The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1899-10-27
FUNSTON AID ZEE FRIARs.

=
Gen. Funston is the hero Of the hour.
he is q republican, and in a lecture TO
the students Of the Stanford univer-
sity last Friday night he made this
statement:
If congress would drive out the
friars and cOnfiscate every inch Of
church property, the bottom would
drop out of the insurrectiOn in a week"
Now it is quite remarkable that Fun
ston's position is the same as the terms
that AguinaIdo commended for in his
war against Spain, and is now lighting
for.
The terms of the treaty of peace (1897)
between Spain and the FiIipinos when
Aguinaldo and his chiefs, having OBJ
tanned all they fought for, retired to
Hong Kong, were:
'The expulsion of the mOnastic
orders; the abolition Of the governor
generals arbitrary power to Danish
without accusation, trial or sentence;
restoration to the natives Of the lands
held by the religious orders; limitation
Of the arbitrary power Of the civil
guards; no arrest without judges and
warrants; abolition of the 10 days per
annum compulsory labor"
These points we're all conceded by
Spain to Aguinaldo in the treaty Of
peace in 1897. But Spain did not carry
out these reforms and AguinaldO en-
tered into an agreement with Admiral
Dewey and went over with him to re-
new the contest and to assist the
United States.
Now comes The United States and in
the treaty Of Paris agreed to the fol-
lowing terms, as appeared in the second
paragraph Of said treaty:
"And it is hereby declared that re-
linquishment or cession, as the case
may be, to which the proceeding para
graph refers, cannot in any respect i'm
pair the property or rights which by
law belong to the peaceful possession
Of property Of all kinds, or provinces,
municipalities, public or private estab-
Hshments, ecclesiastical or civic bodies,
or any other association having legal
capacity to acquire and possess prop
erty IN the aforesaid territories renOun-
ced or coded"
Now when we remember that, on
conservative estimate, these religious
orders 1.-THE friar establishments hold
80 per cent Of the available lands Of
the archipelago, we see the force Of
contest.
Here is what an English writer, re-
siding in Manila, says in a recent ar
tIcle in the Review Of Reviews: "That
is ready to carry out any
plan proposed on our part that will by
any hook or crook expeI the friars and
cause a reversion Of the lands back to
the people"
Think Of American treasure and
blood being poured out to enforce the
odiOus terms Of the treaty. Not be-
cause these orders are Catholic. It
would be the same if they were Metho-
dist or Presbyterian. The United States
tolerates all religions, but the huge
land grants should be reviewed and all
lands and property outside Of churches,
hospitals and educational institutions,
eto-, should revert to the people.
The people of the United States
whose ancestors were driven from the
old world to the new by religious per-
secutiOn will never indOrse the McKin-
ley policy in the Philippines when it is /
once understood as being waged to up
hold a system Of land tenure which
has been handed down from the middle
ages and exists in no other colonies
but those of Spain in the far east. Even
Mexico cOnhscsted the estates Of the
church at the close Of the war which
ended with the overthrow Of Maximil- |
lian's empire and the establishment Of
the authority Of the republic, and it a
Catholic countrv