"The conviction was strong among the Filipinos that they would not succeed in attaining anything by any other means than force. This being the case, the idea occurred to some Filipinos to found a system of masonry here. There were some lodges of the masonic order here, and the idea presented itself to form a sort of political masonry, which was created and called the Katipunan. This Katipunan society was naturally a secret society and had, I think, about 400,000 members, principally in the Tagalog provinces and of the people of the valley of the Pasig River. I think in Manila and in the valley of the Pasig there were 80,000, naturally, as there were so many, and as they were so strong, the idea of a revolution was a natural consequence. The principal agitator of all this movement was a man named Andrés Bonifacio, who stirred up and directed it. The political movement in the Philippines was started, as was natural, by the aristocracy of wealth and of intelligence, but the Katipunan society was formed entirely of the elements from the lowest class of society. Bonifacio was a man without education. He was employed in one of the business houses at a small salary, of perhaps $30 or $40 (Mexican) a month. They went on arranging their affairs very quietly and very secretly, awaiting a proper moment for action, which they believed would be the time of General Blanco's departure from the Philippines. Gen. Blanco was a man who was well thought of here [66], for he had a great deal of tolerance for the people [67]. He did tolerate masonry, and they believed that he also tolerated the existence of the Katipunan society. One day the priest of Tondo, Padre Gil, through the confession of a woman [68], learned of the existence of the Katipunan society, for the woman's husband was a member [69]. This Father Gil informed the General, so the Katipunan society was discovered. As the reader can easily see for himself there is considerable difference between the statements of these two persons; a comparison of these with the real facts of the case will show how easy it is for a certain element to distort truth when it serves its purpose. I have quoted these two "chosen" people, not that their statements may go down to posterity as history (which has been distorted sufficiently), but because both Tavera and Legarda formed part of Aguinaldo's mock government--the Filipino Commune; and therefore both of them had plenty of occasion to know the real facts of the case, facts they evidently desired, for some reason, to distort. Note 73. See notes 70 and 71.