ct of
the troops was simply admirable, and left no ground for criticism. It
was noted and commented upon by the foreign naval officers in the
most favorable terms, and it so surprised the Spanish soldiers that
a considerable number of them applied for permission to enlist in
our service.

At the time I left General McArthur fully established his office as
Provost Marshal General, and was organizing one by one the various
bureaus connected with it, all with United States military officers in
charge; the Provost Court was in daily session, sentencing gamblers
and persons guilty of petty disturbances, and a military commission
had just been ordered to try a Chinaman accused of burglary.

In various public offices I collected the following Spanish funds:

At the General Treasury $795,517.71
At the Mint 62,856.08
At the Internal Revenue Office 24,077.60
-----------
$882,451.39

Of this amount there was in

Gold Coin $ 4,200.00
Gold Bars 3,806.08
Silver Coin 190,634.81
Copper Coin 297,300.00
Spanish Bank Notes 216,305.00
Accepted Checks 170,205.50
-----------
$882,451.39

The money was counted by a board of officers and turned over to
Major C. H. Whipple, Paymaster U. S. A as custodian of Spanish Public
Funds. A few thousand dollars in other public offices were still to
be collected.

The money received at the Custom House and other offices is turned in
daily, at the close of business, to Major Whipple. Money for current
expenses is furnished to heads of departments on their requisition,
by warrant drawn by the Intendente General on the Custodian of
Spanish Public Funds. The heads of the departments are to submit
their vouchers and accounts monthly to an auditing department, which
was being organized when I left.

All these public offices and funds were surrendered to me only on
threat of using force and on granting permission to file a formal
written protest. None of these had been received at the time I left,
but the ground of verbal protest was that the officials recognized no
authority in these islands but the Governor General appointed by the
King of Spain, and without his order they were unwilling to surrender
them. On the other hand, I recognized no