RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS
people and for the speedy establishment of peaceful American rule in the islands.
Then came Artacho. Artacho had been Aguinaldo’s rival in the insurrection against Spain and he very much resented the selection, by the Americans in command, of Aguinaldo as the leader of the Filipino forces when Dewey went into Manila. He was sufficiently annoyed to leave the country and take refuge in Hongkong. He professed entire ignorance of the activities of the “junta” and unqualified loyalty to the government of the United States, but, as he had with him a “secretary” who very carefully listened to all he had to say, and as he seemed to be very cautious in all his expressions, Mr. Taft decided that he was being watched and was, if not actively connected with the “junta,” at least “on the fence” and in his call only “casting an anchor to windward” in case the Americans should succeed in pacifying the Islands and establishing a government there with which it would be very nice indeed to be connected. It must have been a very diplomatic, a very soft-spoken and a most amusing meeting.
Among other things the Commission had to do in Hongkong was to secure Chinese servants. They had been told that this was absolutely necessary because the unsettled state of affairs in Manila made Filipino servants entirely undependable.
Captain McCalla, of the Newark, had given to my husband in Yokohama, a letter to one L. Charles, a Chinese who ran a sort of employment agency in Hongkong, but when L. Charles came out to the Hancock, in response to a message from Mr. Taft, he brought with him the surprising news that the servants had already arrived from Shanghai and had been waiting for several days. Mr. Taft was greatly astonished, as he was unconscious of having made any arrangements at all, but L. Charles smilingly explained to him that Admiral Dewey had attended to it. Then Mr. Taft
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