The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-10-30
.ANT|PATHY TO PRIESTS
Filipinos Object to the Churches
Owning All the Property.
JOE WHEELER'S SUMMARY
The Veteran Sends an Interesting Ac-
count OF Affairs in the Philippines
asHe Has Seen Them-Islands
Are Very Productive.

lowing letter has been received from
Gen. Joe Wheeler in the Philippines:
Santa Rita. island OF Luzon, Sept.
S-Van Lear kirkman. My Dear Cou-
sin: / have now seen much of the
country and the people in that part OF
Luzon within Is miles of Manila. In
every town there is magnificent
stone church and a convent or monas-
terry. The insurgents have great an
"tipathy to priesthood or friars, and
they have dismantled many of the
churches. The value of the church or
a monastery Of a town seems to be
equal in many cases to the value of all
the other buildings in the place. The
more I talk to the people, the more I
am convinced that the insurgents are
actuated in a measure by a spirit of
communism, and in their talks their
most serious objection to the church
seems to be the fact that ecclesiastical
organizations own so much OF the
property, and one of Aguinaldo's most
earnest demands is that the church
property be confiscated.
There is a general impression that
the insurgent army is made up very
largely of people without property and
that people who have property desire
the Americans to be in control. so that
they can have protection and feel that
their property is secured to them. but
l md that there Is also a fear of ap-
prehension among some of the wealthy
that If Americans control and give uni
versal suffrage the power Of the
power Of the wealthy people would be
taken away and their hold on property
very much lessened. l think that il
1N
that they would be protected in their
property rights by the United States,
1t would have very good effect.
These friars and priests are charged
with all sorts Of expressions and mis-
demeanors, but it must be remembered
that priests and friars are very nu-
merous and in so large a body there
would be every possible phase of char
acter and disposition. Some OF them
are, no doubt. oppressors of the peo-
pie, being eXacting in the collection of
rentals from the lands, and indulge
themselves in many ways and lead
lives very different from what should
characterize the life of priest But
| there are very many good men among
| them.
The appearance, mode of life and
| method of performing work is to-day
very much like it is described in the
| Bible at the time and even before the
| Christian era, The people dress very
much as they did 1000 years ago To-
| day I spent some time in watching ma
| tives cleaning shucks from rice. The
| methods of Smelling and cleaning is
| primitive and no better than they were
1000 years ago.
| Nearly everything can be grown
| here, but oranges and bananas are not
| so good as in other localities, the rea-
son. no doubt, being that the people
| seem to give them no cultivation what
ever. Coffee is grown, which is said
| to be superior to Mocha. Rice is the
principal product and a failure of that
| crop would cause a terrible famine as
the people depend almost entirely upon
1t for food. Sugar is the principal crop
for export. The greatest amount ex-
| ported in any one year was 261 ,6S1 tons,
| which was in 1898. Corn fourishes and
the ears reach their full growth about
60 days from the time of planting.
| There is a great amount of very valu-
| able timber in these islands and many
| varieties of hardwood under natives
names, such as mahogany, black wal
nut and ebony.
I'VE are now seven or eight miles
! from Poraca, where an insurgent force
| has been stationed for some time, but
| around here and through this vast val
ley the people are engaged in planting
| rice. ] have been riding around the
outskirts of this place and the fields
| are dotted with men, women and chill
| dren planting rice. I am confident that
a brigade of cavalry could easily travel
| through a great part of the island.
THE Suez canal brought the Philip
pines much nearer to England and has
| greatly increased it's commerce.
| General Wheeler goes on to say that
| the exports of hemp and coffee have
| gradually increased year by year and
says that cotton is found growing in
an uncultivated state in many islands
of the archipelago.
wild cotton he says, 'is useless
for spinning, as the staple is extremely
short. but perhaps by naturalization and
careful attention it's culture might be-
| come valuable to the colony. 1t is a
common thing to see wild cotton trees
planted along the high road to serve as
| telegraph posts. BY the time the seed
is fully ripe every leaf has fallen and
nothing but the bursting pods remain
hanging to the branches"