The Irish standard., 1903-05-23
In the Three Years Spent in the Islands
the Commissioner Saw Only Two
Drunken Filipinos There
Manila Has a Record for Less Crimes
of Violence Than Any American
City Of Same Size.

Washington, May 12.-With a gOot
color, Il clear eye, an elastic step, an(
Il prompt responsiveness in conversu
ton, Commissioner 1de did not lool
like the battered invalid his friend.
had pictured him, as he stopped over
in Washington OH his way from TIL,
Philippine Islands to his home in tho
green hills Of Vermont, says II CORE
spondent of the New York Post. III
response to questions put to him by
the correspondent, Judge 1dc spoke
most interestingly about the Philip.
pines and conditions there.
what does the Aglipay movement
in the Philippines amount to?'
at is Il little too early to estimate
it's full results yet. Aglipay is n bright
man, with very considerable Or
ganizing force. Being a Filipino, he
knows his own people, their weak us
well as their strong points. His great
opportunity was given him by the
failure Of the Roman Catholic Church
to provide for the removal of the
friars, who, as you know, are highly
distnsteful to the Filipino people. Had
the Church fallen in with the suggcs-
tions of Gov. Taft and the Washing
ton administration that the lands
should be sold to us and the friars
withdrawn. Aglipny would have been
robbed of his chief stock in trade as
an agitator. The policy actually pur-
sued gave him his chance to establish
a 'I'ilipiiO Church for the Filipino
peoplc-to quote his own wutchword
and he was quick to seize it,"
"Docs this sclism mean a complete
separation of the Filipino people from
the Roman Catholic Church?"
"Not in the sense of it's being n
Protestant movement. Professionalism
would have made little hcadway, even
in the hands of as slrcwd Il man as
Aglipay, for the Filipinos are Catho-
lies wherever they are Christians ut
all. What Aglipny has done is to
start a Filipino Catholic Church with
out allegiance to Il foreign potcntntc,'
as he calls the pope.
"Aglipay himself has become an
archbishop, by some means of Orlina
ton which ] have never quite fathom-
cd. He has consccrated several
bishops, who, in turn, have organized
parishes and churches, with the creed
ana ccrcmonials of the Catholic
Church. They have a full hierarchy
in operation, but it is hard to say just
how large a following they have
among the people. The great struggle
is over the title to the church cdiiccs
ana conventos which were built on
public lands in all the towns at Il time
when church and state were one.
They were built of contributions Of
labor and money of the people of the
mllnicipH liticS, and on their land:
hence many of these people say: 'rhiS
is our land, it was our money and our
labor that went into this building and
If that does not make it our church,
what would? 1t belongs to us, and
not to the pope at Rome; therefore. we
shall put n Filipino priest into it and
administer it's affairs ourselves The
orthodox Catholic authorities respond:
TT is true that the people gave the
money and the labor, but they gave
these to Mother Church; it is true that
the land was municipal land. but the
ccclcsiastical and the civil govern
mrnt were one at that time; moreover,
the building was dedicated rs Il
church. and we shall continue to ad-
minister it as church property This
is the way the controversy presents
itself nearly everywhere in the is
lands. 1t has resulted in great deal
of bad blood. and here and there ac
tunl hand-to hand fights havc occurred
at church doors"
"What is the attitude of the civil
government towards this movements"
eve hold that the controversy must
be determined by the courts; that
meanwhile good order must be pre-
served, and no fighting tolerated. Tho
officers whom we find In peaceable