The Story of the Philippines / Natural Riches, Industrial Resources, Statistics of Productions, Commerce and Population; The Laws, Habits, Customs, Scenery and Conditions of the Cuba of the East Indies and the Thousand Islands of the Archipelagoes of India and Hawaii, With Episodes of Their Early History; The Eldorado of the Orient; Personal Character Sketches of and Interviews with Admiral Dewey, General Merritt, General Aguinaldo and the Archbishop of Manila; History and Romance, Tragedies and Traditions of our Pacific Possessions; Events of the War in the West with Spain, and the Conquest of Cuba and Porto Rico

by Murat Halstead

Upon one point all are agreed, except possibly Aguinaldo and his immediate adherents, and that is that no native government can maintain itself without the active support and protection of a strong foreign government. This being admitted it is difficult to see how any foreign government can give this protection without taking such an active part in the management of affairs as is practically equivalent to governing in its own name and for its own account.

United States Troops and Navy.

I assume that the reports received at the War and Navy Departments give all the desired information in regard to the military forces of the United States.

At the time I left (August 30th) the Eighth Corps consisted of two divisions, numbering in all about 12,000 men, with 16 field guns and 6 mountain guns. No wagons or animals had then arrived.

One regiment was stationed within the walled city guarding its gates, and the captured guns and ammunition; a small force was at Cavite, and the bulk of the troops were in Manila, outside of the walled city. They were quartered in the Spanish barracks, which were all in good condition, and in convents and private houses. The health of the troops was excellent, notwithstanding the extraordinary hardships to which they had been subjected in the trenches before entering Manila.

Admiral Dewey had under his command the Charleston, Monterey and Monadnock, which arrived in July and August, the Callao and Leyte, which had been captured from the Spaniards, and the ships which were in the battle of May 1st, viz: Olympia, Boston, Baltimore, Raleigh, Concord, Petrel and McCullough. The health of the squadron was excellent. The Olympia and Concord were being docked and cleaned at Hongkong. Permission to use the docks at Nagansaki during the suspension of hostilities had been declined.

United States Civil Administration.

We entered Manila on the afternoon of August 13th. On the 14th the capitulation was signed, and the same day General Merritt issued his proclamation establishing a Military Government. On the 15th General McArthur was appointed Military Commander of the walled city and Provost Marshal General of the City of Manila and its suburbs, and on the 17th I was appointed to take charge of the duties performed by the intendente General de Hacienda, or Minister of Finance, and all fiscal affairs. Representatives of the Postoffice Department had arrived on the Steamship China in July and they immediately took charge of the Manila Post-office, which was opened for business on the 16th. The Custom House was opened on the 18th, with Lieutenant-Colonel Whittier as Collector, and the Internal Revenue office, with Major Bement as Collector on the 22nd. Captain Glass of the Navy was appointed Captain of the Port, or Naval Officer, and took charge of the office on August 19th. The collections of customs during the first ten days exceeded $100,000. The collection of internal revenue was small owing to the difficulty and delay in ascertaining what persons had or had not paid their taxes for the current year. The administration of Water Works was put in charge of Lieutenant Connor, of the Engineers, on August 25th, the Provost Court with Lieutenant-Colonel Jewett, Judge Advocate United States Volunteers, sitting as Judge, was appointed and held its first session on August 23rd.

The Provost Marshal General has charge of the Police, Fire, Health and Street Cleaning Departments, and the issuing of licenses. The Guardia Civil, or Gendarmerie of the City, proving indifferent and inefficient, they were disarmed and disbanded; the 13th Minnesota regiment was detailed for police duty, and one or more companies stationed in each Police Station, from which patrolmen were sent out on the streets to take the place of the sentries who had constantly patrolled them from the hour of entering the city.

The shops were all closed when we entered on Saturday afternoon, the 13th; on Monday some of them opened, and by Wednesday the Banks had resumed business, the newspapers were published, and the merchants were ready to declare goods at the Custom House, the tram cars were running and the retail shops were all open and doing a large business. There was no disorder or pillage of any kind in the city. The conduct 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.