Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-07


priests are merely human after all, ana
| to ignore the inroads of primitive tropical
life upon sane perspective. mo al nber
and physical stamina of men and women,
whether they be white, black, brown or
yellow.
Official American documents bear testi-
| mony to the mistakes that Catholic
priests made,
Mistakes of Priests but great hu-
Offset by Good Work. also also display
the great good that they have done and
still are doing in the islands. This ar
ticle is based upon the reports Of the first
Philippine commission, headed by Jacob
Gould Schurman, president OF Cornell
University, and now American minister
to Greece; the reports Of 19OO-190l of the
permanent Philippine commission under
William H. Taft, a former President of
the United States. and upon volume No.
Of the census OF the Philippine islands,
". ich was compiled In 1903 under the
! direction of Maj. Gen. j. G.. Sanger.
Henry Gannett and Victor H. Olmsted.
which with three additional volumes, was
published by the United States bureau
Of the census, at Washington, in 1905.
Volume No. / of the report Of the
Sohurtnan Phi ippine commission. cover
ing the period from January, 1899. to jan
uary. 1870. and transmitted by President
Mckinley to the American Congress.
shows that It Is a matter Of history that
for a long time great antagonism existed
in islands against the class OF peo-
pie called by the Filipinos "friars.' This
hostility was no doubt one of the causes
of the rebellion against Spain In 1888.
Then for the first time in the history OF
larts Of Luzon were murdered by the
pOpulace: many OF these were arrested
and held as prisoners by the F.lipinos.
In the month OF November, 1893, the
late Maj. Gen. Elwell 8. Otis made a
strong endeavor to secure the release of
the priests W. o had been taken prisoners.
and long correspondence took place be-
tween him and Aguinaldo on this sub
ject. AguinaldO refused to release the
prisoners, assigning various reasons for
his conduct. He charged that the rcli-
gious corporations OF the Philippines had
acquired large agricultural colonies by
means of fraud; the products Of these
lands. he stated, were first granted, but
in the course Of time possession was
taken Of the lands, and they were held
continuously by the religious corpora
lions, W ich were aided by the Spanish
authorities.
:Aguinaldo also stated that the privi-
lege of granting absolution belonged SOC
ly to the secular clergy to which the
Filipino priests belonged and that this
privilege had been absorbed by the re-
mary causes of the Philippine revolution
were the ecclesiastical corporations,
which, taking ADVANTAGE of the corrupt
Spanish government. robbed the country,
preventing progress Rni liberty: he de-
nounces as DANGEROUS to the interests
Of the Philippines the continuance Of the
rule of the clergy believing that thev
| Won .ncite a counter revolution in the
interests Of Spain. The Schurman COM
mission did not pronounce upon the
truth of these allegations.
One Of the clauses In the MaIolos con-
stitution of the so-called Philippine re-
public provid-
Petition Circulated ed for the
for Friar Expulsion. the @ nronertv
of the friars. The Schurman commits
sion originally consisted OF Jacob
Gould Schurman of New York, Maj.
Gen. Elweli S. Otis Of the United States
Army. Rear Admiral George Dewey of
| the United States Navy, Col. Charles
l'Denby of Indiana. who had been minis
ter to China for thirteen years, and Dean
C. Worcester. professor in the University
OF Michigan. When this commission left
the islands, in December, 1899. at which
time the revolution against American au-
thority ragged. there was in circulation a
petition, which was being largely signed
by the people. praying President McKin-
lev to expel the friars. Many charges
were popularity made against them. in
volving political oppression Ct the people
extortion and immortality.
The commission did not think that
the investigation Of these charges came
within the purview OF its duties. 1t
pointed out that the Filipinos did not
antagonize the church itself: that they
are faithful and loyal to il: their hostil-
| Ity was aimed at the religious orders:
| they demanded that the parishes should
| be filed by priests who were not friars.
| They claimed that this is the law of the
church and should be practiced in the
islands. The commission concluded that
this was something with which the state
| had nothing 10 do and that this and other
question OF eccleEastic policy. should
| he left to the church authorities.
This thorny question Of church prop
ertv was settled in part by the proviso
OF the treaty Of Paris that there should
/ be no disturbance of the peaceful pos
session Of property OF an kinds: whether
yate establishments. ecclesiastical or civic
| hod'es. It was finally settled by Gov.
taft. after personal communications with
! pope Leo XIII, in the purchase from the
several religious orders of their landhold-
ings comprising 100000 acres. for which
the Philippine government Is paying
| az HOO. 600 in thirty annual lnstallments.
| In the Spanish days the archipelago
was divided into Ave dioceses-one met.
ropolitan. that Of Manila. and four suf-
! fragan. those Of Nueva segovia Vigan).
| Nueya Caceras, Cebu and Jaro. These
ali exercised high functions In accord
| ance Wteh the constitutions adopted by
the prelates who founded them and ap-
proved by the holy see In subsection to
/ The prerogatives exercised by the King
81 Snain in virtue Of different bulls by
the Roman pontiffs. In the archipelago
| these functions were exercised by the
governor general in his capacity OF vice
president and vice royal patron.