RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS
officer of high rank in charge in the dual capacity of Governor and Commanding General of Troops in the Moro Province. This system was developed to a point where a high state of efficiency obtained in the government to the complete satisfaction of nearly everybody. To solve the problem of juramentado, or religious fanatic outbreaks, a general order for the disarmament of Moros had to be enforced, but only a comparatively small number of natives took part in the armed resistance. For all of them it was hard, no doubt, to have to surrender their beloved and time-honoured weapons, but the wisest among them recognised the necessity of obedience for the sake of the general good. If this had not been so it would have been vastly more difficult to make the order effective. These wise ones are to-day everywhere busy upholding the American policy of establishing markets and schools and honest trade relations, and in preaching to their people that, for the first time in their history, they are being fairly and justly dealt with. They cling to American protection with determined faith, telling us in plain words that if we leave them they will fight their neighbours. So, whatever we may do with the Philippine Islands we cannot abandon the Moros, and this adds a grave complication to our Philippine problem.
At Jolo we received the news of the capture of Aguinaldo and his reception by General MacArthur at Malacañan Palace. General Funston, then a Colonel of Volunteers, was a conspicuous member of a small company of Army officers known locally as “the suicide squad,” who risked their lives in one exploit after another with the utmost unconcern, not to say glee, so we were not surprised at anything he might do. But there was a real thrill in the story of his daring venture into the remote and isolated camp of the insurrecto general and Dictator, and we cheered his performance with heartfelt enthusiasm, though our ardour was somewhat dampened by doubts as to what the arch-con-
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