The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1899-05-26
Bellef0ntaine Republican
j. @. A. CAMPBELL,
FRIDAY, MAY rs, 1899.
AGUINALDO.
Wrong Charges Made Against Him In
Newspapers.

There is a picture in the papers of
Mckinley Offering to Aguinaldo:
Liberty,
Protection,
Equal Laws,
Prosperity,
Civilization,
and yet Aguinaldo stands and hesitates.
Why does he hesitate? There is no
money on the list. What he wants is
cash. But that day is past.-Ironton
Register.
We were surprised to see the above
in the Register. Its standard is high,
and it doesn't lower it's flag to truckle to
public opinion.
If Aguinaldo is waiting for cash, does
that place him any lower than many of
our leading politicians who sell and buy
seats in the U. S. Senate? If he is
guilty, this country is not the one to
throw the first stone.
But it is unjust to accuse Aguinaldo
of that of which he is not guilty, in
order to create sentiment in America
against his cause. Especially is this
true, when he cannot know of these
charges and deny them. An injury
done behind ones back is always worse
than one done where he can see it and
meet it.
If Aguinaldo is sincere in seeking his
country's liberty and independence, he
is entitled to much credit; for that is
what every patriot should do.
While we condemn him for making
war on our soldiers and thus forcing
his people into war, it is not necessary
to denounce him as corrupt and not
acting from patriotic motives. Some
allowance must be made for his igno-
rance of Americans and for his bitter
acquaintance with Spanish treachery.
He was fighting for his country's
liberty several years before our war
broke out. His people recognized him
as their leader. They do now. They
have shown their confidence in him,
and he has shown himself a great
leader, worthy of their confidence.
that he and his people should seek to
govern themselves. This desire is the
seed of liberty. 1t has been commended
the world over, and every human heart
responds in sympathy with the impulse.
Aguinaldo never sold his country nor
it's cause to the Spanish. Yellow news
papers have told the story over and
over in America, but it has no justifi-
cation. The charge doubtless grew out
of the fact that the Spanish Captain
General Rivera negotiated with Agui-
naldo and other insurgent leaders,
promising them that needed reforms
should be made in the Philippines, and
paying them 100000, if they would
leave the country. This sum was paid
them, because they had to leave all
their property behind, it being confis-
Gated, and the money was given them to
live on. That Aguinaldo and the other
insurgent leaders did not abandon nor
betray their people, is shown by the
following extract from letter from
Manila, written by the correspondent
of the Baltimore Sun, soon after Dewey
captured that city and published in this
country, last Summer. The correspon-
dent says:
In the latter part of last year the in
surgents held the mountains, while the
| Spaniards were masters of the principal
| towns and villages on the coast. Gen.
Primo de Rivera understood that an
end must be made to this condition o1
affairs, and by means of two well-to-dC
natives whom he dispatched tt
| Aguinaldo at Piacna-Bato, entered into
negotiations with the insurgent leader
| A council was held and the insurgent:
agreed to lay down their arms on the
following conditions.
First-The expulsion or secularizatior
of the religious orders and the abolition
of all the official vetOes of these order!
in civil affairs.
Second-A general amnesty for al
rebels and guarantees for their per
sonal security and from the vengeance
of the friars and parish priests after re
turning to their homes.
Third-Radical reforms to curtail th'
| dDuScS LII ULS dUlOlI.
Fourth-Freedom of the press to de
mounce official corruption and black
mailing.
neutrality-suspicious. in the Spanish
parliament.
Sixth-Abolition of the iniquitou
system of secret deportations of politi
cal suspects.
Does not the simple enumeration o
these conditions of peace condemn th
colonial system of Spain? And in ac
cepting these conditions did not tn
governor general admit that the abuse
existed? For Gov. Gen. Primo de Rivers
did agree, but insisted that the leader
should leave the country. To provid
them with means of living, since al
their property had been confiscated o
destroyed, the government paid then
$780, 900.
So far all was we'll. But when peac
was restored and the insurgent leader
had left, Spain's governor general re
fused to execute any and all the cond1
tions agreed upon, playing the sam
trick that had been successful with tn
Cubans after the peace of Zanjor
signed by Martinez Campos. Nor
than that: No sooner had arms bee
laid down than the rali piCuS order