The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-03-01
iL0lL0'S STANDPOINT.

lLOILOS STANDPOINT.
The Acapulco. which sailed recently
for Panama, took out. on route for Co
lombu, nine Spanish priests who are
refugees from the Philippines, and who
! arrived here i'm the Il. & @. steamship
Doric. Their names are Bartolome
Diag, president; Fathers Trbana Al
varcz, Bartolome Fernandez Garcia.
Diaz, Ibarrez, Santos, Torres and Soils.
They are Spaniards by birth. and mem
bers OF the Augustinan order. Some
! OF them have spent several years In the
Philippines. Padre Diaz was stationed
at lloilo. and five of the other refugee
priests had curacies on the island OF
Panay, upon which that city is situate.
Father Daz said that at the capture
OF Manila by Dewey the natives broke
into restlessness which eliminated In
AN uprising against the Spanish au-
thorities. Certain ambitious adven-
turers, most OF whom are Chinese mes
tlzos, stirred the natives Of Iloilo 10 re-
volt, and they drove the priests into the
woods. The example was followed
throughout Panay. and parts OF Luzon:
four hundred priests were made captive
and are now prisoners in the hands OF
the natives, while fifty have lost their
lives. Father Diaz is "A stawart, dark
faced, middle-aged priest, who speaks
OF the cruel scenes through which ne
has passed without resentment. He
said that Aguinaldo is a crafty intri-
guer. the padre does not hold him per-
sonally responsible for all the Drutali-
ties which have been practiced by his
followers. but still he thinks that tn
insurgent leader might have prevented
much of them If he had tried. Father
Diaz declared that the United States
will discover the magnitude of the
Philippine problem before they get
through with IL. He believes that the
insurgents are gaining strength day by
day, and that they will presently have
large. disciplined army in the
field, numbering at least one hundred
thousand men.
Father Alvarez. who is a prominent
member OF the party, and evidently an
intelligent man, had watched the IN
surrection break out, and had seen two
OF his brethren carried off into captiy-
ityH He had officiated i'm nine pueblos
on The island on which llolo is situate.
He described the situation with calm
ness and without feeling.
Another member of the party, who
~
tolome Fernandez. whose face betokens
good stock. lie has ofiiciated for sew
eraf years i'm the island of Cebu, but
has lived i'm IuZon and Panay. He
agrees with his brother DiaZ that the
insurrection is chiefly the work of the
Chinese half-breed. He stoutly denies
that the native Filipinos are savage or
uncivilized. He said that every parish
had school for boys and girls. and
that majority OF the people could read
and write i'm their own language. He
thought there was more education i'm
the islands than in Spain He added
that most OF the cultvators own their
own land. that few farms are worked
by hired labor that slavery has never
existed on the islands.
The wealthest inhabitants OF the ISL
ands, said Father Fernandez are the
mestizos OF Chinise Philippine stock
who number several hundred thousand
chiefly in the island of LuZon i'm the
neighbOrhood OF Manila. They are
smarter than the natives. though less
honest. They have among them sew
eral secret societies which WELD large
influence. There are some white mes-
tizos. being of white parentage on the
fathers side, but they are few I'm num-
ber According 20 the father. the Fill
pinos are gentle, good -natured peo.
pie, aVerse to turbulence
In regard To the extent OF the prop
critics owned by the church. both Father
Fernandez and Father Alvarez agreed
that the clerical orders own no proper
ties, except few estates given or be.
queathed for the support of the hospi-
tails, colleges and seminares, and i'm the
cities the churches and parochial resi-
dences of the officiating priests. Tho
clergy have been supported by salaries
paid by government; a priests salary
has varied from five hundred to eight
hundred dollars annually payable i'm
silver. Before the insurrection the
whole number of priests in the islands
was something over $500; while the to-
tai Christian population which relied on
these priests for church service and
education amounted TO 6,S50.0 SOULS.
John Bonner In Golfers Weekly.