LUKBAN TO CITIZENS OF SAMAR, FEBRUARY 25, 1901

Exhibit 1345.

[Original in Spanish . L .S. P .I.R., 968.10 .]

FEBRUARY 25th, 1901.

FELLOW CITIZENS OF SAMAR: In hurriedly reading over the manifesto and platform of the so-called Federal Party, I see that the majority of the members of this Party are my former companions in the conspiracy against Spain, when the cruelty of the friars drove us to strike a blow for our liberty. But they have joined this Party only at the bayonet's point and to save their lives.

It is but natural that these poor men should submit to American sovereignty to save their lives; and of course they will protest against this statement should this proclamation reach their hands as often as the Imperialistic Government under which they are demands that they do so. But from this it should not be deduced that they are opposed to our cause. Nor should they be expected to take active part in the work, for it is not every man that is called upon to bear arms. Yet none can deny that they cherish in their hearts the love of liberty, that natural and legitimate right of every man, which the creator embeds in every man's heart upon creating him. If even brute beasts become enraged and die for want of liberty, what must be the feelings of our brothers who, surrounded hy their enemies, are deprived of this blessing? Can it be that man does not care for this sweetest of all heritages? Impossible! To deny this truth is to deny the existence of the sun whose light shines upon us. As man has been endowed with this right, it is but logical that when he reaches the age of reason he should seek it, establish and defend it. Read history and you will find a William Tell in Switzerland, a Menelek in Abyssinia, and a Washington in North America itself, and many others, all of whom fought for the liberty of their countries.

Hence we may learn from the ideals and procedure of this Party that the Imperialistic Yankee is worse than on the decline; in fact he has ceased entirely to be popular; and hence, realizing that he has received his death blow, he offers in the throes of his last agonies, a handful of Macchi[a]velian schemes as a last resort. Among them we find amnesty, which has not been favorably received. And now comes the Federal Party, through whom they offer us numerous benefits and privileges. But we can not believe them, for this is but the honey they would place upon our lips to deceive us into swallowing the poison; in short, it is but the snare through which to overcome us later; and this is doubtless what they intend to do as soon as they are out of their present plight. These subterfuges employed by the enemy for the purpose of subduing us should be an eloquent proof to our troops of our constant progress. Every battle fought is a victory which we lay on the altar of our country. and constitutes a gigantic step toward our independence. Every encounter is a blow to imperialism, and amnesty and the Federal Party are now put forward to save its adherents from defeat. To deny this is to deny everything --- to allow one's self to be fascinated by the glitter of American gold, to be frightened by America's power; and such fears can be entertained only by a person devoid of conviction, of dignity, and of shame.

When the war begun, and when they did not yet know how determined we were, the Yankees, puffed with their own power, would grant us nothing; they treated us --- and they themselves acknowledge it --- as conquered subjects, and failed to show us proper consideration. But now when they see how much it costs them to carry out their iniquitous plans for enslaving us, they come to us with these palpably fictitious concessions under the name of the Federal Party to make them seem real; but they shall never suceeed in deceiving us, for having seen the beginning we may conjecture the end.

But without proceeding any further in this matter, and with a mere glance at the past, it becomes plain that when the great American nation was at war with Spain and needed our assistance, she was ostensibly our protector, our liberator, in short, our redeemer who would save us from slavery. But finally, puffed with the pride of victory, at an evil hour she tore asunder, and without just motive, the ties of friendship that united us, and that solely for the purpose of satisfying McKinley's boundless ambition to possess himself of our rich and coveted land. And all these things were known to the civilized nations of the world, for at that time they themselves could see our craft bearing our tricolored flag and plying from point to point on Manila Bay under American protection. It is difficult to deceive a people once they have been awakened, be the tricksk employed what they may. And hence the conditions in the Philippines today where her native sons, notwithstanding their reverses, are fearlessly defending their nationality which Yankee imperialists seek to destroy.

And since the whole province is with me, I, as Politico-Military Governor of the same, and as the faithful interpreter of the beautiful and noble aspirations of its inhabitants, solemnly promise with them never to join the Federal Party, whose voice is but a fetid gust blowing out of the capital of the archipelago. The people of Samar will blindly obey the directions of him who so worthily personifies and rules the destinies of our nation, the Honorable Seņor Emilio Aguinaldo; for their sole aspiration is independence, and they will continue this struggle for four years more, yea for ten years, or as many more as may be necessary, until our legitimate rights are recognized and granted; and we shall never accept compromises or treaties of peace, as the only person empowered to negotiate the same is Seņor Emilio Aguinaldo, the President of the nation.

Courage, then, fellow-citizens of Samar, for imperialism is already at an end. Let us continue to be firm and persistent with them. We have more than sufficient war materials in our mountains. Seek them and you will find them as I have found them; and you are aware that for over one year's warfare we have not asked for assistance from anybody. And yet the fight has been on night and day. Then again, there is the great Democratic Party in America which, heeding the voice of justice and reason and respecting the views of its leading men, works incessantly to counteract McKinley's wicked plans, who, perhaps, is working to make himself the Emperor of America, and to afterwards make his generals dukes and counts. And should this scheme succeed, then alas for their sons in the generations to come; for be they ever so able and capable, they could never aspire to stand upon the same throne with Washington. Onward, then, and be not dismayed, for independence has ever cost much everywhere and at all times. One more effort and we shall behold what we have so longed for, --- our liberty and our independence.

Given in the General Camp of Matuguinaw, Samar, February 25th, 1901.

(Signed) V. LUKBAN
Politico-Military Governor.

(Stamp) Politico-Military Government, Samar.