Taylor says:—­

“On April 11 Mabini wrote to General Luna (Exhibit 719) that Aguinaldo’s council was of the opinion that no negotiations for the release of the Spanish prisoners should be considered unless the American Commission agreed to a suspension of hostilities for the purpose of treating, not only in regard to the prisoners, but for the purpose of opening negotiations between Aguinaldo’s government and the American authorities.

“’In arriving at this decision we have been actuated by the desire to gain time for our arsenals to produce sufficient cartridges, if, as would seem to be probable, they persist in not even recognizing our belligerency, as means for furthering the recognition of our independence.’” [446]

Arguelles, on his return, was instructed to ask Otis for a—­

“general armistice and suspension of hostilities in all the archipelago for the short space of three months, in order to enable it to consult the opinion of the people concerning the government which would be the most advantageous, and the intervention in it which should be given to the North American Government, and to appoint an extraordinary commission with full powers, to act in the name of the Philippine people.” [447]

General Otis naturally again declined to grant the request for a suspension of hostilities.

Little came of the conference between Arguelles and the commission, except that we really succeeded in convincing him of the good intentions of our government, and this promptly got him into very serious trouble, as we shall soon see.  I took him to a tent hospital on the First Reserve Hospital grounds where wounded Insurgents were receiving the best of treatment at the hands of American surgeons, and he was amazed.  He had been taught to believe that the Americans murdered prisoners, raped women, and committed similar barbarities whenever they got a chance.  As we have seen, stories of this sort were industriously spread by many of the Insurgent leaders among their soldiers, and among the common people as well.  They served to arouse the passions of the former, and stirred them up to acts of devilish brutality which they might perhaps not otherwise have perpetrated.  Arguelles told the truth upon his return, and this, together with his suggestion that it might be well to consider the acceptance of the form of government offered by the United States, nearly cost him his life.  Relative to this matter Taylor says:—­

“When Arguelles returned to the insurgent lines, it must have been considered that he had said too much in Manila.  While he had been sent there to persuade the Americans to agree to a suspension of hostilities to be consumed in endless discussion under cover of which Luna’s army could be reorganized, he had not only failed to secure the desired armistice, but had come back with the opinion that it might after all be advisable to accept the government proposed by the United States.  On May 22 General Luna