Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-05-16
VANCE MEMORIAL CHURCH.
Patriotic Sermon by Its Pastor, Rev.
ChaS. B. Austin.

Americas Mission in the Philip
pines" the Subject Of an Inter-
esting Discourse New Re-
sponsibilities Added to the Ma
ton by It's Conquest of Manila.
The United States at a Critical
Stage In Regard to It's Future
National Policy-What it Owes
to Freedom and Humanity.
Last evening Rev. Charles B. Aus
tin, pastor of the Vance Memorial
church at Altenheim, delivered very
interesting sermon on the subject OF
Americas Mission in the Philip
pines,'' dealing with the new response
bilities placed upon the nation by the
conquest of Manila. The following is
a synopsis of Rev. Mr.. Austin's re-
marks:
Eve are living in the greatest era Of
the worlds history. The world has
never before seen such changes as we
see to-day. We must be deeply inter-
ested at the present time in the war
now in progress. This country has
reached a fork in the road. We must
choose between a national policy OF
colonial growth and one of isolation,
following the traditions of the past. A
crisis has been forced upon America.
In striking a blow for the deliverance
Of one nation, she has evidently
stricken the shackles from another. 1t
stirs our patriotism to know that the
Stars and Stripes float over the city OF
Manila, but a deepera inquiry comes
to us than this one of mere conquest
Does not the event bring the question
home of our own responsibility to
other nations? What will God require
of us for our stewardship of intellec-
tual, civil and religious liberty?
Draw a line on the map from San
Francisco to Manila, and the distance
is the same as one drawn from London
to San Francisco, or from New York
to ancient Babylon. For more than
three centuries, with the exception of
brief period when England held the
island for an indemnity of four mil
lion dollars, the Spanish flag has
floated over these islands. Yet they
have never been wholly conquered, or
even explored. Many of the interior
tribes are still independent The orgi-
inal stock numbers only twenty thous-
and Their blood appears in the de-
scendants of their Malay conquerors,
however, and these number several mil
lions They already had some civiliZa-
ton when the Spaniards came Under
Spanish civilization they have given
up fire painting and head hunting.
They are a people of many interesting
traits and habits. They sow their rice
fields to the music of the violin and
clarionette.
They have been called some of the
happiest people of the world until re-
cent times They build their houses
of bamboo set up upon poles, the
ground floor not being used for reasons
of health. Their homes are surrounded
by a wealth of flowers. 1t is the land
for the botanist, some rare specimens
of the orchids being found there that
are valued at $500 each.
In a land of ease and Incidence many
of them have become issipated-cock
fighting and gambling is universal
amusement. If a house catches fire the
rooster is first rescued then the chill
dren, lastly the musical instruments.
In religion they show tastes of Con-
fucianism, Brahmanism and Mahom-
mechanism. They worship one Supreme
being but recognize other deities, pow
ers of nature to whom they offer sacri-
fees Ancestor worship is found among
them. They imagine the souls of their
departed friends cause the rustic of the
leaves in the sacred tree that is planted
at the head of the village.
This devotion to ancestors has been
utilized by the Catholic Church in the
direction of saint worship. Their prin-
cipal religious rite is the procession, at
the head of which is borne the image of
the Madonna, with silk bonnets and
flowers, with the music of the from
bones and hands, the occasion ending
with fireworks. No religion is tolerat-
ed but that of the Catholic priests. In
Manila these priests own nearly all the
real estate. In this city are found a
few emissaries of civilization such as
the press, the school, an observatory,
school of design and a public library
AS result of the same policy of off
cial corruption and thievery, as is found
in Cuba, there has come to the country
since 1872 the same experience of OPP
preston, pillage and cruelty, leading
up to a war of horrors such as Cuba
has had. Such eXtortions have been
practiced as these: Forty days labor
from each native for the public, poll
tax Of six dollars, an income tax, when
there was no income to tax, a carriage
tax of three dollars on each wheel. A
fee of $500 for a small store in Manila.
Such a system has led to conspiracy
an rebellion. The junta has had its
headquarters in Hong Kong, and Ma
sonic orders have arisen whose object
was to drive the Spaniard from the
land, and whose members signed their
names in blood drawn from their own
ntr,et Wv, L.