We may summarize the well-established facts as follows:—
Consul-General Pratt was, or professed to be, in hearty sympathy with the ambition of the Filipino leaders to obtain independence, and would personally have profited from such a result, but he refrained from compromising his government and made no promises in its behalf.
Admiral Dewey never even discussed with Aguinaldo the possibility of independence.
There is no reason to believe that any subordinate of the Admiral ever discussed independence with any Filipino, much less made any promise concerning it.
Neither Consul Wildman nor Consul Williams promised it, and both were kept in ignorance of the fact that it was desired up to the last possible moment.
It is not claimed that either General Anderson or General Merritt made any promise concerning it.
The conclusion that no such promise was ever made by any of these men is fully justified by well-established facts.
Aguinaldo himself carefully refrained at the outset from saying, in any document which Americans could read, that independence had been promised, and advanced this claim only when the growing strength of his land force had given him confidence. He repeated it, with increasing emphasis, as his army increased in size, ultimately openly threatening war if his pretensions were not recognized. In doing this, he was merely carrying out a carefully prearranged plan, agreed upon by the Hongkong junta.
And now let us examine the claim that the insurgents were our “faithful allies” and “coöperated” with us in the taking of Manila. We shall find that this subject richly repays investigation.