e Constitution." [339]

The action later taken by Negros shows that there was abundant reason
for this fear.

As late as February 26, 1899, the Insurgent government was still
ignorant as to the real conditions in Negros and Mindanao. [340]

From a letter written on March 18, 1899, to Apacible at Hongkong, we
learn that Aguinaldo and his followers were even then still uninformed
as to events in the Visayan Islands. [341] In view of these facts,
how ridiculous become the contentions of those who claim that the
Malolos government represented the archipelago as a whole. And what
shall we say of the following statement, remembering that the Treaty
of Paris was signed December 10, 1899?

"When the Treaty of Paris was signed, General Otis was in possession
of Cavite and Manila, with less than twenty thousand men under his
command, and Aguinaldo was in possession of practically all of the
rest of the archipelago with between 35,000 and 40,000 men under his
command, armed with guns, and the whole Filipino population were in
sympathy with the army of their country." [342]

Ultimately, by one means or another, and chiefly by the use of armed
emissaries, the Visayan Islands, with the exception of Negros, were
brought into the Insurgent fold.

Mabini's fear that Negros and Iloilo would form a federal republic
was not realized, but Negros set up its own government, applied to the
local commander of the United States forces for help, endeavoured with
almost complete success to keep out Tagalog invaders, and presently
settled down contentedly under American rule, facts of which Blount
makes no mention. On the contrary, without just cause, he includes
this great island, with its 4881 square miles of territory and its
560,776 inhabitants, in the area over which he claims that Aguinaldo
exercised complete control.

At Iloilo the American troops encountered opposition when they planned
to land. Negotiations had been entered into with the local Filipino
officers, but the latter, under the influence of representatives
whom Aguinaldo had sent from Luzon, announced themselves as adherents
of his government, and when the American troops finally disembarked
fired the town ahead of them. It has been claimed that in doing this
they were inspired by pure patriotism, but the facts shown by their
own records present a very different picture.

In writing to Aguinaldo on April 8, 1899, Mabini says:

"We have received a communication forwarde