The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-18
ROOTS NOTE TO GOVe TAFT
BASIS FOR LAST COMMUNICA-
 TION TO VATICAN.
of Wars Instructions Rs- garding the Withdrawal of the Friars The Real Desires of the Philippine Government tm the Matter-No Preju. dice Against the Friars-Welfaro of the Natives Alone Aimed nt.

note of Secretary Root to Governor Taft relative to the negotiations for the | friars' lands. It formed the basis of l the note which Governor Taft yester- day communicated to the vatican, the essential points of which were cabled from Rome by the Associated Press last evening.
 Secretary Roots note is as follows:
 II am much gratifed by the express sion of intention on the part of the Holy See to take the measures which are ln- dlcated by Cardinal Rampolla's memo
 randa of the twenty second of June and
 of the tenth of July to recall the re-
 ligious in the Philippine islands
 to the life proper to their institutes and
 to an exclusive devotion to spiritual
 ministry, abstaining from any kind or
 interference with things appertaining to
 the civil authority, and to introduce as
 much as possible the religions of na- tionalities other than Spanish, and par ticularly the religious of American na- tionality and to concede to them the parochial ministry as soon as they small be sufficiently instructed in the lan- gauge of the country. These measures, so plainly indicated as wise by the rec ognized facts in the Philippine archi- pelago, are quite independent of any | business or monetary consideration and | I feel that such contribution as you | have been able to make to full under l standing of the facts and the develop ment of the purposes described, is sut- l ficient compensation for your visit to 1 Rome. It is believed that there will re- suit a sure basis of mutual considera- | tion and just treatment in the future
 relations between the church and state in the Philippines in regard to all spe- cific questions which will have to De settled there.
 Regarding the withdrawal of the members of the religious orders from the Philippines, it should not be under stood that the Philippine government IS askin gto modify or in any manner affect the conduct of religious matters on the part of the Holy See or on the
 mart of the heads of the orders or for any compulsory exclusion or proceeding
 whatsoever. It is rather that the Phil ippine government desires social re- suits which it deems of great imports
 ance to the welfare of the Philippine
 people and which can be accomplished only bv the withdrawal of this class Of
 persons who have fortuitiously been
 thrown into special antatgonistic politi-
 cal relations with the people. That
 government has proposed an arrange
 ment which it supposed to be very ad-
 vantaeeous to the church and worth its
 own while to carry out, if the ecclesias-
 tical authorities having the direction
 of the religious orders should see Tt
 voluntarily to withdraw them from the islands Such a voluntary withdrawal cannot be considered violation of any rights under the treaty of Paris or oth- erwise, or any reflection either upon the nation or upon the orders to which the
 persons withdrawing happen to belong The reasons making the withdrawal de-
 sirable are not religious or racial but , arise from the political and social rela- lions which existed under the former
 government and which have created F personal antiquities menacing to the l peace and order of the community 7 Such a withdrawal would not involve ] any confusion or any accusatlons = against the persons withdrawing ol
 the orders to which they belong; and v if is to be observed that we have made
 no such accusations. It would simply I recognize the existence of the condi, [, tions which for several years past nave
 been and now are preventing these par
 ticular agents from serving the church
 in the stations to which they were as
 signed and which would make their re-
 | employment injurious to the commun itv. In this matter the United State!
 representatives in the Philippines ar' y merely endeavoring to meet the wishes : as we'll as the needs, of the Philippine ? | people. It is not the United States gov . ernment which objecs to the presence 3 of the friars; it is the Catholic popula l ton of the Philippine islands. The la! t Catholic population, and the parlsl l priests of native and non-Spanisl e | blood are practically unit in desiring s both to expel the friars and to contis e cate their lands out of hand. This pro r posed confiscation without compensa = tion of the church lands was one o r the fundamental policies of the insur
 gent government under Aguinaldt $ Recognizing the intensity and practice 2 unanimity of this feeling among tn e Fiipinos and at the same time desir . ing to avoid causing loss to the church q the United States government repre- g sentaives proposed to pay for the land S out of the public funds if the friar S would retire from the islands and giv
 place to other religions of their ow
 faith who might be able to accomplis
 for their religion what they themselve
 had so signally failed to accomplish Ia In making this proposal the Unite
 States representatives were well aWa1
 that financially it was only Of oenet as to the church for the lands are unprt g. ductive and held in adverse possessio lg by the natives who refuse to pay ren Of while the former congregations of u 1e obiectionable friars no Wrefuse to rt ed ceive them and they could only be rt h. stored to their parishes by such affirm y ative governmental action as under ol he constitution cannot be taken.
 Id Tt is the desire to accomplish the r pt moval of this cause of disturbance ar tn discord that has led me to approve tn ve clause of your proposal which would i
 volve the government of the Philippin
 (Continued on Sixth Page.)