Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-01

Instruction broke out in 1885, and the
feeling against them is so strong that none
of their leaseholders would dare pay rent
for fear of the vengeance of his neighbors.
The animosity of the Irish peasants toward
the absentee landlords is not circum-
stance compared with that of the Filipinos
who farm the plantations that belong to
the monks. Hence the latter were always
willing to sell for the best price they could
get, but they claimed the proceeds, and OBJ
jected to having the transaction taken out
of their hands.
Controversy Over the Funds.
The late pope and Cardinal Rampolla
took the ground that this property belong
ed to the church at large, and proposed
that the money paid for it should go into
the general treasury of the Vatican. The
superiors of the several religious orders
interested naturally objected, and for that
reason Governor Taft's mission to Rome In
the summer of 1902 was a failure. 1t was
there decided by committee of five cardl-
nails to whom the subject was REFERRED
and three of the five belonged to the reli-
gious orders-that the negotiations should
be resumed at Manila with the representa-
tiyes of the orders, Mgr. Gu1d1 having been
appointed delegate to appear ior tne noIy
see Later, when Leo XIII became con-
WINGED that his original policy was hope
less, he too, suggested that the money re-
ceived from the land should be applied TO
the benefit of the church in the Philippine
islands. and that plan has received a
hearty Endorsement of Plus x, the present
pope, who is man OF excellent business
ability and famous for his common sense;
He has already Informed the SupefiorS VI
the religious orders at Rome OF his DESIRES
although he has not issued FORMAL lnstruc-
lions on the subject, nor does ne make any
secret of his wishes. He SPEAKS Freely 70
eyervbody with whom he discusses Philip
nine affairs He told me that In his opln.
ion the money belonged to the people OF
the islands and not to the monks lnolVio-
ually. or to the orders 10 , wn1eh a md init
,notad that he would like to have 1t invest
"a as a permanent fund for religious. ecu
cational and charitable purposes IN 'he
re anvfhinp further has been done In tnat
d,rection nobody over here has heard OF II.
and Mgr. Guidi and Archbishop Harty, who
agree entirely with the pope. pre1e. oarsa
thew have not been advised OF the hoiy
fathers intentions. He has briefs on the
subject before him from both OF them. ana
a full statement of the condltlons anu ne
cassittes of the church in the islands, put
thew have not been advised as to his plans,
and do not know what he Will DO or now
far he will 60 Whenever he gets ready ne Will
communicate with the heads OF the oroers az
Rome The transfer of the titles and the
navment of the money will be made next
summer or fall through the attorneys VINO
have represented the Franciseans, the An
pustinians and the Recolletos, and the
share of the Domnicans will be paid TO
them direct. The government people VIII
have nothing to say or to DO ABOUT the ols.
position of the proceeds, although, OF
course. they would prefer to have 1t remain
here. The officials having immediate charge
Of the transactions in behalf Of the govern
ment are Catholics.
Claims Of the Friars.
The friars have no idea of surrendering
the funds, and talk fiuently of the injustice
of compelling them to do So They say that
nobody ever disputed the ownership of the
land. and why then should there be any dis
cussion about the ownership OF the money
that is paid for them. Nobody but the
members of their orders mas ever mao any
thing to do with the property. They have
enjoyed undisputed possession of it, and the
use of the revenues without question, and
now when they have been compelled to
dfspose of the property, they declare that
II is wicked injustice to deprive them of
the proceeds. They assert that the attitude
of the pope has been misrepresented, and
that they have the highest authority for
saying that he has no intention of depriv-
ing them of their rights
No one here dare suggest that the super
Tors of the religious orders will for mo-
ment refuse to obey the Instructions of the
holy father or fail to respect his wishes on
this or any other subject, but at the same
time several persons interested have been
looking into canonical law and have discov-
cred that the pope as the head of the
church. is the lawful owner of all it's prop
erty. and there are methods by which he
can exert his authority. The simplest is
a mandamus directed at the responsible
heads of the religious orders of the custo-'
dian Of the funds. I fancy that there will
be considerable trouble before this question
is settled. The monks are very determined.
and are in a position to act for their own
advantage
They do not need the funds. They are
enormously rich, and If they are allowed to
retain them can only turn them over to