Evening star., 1901-04-09

AR, TUESDAY, APRIL
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comes its duty to provide for their admin
istration by q proper directory, whose first
function VIII be to assert, In the name and
authority Of the United States, their right
to administer the funds of the college
against the adverse claims of the person
now In charge, who GLAZING to hold under
and by virtue of the control over the funds
by the Catholic Church; and this legisla-
tive action we now propose to take, not
thereby tntimating an opinion upon the
merits OF the case, Z but merely by this
means setting in motion the proper ma
chinery for the ultimate decision by a COM
petent tribunal. Q s8
THE military government, of which we
are the legislature, Is a provisional gov
ernment; but for all this, pending its ex-
tstence, 1t has the power to provide for
the conservation of public property and the
temporary carrying on of trusts with re-
spect to which the sovereign is charged
with any duty"
Method of Settlement.
The commission decided to appropriate
$4,000 to defray the expenses of the COM
plafnant In preparing the case, inasmuch
as the United States holds the position of
general trustee toward the public of the
Philippines. 1t rescinded the order of Gen.
Otis suspending the conduct of the college
under the rector of the University of ST
Thomas In conclusion. after naming the
five trustees of the college property, the
commission said:
There has been much popular and po-
litlca1 interest in the controversy in which
we have now stated our conclusions The
questions considered, however, have not
had any political color at all They have
been purely questions of law and proper
legal procedure and so will they be in the
court to which they are now sent. The
decision Of the right to control San Jose
college cannot legttimately be affected by
the political feeling which one may have
for or against the friars. 1t Is unfortunate
that the public should cIothe the settle
ment OF an issue purely legal with political
significance when 1t ought not to have and
does not nave one But, however this may
be, those charged with settling it can pur-
sue only one path, and that is the path Of
legal right as they see it,"
This decision was rendered January 5,
1901.
Status of the Frfars.
The document contains a detailed report
of the inquiry into the status Of the friars,
or members of the religious orders, begin
ming July 81 and continuing at intervals
into November. The first witnesses exam
ined We're the direct representatives of the
religious associations who were followed
by citizens. The testimony was not all
taken direct many pages being filled with
answers to list of questions framed by
the commission and sent throughout the
Islands with the view of securing the full
est possible information. These queries re-
lated to the length of time the testator had
spent in the islands, opportunities for OBJ
serving the working of the religious sys
tenn, the classes of society from which the
members Of the various orders were drawn,
the extent of the properties owned by the
orders, the political duties of the priests
the relations of the friars to the civil gov
ernors, the part played by the friars in Sc
curing the deportation of Filipinos, their
fees and other sources of income, the moral
natures of the friars, the causes Of native
hostility, the morality and education Of the
native priests, the chances of a peaceful
welcome IF the friars to their old fields by
the people, the probable reception accorded
pie as to public instruction, with special
recognition of a separation of education
from religion under the American system,
and the effect of the government taking
over the agricultural property held by the
orders.
There are eight different orders repre-
sented in the Philippines, the Dominicans,
Franciscans, Augustinians, Recolletos,
CapuchinS, BenedictineS, Paulists and
Jesuits OF these bitter complaint is made
by the natives against only the four first
named. In the testimony before the COM
mission the Dominicans were represented
by Santiago Paya their provincial the
Franciscans by Rev. Juan Villegas, head of
the corporation in the islands, the Angus
tinians by the Very Rev. Jose Labo, the
Reco1letos by the Very Rev. Francisco
Araya, the provincial
Uniform Testimony of Priests.
The testimony of these priests varied
only slightly in the general features. They
all declared that the political duties had
been an imposition upon the friars who
had accepted the. tasks because required
to do so by the state. They denied that the
claiming that, on the contrary, the parish
priests often int erceded to prevent the de-
portation of accused persons. They denied
the charge that the friars led immoral lives
and declared that, with the rarest eXcep-
tionS, all such accusations had, upon
searching inquiry been proved false, the
inspiration Of a ''katpunan,' or member
OF the great native secret society. In very
many cases, these priests testified, the ma,
tives whose names were signed to petit
tions for the removal of certain curates or
to accusations, when questioned directly
dsavoWed their intention to complain, al
1eging the influence of a Katipunan. In
answer to questions relating to the causes
of the native hostility to the friars the in
variable reply was that these parish priests
in most places were the sole representa-
tives Of the Spanish sovereignty, and that
therefore they were the direct objects of
the attack of the agitators who sought to
oV erturn the government
Representatives. of Spain.
The Very Rev. Jose Lobo Of the Angus
tinians expressed the situation in this re-
gard as follows:
THE government of Spain in the Philip
pines can be compared to round table
having but one leg, and that leg in the
center of the table, the friar here being the
leg and the sole support of the main body
of the table. The heads Of the Katipunan
organization, realizing that to tumble the
whole structure it was necessary first to
destroy the foundation, began this disturb
ance by calumniating the frars, telling lies
about them, and for this reason the hos
tilty arose toward the friars: but the Ka-
tipunan heads were the only ones that
really had any hostility toward the friars,
as is proven by the fact that the people in
the parish are anxious for their return
In the matter of the priestly morality
Santiago Paya, provincial Of the Domini-
cans said:
"one Of the proofs of the morality Of the
clergymen and of the orders lies in the
character of the Filipinos themselves. Ev-
erybody will admit that the Filipinos, as
whole, are moral and religious and they
have had no teacher other than. the mem
bers Of the order to teach them-not only
In ralip{ops hut secular nattarS. ,,1 ;e