Life went very well in a long siesta in the shady villages under the palm trees, but not only the structure of the State, its very foundations were falling apart.

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.