Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1913-11-14

such manner as 'iyuriously t
.,e feet the Eoeace and welfare of III
Philippine Islands," Wherein will
the people OF the Philippines b.
any better off by having thes,
vast estates in the hands of an aliel
an iApersonal landlord, such a,
foreign cooperation. than they wer,
when in the hands of The religious
orders ? In fact their last estate Il
worse than their first; and littl,
consideration may the poor Filipino
expect of corporation that has no
hesitated to rob its own government
by bribery of customs off Gals Il
the tune of several millions of dol
lars of which it stands convicted
by its own confession and COM
promises with the government.
The Attorney General says very
properly IN his opinion that "Th.
Intention of Co1gre ss was to abol
ish system of ownership disadvan-
tageous to the government Car
it b, believed for M )ment that the
transfer of ownership to the Sugar
Tru-t is going % be any less dis
Advantageous to the government
than that of religious orders. A
thousand times no; and the govern
m mt is going to speedily find it out
The disadvantage to the govern
m9ut arose not SO much from Il e
fact that these vast tracts OF land
were owned by the religious on :
dars per Sc, but because there was
a feeling amongst the Filipinos
that they had been improperly az
quired; that they -hould be held by
the gov eminent for the benefit o
the natives at large. and not in tn
hands of corporations o. ascot lliJns
of individuals. whether lay orr >
ligio4s
When thase sIlas were announce G
indignation meetings were held ~
the p ople of the island: ear le-
protests we've ma l.. and embodie
in memorials to Congress TT
tel ags no opposition OF tn ma.
tlves against the transactions were
earnestly voiced by Mr.. Quesou.
the Philippine delegate to Congress
in June OF the las. session; and IN a
memorandum to the Secretary OF
War from b ,th political parties,
rest nted at the time OF his visit to
the i-lands las: September, we find
the following protest against these
s,les:
"Reing DESTROYS of implanting
among ourselves the idea of true
democracy and providing against diff
ficulties that, having occurred else
where, may occur among us in time t.
come, we resolutely set ourselves
against wider extension of the lands
Of public domain that may be sold t,
private parties or corporations. We
also scish that such opinion prerail IN
connection Nth the sale of the filar
ESTATES The Intervention of the GOV
ernment 10 these estates never was un
derstood to be the business, more or
less lucrative, OF said government, but
to be a sacred duty, to relieve the
Philippine land tena OTIS of the difficult
position that they occupied in the
past"
Mr.. Queson says among other
things in letter to the Secre-
tary of War under date of Sep
TENDER 2, 1910:
Politically it is the firm
belief OF the Filipinos that the owner
ship of large tracts of lands by
foreigners constitutes a menace to the
independence, both political and
economic, of the archipelago"
The foregoing opinion has been
expressed and entertained by all
Filipino papers, irrespective OF their
party utilization, al, of which unani-
,nously declare themselves against
The governments policy in the sale OF
the Mindore estate, and know, from
what l have heard from other sources,
that the opinion SO expressed by
the papers is entirely in accord with
the opinion OF the people in general"
A grave mistake has bsen made
IN this matter. and one th,t will re
fraught with serious consequ noes
to the policy Of onr government in
the Philippines. The best thine
we can do is to ge; rid OF the i.'ands
the omeIt scmc method 10 offered
that will commend itself to our
people as just to the Filipino and
consistent with tue honor Of our
country; but as long as we are
there. SELL interes and the ordinar,
demands OF simple justice, should
constrain us from dol < things in
consistent with our proicssed in
tentions towards the people, and
that will but further incar Their dis
trust and hatred Of US, while at the
same time mixing it mere difficult
! to withdraw from the i-lands should
The opportunity ever present itself