The Irish standard., 1901-02-23
TAFT REPORT ON THE FRIARs.

n One-SlQeu report mas been made
by the Taft commission on the lnonas-
tic orders in the Philippines. If what
it says Of the frars be true, the men
who rescued the Filipinos from bur
barty and taught them all the relig-
ious and secular knowledge they pos
sess must be monsters Of iniduity.
McKinley's commission took eX-parte
testimony from the native enemies of
the friars and gave the Slandcred men
no opportunity Of yindicating them
selves. The evidence obtained in this
way is said by the commission to be
conclusive" as to the prevalence of im-
morality among the friars in certain
localities; but why it should be con-
elusive until the other side is heard
goes beyond our comprehension. Suc].
an indictment against a body of reli-
gious men of any faith, whether
Christian or pagan, requires more
proof than the bare statement of the
Taft comission. Mgr Chappelle, the
papal envoy, has not yet been heard
from on the matter, but 1t is presumed
that he will report differently after
making thorough investigation.
There is no doubt in our mind but
that the Filipinos hate the Spanish
friars most bitterly and want them
out of the islands. They prefer native
priests to Spanish priests, and it
is natural they Should. But that is
no good reason why they should black
en- the character of men who left their
own land to devote their lives to the
uplifting of an inferior race. The
friars, Of course, were loyal to the
Spanish government and exerted all
their influence to prevent Instructions;
but why should they not be as loyal to
their government as English or Ameri-
can foreign missionaries are to theirs?
1t is because they were loyal to Spain
and not because of their immortality
that they are now hated and slandered
by the people they rescued from bar
barism and heathenism.
The Taft commission itself admits
that the feeling against the friars is
solely political, and that 1.-The people
would gladly receive as ministers of
the Roman Catholic religion any save
those who are to them the embodiment
of all in the Spanish rule that was
hateful But would they, and is that
any justification for the calumny on
the friars? ut would. of course"
continues the report, "be of much as
sistance to the American cause if the
Catholic church were to send among
the people American priests with the
love of their country that they have
always shown and with their clear un-
derstanding Of civil liberty and con-
servative popular government"
The religious orders selected for an
imadversion by the Taft commission
are the Dominicans, Augustinans,
Franciscans and Recolletos, who are
claimed by the natives to have been
the embodiment of Spanish tyranny
and misrule. The archbishop of Ma
Mia, Most Rev. DR.. Nozaleda, o. f., is
a Dominican, and it seems to us that
he should have been cited to appear
before the commission to defend the
order Of which he is so distinguished a
member. But that would be expecting
too much Of McKinley's emissaries
who, since their arrival in Manila, have
been sending home partisan reports
filled with Misrepresentation of the
Filipinos whom they have branded as
Ignorant and uneducated."
Anybody with common sense knows
that the friars in the Philippines are
not the depraved and immoral men
they are represented to be in the Taft
report. The religious orders are gov
erned from Rome, and the conduct of
every individual member of them is
subjected to strict ecclesiastical scrut-
iny from time to time. Would Rome
tolerate the alleged immortality with
which they are charged, and would
the archbishop of Manila wink at It?