Negotiations


But I and my companions were not to be kept long in our distress,
grieving over the bad faith of the Spaniards, for in the month of
March of the year referred to (1898) some people came to me and in the
name of the Commander of the U.S.S. _Petrel_ asked for a conference
in compliance with the wishes of Admiral Dewey.

I had some interviews with the above-mentioned Commander, _i.e._,
during the evening of the 16th March and 6th April, during which the
Commander urged me to return to the Philippines to renew hostilities
against the Spaniards with the object of gaining our independence,
and he assured me of the assistance of the United States in the event
of war between the United States and Spain.

I then asked the Commander of the _Petrel_ what the United States
could concede to the Filipinos. In reply he said: "_The United States
is a great and rich nation and needs no colonies_."

In view of this reply I suggested to the Commander the advisability
of stating in writing what would be agreed to by the United States,
and be replied that he would refer the matter to Admiral Dewey.

In the midst of my negotiations with the Commander of the _Petrel_ I
was interrupted by letters from Isabelo Artacho and his solicitors, on
the 5th April, claiming $200,000 of the money received from the Spanish
authorities, and asserting that he (Artacho) should receive this
sum as salary due to him while acting as Secretary of the Interior,
he having been, it was alleged, a member of the Filipino Government