CHAPTER V.
Insurgent Rule and the Wilcox-Sargent Report The Good Book says, "By their fruits ye shall know them, whether they be good or evil," and it seems proper to apply this test to the Insurgents and their government.
The extraordinary claim has been advanced that the United States destroyed a republic in the Philippines and erected an oligarchy on its ruins.

Various writers and speakers who have not gone so far as this have yet maintained that Aguinaldo and his associates established a real, effective government throughout the archipelago during the interim between his return and the outbreak of hostilities with the United States.
In summarizing conditions on September 15, 1898, Judge Blount says: [236]-- "Absolute master of all Luzon outside Manila at this time, with complete machinery of government in each province for all matters of justice, taxes, and police, an army of some 30,000 men at his beck, and his whole people a unit at his back, Aguinaldo formally inaugurated his permanent government--permanent as opposed to the previous provisional government--with a Constitution, Congress, and Cabinet, patterned after our own, [237] just as the South American republics had done before him when they were freed from Spain, at Malolos, the new capital." He refers to our utter failure to understand "what a wonderfully complete 'going concern' Aguinaldo's government had become throughout the Philippine Archipelago before the Treaty of Paris was signed." [238] He bases his claim as to the excellent state of public order in the Insurgent territory at this time on a report of Paymaster W.E.Wilcox and Naval Cadet L.R.Sargent of the United States Navy, who between October 8 and November 20, 1898, made a long, rapid trip through northern Luzon, traversing the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Cagayan, South Ilocos and Union, in the order named, thence proceeding to Dagupan and down the railroad through Pangasinan, Tarlac, Pampanga and Bulacan to Manila.
He says that these gentlemen found the authority of Aguinaldo's government universally acknowledged, the country in a state of perfect tranquillity and public order, [239] with profound peace and freedom from brigandage and the like.

[240] Now if it be true that Aguinaldo established complete machinery of government throughout all of Luzon outside of Manila for all matters of justice, taxes and police, so that life and property were safe and peace, tranquillity and justice assured, we may well dispense with quibbling as to whether the proper name was applied to such government.

But did he?
Let us examine with some care the history of the Wilcox-Sargent trip, and see if we can gain further light from other sources relative to the condition of public order in the territory which they traversed.
I propose, for the most part, to let the captured Insurgent records speak for themselves, as it is fair to assume that Insurgent officers were at no pains to represent conditions as worse than they really were.

In view of the fragmentary character of these records, we may also assume that the complete story would be still more interesting and instructive than the one which I have been able to reconstruct.
Messrs.