclamation of neutrality had been issued and he must depart at once. The dispatch therefore relieved him of all doubt and made his course of action plain. There was no delay. Signals fluttered from the flagship and soon the Olympia followed closely by the Raleigh and the Baltimore, steamed out to sea to the music of the national anthem. As the cruiser swung into the channel, thousands of British soldiers, sailors and civilians swarmed down to the shore, cheering lustily for Dewey and wishing him Godspeed. Good luck to you. Smash the dawns. It was the shout that reached him as a final parting. At Mears Bay he picked up the other vessels of his squadron and on April 27 headed for the island of Luzon. As soon as the open sea was reached, the crew of each ship was mustered upon deck. Note 2, page 562. Then was read to them a proclamation issued on the 23rd by the Spanish general, Basilio Augustin, military governor of the Philippines. This proclamation is a curiosity in the literature of war. It began. Spaniards between Spain and the United States of North America hostilities have broken out. The North American people, constituted of all the social excrescences, have exhausted our patience and provoked war by their perfidious machinations. The struggle will be short and decisive. The God of victories will give us one as brilliant and complete as the righteousness and justice of our cause demand. Spain will emerge triumphantly from this new test, humiliating and blasting the adventurers from those states which, without cohesion and without a history, offered to humanity only infamous traditions and the ungrateful spectacle of a Congress in which appear united insolence and defamation, cowardice and cynicism. A squadron manned by foreigners possessing neither instruction nor discipline is preparing to come to this archipelago with the roughianly intention of robbing us of all that means life, honor and liberty. The proclamation went on to say that the Americans were endeavoring to substitute Protestantism for the Catholic faith, to plunder and to spoil and to kidnap such of the inhabitants of the islands as were needed to man ships or to labor in the fields. General Augustine surpassed himself in the concluding sentences. Vain designs, ridiculous boastings. Your indomitable bravery will suffice to frustrate the attempt to carry them into realization. The aggressors shall not profane the tombs of your fathers. They shall not gratify their lustful passions at the cost of our wives and daughters honor or appropriate their property your industry has accumulated as a provision for your old age. Filipinos, prepare for the struggle and unite it under the glorious Spanish flag which is ever covered with laurels. Let us fight with the belief that victory will crown our efforts and to the calls of our enemies. Let us oppose with the decision of the Christian and the Patriot, the cry of Viva España. Note three, page 563. After this proclamation had been read to the crews by the division officers, the announcement was briefly made. The squadron is bound for Manila. Our orders are to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet. Cheer after cheer rang out with a deep note of martial exaltation. And when the ship's band struck up the national anthem, the chorus spread from forecastle to cabin with an enthusiasm that carried the hearts of all on board. Note four, page 563. For a long while, both the naval and consular authorities of the United States had been trying to acquire authentic information as to the Spanish land and naval forces in the Philippines. So far back as the end of President Cleveland's administration, this secret inquiry began. Commodore Dewey had learned much, yet much was still uncertain. They knew that in the vicinity of Manila, lay a Spanish fleet commanded by Admiral Montojo. He also knew just what vessels composed this fleet, but he had been unable to gain any trustworthy information as to their armament and general condition. Nor was he certain as to the place where the Spanish admiral intended to give battle. From the mass of conflicting reports, it seemed likely that Montojo's command was now stationed in Subic Bay to the northwest of Manila where the Spaniards at some time before began to equip a naval station. Commodore Dewey had endeavored to learn the exact nature of the land fortifications around Manila. In 1897, they had consisted of batteries at the entrance of the bay, a formidable earthwork at Sangly Point, and stone redouts and walls near the city itself. These works mounted many obsolete cannon, but they also had in battery a number of Armstrong breech loading rifles and several palacer muzzle loaders with an unknown number of Ardenaes and Ontario rifled guns of modern make. How much had been done to strengthen the defenses in the preceding months, Commodore Dewey was unable to discover. Spanish agents in Hong Kong spread reports of formidable additions to the artillery and a spoke of minds as having been laid at the entrance of the harbor. In after years it became the fashion to speak lightly of the danger attending the enterprise in which amid those distant seas the American squadron was engaged. But it must be remembered that when Dewey moved out of Mears Bay he was facing perils the extent of which was totally unknown. The Spanish fleet was numerically much superior and it had the support of batteries on land equipped with powerful cannon. If the American ship should fail to destroy their adversaries they would themselves be in a perilous position. All foreign ports were close to them and the nearest American harbor was 8,000 miles away. Hence they must either win a decisive victory or else retire to some Chinese or British station there to remain interred until the conclusion of the war. It was then no holiday excursion for the Commodore and his captains but a war-like venture containing so many elements of the unknown as to justify the utmost vigilance and the most serious concern. In the United States public expectation was keyed to a high pitch when the cable reported that Dewey was proceeding to the Philippines. What might befall him there no one could venture to predict. These thoughts may have flitted through the mind of the American commander as he steamed across the China Sea towards the island of Luzon but he was essentially a man of action and his energies and reflections were given first of all to the task immediately at hand. At daybreak on April 30th low lying hills clothed with tropical verger were sighted by the lookouts and soon the squadron approached the entrance of Subig Bay where Dewey believed the Spanish admiral to be awaiting him but the Boston and the Concorde searched that port in vain. Montojo had reached Subig on the 24th but finding the land defenses incomplete he had hastened back to Manila exactly one day before the Americans arrived. Calling in his scouts Commodore Dewey summoned his captains to the flagship for a council of war. It was quickly decided to run the batteries at Manila and to strike the Spanish fleet under the very guns of the protecting forts. As the squadron turned its prowess towards the scene of the impending battle the last touch was given to the work of preparation. Chain cables were coiled about the ammunition hoists splinter nets were stretched along the front of the wooden bulkheads and even the mess tables, chests and chairs were flung into the sea. Note 5, page 566. It was Commodore Dewey's purpose to force an entrance to Manila Bay by night. Of the two channels which lead to it he chose the larger Boca Grande. He reached its mouth at 10 o'clock in the darkness of a tropical evening. Clouds obscured the light of a young moon and only now and then to the eyes of the watchful navigators did the land loom dimly into view. On each side lay the Spanish batteries. The head was a huge gray rock. El Friely were unknown to the Americans who were mounted guns of formidable caliber. Beneath the black waters were mines which the closing of an electric circuit would explode with frightful power. But Dewey's purpose was unalterable. With the batteries if necessary his guns would reckon. While as to the mines he may have recalled the vigorous order of his old commander Faragut at Mobile Bay. Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead. No bugle sounded as the men were sent to their respective stations but whispered orders passed from mouth to mouth. In complete darkness save for a single white light at the stern the vessels fell into line and passed slowly up the channel. The Olympia leading and after her in order the Baltimore, the Raleigh, the Petrol, the Concorde, the Boston, the McCulloch and the Colliers. As they approached the giant rock El Friely a Spanish sentry sighted the gleaming stern light of the Olympia. Signals flashed amid the darkness. A rocket hissed upwards and burst high overhead. Then from the battery on the south shore a long stream of fire shot out followed by the crash of cannon. El Friely of a sudden was circled by flames as its guns joined in the deadly chorus. Then thundered in reply an American broadside. The Raleigh, Concorde, Boston and McCulloch hurled a tempest of projectiles at the Fortson shore. One six inch shell from the Concorde exploded in the midst of the Restinga battery silencing it in less than three minutes after it had gone into action. Two mines burst with a terrific roar ahead of the Olympia but she received no harm and soon the squadron uninjured and once more silent had passed on into the broad waters of Manila Bay. The city lay 20 miles ahead. From the American squadron its clustered lights could be seen twinkling in the distance. With speed reduced to four knots the invaders moved slowly up the bay and at a little before five o'clock the dawn of a tropical morning revealed a long gray line of Spanish ships made more conspicuous by their contrast with the snow-white walls of the arsenal at Cavite before which they were lying. Admiral Montojo had been kept informed of Dewey's movement since the latter left Mears Bay on April 27th. He knew that the Americans had entered Subic Harbor and that they had then headed their ships in the direction of Manila but as he viewed the situation Manila and his own fleet were safe from immediate attack. The unmoorlike and undisciplined Yankees would not dare to attempt the passage through the Boca Grande and receive the fire of its forts. They would doubtless blockade the entrance and try to pick off a few Spanish merchant vessels as affording a safe and easy conquest. Therefore Admiral Montojo's officers and men had leave freely granted them and many of them were in bed on shore when the distant booming of cannon came faintly up the bay in the midnight stillness. A few minutes later and word reached the Admiral that not only had the audacious American Commodore entered the channel, but that he had safely passed the forts and was even now moving up the bay to grapple with the Spanish fleet. Then there was wild excitement in Manila, bugle sounding, drums beating and a hasty muster of all who were ashore. Admiral Montojo's entire command consisted of a score of vessels including two swift aligners, note 6, page 568, which had been converted into auxiliary cruisers. But of this number several were only Mosquito gunboats, note 7, page 568, while others were not in condition for service. Note 8, page 568. To meet the American squadron there were drawn up in a long crescent-shaped line of battle, seven ships of war, the Reina Cristina, flagship, Don Antonio de Iulia, Don Juan de Austria, Isla de Cuba, Isla de Luzon, Cano and Marques del Duero. Of these ships the Reina Cristina was the most powerful being of 3,500 tons displacement and carrying a battery of six inch and two inch modern guns with a secondary battery of rapid firing three pounders. The other Spanish vessels were smaller than the flagship ranging from 3,000 to 500 tons, but with excellent guns. There were also four torpedo boats, two of which took part in the action. In tonnage and in armament this fleet was decidedly inferior to the American squadron, yet it was supported by land batteries at Cavite and at Sankley Point and by the guns mounted at the naval arsenal behind it. From the point of view of the military theorist the odds were on the whole decidedly in favor of the Spaniards. At a few minutes after five there fluttered from the signal mass to the Olympia the order, prepare for general action and a moment later on all of the American ships the stars and stripes were broken out. At once the gaudy colors of Spain flew from the opposing line and the guns of the shore batteries blazed followed shortly by a broadside from the Spanish fleet. Commodore Dewey and his flag officer Captain Gridley stood on the bridge of the Olympia tranquilly observing the shell fire of the enemy which lashed the waters about them into yellow foam. Presently the Commodore turning quietly to his companion remarked in a casual tone you may fire when you are ready Gridley. An eight inch forward gun roared from the Olympia's turret and soon every American ship had found the range and was smothering its doomed antagonists with projectiles. Five times Dewey passed slowly up and down the Spanish line lessening the distance at each turn. The Spanish gunners could not stand a terrific storm of steel that burst about them. Their shots flew wild for they fired without aim. At half past seven Commodore Dewey having been erroneously informed that his supply of five inch shells was running low drew off his ships to take account of his remaining ammunition. During this interval the men at the guns were served with breakfast. Misunderstanding the maneuver the Spanish governor cable to Madrid a message announcing that the Americans had been repelled with heavy loss. When the order to withdraw was given Dewey did not know how badly his fire had damaged his opponents. But observation soon revealed the fact that the Spanish squadron had been practically wiped out of existence. The reina Cristina was keeled over so that her bullwarks were awash. The castilla was on fire. Two torpedo boats had been sunk. Of the other vessels only one the Don Antonio de Ulla was fit to continue fighting and presently when its captain disobeying Montojo's orders saluted out to renew the battle the gallant little gunboat was smashed and sunk by the concentrated fire of three American cruisers. The Spaniards were not only beaten they were annihilated and only the shore batteries remained. Commodore Dewey sent a brief message to the governor general that unless the shore fire from Manila ceased at once the city would be shelled. The threat was effective and the squadron steamed back to Cavite where after a brief and brilliant action the forts and earthworks were knocked to pieces and the gunners driven out by a hail of bursting shells. It was now high noon and the battle of Manila had been fought and won. Note nine, page 570. In the space of seven hours the United States had conquered a footing in the Orient. Commodore Dewey now sent a message to the governor general asking that the cable be neutralized and that both Spaniards and Americans be allowed to use it. General Augustine refused whereupon Dewey ordered it to be fished up and cut thereby severing the Philippines from telegraphic communication with the world. There's a pharaoh hastened to Hong Kong and then cable the following historic dispatch to Washington. Manila, May 1. Squadron arrived at Manila at daybreak this morning. Immediately engaged the enemy and destroyed the following vessels. Reina Cristina Castilla, Don Antonio de Ulia, Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cua, General Lezo, Marques del Duero, Cano, Velasco, Isla de Mindanao, a transport and a water battery at Cavite. The squadron is uninjured and only a few men are slightly wounded. Only means of telegraphing is to American counsel at Hong Kong. I shall communicate with him, Dewey. And a second dispatch added, May 4. I have taken possession of naval station at Cavite. Have destroyed the fortifications at bay entrance, paroling the garrison. I control bay completely and can take city at any time. The first of these dispatches reached Washington on May 7th and was at once made public. Popular enthusiasm was unbounded. So swift and so complete a victory thrilled the entire nation. A decisive naval battle in far distant waters appealed to the imagination of Americans as possessing an element of the romantic. Commodore Dewey's portrait was everywhere displayed. Within a few hours he had become a popular hero. President McKinley at once advanced him to the rank of acting rear admiral and cabled him the thanks of Congress and his countrymen. The war was now more popular than ever and both president and people felt that this great success on sea must be followed up by operations on land. Dewey's second telegram had declared that he could take the city at any time but it was obvious that he had not met enough to hold it. Note 10, page 571. Should Spain dispatch an expedition to the Philippines? Hence General T. M. Anderson was designated to command the first of several relief expeditions and he set sail from San Francisco on May 24th with a body of 2,500 troops carried by three transports and escorted by the cruiser, Charleston. Note 11, page 572. The news of the Battle of Manila Bay was heard with very diverse emotions in the various countries of Europe. Before the cable was cut by Dewey, Governor General Augustine had telegraphed to Madrid the tidings of disaster declaring however that the Americans had suffered heavy losses. Even his euphemistic language however could not conceal the essential facts. It was plain that the American squadron had won a brilliant victory. In London another great demonstration took place in favor of the United States. The last vestige of doubt as to American prowess was swept away and such pro-Spanish journals as the Globe and Morning Post took refuge in a sulky acquiescence. The other London dailies reflected the popular admiration for the United States. A leading article in The Times, May 9th declared, the destruction of the Spanish fleet was as complete as any achievement in naval annals. Dewey showed himself worthy alike of the finest traditions of the United States Navy and of his kinship with a race that produced Nelson, said the daily news of the same date. Dewey's dispatches and their conciseness and modesty are in accordance with the best naval traditions. The battle establishes a record among contests of the kind for one of the combatants destroyed the whole fleet of the other without himself suffering any loss whatever. It is especially worth noting that the discipline on the American ships is reported to have been perfect. For many Spanish authorities and some independent critics thought that this might be a weak point on the American side. The excellence of the American tactics and the superiority of marksmanship are certain to be a prominent feature of this war. But it was not only from the British press that expressions of friendship came. On May 13th, the right Honorable Joseph Chamberlain, speaking to an immense audience in Birmingham declared amid prolonged cheering that, though war be terrible, it would be cheaply purchased if in a great and noble cause, the stars and stripes and the Union Jack should wave together over an Anglo-Saxon alliance. And even more significant were some sentences uttered by the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, at the annual meeting of the Primrose League. Referring to Spain and China, he said, those states are becoming weaker and the strong states stronger. And he drew a contrast between living nations and dying states. So Frank, a declaration from a responsible statesman had a meaning of its own, and ere long, the importance of Great Britain's attitude was to become apparent to the world. In Spain, Governor-General Augustine's elusive dispatch of the morning of May 1st set Madrid ablaze with joy. Houses were decorated and flags flew. For a few hours, Spanish pride was gratified to the full. Then came the crushing truth and with it a feeling of anger and despair. The press cried out for revenge, but even the government organ could find few words of hope. It said, yesterday was a sad but glorious day for Spain. Let the people be calm and allow nothing to shake their confidence in the future triumph of Spain. Note 12, page 573. But the depression in Madrid was more than matched by the chagrin and deep resentment excited in Paris and Berlin. The French had welcomed the dispatch of Augustine with glee. The Parisian press had been predicting a Spanish triumph and the people believed for a time that such a triumph had occurred. Even Augustine's later report was received with incredulity. Spanish agents still asserted that Montauho had led Dewey into a trap. But conviction could not be long withheld. On May 3rd, the town editorially remarked, the United States put into balance so crushing a superiority of resources and a force as to leave no doubt of the result. As soon as Castilian honor has received the satisfaction which it requires, will not the moment come for Europe to speak its word. The notion that Europe or some European power should interfere in the progress of events at Manila was one that found warm support in official Germany. The press of Berlin had on May 2nd received from Spanish sources the news of Dewey's victory, but it was either suppressed or published with expressions of doubt as to its being exaggerated or false. A little later, the Colniche vogue Zeitung remarked editorially, we do not favor intervention in this war, but we are of the opinion that the European powers ought to exert strong diplomatic pressure at the first opportunity in order to shorten the struggle. The Yankees are already swollen with pride. If they win another decisive victory, scarcely any European nation will be able to associate with them diplomatically. In view of the unfriendly sentiments entertained in the United States towards Germany and the many economic disputes between the two countries, it is very possible that Germany may be made the next victim of American impudence. Note 13, page 574. Actual intervention was, however, hardly contemplated by the German foreign office. The Kaiser, whose unfavorable opinion of the United States was not a spontaneous impression of his own, but had been inherited by him as one of the Yankees traditions openly expressed admiration of American prowess at Manila. When the news reached him, he is reported to have exclaimed, there is evidently something besides smartness and commercialism in the Yankee blood, those fellows at Cavite fought like veterans. Note 14, page 575. Nor were his most reckless advisors ready to suggest a course of action that would certainly plunge Germany into a transatlantic war. Yet there were reasons why, without a resort to arms, German policy demanded that the attitude of the empire toward the United States, especially in the East, should be one of unfriendliness if not of actual menace. In the preceding year, Germany had coerced China into giving up the port of Kiaoqiao with some adjacent territory in the northerly province of Shantung. This was intended to be the starting point for a vast extension of German influence, both commercial and military. It marked another step in the Kaiser's colonial policy which was to end by making Germany the rival of Great Britain in the Orient. If the Philippines were to fall from Spain's enervated hand, they would be a rich prize for the power that might be ready and waiting to receive them. Why should not this power be Germany? The Americans in their newborn ambition would possibly consider the retention of the islands. If so, they must be made to drop the project. In plain language, they must be bullied out of it. Germany must display so marked a show of force and a must carry things off with so high a hand as to make the Yankees glad to abandon the Philippines so soon as the first fighting should be over. The scheme was essentially Bismarckian in its arrogance. Its execution was begun with Bismarckian promptness. On May 13th, Admiral Dewey in a dispatch to the Navy Department mentioned the fact that certain foreign warships had arrived in Manila Bay and were observing its operations. These vessels consisted of a British gunboat, a small Japanese cruiser, a French cruiser, the Bricks, and two German vessels. Presently, the German contingent was rapidly augmented until it reached the proportions of a squadron. On June 13th, there were four German ships of war observing operations. On June 23rd, there were five of them. Note 15, page 576. These were the newly built first class steel cruiser, Kaiser in Augusta, the battleship Kaiser, the swift second class cruisers Irene and Princess Wilhelm, and the gunboat Cormoran. It was announced that another battleship, the Deutschland and the cruiser Geffen, were soon to join the squadron. Note 16, page 576. Thus concentrating at Manila, the entire naval force maintained by Germany in Asiatic waters. In tonnage in guns and in armor, this squadron outclassed the ships which Admiral Dewey had at his disposal and its mere presence involved at once a problem and a menace. No such number of vessels was necessary since in Manila, Germany had no obvious interest to protect. And hence, upon any Pacific hypothesis, this naval display was quite inexplicable. There were peculiar reasons why Admiral Dewey and his command should view the presence of the Germans with distrust and even positive displeasure. Before the declaration of war between the United States and Spain, but while hostilities seemed more than probable, Prince Henry of Prussia had arrived at Hong Kong in command of several German ships of war. Prince Henry had been dispatched to the Far East by his brother, the Kaiser, who in taking leave of him had announced in a highly rhetorical speech that his expedition was sent out for the purpose of displaying Germany's mailed hand in the Orient. Prince Henry arrived at Hong Kong in the month of March. His officers were not at all reticent in publicly expressing their sympathy with Spain. And the Prince himself committed a breach of etiquette which seemed to show distinct unfriendliness to the United States. He gave a banquet to the officers of the foreign warships then at Hong Kong, among them being Commodore Dewey and several members of his staff. In the course of the banquet, the Prince proposed a series of toast to the great powers, naming them in alphabetical order according to the French form. Thus, first of all, he raised his glass to Germany and then to England, Angleterre, although that nation should have been toasted as Great Britain, Grand Boitang, and then to Spain, Espagne. Then should have come the toast to the United States, it as unique, but the name was omitted by Prince Henry who next drank to France. At this open affront to his country, Commodore Dewey made a sign to his officers and with him they had once left the banquet hall quietly but without ceremony. The affair caused a marked sensation and a naval sentiment at Hong Kong even among foreigners censured the discourtesy of Prince Henry. Therefore, on the following day, one of his staff was sent to make a roundabout verbal apology to the American Commodore. Dewey, however, refused to receive it in that form. The slight he said was not personal to himself but had been offered the country which he had the honor to serve. It had come from the Prince and publicly, hence the apology must also come from him either in person or in writing. Prince Henry thereupon did call upon Commodore Dewey and made a formal apology saying that he had forgotten to keep the French order of names and had carelessly thought of the United States in the German form, Veranie Stotten. Note 17, page 578. When the Kaiser in Augusta reached Manila early in June, she brought with her Vice Admiral von Diderich who was in command of the German naval force in Asiatic waters. This officer was thoroughly imbued with a dislike for everything American and his personal prejudice seems to have led him to go further than even his instructions warranted. Not merely were his official acts of an unfriendly and at times threatening character but he exhibited a certain boorishness and gratuitous incivility which could not have been justified in an open enemy. By the usages of international law, a blockaded port is under control of the blockading force and the officer in command of such a force is entitled to make and to maintain regulations governing all vessels which may enter the waters dominated by his guns. Admiral Dewey knowing that there were Spanish gunboats in other parts of the Philippines very properly required that no ship should enter the harbor of Manila after nightfall guarding in this way against possible attack upon his own squadron by torpedo boats and other hostile craft. The German Vice Admiral chose to consider such a regulation unwarranted. His own ships therefore moved about from point to point without notice to Admiral Dewey and they did so in the night as well as in the daytime. When this occurred within the harbor the American ships directed their searchlights full upon the German vessels thus keeping them always under a brilliant glare but on several occasions German cruisers after leaving the harbor entered it by night in defiance of the American Admiral's orders. After this had happened twice Admiral Dewey desisted from further verbal protest and decided upon vigorous action. Presently a German ship came stealing in under cover of the darkness. As she neared the inner waters a shell was fired directly across her bow and the blaze of a searchlight revealed the Baltimore with decks cleared and her crew at the guns ready to follow up the monetary shell with a full broadside. Admiral Von Dieterich was furious but thereafter this particular regulation was not broken. Another like incident however was still more serious than its possible results. One evening in the dusk a strange launch was described making its way silently towards the Olympia. Though twice hailed it made no answer. Both Admiral Dewey and his flag captain were on the Olympia's deck. Through the darkness they saw the launch still steaming rapidly in the direction of the flagship. The Admiral at once ordered a shot to be fired in mourning. And when even then the launch continued on its way a gunner was directed to fire again and fire to hit. A cannon roared and a solid shot struck within three feet of the launch drenching it with water. Immediately the intruder stopped and displayed the German colors. An American launch darted out from the side of the Olympia and overhauled the stranger which was found to be in command of a staff officer of the German Admiral. This person was taken aboard the Olympia ash and white with fear and anger. He was ordered into the presence of Admiral Dewey who said to him with ill-concealed indignation, do you know what you have done? Do you know that such a rash act on your part is against all the rules of war and might have brought serious trouble to your country and mine? It would have been easy for a Spanish boat to hoist a German flag and sink the Olympia if we failed to stop it. There is no excuse for such carelessness. Present my compliments to your Admiral and ask him to direct his officers to be more careful in the future. Note 18, page 580. In many other ways, the German's attitude was vexatious and annoying. They held constant communication with the Spaniards on shore. They had an irritating habit of following the American vessels about the harbor. Again and again they violated the minor requirements of the blockade. In every possible fashion they made evident an unfriendly spirit and at times it seemed as though they were eagerly awaiting an opportunity for actual hostilities. Admiral Dewey kept his temper wonderfully well and though his ships were inferior to those of von Diedrich, he took as firm a tone as though he were backed by a great fleet. Yet he and all his command longed for the reinforcements which he knew were coming and especially for the great monitor Monterey whose heavy armor and 12 inch guns made her more than a match for the most powerful of the German ships. The Kaiser and the Deutschland, the two German battleships were in fact not very formidable vessels in their own class. They had been launched nearly 25 years before and one of the new American battleships could have blown them out of the water in five minutes. Yet they carried modern 10 inch guns and Dewey's unarmored cruisers were no fit antagonists for them. End of chapter 13, part one. Chapter 13, part two of 20 years of the Republic, 1885 to 1905 by Harry Thurston Peck. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The War with Spain, part two. In estimating the conduct of the Germans throughout this trying period, it must in fairness be remembered that the German Navy was a new creation. It lacked those traditions which are part of the training of the naval officers of other leading powers. Von Diderich knew nothing either of international law or of naval etiquette. In maritime language he had no sea manners. In this respect his conduct was in sharp contrast to that of the French naval officers at Manila. They were pro-Spanish in their sympathies. Yet their official attitude was absolutely correct. But Von Diderich was from the point of view of British and American sailors, a parvenue of the sea and this is why he played his unpleasant part with unnecessary offensiveness. He simply knew no better. His ignorance in fact was so complete as to make one doubt whether he even recognized the neat rebukes which were administered to him by an English officer whose name will always be associated with the long American blockade of Manila. This was Captain, afterward, Sir Edward Chichester of Her Majesty's Navy to whom Americans owe a lasting debt of gratitude. When the German squadron at Manila began to assume formidable proportions, there had appeared upon the scene three British warships under the command of Captain Chichester whose flag flew from the belted cruiser Immortality. His vessel steamed well in toward the city and took their station not far from where the American squadron lay. Captain Chichester was a fine type of the English gentleman and sailor. Up duty he was a jovial comrade. On his quarter-deck he was a genuine son of battle. He greeted Admiral Dewey as an old friend and the two maintained an intercourse which both officially and personally was one of cordial intimacy. After Dewey had put an end to the German violation of the blockading orders, Von Diderich wrote to Captain Chichester asking him to join in a formal protest. Presently Von Diderich had himself conveyed to the Immortality. Captain Chichester received him in his cabin where Von Diderich found the Englishman poring over a number of volumes on international law. Von Diderich verbally repeated his request of the day before. Ah, said Captain Chichester, shaking his head with seeming grief. I don't see how I can join you in your protest. I've been looking up all the authorities and I find that this American Admiral is so deadly right in everything he does that if we make a protest we shall only show that we know nothing at all about international law. Note 19, page 582. On another occasion when Von Diderich called, he saw displayed upon the British Captain's writing table a large red book. In course of the conversation he chased to inquire what the book might be. That, said Captain Chichester, is a book on naval etiquette. Indeed, remarked the German, I wasn't aware that such a book existed. Ah, cried Captain Chichester with suspicious eagerness. Let me present you with it. You really ought to read it. I'm sure you must need it awfully. You will learn an immense deal from it. It was probably the attitude of the British commander which kept Von Diderich from actually going to the point at which shots must have been exchanged between the American and German ships. Nevertheless, more than once the situation became so strained as to be almost unendurable. On June 30th, however, the first American relief expedition reached Manila with the 2,500 troops who had sailed from San Francisco on May 25th, convoyed by the cruiser Charleston. It was a small force, yet its arrival was most welcome. It added another cruiser to Dewey's squadron and it enabled General Anderson who came with it to man the captured Spanish forts. It brought also a detachment of heavy artillery. Its arrival, however, gave the Germans an opportunity once more to exhibit an insolence which was not only exasperating but extremely stupid in that it accomplished nothing. When the Charleston and the three transports entered Manila Bay, the Kaiser in Augusta got up steam and followed close behind them, dogging their heels after a fashion that could be explained only as an attempt to be gratuitously offensive. Note 20, page 583. This same intention was shown in a graver form when Admiral Dewey learned that a German cruiser had landed a supply of provisions for the Spanish in Manila. This was not only a breach of the blockade but a breach of neutrality as well amounting practically to an act of war. Dewey's patience now broke down completely. That the Germans should be actually furnishing the Spaniards with supplies was something not to be condoned or overlooked. Calling his flag lieutenant, he directed him in level tones to present the Admiral's compliments to Von Diderich and inform him of this extraordinary disregard of the usual courtesies of naval intercourse which was also a gross breach of neutrality. Then changing his tone to one of sharp command, he said and to say to Admiral Von Diderich that if he wants a fight, he can have it now. Note 21, page 584. Admiral Von Diderich quickly betook himself to the British flagship and descended into Captain Chichester's cabin. With a flustered air, he asked, have you instructions as to your action in case of actual hostilities between myself and the American squadron? Yes, replied Captain Chichester. I have. May I ask then, continued the German, to be informed as to the nature of those instructions? There are only two persons here, said the British captain who know what my instructions are. One of those persons is myself and the other is, Admiral Dewey. The German retired, pondering this answer. And presently he disavowed the action of his subordinates in provisioning the Spaniards, declaring that they had acted without his authority. Another episode must be narrated and this is one which has received the most general attention, though in reality it was no more significant than many others. A body of Philippine insurgents were threatening the Spanish naval post at Isla Grande in Subig Bay. They could readily have captured it, had not the German cruiser Irene appeared and threatened to open fire upon them if they advanced. When news of this was brought to Admiral Dewey, he hastily dispatched the Raleigh and the Concorde with instructions to see that Isla Grande was taken at any cost. It was thought that the Irene would offer forcible resistance. Hence, the two American cruisers as they steamed towards the entrance of Subig Bay were stripped for battle. No sooner, however, were they cited by the commander of the Irene than he cut his cable, crowded on all steam, and rapidly departed leaving Isla Grande an easy conquest to the Americans and Filipinos. Captain Chichester's goodwill was only a reflection of the goodwill of the great nation that he served. Officially, Great Britain maintained a correct attitude of neutrality between the United States and Spain. Yet, neutrality may be of many kinds and Great Britain's neutrality was to express it mildly benevolent to American interests. A score of anecdotes might be narrated to emphasize this assertion, but one may serve as typical of all the rest. Towards the end of May, the supply of fresh provisions on the American squadron was quite exhausted. In the tropical climate of the Philippines, this was a very serious consideration. Both officers and men were in sore need of fruit and vegetables and fresh meat. Without them, disease was certain to occur. Yet, no available sources of supply existed on that side of the Pacific Ocean. The strict laws of neutrality forbade the provisioning of a belligerent in any neutral port. The American dispatch boat, Sofiero, plied back and forth between Manila and Hong Kong. More than once, its captain had endeavored to purchase in the latter place a few supplies, but the port officials had intervened to forbid it. The British governor of Hong Kong was General Wilson Black, a fine old soldier with a sense of humor. To him went Mr. John Barrett at one time American minister to Siam. General, said Mr. Barrett, there's a fear always in port for a short stay under the neutrality rules. Before returning to Manila, the captain would like to purchase a few delicacies for the admiral and his staff. Have you any objection? The shrewd old governor looked intently at Mr. Barrett and smiled a long, slow smile. Delicacies for the admiral, he repeated. Why, certainly I have no objection. Just a few delicacies, of course, for his staff. That is all right. I will give instructions for them to be passed, but of course only delicacies. An hour later a small fleet of junks was towed out to the Sofiero. As they moved along, a Spanish consular agent rushed up to a British officer crying out, stop those boats. They are taking off supplies for the American fleet at Manila. I protest. The officer, a gigantic Irishman, looked benignly down upon the Spaniard and said with an indescribable drawl, please don't be disturbed. These boats are only taking off a few delicacies for the American admiral. It may be added that Admiral Dewey thereafter never suffered from any lack of delicacies, and if he and his staff alone enjoyed these accessories to their ordinary fare, they must have personally consumed several hundred tons of excellent provisions. Note 22, page 586. And the humor of General Wilson Black was matched by that of Admiral Dewey himself, who sent with his compliments some of the choicest of these delicacies to the doubty admiral Von Diderich. Mention has been made of an insurrection among the native Filipinos against the Spanish government. The movement was one which, although for a time it was of service in the United States, soon added to the perplexities of Admiral Dewey and finally developed into a serious problem for the American government. Spanish misrule in the Philippine islands had been almost as harsh as in Cuba. And two years before the war between the United States and Spain, it had led to a brief revolt, August 1896. The leader of this outbreak was a young native named Emilio Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo was of mixed blood. He had been educated at a Dominican college in Manila and was exceptionally intelligent and energetic. His personal qualities made him a chosen leader of his own people, over whom he exercised a peculiar influence. In after years, some of his eulogists in the United States were want to liken him to Washington or at the very least to Bolivar, though the extravagance of the comparison passed the limits of the ludicrous. Aguinaldo was at bottom a shifty oriental with all in oriental's vanity and with the treachery inherent in his melee blood. The brief revolt which he headed in 1896 had been brought to an end when the Spanish government bribed Aguinaldo and his chief associates to leave the islands and retire to Hong Kong. The bribe money paid then amounted to $400,000 and this sum was in Aguinaldo's possession when Admiral Dewey won the battle of Manila Bay. The keen-witted Filipino seeing his opportunity now sought to return to the Philippines that he might organize a new rebellion and put an end to Spanish domination. The American Consul General at Hong Kong, Mr. Wildman, regarded Aguinaldo's scheme with favor. At Mr. Wildman's request, Admiral Dewey transported Aguinaldo to Manila and there the natives flocked around his standard until he had under his command a force large enough to surround the city by land and to keep the Spanish troops within the line of their entrenchments. On June 20th, the Filipino insurgents formally declared the independence of the islands and chose Aguinaldo as their president. Admiral Dewey was wise enough to withhold any official recognition of the Filipino Republic. So far as the military action of the insurgents helped the American cause, the Admiral and General Anderson cooperated with them but no promises of future recognition were ever made. Aguinaldo finally came to view the Americans with suspicion and dislike and so far as he dared, he showed them something like hostility. Meanwhile, a second Relief Expedition commanded by General F. V. Green and numbering some 3,500 men had reached Manila on July 17th. On the 30th came the Third Expedition with 4,600 men and bringing General Wesley Merritt who had been made military governor of the new department of the Pacific. On August 4th, from the lookouts on the walls of Cavite was heard the cry, here comes the Monterey and soon afterwards the huge floating fortress lying low in the water and with her gigantic guns frowning from her turrets moved slowly into the smooth waters of Manila Bay. Note 23, page 588. The long weeks of suspense and of hourly anxiety had now ended for the American Admiral. The shore there were assembled 10,000 fighting men under his country's flag supplied with artillery and munitions. A float, his squadron was more than a match for the vessels of Von Diderich. It remained, however, for the Germans to give a final exhibition of their stupid insolence which like all the others ended only in their absolute humiliation. On August 7th, Admiral Dewey and General Merritt sent word to the Spanish Governor General that an attack would be made upon Manila. The boastful Augustine at once slipped away from the city. He was taken on board a German Lodge and carried to the Kaiser in Augusta. His second in command was unwilling to surrender Manila without fighting, though it was well understood that the Spaniards would resist simply as a matter of honor. On August 13th, General Merritt's troops began to move upon the city while Dewey's squadron at Cavite got underway to shell the batteries. As they passed out from their anchorage, the band on the immortality struck up, see, the conquering hero comes. And when the battle flags were broken out on Dewey's cruisers, there came from the English flagship the thrilling strains of the star-spangled banner. Then occurred a curious incident of which only a conjectural explanation can be given. The German squadron weighed anchor and steamed after the Americans so close behind them as to make its purpose seem a hostile one. Some have held that this was merely a final insult from a now impotent foe. Others believe that it was the design of the Germans to fire upon the American ships from the rear so soon as the Spanish battery should open on them with a frontal fire. Whatever may have been their purpose, it was defeated. Near Manila, the British men of war steamed swiftly in between the Germans and the Americans and then stopped. The hint was one that could not be mistaken and the German admiral drew off. Note 24, page 589. A day or two afterwards three of the German vessels departed in the night and they were seen no more. Meanwhile, the Olympia and her sister ships opened fire upon the force with shell and rapid fire projectiles. While on land, the American infantry advanced upon the Spanish lines sweeping their defenders backward until at last a flag of truce appeared and the city was surrendered with its garrison of 13,000 troops and more than 20,000 stand of arms. An Oregon regiment marched into the Great Plaza where Admiral Dewey's flag lieutenant hauled down the Spanish standard and hoisted in its place the colors of the United States while a national salute thundered from the guns of the Olympia. The Spanish rule in the Orient was at an end forever. Note 25, page 590. We must now turn to the naval and military operations in the vicinity of the United States. President McKinley's proclamation of April 23rd calling for 125,000 volunteers was followed by a second call on May 25th for 75,000 more. The response to both these calls was satisfactory. Before the end of May, more than 120,000 recruits had been mustered in. They came from all sections of the country south as well as north and they were admirable raw material for a fighting army. Yet as a whole, they were untrained and undisciplined and time was required to convert them into soldiers effective for work in the field. For a while, reliance must be placed mainly upon the regular army, the available regiments of which were massed at Tampa in Florida while the volunteers were distributed among three camps, one at Chikamaga Park, one near Washington, Camp Alger, and one at Hebstead, Camp Black on Long Island. As the work of mobilization and equipment proceeded, it became obvious that the system long established in the war department was inadequate and it did in fact break down completely under the strain imposed upon it by the exigencies of the time. This fact is not to be ascribed to Secretary Alger whose efforts to cope with the situation were heroic. The fault lay rather with the parsimony of Congress during the preceding decade and with the dry rot which was the result of 30 years of peace. But at the moment, confusion reigned supreme and ere long it was to endanger the success of a brief yet brilliant campaign in the field. The financial demands of the war were pressing and were met by Congress with commendable propness. The month of May showed a treasury deficit of nearly $19 million. Hence in June, Secretary Gage was authorized to issue bonds to the amount of $200 million and a revenue act was passed which became operative on July 1st, extending the system of internal taxation by an increased excise on beer and tobacco and by a reversion to the scheme adopted during the Civil War of requiring checks, drafts, telegraphic messages, railway tickets and many legal and commercial documents to be stamped. Meanwhile, Admiral Sampson was blockading the western coast of Cuba. He bombarded the Spanish works at Matanzas with some effect, but his fleet was kept carefully in hand and out of range of the shore batteries since the approach by sea of a formidable enemy was momentarily expected. This enemy was the Spanish admiral Pasquale de Salvera who on April 29th had departed from the Cape Verde Islands heading westward. Under his orders were four armored cruisers. The Almirante Okendo, the Vizcaya, the Cristobal colon and the Maria Teresa, and three destroyers, the Terror, Fuhrer and Pluton. All these vessels were of the most modern type and the main batteries of the cruisers were very formidable. The destination of Admiral Salvera remained a mystery for some three weeks. He was steaming westward, but where he meant to strike, no one could tell. An incipient panic spread among the inhabitants of the Atlantic seaboard. Cities and towns from Portland to Savannah appealed to Washington for special protection. It was the beginning of the summer season and thousands of persons who usually spend the months of summer near the ocean hesitated to expose their families to the perils of a Spanish raid. The rents of cottages were temporarily lowered. The business of hotels and many watering places languished. At any moment, Salvera's sable ships might be described ready like the old time buccaneers or the Spanish main to burn and plunder. In Washington, however, the experts knew how idle were these fears. Salvera must have necessity direct his course to some Spanish port in order to renew his supply of coal exhausted by a long sea voyage. Four points were noted, one of which would probably be his objective. San Juan in Puerto Rico or El Savannah, Cienfuegos or Santiago in Cuba. Two American fleets were therefore set in motion to intercept the Spaniards or to discover the port to which they had actually repaired. Salvera first appeared off the French island of Mactinique, May 11th. The people of this place were so Spanish in their sympathies as to hold back the news of his arrival until after he had sailed away. He next touched at the Dutch port of Curacao, May 14th, and then made his way uncertainly to Cuban waters. He could not reach Havana without a fight with the American blockading ships. Cienfuegos was not strongly fortified, and so he entered the well-protected harbor of Santiago with all his ships saved the destroyer terror which he had left behind him at San Juan. Rumors of his presence in Santiago reached Washington on May 19th and Commodore Schley was ordered to verify the fact and to blockade the port. With what appeared to be a grievous lack of energy and prompt decision, Schley carried out his orders in a hesitating fashion and thus might easily have given Salvera a chance to call his ships and once more put to sea. Nor was Admiral Samson's order to blockade Santiago obeyed immediately by Schley. Note 26, page 593. But on June 1st, Samson with his fleet of battleships and cruisers arrived, and from that moment the escape of Salvera without fighting was impossible. On June 3rd, before daylight, a young naval constructor, Lieutenant Richmond Pearson-Hopson with seven volunteers undertook to sink the Collier Merrimack in the narrowest part of the channel, thereby blocking it against the exit of Salvera's ships. The attempt was made under a terrific fire of the Spanish batteries and the Merrimack was sunk, though unfortunately not where Hopson had intended. His exploit was superb in its cool daring, yet had it proved successful, it would have served merely to add Salvera's heavy guns and disciplined seamen to the forces which were massed in Santiago against an American attack by land. Such an attack had already been devised. On June 16th, a long line of 35 transports convoyed by a battleship and a dozen other men of war steamed out of Key West bound for the eastern coast of Cuba. They carried an army corps of about 16,000 men under the command of Major General W.R. Schafter. The object of the expedition was the reduction of Santiago by land in cooperation with the naval forces under Admiral Samson. Precisely why General Schafter was chosen for this important task is not easy to explain. His previous military service had not been conspicuously brilliant. Originally a farmer, he had enlisted as a volunteer during the Civil War and had ultimately reached the rank of Brigadier General. In 1898, he was physically unfitted for an arduous campaign in a semi-tropical country. Excessively corpulent, he was afflicted by the gout so that he could seldom mount a horse, nor could he even follow closely the movements of the force over which he exercised command. The troops assigned to him, however, were the flower of the regular army, perfect in discipline and well-seasoned by service on the western plains. Three volunteer regiments also formed a part of this expedition. The Second Massachusetts, the 71st New York and the first volunteer cavalry, popularly known as the Ruffriders. Disembarking at Decari and Sibone near Santiago, note 27, page 595, Shafter's command immediately advanced upon the Spanish entrenchments. The country was by nature almost impenetrable because of the dense undergrowth of vines and shrubs, while the humid heat was very trying to the northern soldiers. General Joseph Wheeler with the detachment of cavalry drove back a Spanish column after a fierce fight at Las Guasimas, June 24th. On July 1st, practically the entire American army moved upon the complicated outer line of defenses that circled Santiago. Three general actions were fought almost simultaneously at El Cane, at San Juan, and at Aguadoras. In the first two, the Americans were brilliantly successful. The third resulted in a failure, though an unimportant one. At El Cane and at San Juan, the works were stormed in a series of impetuous rushes, and though the Spanish troops fought gallantly, they were swept away by the irresistible of the law of the American attack. The American soldiers felt no hatred for their enemies. It would be unfair to say that they entertained a contempt for them. Their feeling resembled an amused tolerance which, even in the shock of battle, made them refuse to take the Spaniards seriously. In the army's vernacular, Spaniards were dagos, and few soldiers felt any hesitation about attacking dagos under all circumstances and without reference to odds. Hence it was that the Spanish fortified positions protected by a tangle of barbed wire by almost impenetrable jungle and situated on high ground were carried through frontal attacks made by troops without artillery support and in the face of a galling fire from small arms superior to their own. To the Spaniards, this sort of fighting seemed to violate the accepted rules of war. One Spanish infantryman subsequently gave his impressions in language that was most naive. We saw the Americans running towards us, he said, and we rose and fired at them. But instead of retreating, they actually ran towards us all the faster. There was, in fact, a saying among the American troops, we will take these Spaniards with our bare hands. And in the battles of July 1st, the boast was almost literally carried out. The entire credit of the victories at Santiago is due to the soldiers of the regular army. The war with Spain is the only war waged by the United States that was fought out by regulars and not by volunteers. Of the three volunteer regiments in General Shafter's army, the Second Massachusetts was withdrawn from the firing line because the smoke from its black powder gave the enemy the range. The 71st New York became demoralized through the inefficiency of some of its officers and took no serious part in the operations of the day. Note 28, page 596. The third volunteer regiment, the Rough Riders, fought bravely and did admirable work. Note 29, page 596. It numbered, however, only 500 men in an army of 15,000, and had it been absent, the result would have been the same. The truth is that of necessity, the volunteers could not compare with the disciplined and seasoned troops of the regular army. They lacked steadiness and self-control, and their shooting was often wild. Many of them were individually good marksmen, but not with the service rifle, while many others of them had never practiced marksmanship at all. Note 30, page 596. It is a subject for regret that the administration and commissariat of so fine an army should have been so utterly unworthy of its achievements. Supplies were insufficient. The food provided was not merely unwholesome, but nauseating. There was a lack of transport wagons. The clothing of the men were unsuited to the climate. Smokeless powder was scarce, and the old-fashioned Springfield rifles of the volunteers were almost useless as against the long-range Mausers with which the Spanish troops were armed. Although the purpose of the Americans was to take a fortified city, no siege artillery had been provided, and in the fight at El Cane, only four small field pieces were present to support the American attack. After the Battle of July 1st, there set in a reaction of feeling which threatened to impair both the morale and the physical fitness of the army. The trenches were full of water from the tropical rains. Malarial fever began to spread among the troops, and there were reported some cases of the dreaded vomito. The army at no one time had rationed sufficient for more than 24 hours, while medicine and surgical attendants were shockingly inadequate to its needs. Note 31, page 597. Two days later, July 3rd, General Shafter, far in the rear of the army, sweltering in the heat and tortured by gout, felt the effect of these depressing conditions so strongly that he telegraphed his belief that Santiago could not be taken with his present force. Nevertheless, he sent to the Spanish general a demand for the surrender of the place to which a curt refusal was returned. Note 32, page 597. On that same day, however, and even while Shafter was telegraphing in terms of marked despondency, the coup de grace was given to the Spanish cause. At nine in the morning, Admiral Salvada's six ships emerged from the harbor entrance and under a full head of steam sought to break through the blockading fleet. In a running fight of four hours, every one of his vessels was destroyed by the terrific fire of the American battleships and cruisers, which in their turn suffered scarcely any loss. The Spanish admiral and more than 1700 of his officers and men were captured. The victory was as complete as that of Dewey at Manila. It was less glorious because at Santiago the odds were overwhelmingly against the Spaniards. They were outnumbered three to one and it was a fight of cruisers against battleships. By an unhappy chance, Admiral Sampson, whose far-seeing sagacity had planned the battle just as it was actually fought, took no part in it. On board the New York, he had gone to Sabané to confer with General Shafter and he returned in time to fire only a few long distant shots and it seemed to be a mark for the Spanish batteries on the shore. From this moment, the fall of Santiago was assured. General Torral, in command of the city, delayed surrendering it with true Spanish procrastination making demands and asking concessions which the Americans refused. Finally, Admiral Sampson moved some of his larger ships within range and began dropping shells with mathematical precision in the center of the town. This proved to be an effective argument. A formal surrender was made to General Shafter. At high noon on the same day, a detachment of American cavalry, infantry, and artillery entered the city and hoisted the national flag over the municipal buildings. More than 10,000 Spanish soldiers were given up as prisoners and after a brief detention were sent to Spain. An unusual incident marked their departure. They published an address to the soldiers of the American Army in which they said, we should not be fulfilling our duty as men in whose breasts there exists both gratitude and courtesy should we embark for our beloved Spain without sending you our most cordial and sincere good wishes and farewell. You fought us as men, face to face and with great courage. You have complied exactly with all the laws and usages of war as recognized by the armies of the most civilized nations of the world. You have given an honorable burial to our dead. You have treated our wounded with great humanity. And lastly, to us whose condition was terrible, you have given freely a food of your stock of medicines and you have honored us with distinction and courtesy. With this high sentiment of appreciation from all of us, it remains to us only to utter our farewell. And with the greatest sincerity, we wish you all happiness and health in this land which will no more belong to our dear Spain. Note 33, page 599. The downfall of Santiago gave to the Americans control of the whole eastern end of Cuba. But this of itself did not necessarily involve the termination of hostilities. Havana was still untaken. It was garrisoned by a very strong force and was protected by powerful fortresses. Its people were intensely loyal to the Spanish cause and were eager for the Americans to make an attack upon the place. Reverses elsewhere had no effect upon the Javanese. Women's garments were suspended in conspicuous places throughout the town bearing placards inscribed to be worn by those who are willing to surrender. The war, however, was ended through considerations which had nothing to do with the condition of affairs in Cuba. One powerful factor in bringing Spain to terms was found in action taken by the Navy Department in Washington. Early in June, Spain had got together at Cadiz, a second squadron commanded by Admiral Camara. It consisted of the battleship Palayo, an armored cruiser, six converted cruisers and four destroyers with a number of auxiliary vessels. Note 34, page 599. On June 18th, a report reached Washington that Admiral Camara was under orders to proceed to the Philippines by way of the Suez Canal and to fall upon Admiral Dewey's squadron ere it could be reinforced. For a moment, the news aroused a feeling of anxiety. The Palayo was supposed to be a very formidable vessel, and on paper at least, the cruisers assigned to accompany it were more than equal to those which Dewey had at his disposal. Many were the plans suggested to check this threatening expedition. Mr. William Randolph Hearst, the wealthy proprietor of a newspaper in New York, cabled an order directing one of his agents in London to purchase a merchant vessel, load it with coal, and proceed to the Suez Canal with the purpose of there sinking the ship so as to block the canal against Camara Squadron. Note 35, page 600. But meanwhile, an effective counterstroke had been planned in Washington. On June 27th, Commodore J. C. Watson was put in command of a squadron consisting of the battleships Iowa and Oregon and four cruisers, and the announcement was officially made that this squadron was to sail immediately for the coast of Spain. The maneuver worked effectively. It was perfectly well known in Madrid that the great Spanish seaport cities, such as Barcelona and Cadiz, were practically defenseless. Their old-fashioned fortifications would have crumbled like chalk before the huge guns of Watson's battleships. To send Camara away would be simply to invite attack. Nevertheless, Camara began his voyage passing through the Suez Canal on July 2nd. The Anglo-Egyptian government forbade him to take on coal at Port Said. He lingered for a while, but presently, after he had received the news of Saveras defeated Santiago, he turned the prowess of his vessels homeward. All that he had accomplished was to enrich the treasury of the canal by the sum of $280,000, which he was compelled to pay in tolls. The menace of Watson's squadron had accomplished, however, even more than at first sight was apparent. These European powers, which had been unfriendly to the United States, were aghast at the thought of American ships of war carrying on hostile operations in European waters. The immense energy and the naval prowess of the United States inspired nervous apprehension in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. Hence, strong pressure was brought to bear upon the Spanish government to end a war in which no hope for Spain could be discerned. This pressure was supplemented by an appeal from Spain's commercial interests and by the condition of the Spanish treasury. Spanish securities since the beginning of the war had fallen in value from a little more than 60 to a little less than 30. Spanish commerce was at a standstill. The Atlantic seaports dreaded an American invasion. Hence, on July 26, the French ambassador at Washington, Monsieur Jules Cambon, on behalf of the Spanish government opened negotiations for peace. Through Monsieur Cambon, President McKinley announced the terms on which the United States would consent to suspend hostilities. On August 12th, a protocol was signed at Washington as a preliminary to a treaty of peace to be afterwards negotiated. The war was practically at an end. The news was at once telegraphed to the American commanders in different parts of the world. It reached Puerto Rico just in time to end a campaign which had only then begun. A force of 3,500 American troops under Major General Miles had been landed in that island and had advanced upon the capital. Only slight resistance was made by the Spaniards while the inhabitants of the various towns and villages welcomed the invaders with triumphal arches and by stewing flowers in their path. This 19 days campaigning was therefore the source of considerable railery in the United States where it was described as a military picnic. When however the news of the signing of the protocol arrived, the American troops were in line of battle and a really serious engagement was impending. It was not fought out because of telegraphic orders from Washington and from Madrid. To all intents and purposes, the war was over. It had lasted less than four months yet in that time the power of Spain had been completely humbled. Her possessions in Asia and in the Western Indies lay at the mercy of the United States which by reason of this fact now ceased to be reckoned merely as a North American Republic and assumed its rightful place as a great world power. Note 36, page 602. End of chapter 13. Chapter 14 part one of 20 years of the Republic, 1885 to 1905 by Harry Thurston Peck. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The last years of President McKinley, part one. Peace negotiations between the United States and Spain were conducted and concluded in Paris by representatives of the two nations. Note one, page 603. From October 1st until early in December, the sessions continued at first harmoniously but later with so greater divergence of opinion as to threaten an end of all discussion and a renewal of the war. Note two, page 603. The abandonment of Cuba and Puerto Rico was of course expected and was granted by the Spanish envoys as was also the session of the United States of the island of Guam, one of the Ladrones group over which the American flag had been raised by the Charleston on its voyage to Manila. Note three, page 603. But there were two questions over which the controversy was long and bitter. Spain wished the United States in taking Cuba to assume the whole or part of the Cuban debt. The American plenipotentiaries absolutely refused to agree to any such arrangement. This debt had been incurred by Spain in her efforts to crush the Cubans in their revolt against oppression, a revolt which Americans had justified and applauded and which had at last compelled the United States to intervene in Cuba. Spain must therefore still bear the burden which her own unwisdom had imposed upon her. And to this her envoys in the end reluctantly agreed. But the crucial question was that which related to the Philippines. Were these islands to be handed back to Spain in their integrity? Would the United States retain perhaps a single island as a naval station? Or, finally, would the whole archipelago pass into the possession of that Western power whose flag already floated proudly over the captured city of Manila where lay its victorious ships of war and about which was encamped its triumphant soldiery? Spain's representatives at Paris were intensely earnest in their plea that the island should be restored to the sovereignty of their king. The war they urged was begun because of Cuba. The surrender of Cuba ought therefore logically to satisfy the demands of the United States. Hostilities in the Philippines had been merely an incident of the war and to exact from Spain the surrender of even a portion of the archipelago would be unreasonable and oppressive. Such was the Spanish view. In the United States, public opinion exhibited a gradual and very interesting change which was reflected in the policy of the government and therefore in the attitude of the American negotiators at Paris. During the period of actual warfare had been no general wish to acquire Asiatic territory. Such a thing was opposed to all the national traditions and to the national habits of thought. Few persons knew or cared anything about those distant islands. But when the question was presented sharply to the popular intelligence, it crystallized itself into the problem of accepting one of several definite lines of policy. If the American forces were to be withdrawn, this action would not in reality restore the status quo ante. It would not reestablish Spain's authority. That authority had been irretrievably lost. The destruction of Spanish prestige and the weakening of Spain's resources by the war had given to the Filipino insurrection such an impetus as made it clear that Spain could never reconquer even the precarious hold upon the islands which she had possessed before the Battle of Manila. Her envoys at Paris tacitly admitted this when they asked the United States not only to recognize Spain's sovereignty but to restore it by the use of military force. Note four, page 605. Hence, the mere withdrawal of the American army from Manila would lead only to a bloody and protracted civil war of which the outcome would doubtless be the session of the Philippines by Spain to one of the great powers. Note five, page 605. Perhaps and very probably to Germany. With what favor the American people would view such an issue of the affair, it is unnecessary to explain. The incidents of Von Dieterich at Manila was only just becoming known in the United States and the popular resentment which had excited for bad any line of action from which Germany might reap advantage. To take a single island and restore the rest to Spain, note six, page 605, was open to the same objection still more forcibly presented for then there would be created a far distant American possession partly surrounded and continuously menaced by a hostile neighbor. But why not give the islands over to Aguinaldo and let him rule them as a Philippine Republic? This course would have exactly paralleled what the United States proposed to do in Cuba. If Cuba were for the Cubans, why not the Philippines for the Filipinos? Such a solution was not regarded as necessarily impossible, but President McKinley and his advisors were not yet convinced that Aguinaldo could be trusted to maintain a form of government under which the lives and property of foreigners would be properly safeguarded. Too little was known of the Filipinos to warrant the unqualified committal to them of so great a trust. Aguinaldo himself had already impressed the Americans at Manila most unfavorably. He had drawn his followers off into separate cantonments and was maintaining an attitude of sullen unfriendliness toward the American commanders. His followers made no secret of their intention to kill every Spaniard whom they should capture. It would indeed be taking a serious responsibility to surrender the control of civilized towns and cities to men of mixed breeds, whom Admiral Dewey characterized as passionate semi-savages. Hence, as the weeks wore on, the duty of the President became every day more clear to him. The ultimate disposal of the Philippines was still an open question, but the determination of that question must lie with the United States and must be reached in accordance with the dictates both of political wisdom and of humanity. The demand was therefore made that Spain cede the islands unreservedly to the United States, which would in turn and by way of a solarium pay into the Spanish treasury a sum of money to be afterwards agreed upon. The Spanish envoys in Paris were moved to strong emotion by this demand. Note seven, page 607. With passionate Castilian eloquence, they argued against the right of the United States to ask this of them. With their plea, all Europe sympathized. Here was seen the passing of an old and gallant nation, a kingdom which had once ruled half the world and whose chivalry had been the pride of Christendom, but which was now suing hopelessly for grace at the hands of a raw Republic of the New World. Even Americans could feel the pathos of that moment. Yet Spain had no choice except submission. She could not continue fighting even if she would. Her treasury was bankrupt, her armies beaten, her ships destroyed. Not one of the European powers that wished her well dared go beyond mere words to show its friendship. And so with unspeakable bitterness of heart, but with that grave dignity which the Spaniard has inherited from the Moor, the envoys of Queen Cristina accepted the inevitable. On December 10th, the Treaty of Paris was signed and the United States became the possessor of Cuba, of Puerto Rico, of Guam, and of the Philippine Islands. In return for the session of the Philippines, Spain was to receive the sum of $20 million. Note eight, page 607. The islands conquered from Spain were not the only new possessions acquired by the United States at this time. After the Battle of Manila Bay, the little Republic of Hawaii had openly violated international law in order to show its friendliness to the American cause. American ships of war were allowed to take on call at Honolulu and in fact to make of that port a naval base. The new importance of Hawaii from a strategic point of view became so obvious that a strong sentiment for annexation was created in the United States. The Hawaiian Congress invited a union of the two countries and this was actually affected on President McKinley's recommendation by joint resolution of both houses. Note nine, page 608. A later act of Congress, April 30, 1900, made Hawaii a fully organized territory and declared its citizens to be citizens of the United States. To the new territory were extended the general provisions of the Constitution and laws of the United States. The first governor of Hawaii was Mr. S. B. Dole who had been president ever since the overthrow of Queen Liliu Kalani in 1892. Note 10, page 608. The American people regarded the immense expansion of their national responsibilities resulting from the Spanish war with a certain proud self-confidence that was characteristic of their robust optimism. While many may have shared the feeling of President McKinley that these new obligations were to be assumed as a solemn duty which circumstances and considerations of humanity had forced upon the United States, it is likely that Americans as a whole took a much less philosophic view. The brilliancy of their achievements in the war had quickened their imaginations and greatly broadened out their aspirations and ambitions. To rule distant lands, to hold colonies and dependencies, to have their country figure largely on the vast stage of international affairs appealed to their national love of bigness. When foreign writers and some native pessimists declared the United States incompetent to administer distant possessions, Note 11, page 609. This only piqued the pride of most Americans and made them eager to accept the challenge. It was really the instinct for national growth, the ambition for new achievement which now like a flame was fanned by the spirit of successful conquest, nor was the phenomenon a new one. It was as old as the American colonies themselves. As the sturdy pioneers had hewn their way through the forests and subdued the Indians, as their descendants had crossed the mountains and then traversed the great western plains, as they had secured the Louisiana territory from France and arrested an empire on the Pacific from Mexico, so now in an even more magnificent westward sweep they passed beyond the limits of the encircling ocean and set their standard in the islands of the sea. It was inevitable because it was in the blood of the race. Mr. Seward many years before had expressed a vital truth and uttered a boldly pregnant sentence when he said, popular passion for territorial aggrandizement is irresistible. Prudence, justice, cowardice may check it for a season, but it will gain strength by its subjugation. It behooves us to qualify ourselves for our mission. We must dare our destiny. Note 12, page 609. And a foreign political philosopher, von Holt had observed with equal truth, it is as easy to bid a ball that has flown from the mouth of a gun to stop in its flight and return on its path as to terminate a successful war of conquest by a voluntary surrender of all conquests because it has been found that the spoil will be a source of dissension at home. Note 13, page 610. That the questions raised by the war would cause dissension was of course to be expected. While hostilities were actually in progress, fractional strife had been hushed. Both Republicans and Democrats had strongly favored intervention in Cuba and the initial war measures had received a unanimous approval of Congress. Note 14, page 610. Mr. Bryan himself had accepted the colonelcy of a Nebraska regiment which remained under arms until peace was thoroughly assured. But no sooner had the Treaty of Paris been laid before the Senate for ratification, January 4, 1899, than the lines of cleavage between the two great parties became again apparent. The Democratic leader, Senator Gorman, opposed the treaty because as he said, it practically annexed the Philippines to the United States. In this opposition he was followed by nearly all his party associates and by two eminent Republican senators, Mr. Horror of Massachusetts and Mr. Hale of Maine. The Philippine clauses of the treaty were highly obnoxious to a small but very active body of citizens in New England who became known as anti-imperialists or in contemporaneous political slang as anti's. An association calling itself the Anti-Imperialist League was formed in Boston and began an active propaganda directed against the establishment of a colonial system by the United States. The anti-imperialists urged that to acquire foreign possessions by conquest and to hold them by force in the position of colonial dependencies was unconstitutional, a departure from the traditions of the American government and in itself criminal and unjust. Note 15, page 611. Senator Horror would have had the president yield the control of the islands to the rule of Aguinaldo which he declared represented the will of the Filipinos. Many of the old-time abolitionists took the same view and said that any other course would be oppressive and tyrannical. But President McKinley, pending a final disposition of the question had by proclamation on January 5, 1899, ordered General E.S. Otis to extend the military rule of the United States over the whole of the Philippine Islands. The American army in the Far East was steadily augmented until it numbered nearly 50,000 men and the War Department planned a still further increase. This action moved the anti-imperialists to bitter denunciation of the president as a military despot who was bent upon crushing out the liberties of a free people. Americans then became divided into expansionists called by their adversaries imperialists and anti-expansionists or anti-imperialists. For a time it seemed as though the Treaty of Paris might be rejected by the Senate for while the Republicans had a bare majority, a two-thirds vote was necessary for the ratification of the treaty. The discussion was prolonged and often animated. When the day arrived for the final vote, February 6, the results still seemed more than doubtful. 60 votes were needed for ratification and only 58 were surely pledged. Three o'clock was the hour that had been set and at half past two the administration still lacked one vote. This was finally secured only after the hour of three had struck and while the roll was actually being called. The expansionists had won. Note 16, page 612. The result was due in part to the attitude of Mr. Bryan who had used his personal influence in urging the acceptance of the treaty. Mr. Bryan very wisely held that peace with Spain should be formally and speedily assured and that the United States might fitly assume the temporary control of the Philippines. But he agreed with the anti-imperialists in believing that the island should ultimately be independent after the United States as a guardian power should have affected the creation in them of a stable government. It was, however, Aguinaldo himself who worked most effectively against an immediate recognition of Filipino independence. His oriental vanity had already obscured his natural intelligence. He styled himself dictator of the Philippines and assumed the heirs of an Eastern potentate decorating his person with various insignia of rank and decreeing to himself with childish delight a golden whistle as a badge of supreme authority. All this was unimportant though characteristic. But on January 20th the body which styled itself the Congress of the Filipino Republic then in session at Malolos, Aguinaldo's capital authorized him at his discretion to make war upon the American forces in the island of Luzon. On February 4th, two days before the Senate voted on the Treaty of Paris Aguinaldo's armed levies tried to rush the American lines under cover of darkness. The Filipinos were hurled back with heavy loss yet they returned again and again to the attack fighting steadily until daybreak. By that time General Otis had the situation well in hand and ordered in advance which drove the Filipinos from the immediate vicinity of Manila. The news of this encounter very naturally hardened the hearts of the American people against abandoning the Philippines to a declared enemy and the ratification of the treaty was undoubtedly helped by Aguinaldo's wanton act of violence. Only the extreme among the anti-imperialists applauded him as a hero and a patriot. Soon afterwards the Filipino Congress ordered the assassination of all foreigners residing in Manila and an effort was made to burn the city. Both attempts were thwarted by the vigilance of the American commanders though with a certain poetic justice the plot to burn Manila did result in wiping out the purely Filipino section of that city. From this time there was waged a desultarian protracted warfare an account of which does not lie within the scope of the present narrative. Suffice it to say that the Filipinos after successive and severe defeats in open battle betook themselves to a species of jungle fighting marked by treachery and at times by savage acts which often drove the American soldiers into harsh reprisals. The reports of these regrettable occurrences were eagerly caught up in the United States and were grossly exaggerated by the opponents of imperialism. A commission appointed by the president in January 1899 note 17 page 613 to investigate conditions in the Philippines made a report in November of the same year. Note 18 page 613. In essence it justified the course of the administration and made it plain that Aguinaldo's following represented only a comparatively small part of the heterogeneous population of the Philippines. It was the report of this commission no less than the violence of Aguinaldo's sultry which convinced President McKinley that the United States must for some time at least assume the full responsibility of governing the Philippines. The very first necessity was the restoration of order by military force. In his message of December 5, 1898 the president had asked Congress to increase the regular army to 100,000 men. His request was met by an increase of the regular establishment to 65,000 men. Note 19 with permission to enlist 35,000 volunteers for service until July 1st, 1901. Note 20, 19 and 20, page 614. The army in the Philippines was thereupon augmented to more than 60,000 troops and all local authority was vested ultimately in the president who exercised it through his military commanders. This on the face of it seemed to many the rankest kind of imperialism and Mr. McKinley was denounced unsparingly as a despot who ruled over conquered millions through satraps and by the terror of his bayonets. Yet nothing could have been further from the truth. President McKinley's own cast of mind and the character of his whole public life inclined him in all things to take the civilians point of view and it was really by an ingenious interpretation of his military prerogatives that he ultimately worked out a scheme for the non-military administration of the Philippines. Through his constitutional powers as commander in chief he was for the present governing the conquered islands by martial law. Technically his powers were military powers and thus they merged in one person, executive, judicial and legislative functions. The president's purpose however as ultimately set forth in a remarkable message to Congress, note 21, page 615, provided for a separation of these functions and for their exercise by different individuals. As it is well settled that the military power of the president may be exercised through civil agents it was determined that the part of the military power which was legislative in its character should be exercised by civil agents proceeding in accordance with legislative forms while the judicial power should be exercised by particular establishment and regulated by the enactments of legislative authority. Note 22, page 615. Under this plan the way was prepared for a gradual change from military to civil methods of administration. Note 23, page 615. The first definite step toward this end was the appointment of a second commission, April 7, 1900, of five gentlemen headed by Judge W. H. Taft of Ohio who were directed to develop in the Philippines a system which should give to the people of the islands the largest measure of self-government which they were fitted to exercise. It may be said here by way of anticipation that on July 4th, 1901, civil government took in part the place of military rule, Judge Taft becoming civil governor with a council and a Supreme Court in which native Filipinos were represented. Just one year from that date, July 4, 1902, the President by proclamation declared the islands pacified and subject thereafter to the civil authorities alone. To subdue the insurrection had cost the United States nearly $170 million. The session of Puerto Rico to the United States under the Treaty of Paris raised some interesting constitutional questions. For a few months following the close of the war military government continued in that island. But in his annual message of December 3rd, 1899, President McKinley recommended the establishment of civil rule. What, however, was the legal status of Puerto Rico? Was it an integral part of the United States? If so, then the constitution and laws of the United States must already be enforced there and the inhabitants of Puerto Rico must be already citizens of the United States. This point was brought out sharply in a debate over the question of applying the Dingley-Tara fact to imports into the United States from Puerto Rico. The President himself declared, our plain duty is to abolish all custom tariffs between the United States and Puerto Rico. But the representatives of the protected interests in Congress took alarm at this sentence. Especially did the agents of the Sugar Trust dislike it since their masters dreaded competition from the Puerto Rican sugar growers. Congress debated the question at great length while considering the so-called Foraker Bill providing a system of civil government for Puerto Rico. The Democrats crystallized their view in the much-quoted words, the Constitution follows the flag. But they and the few Republicans who agreed with them were outvoted and the Foraker Bill as enacted treated Puerto Rico as being neither a state nor a territory but a possession of the United States acquired by the treaty-making power and one which could be incorporated into the United States only by act of Congress. Note 24, page 616. Hence, for the time being, a tariff was laid upon goods imported from Puerto Rico. Thus the President was overruled and the country witnessed the anomalous spectacle of the Supreme Champion of Protectionism pleading for free trade and being flouted by his own party which was in this case, pluroyaliste que le roi. The Foraker Act, note 25, page 617. In its final form gave to Puerto Rico an appointive governor, an executive counsel composed half of Americans and half of Puerto Ricans but chosen by the President and finally a House of Delegates elected by the people of the island. Note 26, page 617. The relations of the United States with Cuba were of course different in essence from those with the other territories seated by Spain. In the resolutions of Congress, April 19, 1898, which had declared that the people of Cuba were and of right ought to be free and independent, the following explicit assertion had been made. The United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said island except for the pacification thereof and asserts its determination when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island to its people. Note 27, page 617. In the face of this unqualified and spontaneous pledge, it was clear that the United States was bound by every possible obligation of honor to give over to the Cuban people the full and free control of their own political destinies. Nevertheless, there were not a few Americans who made light of this solemn promise. The nation had experienced in fact a certain revulsion of feeling as to the Cubans who not long before had been extravagantly lauded as patriots and heroes. Close contact with them during the war had not tended to perpetuate this admiration and respect. American soldiers in Cuba found the ragged levies of Garcia and Gomez to be worthless as allies in the field and not altogether agreeable as near companions. The one military operation entrusted to them they had failed utterly to accomplish. Note 28, page 618. For the rest they seemed to the hardy vigorous fighters of the North more like a swarm of enervated mendicants than a host of heroes struggling to be free. They accepted as a matter of course all that was given them. They flocked into the camps when rations were served out and they were conspicuously absent when the rifle balls were singing. Hence there was little enthusiasm in the United States in response to the cry of Cuba for the Cubans. Many newspapers advocated the annexation of Cuba to the United States. They spoke of the resolutions of Congress as a mere sentimental outburst devoid of any binding force. They asserted and with some truth that those who represented the moneyed interests in Cuba and the foreign residents as well would much prefer American to Cuban government. Fortunately however, President McKinley took no heed of such sophisticated arguments as these. For weal or for woe, the honor of the nation had been plighted and Cuba must be left to the enjoyment of political independence. Hence it was decided temporarily to occupy the island until certain reforms could be affected and after that to permit the formation of a Cuban Republic. General John R. Brooke was appointed military governor of Cuba from the close of the war until the end of 1899 when he was succeeded by General Leonard Wood. During the American occupation, note 29, page 619, remarkable improvements were made in the Cuban legal system, in the government of its municipalities, in its sanitation, and in the sphere of public education. On November 5, 1900, a constitutional convention assembled in Havana and framed an organic law upon the model of the United States Constitution. The American Congress however, was not willing to grant the independence of Cuba without first receiving certain definite guarantees for the protection of American interests. An amendment to an army appropriation bill was offered by Senator Platt of Connecticut demanding that the Cubans embody in their constitution the following pledges. One, that no foreign power be permitted to control any part of Cuban territory. Two, that the Cuban government incur no debt not justified by its revenues. And three, that the United States be permitted to establish naval stations in Cuban waters and to maintain by force if necessary the independence of the island. The Platt amendment as it was called excited much bitterness of feeling among the Cubans and many Americans denounced it as ungenerous and unnecessary. Public sentiment however, sustained it. The United States had made immense sacrifices on behalf of Cuba and it was fully justified in demanding some equivalent especially since the demands were in the main of advantage to Cuba no less than to the United States. Hence, after a long debate, the Cuban convention accepted the terms of the Platt amendment and made them a part of the constitution which was finally adopted June 12, 1901. The last and supreme burst of exaltation over the achievements of the war was seen in the magnificent reception given to Admiral Dewey upon his return to the United States. On September 28, 1899, the Admiral in his now historic flagship, the Olympia and escorted by three battleships and 10 other vessels of war arrived in New York Harbor. No American, not even Washington himself had ever received so marvelous a welcome. For more than a year, Dewey had been the object of a nation's idolatry. His was the first as it was the most thrilling victory of the war and his diplomatic tact, his calm good sense, his firm will and his imperturbable bearing in the face of German insolence had won for him the admiration of all his countrymen even of those who had little sympathy with the war itself. And so on September 30th, under a cloudless sky and in the warm autumn sunshine the Admiral received in the city of New York a greeting comparable to a Roman triumph. The metropolis was one mass of vivid flags, a superb triumphal arch with long lines of Venetian masts had been erected across the most famous of his thoroughfares. More than two million people were massed along the line of March, of which the Admiral and his officers were escorted by 30,000 troops and greeted by a continuous outburst of frantic cheering. Men and women springing eagerly to their feet to give an exultant welcome to the man who had so brilliantly perpetuated the traditions of Bainbridge and Decatur and Perry and Farragut and Foote. At night the entire sea coast blazed for miles with colored fires while every vessel in the harbor was strung with lights. It was the apotheosis of American valor. Note 30, page 621. This pageage was only the first of many others in which the Admiral was the central figure. Every great city in the land sent delegations to him begging him to become the people's guest. Congress revived for him the office of Admiral which had heretofore been held only by Farragut and Porter. It was provided also that he need not retire when he reached the age prescribed by law for such retirement and that even after doing so of his own volition, his emoluments should not be diminished. Admiral Dewey was far more fortunate than many of the other officers who served their country with distinction in the war. When the fighting had actually ceased, something like a reaction of feeling swept over the entire country. After all, when compared with many other conflicts, the war with Spain from a military point of view had not been a very great one. That the United States, with its enormous wealth, its teeming population and its vigorous youth should defeat a decrepit and almost bankrupt kingdom was not a matter for excessive wonderment and exaltation. Individual exploits such as that of Dewey deserve the full measure of admiration which they received. But for the rest, popular enthusiasm had gone too far and a reaction was inevitable. This was strengthened by some unpleasant incidents and revelations which followed hard upon the fighting. The record of the War Department was one which filled Americans with chagrin and something like disgust. A commission appointed by the president in December, 1898 brought out many facts that were most discreditable and that led to personal controversies between various officers of high rank. Major General Miles charged that much of the food furnished to the troops in Cuba was not only unpalatable but unwholesome. Large quantities of refrigerated beef purchased from the beef truss had been dispatched to Cuba and this beef was said to have been treated with chemicals which made it nauseous and even poisonous. General Miles, using a phrase current in the army described it as embalmed beef. For this he was attacked in terms of foul by tuperation by the commissary general Charles P. Egan who wrote a letter to General Miles. Note 31, page 622, couched in such language as to prevent its publication. Egan was court-martialed and sentenced to dismissal from the service. Note 32, page 622, but the investigating committee also censored General Miles. Its final report was what is popularly known as a whitewashing report but the country formed its own opinion of the discreditable facts made public during the investigation and many sneers were heard in foreign countries over the alleged corruption and inefficiency of the American War Department. Thus the London Saturday review remarked editorially, there is a figure of the American eagle over the war-office in Washington. With slight alteration it might be made into a reminiscence of the war. It would not take much to change it from the figure of an eagle into that of a vampire, unbellican like, feeding on its own children who under a strange delusion and not realizing the nature of their Frankenstein mother are content to sweat and groan under the most heartlessly tyrannical government on earth, the tyranny of democracy. Note 33, page 622, and the St. James Gazette of London observed, before the Americans make up their minds definitely to extend the empire of the United States, it may be as well for them to realize how they have managed an army in their own country and the adjacent islands during the late crisis. After the glamour of victory has passed, the scandals in their war department have proved a very unpleasant reverse to patriotic citizens and the worst of it is that the congressmen who ought to make a strict inquiry form themselves a large part of the scandal they naturally shrink from investigating. End of chapter 14, part one.