New-York tribune., 1902-08-06
TIE PROBLEN OF THE FRI4RS.

grasp of the question so thorough ana toIeIdh''
so high minded and patriotic. as must nave put
to blush the half informed and hot headed crit
les of an administration who in assalllns II
fancy they are rendering a service 10 the
Roman Catholic Church These critics see
grievances where no one complains. and dream
of outrages which no one contemplates, much
less has perpetrated "Who are they, asks the
Archbishop. who protest and call upon Catho-
.lics to be I'D and doing? Are they those who
might claim to represent the Church in its
general or even local. interests? Has the
sovereign Pontiff spoken? He certainly has
mot complained: rather has he been heard from
''in very different tones. Have the ecclesiastl-
'caI authorities in the dependencies invoked
"our aid? In no instance have they so acted
Where they have been heard from. as In the
''case of Porto Rico and Cuba, 1t was TO tell us
in pIainest words that they had no grievances,
although from irresponsible sources 1t had
"been on several previous occasions dinned into
"our ears that the Church was robbed and
''persecuted in both these islands,.
Leaving out of consideration for the moment
the question as TO who these critics are or
what the motives for the intemperate language
employed by them. what is the burden OF their
complaints? In nine cases out Of ten 1t is the
charge brought indiscriminately against the
friars-so. at least, they say-of gross ana
fragrant immortality. We can readily under
stand why, as Catholics, they should resent
such a charge against members of the four or
ders still holding interests in the Philippines.
We cannot understand, however how they
could ever have persuaded themselves into be-
neving that other people look upon these
charges as embodying the reasons for Filipino
hostility toward Dominicans. Augustinians,
PaaaIIatoc and EraDoiScaDS There were
sporadic cases of immortality among the priest
hood of the Philippine Islands. as was admitted
by the Archbishop of Manila and other high
dignitaries of the Church in their testimony be
fore the Taft Commissions; but the Bishop of
Jaro seems to have believed that this immo-
rality far from being resented by the Filipinos
or furnishing the pretext for an exhibition or
yirtuous Indignation, served to make the errlng
priest in the community to whose low stand
ards of morality he descended far more popular
than the vast majority Of his brethren who tIod
the narrow path of duty. And this view is
apparently shared by many conservative army
officers and civilians who have had an oppor-
tunity of forming judgment on the spot.
We may we'll be reluctant ourselves to accept
such conclusions; nevertheless one cannot help
remembering the tradition that when the find
ings of tribunal favorable TO the canonization
OF SANTA hOSd ue pau VI lHe iAld4CS-
were laid before Pope Clement Y that POntiff
manifested his incredulity that a tropical eli
mate should produce a saint. Indeed the say
ing is ascribed to him that Bananas and saints
are not grown together" The tradition prob
ably has no very solid foundation. but it tends
TO emphasize fact. viz, the influence of eli
mate upon manners. the existence of which
few students of history and the development
of the human race will care TO dispute; and,
being fact il redounds to the credit Of the or
ders that, when the numberless sweeping state
ments of immortality are examined, the proper
ton Of authenticated cases on the part of parish
priests in the Philippines is unexpectedly small.
What then. is the secret of Filipino hostility
10 the friars? In the first place. il is economic:
in the second, 1t is political. AS the possessors
of most If not ALL of the really valuable estates
in the islands, the orders aroused native cupid
ity without discussing the methods by which
these properties were acquired, it can be stated
broadly that the situation is one where those
who have not confront with hungry maws
those who have. 1t presents the irreconcilable
differences between landlord and tenant I'm a
country where the farmer sees his rent increase
in proportion to the amount of labor and the
extent Of the improvements he puts into the
land. In some respects the question of the
confronted successive British ministries in Ire
land Until therefore, the tenant farmer Of the
Philippines is made to understand that under
new conditions he may hope TO secure the
fruit of his labors and become the proprietor
of the land he works, he will continue TO be A
problem" a disturbing factor a possible
''insurrecto."
The political hatred aroused by the friars is
due to the tvofold character of their work in
the islands. They were agents of the Spanish
Government no less than soldiers of the Church.
There was not a single department of govern
mental activity into which they did not enter
or which they did not control. The whole
structure indeed. of Spanish sovereignty in the
islands rested upon the friars. As the irrespon-
sible agents of a government thousands of miles
away, and which it was impossible to reach
except through them, they no doubt committed
indiscretlons-to call it by no stronger name
which aroused the resentment and hatred of
the natives. AS spiritual advisers they would
have continued to command the love and re-
spect of their simple minded parishioners. AS
the representatives of an unmitigated and cor
rupt despotism they took their lives in their
hands by remaining.
The practical question confronting is not
whether the bitter feeling toward the frars is
Justified or not but whether it exists. 1t is
mere twaddle to say that all the civilization to
be found in the Philippines to-day is due to the
friars For the sake of argument we may admit
that 1t is so due: but after that. shall we ignore
altogether this bias or prejudice. deep seated in
an ignorant people, and in brushing it aside
wreck successful solution OF the task we have
set ourselves? The highest dignitaries of the
Catholic Church fortunately see the question in
its proper light, and their wisdom and breadth
of view may be depended upon as valuable and
might almost say. indispensable aids in