Relegated by the circumstances to his own discretion as to how he should act until Washington knew its mind, General Anderson's attitude in the outset represented a "peace-at-any-price" policy, suffused with benevolent pride at championing the cause of the oppressed, but secretly knowing from the beginning that it might become necessary later to slaughter said "oppressed," should they seriously object to a change of masters.
"On July 1st," says General Anderson, in the North American Review article above quoted, "I called on Aguinaldo with Admiral Dewey." Of the Admiral's dealings with the insurgent chief prior to this time, the General says in this same article:
"Whether Admiral Dewey and Consuls Pratt, Wildman, and Williams did or did not give Aguinaldo assurances that a Filipino government would be recognized, the Filipinos certainly thought so, probably inferring this from their acts rather than from their statements." This last quoted passage was read to Admiral Dewey by a member of the Senate Committee in 1902, along with other parts of the magazine article cited, and he was asked to comment on the same. He said:
"These are General Anderson's statements. They are very interesting, indeed; I am here to make my own statements."
He had stated that he never did specifically promise Aguinaldo independence, and the questioner was trying to show that his acts had amounted to assurances and therefore had committed the Government to giving the Filipinos their independence. Then Senator Patterson began another question, and had gotten as far as "I want to know whether your views--" when out came this, as of a sailor-man clearing decks for action:
"I do not like your questions a bit. I did not like them yesterday and I do not like them to-day." So the Admiral's feelings were respected and the question was not pressed. There is no doubt at all that in the Philippines in the summer of 1898 the army turned the back of its hand to Aguinaldo as soon as it got there and baldly repudiated what the navy had done in the way of befriending the Filipinos. But both had acted under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy--the President. The Admiral's sensitiveness on the subject ought to have been respected. And it was.