refuse to heed the voice
of a people longing for peace, nor the lamentations of thousands of
families yearning to see their dear ones enjoying the liberty and
promised generosity of the great American nation. By acknowledging and
accepting the sovereignty of the United States throughout the Philippine
Archipelago, as I now do, and without any reservation whatsoever, I
believe that I am serving thee, my beloved country."

On the 19th of May, General Wheaton, Chief of Staff in the Philippines,
sent the following dispatch to Washington: "Lacuna having surrendered
with all his officers and men today, I report that all insurrectionary
leaders in this department have been captured or have surrendered. This
is the termination of the state of war in this department so far as
armed resistance to the authority of the United States is concerned."

There was subsequent fighting with other tribes and in other islands,
particularly with the Moros of the Sulu group, but by the time Aguinaldo
had accepted American rule, the uncertainty of the American people
had been resolved, and the execution of the treaty with Spain had been
actually accomplished. As seventy thousand troops were no longer needed
in the islands, the volunteers and many of the regulars were sent home,
and there began an era of peace such as the Philippines had never before
known.

During the suppression of the insurrection the American Army had
resorted to severe measures, though they by no means went to the
extremes that were reported in the press. It was realized, however, that
the establishment of a permanent peace must rest upon an appeal to
the good will and self-interest of the natives. The treatment of the
conquered territories, therefore, was a matter of the highest concern
not only with reference to the public opinion at home but to the lasting
success of the military operations which had just been concluded.

There was as yet no law in the United States relating to the government
of dependencies. The entire control of the islands therefore rested, in
the first instance, with the President and was vested by him, subject to
instructions, in the Military Governor. The army fortunately reflected
fully the democratic tendencies of the United States as a whole. In
June, 1899, General Lawton encouraged and assisted the natives in
setting up in their villages governing bodies of their own selection.
In August, he issued a general order, based upon a law of the is