the diplomacy for which he has since been noted among his own people. He advocated peace and favored the acceptance of Spain's proposal, but he had no faith in Spanish promises, and he insisted that certain conditions should govern the acceptance. One of these conditions was that the Spanish government should pay down a sum of money— something more than $1,000,000-as an evidence of good intent. This was agreed to and the insurgents laid down their arms, disbanded and returned to their homes.

Aguinaldo, Agoncillo and some other leaders went to Hong Kong, while others went to Singapore. Out of this transaction grew the charges of accepting bribes made against Aguinaldo. The only group that ever received any part of the $1,000,000 and more was the one under the leadership of Aguinaldo. To this group $300,000 was paid, according to reports of the Hong Kong and Shanghai bank. Spanish officials claimed that more than $1,000,000 was paid to the insurgents, and Aguinaldo and his particular followers were accused of having embezzled the most of it.

Whether the money was embezzled by the Filipino leaders supposed to have received it or by Spanish officials supposed to have paid it, the reader must decide for himself. One part of the transaction, however, is not in doubt. None of the reforms promised was ever put in operation. That part of the agreement was completely ignored, and instead of affairs becoming better they rapidly grew worse. Every person who had held any official position among the insurgents was persecuted by the government. Special taxes were levied and the prac tice of torturing suspects was continued.

These conditions continued until the autumn of 1897, when Aguinaldo and his followers decided to renew hostilities. They purchased arms in small quantities from thrifty Chinese merchants and shipped them to the islands in junks and small sailing vessels which did not have to register, and in a short time the islanders were again in a state of insurrection.

The rebellion was progressing as well as could be expected under the circumstances when war was declared between the United States and Spain. This was Aguinaldo's greatest opportunity, and he was quick to improve it. He displayed a remarkable degree of activity. He visited the American officials at Hong Kong and tendered the aid of himself and followers. He bought arms and shipped them to the

insurgents, and enlisted the services of many adventurers. It may be said that he organized this latest revolution upon a larger scale than the preceding one. He is reported to have said to an American naval officer at Hong Kong:

"There will be war between your country and Spain, and in that war you can do the greatest deed in history by putting an end to the Castilian tyranny in my native land. We are not ferocious savages. On the contrary, we are unspeakably patient and docile. That we have risen from time to time is no sign of bloodthirstiness on our part, but merely of manhood resenting wrongs which it is no longer able to endure. You Americans revolted for nothing at all compared with what we have suffered. Mexico and the Spanish republics rose in rebellion and swept the Spaniard into the sea, and all their sufferings together would not equal that which occurs every day in the Philippines. We are supposed to be living under the laws and civilization of the nineteenth century, but we are really living under the practices of the Middle Ages.

"A man can be arrested in Manila, plunged into jail, and kept there twenty years without ever having a hearing or even knowing the complaint upon which he was arrested. There is no means in the legal system there of having a prompt hearing or of finding out what the charge is. The right to obtain evidence by torture is exercised by military, civil, and ecclesiastical tribunals. To this right there is no limitation, nor is the luckless witness or defendant permitted to have a surgeon, a counsel, a friend, or even a bystander to be present during the operation. As administered in the Philippines one man in every ten dies under the torture, and nothing is ever heard of him again. Everything is taxed so that it is impossible for the thriftiest peasant farmer or shopkeeper to ever get ahead in life. The Spanish policy is to keep all trade in the hands of Spanish merchants, who come out here from the peninsula and return with a fortune. The government budget for education is no larger than the sum paid by the Hong Kong authorities for the support of Victoria College here. What little education is had in the Philippines is obtained from the good Jesuits, who, in spite of their being forbidden to practice their priestly calling in Luzon, nevertheless devote their lives to teaching their fellow-countrymen. They carry the same principle into the Church, and no matter how devout, able, or learned a Filipino or even a half-breed may be, he is

not permitted to enter a religious order or ever to be more than an acolyte, sexton, or an insignificant assistant priest. The state taxes the people for the lands which it says they own, and which as a matter of fact they have owned from time immemorial, and the Church collects rent for the same land upon the pretext that it belongs to them under an ancient charter of which there is no record. Neither life nor limb, liberty, nor property have any security whatever under the Spanish administration."

Immediately after Admiral Dewey's victory at Manila, Aguinaldo and his principal aides went to Luzon and conducted the insurrection in person. That he rendered effective assistance to the American forces cannot be denied, for he captured about 15,000 Spaniards and drove many others from Luzon to the smaller islands. But while he performed much valuable detail work, from the time of his landing he was a thorn in the side of the American officers. He made frequent demands for a declaration of the ultimate intentions of the American government, and insisted upon a recognition by the United States of the independence of the Philippines.

To strengthen these demands he organized in June, 1898, a quasigovernment, the officials of which were of his military staff, or were his relatives. On the twenty-third of the same month this body confirmed him as generalissimo of the Philippines and president of the revolutionary government.

This action, however serious in intent, was given a farcical appearance by the issuance of a proclamation on July 5 of the most bombastic character. The proclamation was chiefly a code of etiquette, and among other things designated the following insignia of office for Aguinaldo, himself: A gold collar, a triangle badge of gold, a cane with head and tassels of gold and a gold whistle.

In December, 1898, he organized a second cabinet, which was a decided improvement on his first one. It was composed of men who had participated as leaders in the revolutions of 1896-7.

Previous to the ratification of the peace treaty with Spain, Aguinaldo sent his personal friend and henchman, Felipe Agoncillo, as a special envoy to Washington for the purpose of securing recognition of Philippine independence, but neither Congress nor the President could officially recognize him or the quasi government he claimed to represent.

On February fifth, the day preceding the ratification of the peace treaty by the Senate, the American troops in Manila were fired upon by the insurgents. This revolutionary act against United States authority is said to have been inspired by a cablegram from Agoncillo to Aguinaldo in the belief that it would defeat the ratification of the treaty. Agoncillo strenuously denies having sent any message inciting his countrymen to revolt against the United States. Whether he did so or not, the revolt had the contrary effect from what was intended. Public sentiment, which had been divided on the Philippine question. was unified and the treaty was ratified.

CHAPTER XLIV.

EXPANSIONISTS VS. ANTI-EXPANSIONISTS.

PRESIDENT MCKINLEY'S POLICY IN THE PHILIPPINES CAUSES HEATED DISCUSSION THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES-BRIEF SUMMARY OF

THE CONTROVERSY.

S HAS been stated in the chapter on the treaty of peace with Spain, there was a wide difference of

opinion in the United States whether or not that treaty should be ratified. The opposition to the treaty came from those citizens who were opposed to the acquisition of territory other than that on the American continent or contiguous thereto. The real "bone of contention" was the acquisition of the Philippine islands. Many who opposed the treaty because it provided for the cession of these islands were not opposed to the acquisition of Puerto Rico on account of its contiguity to the American continent, but, generally speaking, the opponents of the treaty were opposed to any further extension of the republic's boundaries.

After the ratification of the treaty and the oubreak of the Philippine rebellion, the differences of opinion between the expansionists and anti-expansionists became more pronounced than ever and furnished the topic for most public discussions and private arguments.

Those who supported the President and his Philippine policy became known as expansionists; their opponents called them Imperialists. Those opposed to the President and his Philippine policy became known as anti-expansionists; their opponents called them copperheads, traitors and other opprobious epithets.

The administration's supporters held mass meetings all over the country and adopted the title of "loyalists," while the opponents of the