“Admiral Dewey. The Filipinos were slaves, too.
“Senator Patterson. What were the Filipinos expecting?
“Admiral Dewey. They wanted to get rid of the Spaniards; I do not think they looked much beyond that. I cannot recall but I have in mind that the one thing they had in their minds was to get rid of the Spaniards and then to accept us, and that would have occurred—I have thought that many times—if we had had troops to occupy Manila on the 1st day of May before the insurrection got started; these people would have accepted us as their friends, and they would have been our loyal friends—I don’t know for how long, but they would have been our friends then.
“Senator Patterson. You learned from Pratt, or Wildman, or Williams, very early, did you not, that the Filipinos wanted their own country and to rule their own country; that that is what they were expecting?
“Admiral Dewey. I heard from Williams that there was an insurrection there against the Spaniards. The Spaniards were very cruel to them, and I think they did not look much beyond getting rid of them. There was one, Dr. Rizal, who had the idea of independence, but I don’t think that Aguinaldo had much idea of it.
“Senator Carmack. Then what useful purpose did the Filipino army serve; why did you want the Filipino army at all?
“Admiral Dewey. I did not want them.
“Senator Carmack. Did you not want the Filipino forces?
“Admiral Dewey. No, not really. It was their own idea coming over there. We could have taken the city at any moment we had the troops to occupy it.”