PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



701 



government of their own, with an elective gov- 

 ernor and congress, at the same time raising the 

 American flag and asking for a battalion of Amer- 

 ican troops to hold the Babylanes in check. Gen. 

 Otis permitted them to proceed with their ex- 

 periment in self-government, sending two addi- 

 tional battalions when the Babylanes became 

 more troublesome. The men of the Sixth Infan- 

 try, led by Lieut.-Col. Byrne, on Aug. 31 dashed 

 up a steep and bare mountain slope, while the 

 bandits fired rifles and rolled down stones upon 

 them, to storm the stronghold of Argongula, the 

 chief arsenal of the Babylanes. After several 

 months' trial the Negros people, who are among 

 the most civilized and prosperous of the island- 

 ers, became dissatisfied with the liberal constitu- 

 tion they had first adopted and requested the 

 Americans to take control of the administration, 

 complaining that the commander of the native 

 forces dominated the governor and that the offi- 

 cials were corrupt. After the military comman- 

 dant assumed control of the administration public 

 order was better maintained and the people were 

 satisfied. 



During the rainy season Gen. Hall, with troops 

 landed from transports, took Calamba, a town on 

 Laguna de Bay which aided the insurgents' 

 communications. This place was held, and ex- 

 peditions on boats were sent against several 

 places on the shores of the lake where rebel troops 

 were gathered. The rebels harassed the troops 

 at San Fernando to such a degree that on Aug. 

 9 Gen. MacArthur's whole force of 5,000 men, 

 except a guard of 600 left at San Fernando, ad- 

 vanced on Angeles, a more favorable base of 

 operations than San Fernando. The main body 

 of the insurgents, numbering about 6,000, was 

 encountered, but was forced back on Porac. 

 Armored cars shelled Bacolor, and a feint toward 

 Mexico led the enemy to evacuate that place. 

 Calulut was made the camp until artillery could 

 be brought up through the deep mud. The attack 

 on Angeles was made on Aug. 16 by Col. Smith, 

 who with the Twelfth Infantry and two guns 

 drove 2,500 Filipinos from their newly made 

 trenches and took possession of the town, with a 

 loss of only 2 killed and 12 wounded. The ob- 

 jective of the new advance was Tarlac, now the 

 revolutionary capital. When the new movement 

 was begun Aguinaldo, who had obtained fresh 

 funds, stirred up sedition again in Manila and the 

 southern provinces and caused frequent attempts 

 to be made to cut the railroad. He also strength- 

 ened his garrisons in the southern province of 

 Vicol, and ordered an attack on the Americans 

 in Imus. 



Gen. Luna's order to the natives to fire their 

 towns and flee before the advancing Americans 

 was intended to prevent the reorganization of in- 

 dustry and the acceptance of American control, 

 and as long as the people believed the tales of 

 cruelty and outrage told against American sol- 

 diers they were generally glad to escape, taking 

 their portable possessions with them. Those who 

 were unwilling to leave their homes were driven 

 out by the insurgent soldiers, who burned their 

 houses. This method of procedure, eminently suc- 

 cessful at first, in the end recoiled on its authors, 

 provoking so much opposition that the obnox- 

 ious order was revoked. Nearly all the inhabit- 

 ants returned to their ruined villages, rebuilt their 

 houses, and began to cultivate the fields that 

 had lain fallow for three years. Municipal gov- 

 ernment was organized in Bulacan province after 

 the rebels had evacuated it, and under the pro- 

 tection of the American troops the people not 

 only had peace and security, but enjoyed a de- 



gree of participation in their own government 

 that was unknown in the history of the Philip- 

 pines. The system of municipal government pro- 

 claimed by Gen. Otis in general orders, after it 

 had been elaborated by the Philippine commis- 

 sion with the assistance of native lawyers, was 

 first put in practice in the towns of Cavitfj prov- 

 ince occupied by Gen. Lawton's forces as the 

 result of his vigorous campaign in June. The 

 public sentiment had greatly changed in these 

 places. Instead of abandoning or burning their 

 homes, most of the people quietly awaited the 

 arrival of the Americans. The mayor of Imus 

 even requested the troops to occupy his town. 

 Those who fled quickly, returned. The insurgent 

 forces had so pillaged and maltreated them that 

 there was general satisfaction that the Americans 

 had come at last, and when they came they dis- 

 tributed food among the starving people. The 

 towns of Bacolor and Imus were selected for the 

 purpose of testing the project of municipal self- 

 government. In each place there should be a 

 municipal council, composed of a president of the 

 municipality and a head man from each ward, 

 which would have authority to adopt ordinances, 

 subject to the approval of the commanding officer 

 of the occupying troops, the president, elected by 

 the residents and approved by the commandant, 

 to be the executive chief of the municipality and 

 the examining magistrate in criminal cases, which 

 would be tried by the provost court. The na- 

 tives were so unfamiliar with the principle of 

 popular representation that they asked the Ameri- 

 can commissioners to tell them for whom they 

 should vote. When the new system was got into 

 operation it worked fairly well and was liked by 

 the people. Elections were held in Laspinas and 

 Paranaque also. In Manila Gen. Otis established 

 a system of public schools in which English was 

 taught, and soon 6,000 pupils were in attendance. 

 Gen. Bates began negotiations in August with 

 the Sultan of Sulu, who accepted Spanish sover- 

 eignty in 1878, but wished now to reassert his 

 independence, and objected to flying the American 

 flag or to having an American garrison in his 

 dominions, though willing to acknowledge an 

 American protectorate. Gen. Bates offered to con- 

 tinue the subsidies paid by the Spanish Govern- 

 ment, $2,400 to the Sultan and $2,500 to his heir 

 and the ministers, to leave his authority unim- 

 paired, to allow him to retain the pearl fisheries 

 and the control of trade. The town of Jolo, which 

 the Spaniards built, was occupied by an American 

 garrison of 800 men. In Mindanao the Filipino 

 insurgents held the towns of Zamboanga and 

 Mercedes, their force numbering 500 men with 

 rifles, until Commander Very, of the Castine, ar- 

 rived on Nov. 18 with 100 men from the Jolo 

 garrison, having been invited by the inhabitants 

 of the towns and Dato Mandi, the principal Moro 

 chief. Alvarez, the Tagal commander, surrendered 

 the posts to the Americans, who promised the 

 inhabitants that they should be allowed to carry 

 arms and to practice the Catholic religion and 

 follow their native laws and customs, and be ex- 

 empt from taxation until they have recovered 

 in a measure their former prosperity. Gen. 

 Hughes landed at Iloilo to clear Panay of rebels, 

 who were intrenched in the neighboring towns of 

 Jaro and Molo. The American troops found these 

 places deserted, but with rapid marches pursued 

 the fleeing rebels, forced a fight at Passi, cap- 

 tured 10 cannon, and chased them in detached 

 bands into the mountains. The principal towns 

 were garrisoned by the men of a volunteer regi- 

 ment. Another regiment was sent to garrison 

 posts on the Mindanao coast. Panay was the 



