General Lawton asserted that 100,000 men would be required to conquer the Philippines, but they were never sent, because there was always an influential group of optimists who expected an early collapse of the insurgent movement. General Otis sent frequent cablegrams to Washington expressing his belief that the war would soon come to an end. However, in April, 1899, 14,000 regular troops were despatched to the Islands to reinforce the Volunteer regiments. It was a wise measure taken not too soon, for it was clear that a certain amount of discontent had manifested itself among the Volunteers. Moreover, the whole management of the Philippine problem was much hampered by an anti-annexation movement in America which did not fail to have its influence on the Volunteers, many of whom were anxious to return home if they could. Senator Hoar and his partisans persistently opposed the retention of the Islands, claiming that it was contrary to the spirit of the American Constitution to impose a government upon a people against its will. American sentiment was indeed becoming more and more opposed to expansion of territorial possession beyond the continent, in view of the unsatisfactory operations in the Philippines—a feeling which was, however, greatly counterbalanced by a recognition of the political necessity of finishing an unpleasant task already begun, for the sake of national dignity.

About this time the Philippine envoy, Felipe Agoncillo, was in Paris as president of a junta of his compatriots. Some of the members were of opinion that they ought to negotiate for peace directly with the American Secretary of State, but Agoncillo so tenaciously opposed anything short of sovereign Philippine independence that some of the members withdrew and returned to the Islands. A year later I found Agoncillo of exactly the same intransigent persuasion.

At the end of April the Americans suffered a severe reverse at Guingua (Bulacan), where Major Bell, with 40 cavalrymen, came across a strong outpost from which the enemy fired, killing one and wounding five men. With great difficulty the dead and wounded were carried back under fire, and it was found that the enemy occupied a big trench encircling three sides of a paddy-field bordering on a wood. As the Americans retreated, the insurgents crept up, aided by a mist, to within short range and fired another volley. Major Bell sent for reinforcements, and a battalion of infantry was soon on the scene, but their advance was checked by the continuous firing from the trenches. Artillery was on the way, but the insurgents were not disposed to charge the Americans, who lay for two hours under cover of a rice-field embankment in a broiling hot sun. One man died of sunstroke. Finally a second battalion of infantry arrived under the command of Colonel Stotsenberg, who was very popular with his men. He was received with cheers, and immediately ordered a charge against the enemy in the trenches; but whilst leading the attack he was shot in the breast, and died immediately. Within short range of the trenches Lieutenant Sisson fell, shot through the heart. By this time the artillery had arrived, and shelled the trenches. The insurgents, however, held their position well for a time, until the infantry was close up to them, when, following their usual tactics, they ran off to another trench a mile or so away. The total American losses that day were two officers and four privates killed, and three officers and 40 men wounded.

Spanish prisoners released by the Filipinos declared that the insurgents had 50,000 rifles and 200 pieces of artillery captured from the Spaniards, ample ammunition manufactured at two large factories up country, and occasional fresh supplies of war-material shipped from China by Chinese, European, and American merchants. The preparations made to dislodge Aguinaldo and his main army, entrenched and sheltered by fortifications at Calumpit, were now completed, and General McArthur's division steadily advanced. The flower of the insurgent army was there, well armed and supplied with artillery and shrapnel shell. Commanded by General Antonio Luna, they were evidently prepared to make at Calumpit the bold stand which was expected of them at Malolos. The transport difficulties were very great, and as General McArthur approached, every foot of ground was disputed by the enemy. Bridges had been broken down, and the guns had to be hauled through jungle and woods under a scorching sun. Many buffaloes succumbed to the fatigue, and hundreds of Chinamen were employed to do their work. The Bagbag River was reached, but it had to be crossed, and the passage cost the Americans six men killed and 28 wounded. The Bagbag River was well fortified, and the Americans had to attack its defenders from an open space. There were trenches at every approach; enormous pieces of rock had been dislodged and hauled down towards the breastworks of the trenches to form cover. The armoured train, pushed along the railway by Chinamen, then came into action, and its quick-firing guns opened the assault on the enemy's position. Six-pounders were also brought into play; the insurgents were gradually receding; artillery was wheeled up to the river bank and a regular bombardment of the bridge ensued. The trenches were shelled, and the insurgents were firing their guns in the direction of the armoured train, but they failed to get the range. Meantime, a company of the Kansas Regiment made a bold charge across a paddy-field and found shelter in a ditch, whence they kept up a constant fire to divert the enemy's attention whilst Colonel Eunston, the commander of the regiment, with a lieutenant and four men, crept along the girders of the bridge. The enemy, however, got the range and bullets were flying all around them, so they slid down the bridge-supports, dropped into the river, and swam to the opposite shore. Scrambling up the bank, revolvers in hand, they reached the trenches just as the insurgents were hurriedly evacuating them. Indeed, the Filipinos' defence of their trenches was extremely feeble during the whole battle. On the other hand, for the first time, the insurgents ventured out into the open against the Americans. General Antonio Luna, the Commander-in-Chief, could be seen galloping furiously along the lines exhorting his men to hold their ground, and he succeeded in deploying them into an extended line of battle to receive the enemy's onslaught. The insurgents kept up a desultory fire whilst the troops forded the river, and then they were pursued and driven off to the outskirts of the town. The flames rising from several buildings appeared to indicate an intention on the part of the insurgents to abandon their stronghold. Simultaneously, Generals Hale and Wheaton were coming forward with their columns, each having had some hard fighting on the way. The junction of forces was effected; a fierce fire was poured into the trenches; General Hale and his men made a dash across a stream, up to their waists in water; the Utah men followed with their batteries, cheering and dragging their field-pieces with desperate energy to the opposite bank; the enemy gave way, and the armoured train crossed the bridge. The total American loss that day did not exceed nine in killed and wounded, whilst the insurgent losses were at least 70. During the night the engineers repaired the Bagbag bridge for the rest of the troops to pass, and fighting was resumed at six o'clock in the morning. The deserted trenches were occupied by the Americans to pick off any insurgents who might venture out into the open. A general assault by the combined columns was then made on the town, which was captured, whilst the bulk of the insurgents fled in great confusion towards the hills. The few who lingered in the trenches in the northern suburbs of the town were shelled out of them by the American artillery placed near the church, and the survivors decamped, hotly pursued for some distance by cavalry. So great was the slaughter that the insurgents' total losses are unknown. The trenches were choked with dead bodies, and piles of them were found in many places. When nightfall came and the Americans were resting in Calumpit after their two days' hard fighting, the whole district was illuminated for miles around by the flames from the burning villages and groups of huts, whilst the snapping of the burning bamboos echoed through the stillness like volleys of rifle-shots.

Aguinaldo and his Government had hastened north towards Tarlac, and on April 28 he instructed General Antonio Luna to discuss terms of peace. Ostensibly with this object the general sent Colonel Manuel Argueelles with his aide-de-camp and an orderly to the American camp at Apalit (Pampanga). These men were seen coming down the railway-track carrying a white flag. An officer was sent out to meet them, and after handing their credentials to him they were forthwith conducted to General Wheaton's headquarters. General Wheaton sent them on to General McArthur, the chief commander of the Northern Division, and General McArthur commissioned Major Mallory to escort them to General Otis in Manila. They explained that they were empowered to ask for an armistice for a few days as it was proposed to summon their Congress for May 1 to discuss the question of peace or war. General Otis replied that he did not recognize the Philippine Republic, and that there would be no cessation of hostilities until his only terms were complied with, namely, unconditional surrender. The negotiations were resumed the next day, and Argueelles seemed personally inclined to meet the American view of the situation; but as his powers were limited to asking for an armistice, he and his companions returned to the insurgent camp with General Otis's negative answer. On his return to the camp Colonel Argueelles was accused of being an "Americanista" in favour of surrender, for which offence a court-martial passed sentence upon him of expulsion from the insurgent army and 12 years' imprisonment. Whatever Argueelles' personal conviction may have been matters little, but in the light of subsequent events and considering the impetuous, intransigent character of General Antonio Luna, it is probable that Argueelles was really only sent as a spy.

On May 5 General McArthur's division advanced to Pampanga Province, and Santo Tomas and San Fernando were taken without loss. A portion of the latter place had been burnt by the retreating insurgents, and the townspeople fled leaving their household goods behind them. Generals Hale and Lawton were following up, and on the way Baliuag (Bulacan) was occupied and immense stores of foodstuffs were seized from the insurgents and private owners. The booty consisted of about 150,000 bushels of rice and over 250 tons of sugar. In other places on the way large deposits of food fell into American hands. The men of the Nebraska Regiment considered they had had sufficient hard work for the present in long marching, continual fighting, and outpost duty. They therefore petitioned General McArthur to relieve them temporarily from duty to recuperate their strength. There was no doubting their bravery, of which they had given ample proof; they had simply reached the limit of physical endurance. The hospitals were already full of soldiers suffering as much from sunstroke as from wounds received in battle. Consequently some of the regular regiments who had been doing guard duty in the capital were despatched to the front. In the following July the Nebraska Volunteer Regiment was one of those sent back to the United States.

On May 19 another party of insurgent officers presented themselves to the military authorities alleging that they had fuller powers than Argueelles possessed and were prepared to make peace proposals. Everything was discussed over again; but as General Otis's unalterable demand for unconditional surrender was already well known, one can only conclude that the insurgent commissioners were also spies sent to gauge the power and feeling of the Americans, for they promised to return within three weeks and then disappeared indefinitely.

On May 22 more peace commissioners were sent by Aguinaldo. They were received by the Schurman Commission of Inquest, who communicated to them a scheme of government which they had had under consideration in agreement with President McKinley. The proposed plan embodied the appointment of a Gov.-General, who would nominate a Cabinet to act with him. The President of the United States was to appoint the judges. The Cabinet members and the judges might be all Americans, or all Filipinos, or both. Moreover, there was to be an Advisory Council elected by popular vote. This liberal scheme was, however, abandoned, as its proposal seemed to have no effect in bringing the war to an end, and the negotiations terminated with the Commissioners and the insurgent delegates lunching together on board the U.S. battleship Oregon, whilst the blood of both parties continued to flow on the battlefield.

General Lawton's brigade was still operating in the Provinces of Bulacan and north of Manila (now called Rizal). The fighting was so severe and the exposure to sun so disastrous that about the beginning of June he had to send back to Manila 500 wounded and heat-stricken men. It was found impossible to follow up the ever-retreating insurgents, who again escaped still farther north. Along the Manila Bay shore detachments of insurgents passed from time to time, driving women and children before them, so that the Americans would not care to fire on them. Some, however, were picked off from the warships when the insurgents omitted their precautionary measure. It was impossible to "round up" the enemy and bring him into a combat to the finish. His movements were so alert that he would fight, vanish in a trice, conceal his arms and uniform, and mingle with the Americans with an air of perfect innocence. With wonderful dexterity he would change from soldier to civilian, lounging one day in the market-place and the next day fall into the insurgent ranks. These tactics, which led to nothing whatever in a purely military sense, were evidently adopted in the vain hope of wearying the Americans into an abandonment of their enterprise.

In the middle of June General Lawton's brigade operated to the south of Manila and in the Cavite province, where the natives gave battle at the Zapote River, famous for a great Spanish defeat during the rebellion. The insurgents were under cover the whole time, and their assembled thousands could hardly be seen by the attacking columns. They were also in great force and strongly entrenched near Las Pinas and at Bacoor. [212] From the former place they worked one large and two small guns with much effect, firing canister loaded with nails. One canister shattered the legs of a private. American infantry, skirmishing along the beach, came across a posse of insurgents who at once retreated, pursued by the Americans until the latter found themselves surrounded on three sides by hidden sharpshooters, who poured in a raking fire upon them. The skirmishers withdrew, but were rallied by General Lawton and other officers, who themselves picked off some of the enemy with rifle-shots. Encouraged by this example, the skirmishers, with one cry, suddenly rushed towards the insurgents, scattering them in all directions, and safely reached the main body of the brigade with their wounded comrades.

The only bridge across the Zapote River was strongly defended by the insurgents, who had trenches forming two sides of an angle. By noon their battery was silenced, and the Americans then attempted to ford the river, whilst others went knee-deep in mire across the paddy-mud flats. Then a deep stream was the only boundary between the contending parties. The Filipinos were hardly visible, being under shelter of thickets, whilst the Americans were wading through mud under a broiling sun for over two hours to reach them, keeping up a constant fusillade. The whole time there was an incessant din from a thousand rifles and the roar of cannon from the gunboats which bombarded the enemy's position near Las Pinas and Bacoor. The strain on the Americans was tremendous when the insurgents made a flanking movement and fired upon them as they were floundering in the mud. The 14th Infantry eventually swam across the Zapote River, and under cover of artillery charged the insurgents, who retreated into the woods. The Filipinos displayed a rare intelligence in the construction of their defences near the Zapote River and its neighbourhood, and but for the employment of artillery their dislodgement therefrom would have been extremely difficult. After the battle was over General Lawton declared that it was the toughest contest they had yet undertaken in this war.

At Perez Dasmarinas, in the east of Cavite Province, a battalion of infantry narrowly escaped annihilation. News had been brought to the American camp that the insurgents had evacuated that town, and that the native mayor was disposed to make a formal surrender of it to the Americans. The battalion forthwith went there to take possession, but before reaching the place the enemy closed in on all sides, and a heavy fire was mutually sustained for four hours. The Americans had only just saved themselves from destruction by a desperate bayonet-charge when they were rescued by General Wheaton, who arrived with reinforcements.

Three months of warfare had wrought dissension in the insurgent camp. Organization was Aguinaldo's peculiar talent, without the exercise of which the movement would have failed at the outset. But the value of this gift was not fully appreciated by his people. A certain section of the fighting masses had far greater admiration for Antonio Luna's visible prowess than for the unseen astuteness of Aguinaldo's manoeuvres. It was characteristic of the Filipinos to split into factions, but the encouragement given to General Antonio Luna's aspiration to supersede his supreme chief was unfortunate, for Aguinaldo was not the man to tolerate a rival. He had rid himself of Andres Bonifacio (vide p. 371) in 1896, and now another disturber of that unity which is strength had to be disposed of. The point of dispute between these two men was of public knowledge. It has already been shown how fully cognizant Antonio Luna was of the proposals made to the Americans for an armistice, for the express purpose of taking the vote of the Revolutionary Congress, for peace or war, on May 1. Aguinaldo was no longer a military dictator, but President of the so-called Philippine Republic (vide p. 486), by whose will he was disposed loyally to abide. Antonio Luna's elastic conscience urged him to duplicity; he pretended to submit to the will of the majority, expressed through the Congress, with the reserved intention of carrying on the war at all hazards, as military dictator, if the vote were for peace. Congress met, and during the debate on the momentous question—peace or war—the hitherto compact group of intransigents weakened. No agreement could be arrived at in the first session. There was, however, a strong tendency to accept American sovereignty. Luna feared that Aguinaldo's acceptance of the vote of the majority (if a division were taken) might deprive him of the opportunity of rising to supreme eminence. Luna's violence at this time was intolerable, up to the point of smacking deputy F.B. in the face. His attempted coercion of the will of others brought about his own downfall. His impetuosity called forth the expression, "He is a fanatic who will lead us to a precipice." In his imagination, all who did not conform to his dominant will were conspirators against him. Hence, at Cavite (Aguinaldo's native province), he disarmed all the troops of that locality, and substituted Ilocanos of his own province, whilst he vented his ferocity in numerous executions of Tagalogs. Had he lived he would probably have created a tribal feud between Ilocanos and Tagalogs.

On June 3, 1899, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, Captain Roman, and an escort, Luna entered the official residence of President Aguinaldo at Cabanatuan (Nueva Ecija). The guard, composed of a company of Cavite men from Canit (Aguinaldo's native town), under the command of Captain Pedro Janolino, saluted him on his entry. As Luna and Roman ascended the staircase to seek Aguinaldo a revolver-shot was heard. Luna rushed down the stairs in a furious rage and insulted Captain Janolino in the presence of his troops. This was too much for Janolino, who drew a dagger and thrust it violently into Luna's head. In the scuffle Luna was knocked down and shot several times. He was able to reach the roadway, and, after shouting "Cowards!" fell down dead. In the meantime, whilst Captain Roman was running towards a house he was shot dead by a bullet in his breast. The Insurgent Government passed a vote of regret at the occurrence, and the two officers were buried with military honours. As subsequent events proved, Aguinaldo had no personal wish to give up the struggle, or to influence a peace vote, but to execute the will of the people, as expressed through the revolutionary congressmen.

The situation was becoming so serious for the Americans that a call for 25,000 more volunteers was earnestly discussed at Washington. It was thought that the levy should be made at once, believing that General Otis really required them, but that he was reluctant to admit an under-estimate of the enemy's strength. The insurgents, finding they were not followed up (the rainy season was commencing), were beginning to take the offensive with greater boldness, attacking the Americans in the rear. The War Department, however, hesitated to make the levy owing to the friction which existed between the volunteers and the regulars, but the case was so urgent that at the end of June it was decided to raise the total forces in the Philippines to 40,000 men.

On June 12, the anniversary of the proclamation at Cavite of Philippine Independence, Aguinaldo, from his northern retreat, issued a Manifiesto to his countrymen reminding them of the importance of that event. This document, abundant in grandiloquent phrases, is too lengthy for full citation here, but the following paragraph in it is interesting as a recognition that, after all, there was a bright side to Spanish dominion:—

Filipinas! Beloved daughter of the ardent sun of the tropics, commended by Providence to the care of noble Spain, be thou not ungrateful; acknowledge her, salute her who warmed thee with the breath of her own culture and civility. Thou hast longed for independence, and thine emancipation from Spain has come; but preserve in thine heart the remembrance of the more than three centuries which thou hast lived with her usages, her language, and her customs. It is true she sought to crush thine aspiration for independence, just as a loving mother resists the lifelong separation from the daughter of her bosom; it only proved the excess of affection, the love Spain feels for thee. But thou, Filipinas, flower of the ocean, delicate flower of the East, still weak, scarce eight months weaned from thy mother's breast, hast dared to brave a great and powerful nation such as is the United States, with thy little army barely disciplined and shaped. Ah, beloved brethren, all this is true; and still we say we will be slaves to none, nor let ourselves be duped by gentle words.

Certainly Aguinaldo could not have been the author of the above composition published in his name.

By the middle of July the censorship of Press cablegrams from Manila had become so rigid that the public in America and Europe could get very little reliable telegraphic news of what was going on in the Islands. The American newspaper correspondents therefore signed a "round robin" setting forth their complaints to General Otis, who took little heed of it. It was well known that the hospitals were crowded with American soldiers, a great many of whom were suffering solely from their persistence in habits contracted at home which were incompatible with good health in a tropical climate. Many volunteers, wearied of the war, were urging to be sent back to the States, and there was a marked lack of cordiality between the volunteer and the regular regiments. In the field the former might well compare with the smartest and the bravest men who ever carried arms; off active service there was a difference between them and the disciplined regulars perceptible to any civilian. The natives particularly resented the volunteers' habit of entering their dwellings and tampering, in a free and easy manner, with their goods and the modesty of their women. They were specially disgusted with the coloured regiments, whose conduct was such that the authorities saw the desirability of shipping them all back to the United States as soon as other troops were available to replace them, for their lawlessness was bringing discredit on the nation.

In July an expedition was sent up the Laguna de Bay, and the towns on the south shore were successively captured as far as Calamba, which was occupied on the 26th of the month. Early in the same month the inter-island merchant steamer Saturnus, on its regular voyage to the north-west coast of Luzon ports, put in at San Fernando de la Union to discharge cargo for that place, which was held by the insurgents. The vessel was flying the American flag. Part of the cargo had been discharged and preparations were being made to receive freight on board, when the insurgents seized the vessel, carried off the thousands of pesos and other property on board, poured petroleum on the woodwork, and hauled down the American flag. The American gunboat Pampanga, patrolling this coast, seeing there was something irregular, hove to and endeavoured to get a tow-line over the Saturnus, but was beaten off by the insurgents' fire from shore. The insurgents then brought field-pieces into action and shelled the Saturnus, setting her on fire. The vessel became a wreck and sank near the beach. Subsequently a gunboat was sent to San Fernando de la Union to shell the town.

When the wet season had fully set in, operations of importance were necessarily suspended. Skirmishes and small encounters occurred in many places where the contending parties chanced to meet, but no further remarkable military event happened in this year of 1899 until the north-east monsoon brought a cessation of the deluging rains.

Notwithstanding General Otis's oft-repeated intimation of "unconditional surrender" as the sole terms of peace, in October General Aguinaldo sent General Alejandrino from his new seat of government in Tarlac to General Otis with fresh proposals, but the letter was returned unopened. At that time Aguinaldo's army was estimated at 12,000 men. The insurgents had taken many American prisoners, some of whom were released a few days afterwards, and, in October, Aguinaldo issued a decree voluntarily granting liberty to all Americans held captive by his people. This resolution, proclaimed as an act of grace, was really owing to the scarcity of food, and for the same reason Aguinaldo simultaneously disbanded a portion of his army.

In the month of December General Lawton led his brigade to the district of Montalban and San Mateo, a few miles north of Manila, to attack the insurgents. The agreed plan was to make a flanking movement against the enemy on the San Mateo River and a frontal attack immediately the enemy was engaged. The frontal attack was being personally directed by the general, who stood on the high bank of the river. Captain Breckinridge, the general's aide-de-camp, had just been hit in the groin, and General Lawton went to speak to him before he was carried away on a litter. Whilst so engaged, the general threw up his hands and fell without uttering a word. He had been shot through the heart, and died instantly. His body was carried to Manila for public burial, and the insurgents were as jubilant as the Americans were grieved over this sad occurrence. The date was fixed for the interment with military pomp, and immense crowds came out to witness the imposing procession. Some Filipinos, expecting the cortege would pass through a certain street, deposited a bomb in the house of an old woman, unknown to her, but fortunately for her and all concerned, it was not on the route taken. In memory of the late lamented general the present five-peso bank notes bear his vignette.

In 1900 the war of independence began to wane. In January, General Joseph Wheeler left Manila to assume command of the late General Lawton's brigade, and overran the Laguna de Bay south shore towns. Vinan was taken on January 1, but as no garrison was left there, the insurgents re-entered the town when the Americans passed on. The armed natives were, in reality, playing a game of hide-and-seek, with no tangible result to themselves further than feeding at the expense of the townspeople. Aguinaldo was still roaming about central Luzon, but, one by one, his generals either surrendered or were captured. Among these was General Rizal, captured in January. In this month a plot to blow up the foreign consuls was opportunely frustrated. The Chinese General Paua, Aguinaldo's brother-in-law, surrendered in March and found shopkeeping in Binondo a less risky business than generalship. In the same month the Manila-Dagupan Railway was handed over to the company's management, after having been used for war purposes. General Montenegro surrendered in April, and a fortnight afterwards Don Pedro A. Paterno, late President of the Insurgent Congress, was captured at Antomoc (Beuguet district); Generals Garcia and Dumangtay were captured; five officers and two companies of insurgents surrendered in May; and in the same month one Gabriel Cayaban, of Pangasinan Province, was sentenced to five years' hard labour and a fine of 2,000 pesos for conspiring with guerillas to raise riot. It cannot be said that the insurgents in the field had advanced one step towards the attainment of their object. Manila was simultaneously full of conspirators cogitating over murderous plots against the Americans, and a band of them was arrested in the month of May. The insurgent movement was so far disorganized that it was deemed opportune to entrust natives with police duties, and in June a Philippine cavalry corps was created. Captain Lara, of the native police, took Generals Pio del Pilar and Salvador Estrella prisoners, but was himself assassinated on August 4. General Maximino Hizon [213] was captured at Mexico (Pampanga), and on June 21 the Military Governor published an amnesty proclamation, granting pardon and liberty to all who should declare their allegiance to the United States within ninety days. All who had surrendered and some who were captured took the required oath, and others were coming in. Pio del Pilar was among those who accepted the amnesty a week after its promulgation, but he was again arrested, September 6, for conspiracy. The Amnesty Proclamation was met by a counter-proclamation issued by Aguinaldo, dated August 3, 1900, in which he urged a continuance of the war, and offered rewards for arms. He promised to liberate all prisoners of war who might fall into insurgent hands, on surrender of their arms and ammunition. He would give them money to return to their lines and for petty expenses en route. He would pay 80 pesos for every American rifle brought in by a prisoner, and 20 pesos for any rifle voluntarily brought to a Philippine officer, but the deserter would not be allowed to enter the insurgent ranks.

On June 28 there was an attempted rising in Manila, and Don Pedro A. Paterno was placed under closer guard. In July the insurgents were active in the neighbourhood of Vigan (Ilocos). About 40 volunteer infantry and 60 cavalry went out from Narvican to attack them, and came across a strongly-entrenched position held by about 300 riflemen and 1,000 men armed with bowie-knives. A sharp fight ensued, but the Americans, overwhelmed by the mass, had to retreat to Narvican. The insurgents lost about a hundred men, whilst the American loss was one lieutenant and four men killed, nine wounded and four missing. About the same time, the insurgents driven back from the Laguna de Bay shore occupied Taal (Batangas), where, under the leadership of Miguel Malvar, a small battle was fought in the streets on July 12 and the town was burnt; a troop of cavalry was added to the police force this month, and there was no lack of Filipinos willing to co-operate with Americans for a salary. The backbone of insurgency having been broken, the dollar proved to be a mightier factor than the sword in the process of pacification. Compared with former times, the ex-insurgents found in the lucrative employments offered to them by the Americans a veritable El Dorado, for never before had they seen such a flow of cash. The country had been ravaged; the immense stores collected by the revolutionists had been seized; non-combatant partisans of the insurgent cause were wearied of paying heavy taxes for so little result; treasure was hidden; fields lay fallow, and for want of food Aguinaldo had had partially to disband his army. He told me himself that on one occasion they were so hard pressed for food that they had to live for three days on whatever they could find in the mountains. There were but two courses open to the majority of the ex-soldiers—brigandage or service under their new masters. Some chose the former, with results which will be hereafter referred to; others, more disposed towards civil life, were allured by the abundance of silver pesos, which made a final conquest where shot and shell had failed. Still, there were thousands incognizant of the olive-branch extended to them, and military operations had to be continued even within a day's journey from the capital. A request had to be made for more cavalry to be sent to the Islands, and the proportion of this branch of the service to infantry was gradually increased, for "rounding up" insurgents who refused to give battle was exhausting work for white foot-soldiers in the tropics. In the course of four months nearly all the infantry in the small towns was replaced by cavalry. In this same month (July) American cavalry successfully secured the Laguna de Bay south shore towns which the insurgents had re-taken on the departure of the infantry sent there in January. Many well-to-do proprietors in these towns (some known to me for 20 years), especially in Vinan, complained to me of what they considered an injustice inflicted on them. The American troops came and drove out the insurgents, or caused them to decamp on their approach; but, as they left no garrisons, the insurgents re-entered and the townspeople had to feed them under duress. Then, when the American forces returned six months afterwards, to the great relief of the inhabitants, and left garrisons, many of these townspeople, on a charge of having given succour to the insurgents, were imprisoned with the only consolation that, after all, a couple of months' incarceration by the Americans was preferable to the death which awaited them at the hands of the insurgents if they had refused them food. The same thing occurred in other islands, notably in Samar and in Cebu, where the people were persecuted for giving aid to the armed natives on whose mercy their lives depended. This measure was an unfortunate mistake, because it alienated the good feeling of those who simply desired peace with the ruling power, whether it were American or native. There were thousands of persons—as there would be anywhere in the world—quite incapable of taking up arms in defence of an absent party which gave them no protection, yet naturally anxious to save their lives by payment if need be. [214]

On July 19 a proclamation was issued forbidding the possession of firearms without licence. On August 7 the curfew ordinance was extended to 11 p.m., and again, in the following month, to midnight. In September there was another serious outbreak up the Laguna de Bay, where two or three hundred insurgents, led by a French half-caste, General Cailles, [215] attacked Los Banos, and about the same time the insurgents north of Manila cut the railroad between Malolos and Guiguinto. Cailles was driven out of Los Banos, but hundreds more insurgents joined him, and a furious battle was fought at Siniloan, on September 17, between 800 insurgents and a company of the 15th Infantry, who drove the enemy into the mountains.

In November Aguinaldo, who was camping in the province of Nueva Ecija, issued another of his numerous exhortations, in consequence of which there was renewed activity amongst the roaming bands of adventurers all over the provinces north of the capital. The insurgent chief advocated an aggressive war, and in the same month it was decided to send more American troops to Manila.

Many of the riff-raff had been inadvertently enrolled in the native police force, and received heavy sentences for theft, blackmail, and violent abuse of their functions. Indeed it took nearly a couple of years to weed out the disreputable members of this body. The total army forces in the Islands amounted to about 70,000 men, and at the end of 1900 it was decided to send back the volunteer corps to America early in the following year, for, at this period, General Aguinaldo had become a wanderer with a following which could no longer be called an army, and an early collapse of the revolutionary party in the field was an anticipated event.

From September 1, 1900, the legislative power of the military government was transferred to a civil government, Governor W. H. Taft being the President of the Philippine Commission, whilst Maj.-General McArthur continued in his capacity of Commander-in-Chief to carry on the war against the insurgents, which culminated in the capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo on March 23, 1901. This important event accelerated the close of the War of Independence. On January 14 General Emilio Aguinaldo had his headquarters at Palanan (Isabela), on the bank of a river which empties itself into Palanan Bay, situated about six miles distant from the town, on the east coast of Luzon. Being in want of reinforcements, he sent a member of his staff with messages to that effect to several of his subordinate generals. The fellow turned traitor, and carried the despatches to an American lieutenant, who sent him on to Colonel Frederick Funston at San Isidro (Nueva Ecija). The despatches disclosed the fact that General Emilio Aguinaldo requested his cousin, General Baldomero Aguinaldo, to send him, as soon as possible, 400 armed men. With General McArthur's approval, Colonel Funston proceeded to carry out a plan which he had conceived for the capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo. An expedition was made up of four Tagalog deserters from Aguinaldo's army, 78 Macabebe scouts (vide p. 446, footnote), and four American officers, besides Colonel Funston himself. Twenty of the scouts were dressed in insurgent uniforms, and the remaining natives in common working-clothes. Ten of them carried Spanish rifles, ten others had Krag-Joergensen rifles, which they were to feign to have captured from American troops, and the five Americans were disguised as private soldiers. The party was then carried round the north and east coasts of Luzon, and put ashore in the neighbourhood of Baler by the gunboat Vicksburg, which approached the coast without lights, and then waited off Palanan Bay. The expedition was nominally commanded by an insurgent deserter, Hilario Placido, [216] whilst three other deserters posed as officers, the Americans playing the role of prisoners captured by the party. Before setting out for Casiguran, some 20 miles away, a messenger was sent on to the native headman of that town to tell him that reinforcements for Aguinaldo were on their way, and would require food and lodging, which were forthwith furnished by the headman to these 87 individuals. Some months previously some papers had been captured bearing the signature and seal of the insurgent general Lacuna, and this enabled the party to send on a letter in advance to Emilio Aguinaldo, ostensibly in the name of Lacuna, announcing the arrival of the reinforcements furnished in response to his request of January 14. This letter was accompanied by another one from the pseudo-chief of the expedition, stating that on the way they had captured five American soldiers and ten Krag rifles. A request was also made for food, which he explained had run short. Emilio Aguinaldo, therefore, sent Negritos to meet them on the way with a supply of rice. In the morning of March 23 they were near Palanan. The Macabebe scouts were sent in advance of the soi-disant five American prisoners, and when they entered the town Aguinaldo's bodyguard of 50 men was drawn up in parade to receive them. The native pseudo-officers marched into the camp, and were welcomed by Aguinaldo; but they shortly afterwards took temporary leave of him, and coming outside ordered their Macabebe troops to form up. Just at the moment the five supposed prisoners were conducted towards the camp the Macabebes poured three murderous volleys into Aguinaldo's troops, two of whom were killed and 18 wounded. On the other side only one Macabebe was slightly wounded. The Americans witnessed the effect of the first volley, and, together with the natives posing as officers, rushed into Aguinaldo's headquarters. Aguinaldo, Colonel Villa, and one civilian were taken prisoners, whilst other insurgent officers jumped from the window into the river and escaped. The expedition, after resting a day and a half at the camp, escorted their prisoners to Palanan Bay, where they were all taken on board the gunboat Vicksburg, which reached Manila on March 27.

The closing scene in Emilio Aguinaldo's military career was a remarkable performance of consummate skill, but unworthy of record in the annals of military glory.

The War of Independence, which lasted until the next year, was a triumph of science over personal valour about equally balanced. It was a necessary sacrifice of the few for the good of the many. No permanent peace could have been ever hoped for so long as the Islanders entertained the belief that they could any day eject the invaders by force.

The American citizens naturally rejoiced over the bare fact, briefly cabled without ghastly details, that the Philippine generalissimo had fallen prisoner, because it portended the peace which all desired. In deference to public opinion, the President promoted Colonel Funston of the volunteers to the rank of Brig.-General in the regular army.

Emilio Aguinaldo was first taken before General McArthur and then escorted to prison in Calle de Anda, in the walled city. On April 1, 1901, he took the oath of allegiance in the following form, viz.:—

I, Emilio Aguinaldo, hereby renounce all allegiance to any and all so-called revolutionary governments in the Philippine Islands and recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America therein; I do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to that Government; that I will at all times conduct myself as a faithful and law-abiding citizen of the said Islands, and will not, either directly or indirectly, hold correspondence with or give intelligence to an enemy of the United States, nor will I abet, harbour or protect such enemy; that I impose upon myself these voluntary obligations without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion, so help me God.

After signing this declaration he was a free man. For a while he resided at Malacanan, on the north bank of the Pasig River, where one night a pirogue full of assassins came to seek the life of the man who had failed. But his lucky star followed him, and he removed to Paco and again to Ermita (suburbs of Manila) and finally to his native town of Cauit (Cavite), where I was his guest. He was living there in modest retirement with his mother and his two good-looking young nieces, who served us at table. The house is large and comparatively imposing as a provincial residence, being formed of two good substantial houses connected by a bridge-passage. The whole is enclosed by a low brick wall, topped by iron railings painted flaming red. In front there is a garden and a spacious compound at the back. In the large drawing-room there is a ceiling fresco representing a Filipina descending a flight of steps from a column to which the chains, now severed, held her captive. On the steps lies the Spanish flag with a broken staff, and in her hand she holds on high the Philippine flag of freedom.

In conversation with him he stated that he and his companions returned to the Islands in May, 1898, with many assurances that America was simply going to aid them to gain their independence. He added that when he landed at Cavite he had no arms, and the Americans allowed him to take them from the Spanish arsenal. Then they turned him out, and he moved his headquarters to Bacoor, where his troops numbered between 30,000 and 35,000 men. He said he could easily have taken Manila then, but that he was begged not to do so as the Americans were waiting for more troops and they wished to make the victory a joint one. He confessed he had bought experience very dearly. But he profited by that experience when, at Cavite, the Belgian Consul and Prince Loewenstein came four times to make proposals to him in favour of Germany. The first time, he said, he received them and demanded their credentials as authorized agents for Germany, but, as they could not produce any, he declined to have any further intercourse with them. Referring to the first period of the rebellion, Aguinaldo admitted that the prospect of ejecting the Spaniards from the Islands was very doubtful.

Immediately Aguinaldo had fallen captive, all kinds of extravagant and erroneous versions were current as to how it had happened. Thousands insisted that he must have voluntarily surrendered, for how could he have been caught when he had the anting-anting? (vide p. 237). As the ball of conjecture went on rolling, some added to this that his voluntary surrender must have been for a money consideration, and there were still others who furnished a further inducement—his fear of revenge from the late Antonio Luna's party!

Although Aguinaldo gave no proof of being a brilliant warrior, as an organizer he had no rival capable of keeping 30,000 or more Filipinos united by sentiment for any one purpose. He trusted no comrade implicitly, and for a long time his officers had to leave their side-arms in an antechamber before entering his apartment. He had, moreover, the adroitness to extirpate that rivalry which alone destroys all united effort. But the world makes no allowance for the general who fails. To-day he is left entirely alone, pitied by some, shunned by a few, and almost forgotten by the large majority. He is indeed worthy of respect for his humanity in the conduct of the war, and of some pity in his present peculiar position. Many of his late subordinates now occupy good and high-salaried posts. Members of the Government of which he was President have espoused American doctrine and enjoy high social positions and fat emoluments. Aguinaldo's scholarship is too meagre for an elevated position, and his dignity and self-respect too great for an inferior one.



CHAPTER XXV

The Philippine Republic in the Central and Southern Islands

So interwoven were the circumstances of General Aguinaldo's Government in Luzon Island with the events of the period between the naval battle of Cavite and the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, that they form an integral and inseparable whole in historical continuity. In the other Islands, however, which followed the revolutionary movement, with more or less adherence to the supreme leadership of Aguinaldo, the local incidents severally constitute little histories in themselves, each such island having practically set up its own government with only the barest thread of administrative intercommunication.

The smaller islands, adjacent to Luzon, cannot be justly included in this category, because their local rule, which naturally succeeded the withdrawal of Spanish administration, was nothing more than a divided domination of self-constituted chiefs whose freebooting exploits, in one instance, had to be suppressed at the sacrifice of bloodshed, and, in another, to succumb to the apathy of the people.

In Yloilo, on December 23, 1898, General Diego de los Rios, in the presence of his staff, the naval commanders and the foreign consuls, formally surrendered the town to the native mayor, prior to his evacuation of Panay Island on the following day. On December 27 an American military force (finally about 3,000 strong) arrived in the roadstead in transports under the command of General Miller in co-operation with two American warships, afterwards supplemented by two others. The Spanish troops having departed, the Filipinos who had assumed control of public affairs made their formal entry into Yloilo to the strains of music and the waving of banners and constituted a government whose effective jurisdiction does not appear to have extended beyond the town and a day's march therefrom. On January 17 an election was held, Raymundo Melliza, [217] an excellent man, being chosen president for the term of two years. Business was resumed; sugar was being brought from Negros Island, and ships were laden with produce. During the civil administration, which lasted for seven weeks, the absorbing topic was the demand made by General Miller for the surrender of the town. General Miller's force had been despatched to Yloilo waters, after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, simply to make a demonstration in view of possible anarchy resulting from the Spanish evacuation. The ratification of that Treaty by a two-thirds Senate majority was not an accomplished fact until February 6 following. There was no certainty that the Senate would confirm the acquisition of the Islands, and in the interval it was not politic to pass from a formal demand for the surrender of Yloilo to open hostilities for its possession. These matters of political exigency were undoubtedly beyond the comprehension of the Ylongos. They attributed to fear the fact that a large fighting-force remained inactive within sight of the town, whereas General Miller was merely awaiting instructions from the capital which the Manila authorities, in turn, were delaying, pending the decision in Washington. Intervening circumstances, however, precipitated military action. On the night of February 4 hostilities had broken out between Aguinaldo's troops and the American forces. Insurgent emissaries had brought Aguinaldo's messages to the Ylongos to hold the town against the invaders, and on February 7 General Miller received orders from Maj.-General Otis to take Yloilo by force if necessary. General Miller thereupon renewed his demand for the surrender of the place, coupled this time with a declaration that he would bombard it if his demand were refused. Later on he notified the consular body that the bombardment would commence on the 12th of the month. During the seven weeks of native government, petty thefts were frequent; an armed insurgent would enter a store and carry off the article selected by him without paying for it; but there was no riotous open violence committed against the townspeople or foreign traders. The squabbles between the armed natives and their leaders, however, were several times on the point of producing bloodshed.

According to ex-insurgent General Pablo Araneta, the insurgent army, at the time, in Panay Island was as follows, viz. [218]:—

Under the leadership of Stationed at Tagalogs Visayos

Fulion Yloilo 250 150 Ananias Diocno Yloilo 400 — Pablo Araneta Yloilo 250 — Martin Delgado Yloilo — 150 Pablo Araneta Molo — 100 Silvestre Silvio Antique 150 — Detachment of Diocno's forces Capiz 200 —

Total all armed with guns 1,250 400

The commander-in-chief of the whole army of 1,650 men was Martin Delgado. The Tagalog contingent was under the leadership of Ananias Diocno, a native of Taal, whose severity in his Capiz and Yloilo campaigns has left a lasting remembrance. The headquarters of the Visayos was in the parish-house (convento), whilst the Tagalogs were located in the Fine Arts Institute. Their stipulated remuneration was 4 pesos a month and food, but as they had received only 1 peso per month on account, and moreover claimed a rise in pay to 5 pesos, the Visayos, on February 3, assembled on the central plaza of the town and menaced their general officers, who were quartered together in a corner house over a barber's shop. They yelled out to their leaders that if they did not give them their pay they would kill them all, sack the town, and then burn it. Thereupon the generals hastened round the town to procure funds, and appeased the Visayos with a distribution of 1,800 pesos. The Tagalogs then broke out in much the same way, and were likewise restrained by a payment on account of arrears due. But thenceforth the insurgent troops became quite uncontrollable and insolent to their officers. The fact that white officers should have solicited their permission to come ashore unarmed could only be interpreted by the Oriental, soldier or civilian, in a way highly detrimental to the white man's prestige. The Americans' good and honest intentions were only equalled by their nescience of the Malay character. The officers came ashore; the townsfolk marvelled, and the fighting-men, convinced of their own invincibility, disdainfully left them unmolested. After the insurgent generals had doled out their pay, the men went round to the shops and braggingly avowed that it was lucky for the shopkeepers that they had got money, otherwise they would have looted their goods. The Chinese shut up their shops from the beginning of the troubles, leaving only a hole in the closed door to do a little business, as they were in constant fear for the safety of their lives and their stocks. A great many families packed up their belongings and went over to Negros Island in small schooners. The little passenger-steamers plying between Yloilo and Negros were running as usual, crowded to the brim, and flying the Philippine flag without interruption from the Americans. Amongst the better classes opinions on the situation were much divided. The best Philippine and Spanish families expressed their astonishment that the Americans made no attempt to take the town immediately after the Spanish evacuation. There were foreign merchants anxious to delay the American investment because, meanwhile, they were doing a brisk trade, and there were others longing to see the town in the hands of any civilized and responsible Power. Delegates from one party or the other, including the native civil government, went off in boats almost daily to parley with General Miller in the roadstead, each with a different line of real or sophistic argument. The best native families, the foreigners of all classes—those who desired a speedy entry of the Americans and those who sought to delay it—were agreed as to the needlessness and the mistaken policy of announcing a bombardment. Yloilo is a straggling, open town. The well-to-do people asked, "Why bombard?" There were no fortifications or anything to destroy but their house property. Plans were voluntarily offered showing how and at which points a midnight landing of 400 or 500 troops could be secretly effected for a sunrise surprise which would have cleared the town in an hour of every armed insurgent. The officers ashore declared they were ready; and as to the men, they were simply longing for the fray, but the word of command rested with General Miller.

In the evening of February 10 the native civil government held an extraordinary session in the Town Hall to discuss the course to be adopted in view of the announced bombardment. The public, Filipinos and foreigners, were invited to this meeting to take part in the debate if they wished, Raymundo Melliza, Victorino Mapa, Martin Delgado, and Pablo Araneta, being amongst those who were present. It was proposed to burn the town. Melliza vehemently protested against such a barbarous act, and asked why they should destroy their own property? What could they gain by pillage and flames? [219] But a certain V—— and his party clamoured for the destruction of the place, and being supported by an influential lawyer (native of another province) and by one of the insurgent generals, Melliza exclaimed, "If you insist on plunder and devastation, I shall retire altogether," whereupon a tremendous hubbub ensued, in the midst of which Melliza withdrew and went over to Guimaras Island. But there were touches of humour in the speeches, especially when a fire-eating demagogue gravely proposed to surround an American warship with canoes and seize her; and again when Quintin Salas declared that the Americans would have to pass over his corpse before the town surrendered! Incendiaries and thieves were in overwhelming majority at the meeting; naturally (to the common people in these Islands) an invitation to despoil, lay waste and slay, bolstered up by apparent authority, found a ready response, especially among the Tagalog mercenaries who had no local attachment here. The instigators of this barbarity sought no share of the spoils; they had no property interests in Yloilo, but they were jealous of those who had. The animosity of Jaro and Molo against Yloilo had existed for years, the formers' townspeople being envious of the prosperous development of Yloilo (once a mere fishing-village), which obscured the significance of the episcopal city of Jaro and detracted from the social importance of the rich Chinese half-caste residential town of Molo. [220] Chiefly from these towns came the advocates of anarchy, whose hearts swelled with fiendish delight at the prospect of witnessing the utter ruin and humiliation of their rivals in municipal prestige. Yloilo, from that moment, was abandoned to the armed rabble, who raided the small shops for petroleum to throw on to the woodwork of the houses prior to the coming onslaught. The bombardment having been announced for the 12th, they reckoned on a full day for burning and sacking the town. But early in the morning of the 11th the steam-launch Pitt, whilst reconnoitring the harbour, was fired upon; the launch replied and withdrew. Natives were observed to be busy digging a trench and hastening to and from the cotta at the harbour entrance; there was every indication of their warlike intentions. Therefore suddenly, at 9 o'clock that morning, without further notification, the Americans opened fire. The natives in the cotta fled along the quayway towards the centre of the town under a shower of bullets hurled from the quick-firing guns. The attack on Yloilo was hardly a bombardment proper; shells were intentionally thrown over the houses as a warning and burst in suburban open spaces, but comparatively few buildings were damaged by the missiles. In the meantime, from early morn, the native soldiery, followed by a riff-raff mob, rushed hither and thither, throwing firebrands on to the petroleum-washed houses, looting stores, and cutting down whomsoever checked them in their wild career. The Chinese barricaded themselves, but the flames devoured their well-stocked bazaars; panic-stricken townsfolk ran helter-skelter, escaping from the yelling bands of bloodthirsty looters. Europeans, revolver in hand, guarded their properties against the murderous rabble; an acquaintance of mine was hastening to the bank to deposit P3,000 when he was met by the leader S——, who demanded his money or his life; one foreign business house was defended by 15 armed Europeans, whilst others threw out handfuls of pesos to stay the work of the petroleur. The German Vice-Consul, an old friend of mine, went mad at the sight of his total loss; a Swiss merchant, my friend for over 20 years, had his fine corner premises burnt down to the stone walls, and is now in comparative poverty. Even Spanish half-castes were menaced and contemptuously called Cachilas [221]; and the women escaped for their lives on board the schooners in the harbour. Half the town was blazing, and the despairing cries of some, the yells of exultant joy of others, mingled with the booming of the invaders' cannon.

Two British warships lying in the roadstead sent boats ashore to receive British subjects, and landed a party of marines, who made gallant efforts to save foreign property. A few British subjects were, however, unable to get away from the town on account of the premature attack of the Americans, which took place on the 11th instead of February 12, as previously announced.

The American assault on the town, which lasted until 1 o'clock in the afternoon, was immediately followed up by the landing of about 1,000 volunteers, and General Miller found that the prognostications of the townspeople were perfectly just, for the insurgents fled in all directions. There was not a fighting-man left in the town. Some of them continued their hurried flight as far as Santa Barbara and Janiuay. It was evident that a sudden night-landing, without a word about bombardment, would have been just as effective, and would have prevented much misery and loss of life and property. Indeed, the arrival of the American volunteers under these distressing circumstances produced a fresh commotion in Yloilo. Without any warrant private premises were entered, and property saved from the natives' grasp vanished before the eyes of the owners. Finally order was restored through the energetic intervention of American officials, who stationed sentinels here and there to protect what still remained of the townspeople's goods. In due course indemnity claims were forwarded to the military authorities, who rejected them all.

The insurgents still lingered outside the town on the road to Jaro, and General Miller marched his troops, in battle array, against them. A couple of miles out of the town, in the neighbourhood of La Paz, the entrenched enemy was routed after a slight skirmish. The booming of cannon was heard in Yloilo for some hours as the American troops continued their march to Jaro, only molested by a few occasional shots from the enemy in ambush. The rebel chief Fulion and another, Quintin Salas, held out for a short while, gradually beating a retreat before the advancing column. The Tagalogs, once under the command of the semi-civilized Diocno, disappeared in all directions, and finally escaped from the province in small parties in canoes or as best they could. The handful of braves who still thought fit to resist decided to make a stand at Santa Barbara, but on the arrival of the American troops they dispersed like chaff before the wind. General Miller then relinquished the pursuit and returned to Yloilo to await reinforcements for a campaign through the Island. In the meantime military government was established in Yloilo, the town was policed, trade resumed its normal aspect, the insurgents in the Island gradually increased, but the Philippine Republic in Panay was no more. It was clear to all the most sober-minded and best-educated Ylongos that Aguinaldo's government was a failure in Panay at least. The hope of agreement on any policy was remote from its very initiation. Visayos of position, with property and interests at stake, were convinced that absolute independence without any control or protection from some established Power was premature and doomed to disaster. Visayan jealousy of Tagalog predominance had also its influence, but the ruling factor was the Tagalog troops' dictatorial air and brutal conduct, which destroyed the theory of fraternal unity. Self-government at this stage would have certainly led to civil war.

Reinforcements arrived from Manila and the Americans entered upon the pacification of the Island, which needed two years for its accomplishment. The full record of the Panay campaign would be a monotonous recital of scores of petty encounters of analogous character. Pablo Araneta, in co-operation with a Spanish deserter named Mariano Perez, met the Americans several times, and gave better proof of his generalship in retreat than in advance. He operated only in the province of Yloilo, and at Sambang, near Pavia, his party was severely defeated and the "general" fled. Quintin Salas, over whose dead body, he himself declared, the Americans would have to pass before Yloilo surrendered, appeared and disappeared, from time to time, around Dumangas. There was an encounter at Potian with Jolandoni which ended badly for his party. The native priests not only sympathized with the insurgents, but took an active part in their operations. Father Santiago Pamplona, afterwards ecclesiastical-governor of the Visayas (Aglipayan), held a command under Martin Delgado. Father Agustin Pina, the parish priest of Molo and the active adviser in the operations around Pavia—Jaro district, was caught by the Americans and died of "water-cure." [222] The firebrand Pascual Macbanua was killed at Pototan; and finally came the most decisive engagement at Monte Singit, between Janiuay and Lambunao. The insurgent generalissimo, Martin Delgado, took the field in person; but after a bold stand, with a slight loss on the American side, the insurgents were completely routed and their leader fled. Pablo Araneta, tired of generalship without glory, surrendered to the Americans on December 31, 1899. The war still continued for another year, Martin Delgado being one of the last to declare his defeat. Early in December, 1900, overtures for peace were made to General Miller, the delegates on the insurgent side being Pablo Araneta, Jovito Yusay, and Father Silvestre Apura, whilst Captain Noble represented the Americans. Martin Delgado and his co-leaders soon surrendered. There was no question of conditions but that of convincing the natives of the futility of further resistance and the benefits to them of peace under American rule. With this end in view, delegates went in commission to the several districts. Pablo Araneta, Father Silvestre Apura, Father Praxedes Magalon and Nicolas Roses visited the district of Concepcion (East Panay) in January 1901 and obtained the submission of the people there. Peace was at length agreed upon; but the Filipinos were not disposed silently to draw the veil over the past without glamour and pomp, even in the hour of defeat. Therefore, on February 2, 1901, in agreement between the parties, the remnant of the little Panay army made a formal surrender, marching under triumphal arches into the episcopal city of Jaro to stack their arms, between lines of American troops drawn up on either side of their passage, to the strains of peaceful melody, whilst the banners of the Stars and Stripes floated victoriously in the sultry air. Jaro was crowded with visitors to witness this interesting ceremonial. The booths did a bustling trade; the whole city was en fete, and the vanquished heroes, far from evincing humiliation, mingled with the mob and seemed as merry as though the occasion were the marriage-feast of the headman's daughter.

But to complete the picture of peace some finishing-strokes were yet needful. Antique Province was still in arms, and a native commission composed of Pablo Araneta, Father Silvestre Apura, Father Praxedes Magalon, Victorino Mapa, Cornelio Melliza, and Martin Delgado proceeded there, and succeeded in concluding peace for the Americans at the end of February, 1901.

The Visayan chief who defied the American invader was no stout patriot who leaves his plough to fight for cherished liberty, and cheerfully returns to it when the struggle ends. The leaders of the little Panay army and their civilian colleagues had to be compensated for their acceptance of American rule. Aguinaldo was captured during the month following the Peace of Panay; the war was coming to an end, and Governor W. H. Taft made his provincial tour to inaugurate civil government in the pacified Islands. Martin T. Delgado, the very man who had inflicted such calamities upon the Yloilo people, was appointed, on April 11, to be their first provincial Civil Governor at a salary of $3,000 gold per annum, and held that office until March, 1904. Jovito Yusay was given the provincial government secretaryship with a yearly stipend of $1,800 gold; Pablo Araneta was rewarded with the post of President of the Board of Health at an annual salary of $1,500 gold, and Victorino Mapa was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court with an annual emolument of $7,000 gold. In March, 1904, Raymundo Melliza, ex-president of the native civil government, already referred to as the advocate of social order, succeeded Delgado in the civil government of the Yloilo province by popular vote.

Yloilo, formerly the second port of the Philippines, is situated on the right bank of the creek. From the creek point to the square are sheds used for sugar-storing, with, here and there, a commercial or government office between. The most modern thoroughfares are traced with regularity, and there are many good houses. In the square is the church, which at a distance might be mistaken for a sugar-store, the ruins of the Town Hall, the convent, and a few small, fairly well-built houses of stone and wood, whilst all one side was once covered by a fine new block of buildings of brick, stone and wood, with iron roofs.

The Calle Real or High Street is a winding road, which leads through the town into the country. The houses are indescribable—they are of all styles. Without any pretence at architectural adornment, some are high, others low; some stand back with several feet of pavement before them, others come forward and oblige one to walk in the road. Here and there is a gap, then a row of dingy hovels. This is the retail trading-quarter and the centre for the Chinese. Going from the square the creek runs along at the back of the right-hand-side houses; turning off by the left-hand-side thoroughfares, which cannot be called streets, there is a number of roughly-built houses and a few good ones dispersed in all directions, with vacant, neglected plots between. At the extreme end of the Calle Real is the Government House, built of wood and stone, of good style and in a fair condition, with quite the appearance of an official residence. Before it is a semicircular garden, and in front of this there is a round fenced-in plot, in the middle of which stands a flag-staff. Just past the Government House there is a bridge crossing the Jaro River, which empties itself into the creek of Yloilo, and this creek is connected with that of Otong. [223]

Yloilo lies low, and is always hot. Quite one-third of the shipping and wholesale business quarter stands on land reclaimed from the swamp by filling up with earth and rubble. The opposite side of the creek, facing the shipping-quarter, is a low marshy waste, occasionally converted into a swamp at certain tides. The creek forms the harbour of Yloilo, which is just as Nature made it, except that there is a roughly-constructed quayway on the left-hand shore on entering. Only vessels of light draft can enter; large vessels anchor in the roadstead, which is the channel between Yloilo harbour and Guimaras Island.

The general aspect of Yloilo and its environs is most depressing. In Spanish times no public conveyances were to be seen plying for hire in the streets, and there is still no public place of amusement. The Municipality was first established by Royal Order dated June 7, 1889.

Evidences of the havoc of 1899 are still visible at every turn in Yloilo in the shape of old stone walls, charred remains, battered houses, vacant spaces, etc. On the other hand, there are many innovations since American administration superseded the native civil government. The plaza, till then a dreary open space, is now a pleasant shady promenade; electric lighting, an ice-factory, four hotels, one American, one English, and three Philippine clubs, large public schools, an improved quayway, a commodious Custom-house, a great increase of harbour traffic, a superabundance of lawyers' and pawnbrokers' sign-boards, and public vehicles plying for hire are among the novelties which strike one who knew Yloilo in days gone by. The Press is poorly represented by three daily and one weekly newspapers. Taken as a whole Yloilo still remains one of the most charmless spots in the Archipelago.



The people of Negros Island were in the free enjoyment of local independence since November 6, 1898, the day on which the Spanish Governor, D. Isidro Castro y Cinceros, together with all his official colleagues, capitulated to the revolutionists under the leadership of Aniceto Lacson, Leandro Lacson, Juan Araneta, Nicolas Gales, Simon Lizares, Julio Diaz, and Jose Montilla. Simultaneously with the prosecution of the Panay Island campaign General Miller opened negotiations for the submission of Negros Island to American sovereignty. At that time the government of the Island was being peacefully administered to the satisfaction of the Negros revolutionists, at least, under the constitution proclaimed by them, and presided over by their ex-commander-in-chief, Aniceto Lacson. [224] General Miller therefore commissioned two Filipinos, Esteban de la Rama and Pedro Regalado, [225] to proceed to Negros and negotiate terms of surrender to the Americans. For the moment nothing further was demanded than a recognition of American supremacy, and it was not proposed to subvert their local organization or depose their president. Aniceto Lacson accepted these terms, and General Miller formally appointed him Governor of the Island in March, 1899. It is evident, therefore, that no union existed between the local government of Negros and Aguinaldo's Republic in Luzon. In fact, when the Tagalog fighting-men, who were everywhere defeated in Panay, made their escape to Negros and raised the cry of insurrection against the Americans, Lacson was constrained to appeal to General Miller to send over troops to quell the movement. Thereupon Colonel Smith was deputed to take troops over to Negros to pursue the common enemy, whilst, in perfect accord with the native governor Lacson, he acted as military governor of the Island. The great cordillera which runs through the centre of the Island from north to south forms a sort of natural barrier between the people of Occidental and Oriental Negros. There are trails, but there are no transversal highroads from one coast to the other, and the inhabitants on each side live as separated in their interests, and, to a certain degree, in their habits, as though they were living in different islands. The people on the eastern side have always strongly opposed anything approaching governmental cohesion with the other side. Moreover, for many years past, the south-eastern district of Negros Island has been affected by sporadic apparitions of riotous religious monomaniacs called Santones (vide p. 189). These conditions, therefore, favoured the nefarious work of the cunning Tagalog and Panay refugees, who found plenty of plastic material in the Negros inhabitants for the fruitful dissemination of the wildest and most fantastic notions anent the horrors awaiting them in the new Anglo-Saxon domination. They found no sympathy with the native government of Occidental Negros, which was as much their enemy as the American troops sent to pursue them, but they entertained the hope that by raising riot in Negros they would draw off troops from Panay, and so favour the movement in that Island. Armed groups rose everywhere against the Americans and the established government. In the south-east the notorious Papa Isio appeared as a Santon, preached idolatry, and drew to his standard a large band of ruffians as skilled as himself in villainous devices. Insurgency, in the true sense of the word, did not exist in Negros; opposition to the American domination was merely a pretext to harass, plunder, and extort funds from the planters and property-owners. The disaffected people increased so largely in numbers that Colonel Smith was obliged to call for reinforcements, and the disturbances only came to an end when it was known that the Panay people had formally laid down their arms in February, 1901. Shortly afterwards Governor W. H. Taft visited Negros Island; the quasi-autonomous government of that region was modified in conformity with the general plan of provincial civil governments, and on August 9, 1901, Leandro Locsin (Ylongo by birth) succeeded to the civil governorship, with a salary of $2,500 gold, by popular vote.



Notwithstanding the severities imposed on the Cebuanos during the last eight months of Spanish rule, the Spaniards were able to evacuate Cebu Island without menace or untoward event. For several months the Governor, General Montero, had held in prison, between life and death, a number of Filipinos of the best families, amongst whom was Julio Llorente, who afterwards became President of Cebu and subsequently a magistrate of the Supreme Court of Manila. General Montero made a compact with a young Philippine lawyer, Sergio Osmena (afterwards acting-Governor of Cebu) that in exchange for two Spaniards held as hostages in the interior he would release Llorente. Osmena procured the liberty of the Spaniards, but it was only on the eve of his departure that Montero permitted the prison doors to be opened.

On December 26, 1898, a chartered merchant steamer called at Cebu to transport the retiring Spaniards to Zamboanga, the place of concentration designated by General Rios. The farewell was sadly brief, and almost in silence the Governor handed over the government property to a most worthy and loyal Cebuano, Pablo Mejia, who was my esteemed friend for many years. The Governor even offered Mejia about 40 rifles; but Mejia, a lover of order, wrongly believing that a long period of tranquillity was about to set in, declined to accept them. And without any manifestation of regret on the part of the governed, the last vestige of Spanish authority vanished from the city which, 333 years before, was the capital of the Philippine Islands.

On the day following the departure of the Spaniards the Cebuanos established a provincial government in agreement with the Katipunan party of Luzon, General Aguinaldo's direct representative being Luis Flores, the chief leader of the armed Cebuanos, to whom Pablo Mejia handed over all that he had received from the ex-governor Montero. From its establishment up to the last day of its existence, this government used the seal and stamps of the Philippine Republic, and was constituted as follows, viz.:—

Provincial Council

President and Commander-in-Chief Luis Flores. Vice-President Julio Llorente. Commissioner of Police Gen. Arcadio Maxilom. Treasurer-General Pablo Mejia. Minister of Justice Miguel Logarta. Secretary to the Council Leoncio Alburo.

Military Department

Chief-of-Staff Gen. Juan Climaco. Military Administrator Arsenio Climaco. (Half-caste Chinese and cousins.)

Municipal Council (Junta Popular)

Mayor Julio Llorente. Councillors Several citizens elected by popular vote.

The above constitution was in conformity with a decree of General Aguinaldo dated June 18, 1898, and countersigned by Apolinario Mabini. Local representatives of the provincial government were appointed throughout the Island for the collection of taxes and the maintenance of order, and the system worked fairly smoothly until the arrival of the Americans in Cebu City, February 21, 1899. On that date the American gunboat Petrel and a large steam-launch suddenly appeared in Cebu harbour. The United States Vice-Consul seems to have been the only person who had received prior advice of their intended arrival. The commander of the Petrel sent a message ashore saying that he desired an interview with the government representatives and that he demanded the surrender of the city, and gave 14 hours to the people to consider his demands; but, as a matter of fact, the negotiations lasted about 24 hours, during which time a council of Filipinos was hurriedly called to decide upon the course the provincial government should adopt. Very divergent and extreme views were expressed; Pablo Mejia, supported by Julio Llorente and Father Julia, advocated an acceptance of the inevitable under protest, whilst General Gabino Sepulveda declared that he would spill his last drop of blood before the Americans should take possession of the city. But, in the end, Sepulveda reserved his blood for a better occasion, and eventually accepted employment under the Americans as prosecuting attorney in Bojol Island. Pablo Mejia's advice was acted upon, and in the name of the Cebuanos, Luis Flores, the President of the Council, signed a protest [226] which was handed to the commander of the Petrel by Pablo Mejia and Julio Llorente in the presence of the United States Vice-Consul. The commander of the Petrel forthwith landed 40 marines, who marched to the Cotta de San Pedro (the fortress) and hoisted the American flag there in the presence of armed Filipinos who looked on in silence. The marines then returned to their vessel, which remained inactive anchored off the cotta, pending the arrival of reinforcements which were sent to Cebu under the command of Colonel Hamer. The provincial government was permitted to continue its functions and use its official seal, and during five months there was no manifest anti-American movement. During this period the American commander of the troops adopted tactics similar to those employed by General E. S. Otis in Manila against Aguinaldo prior to the outbreak in February, 1899. Little by little the Americans required the armed Filipinos to retire farther and farther away from the capital. This practical isolation disgusted the several chiefs, who therefore agreed to open the campaign against the invaders. Every act of the provincial councillors was closely watched and discussed by the Cebuanos, amongst whom an intransigent faction secretly charged Mejia and Llorente with being lukewarm in their protection of Philippine interests and unduly favourable to American dominion. Their death was decreed, and Mejia was assassinated as he was passing to his house from that of a neighbour a few yards off. Luis Flores had already resigned public office, and Llorente was, at this time, his successor in the presidency of the Council. Fortunately for him, whilst the murderers were plotting against his life he was called to Manila by General E. S. Otis, two weeks after Mejia's death, to become a magistrate in the Supreme Court. Segundo Singson (afterwards chief judge of the Court of First Instance) then assumed the presidency of the provincial council.

On July 24, 1899, Juan Climaco and Arcadio Maxilom, chafing at the diminution of their influence in public affairs, suddenly disappeared into the interior and met at Pardo, where the military revolutionary centre was established. Aguinaldo's emissary, Pantaleon E. del Rosario, Melquiades Lasala, a Cebuano of Bogo (known as Dading), Andres Jayme, Lorega, and an Ilocano named Mateo Luga who had served in the Spanish army, led contingents under the supreme command of the insurgent General Arcadio Maxilom. In the interior they established a fairly well-organized military government. The Island was divided into districts; there was little interference with personal liberty; taxes for the maintenance of the struggle were collected in the form of contribution according to the means of the donor; agriculture was not altogether abandoned, and for over two years the insurgents held out against American rule. The brain of the movement was centred in Juan Climaco, whilst Mateo Luga exhibited the best fighting qualities. In the meantime American troops were drafted to the coast towns of Tuburan, Bogo, Carmen, etc. There were several severe engagements with slaughter on both sides, notably at Monte Sudlon and Compostela. Five white men joined the insurgent leader Luga, one being an English mercenary trooper, two sailors, and two soldiers; the last two were given up at the close of hostilities; one of them was pardoned, and the other was executed in the cotta for rape committed at Mandaue.

The co-existence of an American military administration in Cebu City conducting a war throughout the Island, and a Philippine provincial government with nominal administrative powers over the same region, but in strong sympathy with the insurgent cause, was no longer compatible. Moreover, outside the city the provincial government was unable to enforce its decrees amongst the people, who recognized solely the martial-law of the insurgents to whom they had to pay taxes. The Americans therefore abolished the provincial council, which was not grieved at its dissolution, because it was already accused by the people of being pro-American. Philippine views of the situation were expressed in a newspaper, El Nuevo Dia, founded by a lawyer, Rafael Palma, and edited conjointly by Jayme Veyra (afterwards a candidate for the Leyte Island governorship) and an intelligent young lawyer, Sergio Osmena, already mentioned at p. 521. This organ, the type and style of which favourably compared with any journal ever produced in these Islands, passed through many vicissitudes; it was alternately suppressed and revived, whilst its editors were threatened with imprisonment in the cotta and deportation to Guam. Meanwhile the Americans made strenuous efforts to secure the co-operation of the Filipinos in municipal administration, but the people refused to vote. Leading citizens, cited to appear before the American authorities, persistently declined to take any part in a dual regime. The electors were then ordered, under penalties, to attend the polling, but out of the hundreds who responded to the call only about 60 could be coerced into voting. Finally a packed municipal council was formed, but one of its members, a man hitherto highly respected by all, was assassinated, and his colleagues went in fear of their lives.

The war in Panay Island having terminated on February 2, 1901, by the general surrender at Jaro (vide p. 518), General Hughes went to Samar Island, where he failed to restore peace, and thence he proceeded to Cebu in the month of August at the head of 2,000 troops. A vigorous policy of devastation was adopted. Towns, villages and crops were laid waste; Pardo, the insurgent military centre, was totally destroyed; peaceful natives who had compulsorily paid tribute to the insurgents at whose mercy they were obliged to live, were treated as enemies; their homes and means of livelihood were demolished, and little distinction was made between the warrior and the victim of the war. Desolation stared the people in the face, and within a few weeks the native provincial governor proposed that terms of peace should be discussed. The insurgent chief Lorega surrendered on October 22; Mateo Luga and Arcadio Maxilom submitted five days afterwards and at the end of the month a general cessation of hostilities followed. A neutral zone was agreed upon, extending from Mandaue to Sogod, and there the three peace commissioners on behalf of the Americans, namely Miguel Logarta, Pedro Rodriguez, and Arsenio Climaco met the insurgent chiefs Juan Climaco and Arcadio Maxilom. As a result, peace was signed, and the document includes the following significant words, viz.: "putting the Philippine people in a condition to prove their aptitude for self-government as the basis of a future independent life." The signatories of this document on the part of the Filipinos were Pantaleon E. del Rosario, Melquiades Lasala and Andres Jayme. After the peace, Mateo Luga and P. E. del Rosario accepted employment under the Americans, the former as Inspector of Constabulary and the latter as Sheriff of Cebu. A few months later, the Americans, acting on information received, proceeded to Tuburan on the government launch Philadelphia, arrested Arcadio Maxilom and his two brothers, and seized the arms which they had secreted on their property. On the launch, one of the Maxiloms unsuccessfully attempted to murder the Americans and was immediately executed, whilst Arcadio and his other brother jumped overboard; but Arcadio being unable to swim, was picked up, brought to trial at Cebu, and acquitted. Thus ended the career of General Arcadio Maxilom, whom in 1904 I found living in retirement, almost a hermit's life, broken in spirit and body and worried by numerous lawsuits pending against him.

On April 17,1901, Governor W. H. Taft went to Cebu accompanied by a Filipino, H. Pardo de Tavera, whose views were diametrically opposed to those of the Cebuano majority. Governor Taft established civil government there, although the law of habeas corpus had to be suspended because the war was still raging throughout the Island outside the capital. The provincial government as established by Governor Taft comprises a provincial board composed of three members, namely the Philippine Provincial Governor, the American Supervisor, and the American Treasurer: hence the Americans are in permanent majority and practically rule the Island. The executive of this body is the provincial governor and his staff. The first provincial governor appointed by Governor Taft was Julio Llorente, who resigned the magistracy in Manila and returned to Cebu to take up his new office until the elections took place in January, 1902, when, by popular vote, Juan Climaco, the ex-insurgent chief, became provincial governor, and on the expiration of his term in January, 1904, he was re-elected for another two years.

There is no noteworthy change in the aspect of Cebu since the American occupation. It is a regularly-built city, with hundreds of good houses, many relatively imposing public buildings, monuments, churches, and interesting edifices. It is a cathedral city and bishop's see, full of historical remininscences, and has still a very pleasant appearance, notwithstanding its partial destruction and the many remaining ruins caused by the bombardment by the Spanish warship Don Juan de Austria in April 1838, (vide p. 403). Of special interest are the Cathedral, the Church of Santo Nino, or the "Holy Child of Cebu" (vide p. 183), the Chapels of the Paul Fathers and of the Jesuits, and the Cotta de San Pedro (fortress). Also, just outside the city proper is the Church of San Nicolas. Up to about the year 1876 the Jesuits had a fine church of their own, but the friars, jealous of its having become the most popular place of worship, caused it to be destroyed. Until a few years ago the quarter known as the, Parian was the flourishing centre of the half-caste traders. There was also a busy street of Chinese general shops and native ready-made clothiers in the Lutao district, a thoroughfare which ran along the seashore from the south of the city proper towards San Nicolas; it was completely destroyed by the bombardment of 1898, and many of the shopkeepers have erected new premises in the principal shopping street, called Calle de la Infanta. Again, in 1905, a disastrous fire in the business quarter of the city caused damage to the estimated extent of $500,000 gold.

There is a little colony of foreign merchants in Cebu, which formerly ranked as the third port of the Archipelago, but now stands second in importance to Manila (vide Trade Statistics, Chap. xxxi.). Several vice-consulates are established here, and in Spanish times it was the residence of the military governor of Visayas as well as of the governor of the Island and his staff of officials. In 1886 a Supreme Court was inaugurated in Cebu. This city, which was the capital of the Colony from 1565 to 1571, had a municipality up to the time of Gov.-General Pedro de Arandia (1754-59). It was then abolished because there was only one Spaniard capable of being a city councillor. One alderman who had served—Juan Sebastian de Espina—could neither read nor write, and the mayor himself had been deprived of office for having tried to extort money from a Chinaman by putting his head in the stocks. By Royal Order dated June 7, 1889, and put into force by the Gov.-General's Decree of January 31, 1890, the municipality was re-established. The president was the governor of the Island, supported by an Alcalde and 13 officials. For the government of the Island under the Spanish regime, vide Chap. xiii.

The municipality at present existing is that established by the Taft Commission. The Press, in the days of the Spaniards, was poorly represented by a little news-sheet, styled the Boletin de Cebu. There are now two periodicals of little or no interest.

There are two large cemeteries at Guadalupe and Mabolo. In 1887 a shooting-butts was established at the end of the Guadalupe road, and the annual pony-races take place in January. On the Mabolo road there is a Leper Hospital, and the ruins of a partly well-built jail which was never completed.

Cebu is a port of entry open to foreign trade, with a Custom-house established since the year 1863. The channel for vessels is marked by buoys, and there are two lighthouses at the north and two at the south entrance to the port. The environs are pretty, with Magtan Island (on which Maghallanes was killed) in front and a range of hills in the background. There are excellent roads for riding and driving a few miles out of the city. The climate is very healthy for Europeans; the low ranges of mountains running north to south of the Island are sparsely wooded, some being quite bare of trees, and the atmosphere is comparatively dry. The cactus is very common all over the Island, and miles of it are seen growing in the hedges. About an hour and a half's drive from Cebu City there is the little town of Naga, the environs of which are extremely pretty. From the top of Makdoc Mountain, at the back of the town, there is a splendid view of the Pandan Valley.

The Cebuanos are the most sociable of the Visaya population, whilst the women are the best-looking of all the Filipinas of pure Oriental descent.

Of all places in the Philippines Cebu will please the conchologist. An old native named Legaspi once had a splendid shell collection, which he freely exhibited to foreigners. At one time he had a Gloria Maris, which he sold for $150, and some Russian naval officers are said to have offered him $5,000 for a part of his collection. At certain seasons of the year the Euplectella speciosa, Gray, or Venus baskets, locally known as Regaderas, can be obtained in quantities; they are found in the Cebu waters. The Eup. spec, is the skeleton secretion of an insect of the Porifera division. The basket is a series of graceful fretted spirals. Also fine Pina stuffs can be purchased here.

The population of Cebu City was 9,629 in 1888; 10,972 in 1896; and 18,330 in 1903. The inhabitants of the whole Island numbered 417,543 in 1876; 518,032 in 1888; 595,726 in 1896; and 653,727 in 1903.



In March, 1899, an American armed force was detailed from Cebu City to Bojol Island to demand the surrender of the native provincial government established there since the Spanish evacuation. Interpreters from Cebu were sent ashore, and after hearing their explanation of the Americans demands the native president in council resolved to yield peacefully. A volunteer regiment was then sent ashore, positions were occupied, and all went smoothly on the surface until the Islanders' powers of endurance were exhausted after 22 months of alleged harsh treatment imposed upon them by the troops. In January, 1901, the cry of rebellion was raised by one Pedro Sanson, whose band of Bojolanos, augmented by levies from Leyte, Samar, and Panay Islands numbered about 2,000. Expeditions were sent out against them, and the lukewarm sympathy of the Islanders was turned to general indignation against the Americans by the alleged wanton destruction of a whole town by fire, by order of a captain of volunteers. Practically the whole Island became covertly anti-American. Having finished his campaign in Cebu Island in October, 1901, General Hughes carried his troops over to Bojol Island, where measures of repression were adopted similar to those which had been so effective in reducing the Cebuanos to submission. A large number of small towns and villages within the range of military operations were entirely destroyed. The once pretty little town of Lauang was left a complete ruin, and many landmarks of a former progressive civilization have disappeared for ever. Nevertheless, the insurgents refused to yield until a decree was issued to the effect that if the leaders did not surrender by December 27 the invaders would burn down the town of Tagbilaran. In this town, formerly the seat of the native provincial government, Pedro Sanson and most of his officers had all their property and worldly possessions; and in view of the beggary which awaited them if they held out any longer, they accepted terms of peace from Pantaleon E. del Rosario, who went up to the mountains and acted as negotiator between General Hughes and the insurgent chiefs who finally surrendered. The Filipino, Aniceto Clarin, appointed provincial governor on April 20, 1901, continued in office; Pedro Sanson quietly resumed his occupation of dealer in hemp, etc., and thenceforth peace and poverty reigned in the Island.