You will see from the telegram addressed
to me by Regidor that he suggests to me to send a message to
MacKinley requesting him not to abandon us, and to submit to them
[the U. S.] unconditionally. As I do not agree with him and as
I cannot take any action which is against the instructions of the
government, I replied to him that the only desire of our government is
independence. This may be seen from the enclosed telegram. On account
of this reply, he was, I think, somewhat offended, as he afterwards
sent a telegram to Joviales [Basa] instead of to me. The latter,
upon receiving the telegram, convened all the boastful patriots, and
they adopted a resolution to send a message to MacKinley requesting
annexation. Fortunately, in the meeting there was present Dr. Justo
Lucban, who protested against such measure. In view of this protest,
they again agreed that I should be present in the meeting, since I
am the representative of our government. At the meeting where I was
present, I pointed out the inadvisability of their resolution, stating,
as one of the reasons, that we should await your instructions in regard
to the matter before sending any message of that character. So the
message was not sent; but I was later informed that Basa had, after
all, sent it yesterday, because he believed that it would not injure
our cause.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105