El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-08
Rule Through Ignorance
Philippine Governors Do Not Know
When War Is Declared; Early
Graft I'm Islands Widespread.
-By Fred eric J. HasKfn--


the Spanish-American war
was the complete ignorance Of the
Spanish governor of the island OF
Guam, which is about 500 miles from
Manila, that a state of war existed
between his country and the United
States. When a squadron anchored
off the coast of Guam, his eXCelleucy
was rOwed out in his chic little boat,
and upon boarding the American flag
ship explained that he did not salute
the visitors for the simple reason that
he had no powder He was greatly
astOnished when informed of the war
between the two countries But this
governor of 1898 was merely repeating
the performance Of the man who was
governor general OF the philippines
when the English took Manila in 1862
That funcu0nary was Miguel Ezpeic-
ia, who had been bishop of Cebu before
becoming the governor and captain
general The first he knew of the
war between England and Spain was
when the English squadron entered
Manila bay on September p, 1852. To
his great astOnishment and indigna-
ton the English commanders. admiral
manded the surrender of the islands to
the king of England. The demand
was refused; British troops were
landed and on October >. Manila was
bOmbarded and captured.
When Tribal Chiefs Ruled.
When the Spaniards took the Phil
ippines. they found a very primitive
form of government. If II could be
called government at all. The peO-
pie We're divided into tribes and right
was always on the side of the tribal
chiefs who ruled their people as they
pleased. Slavery existed in many evil
forms; home life was at a very low
order and everything indicated a semi
civilized state.
For over century Spain did very
little to better the conditions Of the
HHHew IL IL #H.e.H--
row intellectual horizon In fact, her
entire rule. of over 500 years did very
little, compared with what could have
been done. Furthermore. the progress
that was made by inches was furnished
by corrupt acts and q system Of graft
about which the simple minded Fill
pinOs knew nothing until the advent
Of the Spaniards- Had II not been
for their religious zeal, the benefits
to the FilipinOs of Spanish rule would
have been practically nil
AS to matters of government. how
ever. il was not until 1910 that the
Philippine islands along with the 9TH
er SpanlSh-Amer1can pOSSeSSlO nS IN
America were permitted to send a
delegate to the Spanish COrtes. This
privilege, so tard1ly bestowed, was lit
tie more than an empty honor The
way 1t was handled by the Spanish
crown may have inspired that teasing
adage OF the present day, Now You
see it, and now yeu don't" Three years
later this privilege was taken away
from the FilipinOs In 1921 il was
again given them, but in 1928 Ferdi-
nand VII in one of his many attacks
upon the Spanish constitution deprived
the FllipinOs of their deputy for the
second time. The first time the Fill
pinOs lost their right to a seat in the
Spanish COrtes there was a great deal
of dissatisfaction which resulted in the
uprising of 1914.
Graft Becomes General.
lot Of parasites with him They were
given jobs which brought in large
fees so that they We're able to retire
in affluence whenever new blOodsuck-
cr= .~ take their places. Many
Of these positions brought to the in I
Cumbent the equivalent Of from So
600 to $4,000 annually The graft Of
the higher officials in Manila or the
deal more Civil office holders were
not the only guilty ones in this regard
according to Dr. T II. PardO de Tavera. /
who still lives in Manila, in volume
one of the United States census of the
Philippine islands of 1903, the friars
who acted as Curates Of their parishes
frequently made from $4,000 to $4,000
a year
From first to last the FilipinOs were
kept down They were required to
give 40 days labor a year to the public
service OF to suffer a fine. In 1874 this
method was changed so that each male
was forced to pay a poll tax that varied
from the equivalent of IS cents to Sll
per anuUm, and to work for the gov
eminent Is days a year. The FilipinOs
had to take off their hats whenever a |
SpaEiard passed No Filipino dare hest I
tate To step quickly out Of the path OF |
way In case the Spaniard was a
priest, his hand was kissed in a de
vOut manner by subservient Filipinos. /
To quote Doctor Tavera;
mo indian, as the FilipinOs were
called by the Spaniards. was allowed [
TO sit at the same table with the Z
Spaniard even though the Spaniard was ,
guest in the indians house. The Z
Spaniards addressed the Filipinos by
the prOnOun thou and although many
Of the Spaniards married pure-blOOded |
native women their wives were always |
looked down upon in society as be- |
longing to an inferior class. From the |
beginning of the 18th century, the laws I
abolished all race distinctions, but ]
these distinctions could not be abOl- /
ished from the actual customs which |
obtained and the racial friction or i'll |
feeling increased in proportion to the |
increased education Of the Filipino I
peOTle and to the greater influence
which the contemporary happenings in !
Europe had on the minds Of the ma Z
tives.
Lotteries Encouraged.
advantage was taken OF the Fill Z
pino's preference for cock fights as q I
method of producing income. Lotter- |
les were encouraged and held under I
government auspices The censor Of ]
the press held the papers published in 4
the Philippine Islands within the I
strictest limits as regarded their edi-
tOrial utterances- They were not al |
lowed to publish items which might /
incOmmOde any functiOnary; nor were |
they allowed to discuss political mat ]
tiers or even refer TO them. They were I
allowed only to publish items OF new s, /
happenings of the streets or in public :
places and to get articles referring TO l
foreign news published in the European /
exchanges. No Filipino was allowed to /
NEEDLE in public matters nor was he /
allowed to express an opinion regard /
ing politics or the manner of the To- {
cal administration of affairs in his I
country"
Tomorrow: Filipino Instructions.
the Bible where the damnatory clauses ]
are omitted altogether
There were plenty OF opportunities /
during the centuries that the gospel of I
John had to be written and copied and /