The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-04-02
MANY or THEM ARR DENIED
REV. JOSEPH M. ALOQUET, A MA
Mia RESIDENT, REPLIES TO
THE EASTERN DIVINE
CHARGES TAKEN UP IN DETAIL
Claim Is Made That the Man Who
Has Changed Base Was Only
in the Philippines for
Three Days.

NEW YORK, April 1.-Rev. Joseph M
Aloquet, director of the observatory at
Manila, who is now in Washington, has
written reply to the statements Of Bish-
op Potter on the Philippines Calling at
tention to the statement Of the bishop
that fees for priestly ministrations in
the Philippines are excessive he calls at
tention to the fact that the bishop and
his secretary were in the Philippines not
more than three or four days, that on
account of the shortness of time it was
impossible for them to go outside of Ma
nila, and that the Filipinos would have
nothing to do with them. He denies the
statement that the Jesuits had robbed
the people. He calls the attention Of the
bishop to the report of Gen. Bates. who
says that the religious orders have not
robbed the people. He calls upon Bishop
Potter to prove such statements"
CALLS FOR proof.
Now it is the duty of the bishop to
prove his charges" he writes, but what
the bishop calls robbery is not set forth.
1t is not clear from the bishops state
ment whether the charges are computed
in Mexican money or our own. 1t is i'm
portant in settling this point to be def
mite. The fees in the Philippines are not
as high as here. The fees for marriage
of natives amount to $1.75; among Mestizos
$S.75 among white people about $4 For
poor people there is no tax at all, as
can show by many instances"
The writer says it is not true that the
archbishop fixes the charges and divides
wit Ip tPlIa
taxes are divided among the lay servants
of the church, the sacristan, altar boys,
man who rings the bells, etc.
If anything is left, 1t goes to the church.
He declares he found in his experience as
a priest in the Errlita parish at Manila
during the blockade that 1t is rarely in
deed the church gets anything, as the
laymen in charge of the church had to
be fed by the parish priest
That thousands Of the people live In
practicat concubinage," as charged by
the bishop, is denied, although the writer
admits that some do live that way, but
asserts it is true that there, as every
where, are found few instances Of
this
TAXES AND THE CHURCH.
The charge that the taxes of the church
caused the people to revolt is emphat-
icalIy denied. The writer says the caus-
es of the people revolving against the
United States, as in the case Of Spain,
were complicated.
In proof of this 1t is stated that many
of the most important parishes in the
archipelago are administered by the ma
tiVes themselves as priests, including the
cathedral at Manila, Natanqua and many
other important cities. The ecclesiastical
law as to sacraments was preferred by
those native priests, and it is matter of
history that nobody objected to it. There
fore no one can say that the cause of
the rebellion of the natives against Spain
was the excessive charges in the admin
istration of sacraments.
Referring to Bishop Potter's eulogy Of
Chaplain Perce, whom he describes as
1.-The pastor and associate of all sorts and
conditions of men, organizing church for
the whites and another for the F'iliDi
nos" he says: "Mr. Pierce was mistak-
en- by many natives for a Roman Catho-
lie priest and he used to carry a crucifx
on his uniform, used
CANDLES AND INCENSE
in his services, and also that he asked
for a fee in case of marriage. Now or
binary people can scarcely distinguish
refined differences of worship and re-
ligious doctrines"
The writer tells Of one Catholic young
man who went to Mr.. Pierce to get mar
ried. Discovering that he was not a
priest, he excused himself on the pre-
text of the fees and went to his own par
ish priest The writer says this instance
was, he understands, many times re-
peated.