do and his following, and as the latter
had the guns their ideas prevailed.

The Treaty of Paris, which terminated Spanish sovereignty in the
Philippines, was signed on December 10, 1898. It is important to
bear this date in mind later, when considering the Insurgent records
relative to the preparations which were so carefully made for attacking
the American troops.

And now let us consider the actual facts as to the cooeperation alleged
to have been asked by Americans and given by Filipinos. The following
points are not in dispute:--

Pratt asked Aguinaldo to cooeperate with Dewey.

Aguinaldo was taken to Manila with the understanding that he would
do so.

Dewey assisted Aguinaldo by destroying the main Spanish fleet; by
bringing him and his associates back to the Philippines; by furnishing
them arms and ammunition; by blockading Manila and by keeping at a safe
distance the Spanish mosquito fleet, which would have made dangerous,
or impossible, the landing of the arms subsequently imported by
the Insurgents.

Aguinaldo successfully attacked the Spanish garrisons in the provinces
and used the arms and ammunition captured, or brought in by deserters,
to equip a force which surrounded and attacked Manila, drove large
numbers of people into the walled city, thus rendering the position
of the Spanish garrison very difficult in the face of a possible
bombardment, and prevented this garrison from betaking itself to the
provinces, as it might otherwise have done, leaving Manila to shift
for itself.

Aguinaldo was powerless to take the place by assault.

It lay at the mercy of Dewey's guns, and it would have been possible
for the Admiral to take it at any time, but he could not at first
have garrisoned it with United States forces, and never thought of
attempting to use Insurgent forces for this purpose.

Did Dewey really want or need Aguinaldo's help? Let us consider his
testimony on the subject:--

"_Senator Carmack_. You did want a man there who could organize and
rouse the people?

"_Admiral Dewey_. I didn't want anybody. I would like to say now that
Aguinaldo and his people were forced on me by Consul Pratt and Consul
Wildman; I didn't do anything--

"_Senator Carmack_. Did they have any power to force him upon you?

"_Admiral Dewey_. Yes; they had in a way. They had not the official
power, but one will yield after a while to constant pressure. I did
not expect anything of them; I did not think they would