When Aguinaldo's soldiers came they brought cruelty and license
with them. Proud of their victories and confident in themselves they
felt that the labourers in the fields, the merchants in the towns,
were for the purpose of administering to their necessities and
their desires. Aguinaldo, having seen this force gather about him,
was forced to entreat it, to appeal to it; he was never strong enough
to enforce discipline, even if he cared to do it."
Aguinaldo himself finally became disheartened over his inability to
maintain a decent state of public order in the territory which he
claimed to govern, and in December, 1898, tendered his resignation,
giving among other reasons odious favouritism on the part of some of
the military chiefs, together with a desire to enrich themselves by
improper means, such as accepting bribes, making prisoners a source
of gain, and decreasing the allowance of the soldiers. He said that
many soldiers had received sums of money as their share of booty,
and intimated that officers must have done the same. He made charges
against civil as well as military officers and ended by saying that
he retained the evidence for presentation when called on. [345]
Aguinaldo was later persuaded to withdraw his resignation.
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