THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

Evening Star, Issue 17379, 15 June 1920, Page 6

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[By Frederick Stdbbs, P.rUJ.S.]

1 Earth hath no euro For the nervous quest, The internal unrest; The hurrying haste of fate, Like the soothing balm ■ Of tropic palm And the land where things can wait. The Philippines, named after Philip 11. of Spain, are a land of tropic palm, of tropic leisure, and of a good many other tropical things, including tropical mosquitoes and heat. The country consists of no fewer than 3,140 islands, scattered beneath the fringe of China, of which mainland, only 600 miles away, they were once a part. Eleven only are of any size, however, most of them being mere rocks jutting out of the water. In area they are nearly equal to Great Britain and Ireland, the largest being Luzon* and Mindanao. They extend over nearly 17 degrees of latitude, from 4deg 40sec"N. to 21deg lOsec X., and are about 4.800 miles from Auckland, 4,000 from Sydney, and some 630 miles from Hong Kong. There are several largo rivers and several lakes, Laguna de Bay, near Manila, being 32 mile 3 long. and Lake Taal 174. The country is distinctly mountainous. Mount Ano, 10.312 feet, is the highest: Mount Mayon, an active volcano near the south-eastern extremity, is 7,916 ft, and there are many others. There are 12 active volcanoes in I the archipelago, and earthquakes are frequent and sometimes violent. In recent times there have been eruptions of Mount Mayon and Mount Taal, which have destroyed several villages, whilst in 1863 and 1911 much havoc was wrought by eartnauakes. CLIMATE. The climate is mildly tropical, the temperature averaging 80deg. This is for the country as a whole, including mountainous districts. The temperature on tho plains would certainly he higher. I noticed that even in the) coolest month my thermometer alwavs in the neighborhood of 80deg. At the same time the heat is not nearly so great as in some other tropical countries, as is shown bv the fact that the ordinary straw or felt hat is worn b\i Europeans, which would lie fatal in some carts of the world—and there is no sunstroke. The climate o;r the coast from November to February inclusive is very pleasant; from Februarv to October it is hot and showcrv. the rainfall being 75in per annum, with 203 rainy days. The niffhts are usually cool. From April to October st>-ansr winds prevail, especially during the month of September. and sometimes typhoons, which work great havoc, uprooting trees, destroying houses, and sometimes wrecking vessels In the storm of 1897 2.000 persons lost their lives. Tn the Philippines vou have one continual summer, sometimes for months together dry; sometimes wet, but always warm arid sometimes verv hot, a cljmate not suited to the physical labor ot the white man, but not unhealthy so' long as he conforms to certain rules "and conditions. For European women and children it is more trvino-. I n other words, it, w with the Philippines as with other tropical countries, the white man may live and work in them for a term of years and under suitable conditions without serious injury, but thev are not suitable for colonisation, and the physical labor must always be done by native races. SPANISH RULE. The earliest inhabitants of the Philippine Islands of which we have knowledge were the Negritos, who are still to be found in the mountain districts, whither they were pushed by the invading Malavs who gradually took possession of the whole 'country. At this period the land was governed by a number of petty chiefs, and tribal wars were constant. " Then the islands became known to Europe through the famous navigator Magellan, who discovered them in 1521: and it was on one of these, the Isle of Mactan. that he subsequently lost his life. In 1565. at Cebu, the Spaniards made their first permanent settlement, whilst in 1570, five years later, they occupied Manila, and remained in control of the islands until 1898, when they were succeeded bv the Americans. Old Spanish writers affirm that the Spanish kings inherited the islands by Divine right, their dominion being prophesied in Isaiah xviii., and confirmed by apostolic authority and many miracles. However that may be, it is certain that Spain conquered the islands in the 16th century, and held them for over SCO years, though not without occasional challenge from Chinese pirates, whilst for one brief year the sovereignty was wrested from them by the British, who captured them in 1762* but voluntarily restored them to Spain bv the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The British Government of the day little knew what a prize they were surrendering. THE CHURCH AND THE NATIVE. I now come to a portion of the history of the Philippines which gives one little j pleasure to write, but which it is neces- | sary to know in order to understand the ' present position. The Spanish Govern- j ment was largely sacerdotal. Along with j the soldiers large numbers of priests came with the object of converting the natives to the religion of Spain. The Cross and the Sword went hand and hand. .But for the most part no great persuasion was necessary. An idol was easily converted into a Dio; a demon into a saint or devil. It was seldom that they needed to use the brutalities which were used for the conversion of the natives of Mexico and Peru, where mothers were driven to strangle their babes at the birth, and whole tribes committed suicide rather I than endure the cruelties of the j Spaniards. Where any of the Filipinos | had the temerity to refuse to accept ihe new faith, the friars called in the i soldiery, and after th-j natives had been j sufficiently punished for their disobedience j the friar.s interceded for them with the ; military, and so woo. their confidence, j Where the Inquisition was instituted it ! y»as only applied to Europeans. Some; instruments of torture still exist in the , dungeons beneath the Augustinian Convent j in Manila, and till recently were shown j lo visitors. Even in the seventeenth cen- ! tnry some of the better educated Spaniards '■ doubted whether it was right to enforce '< faith by physical force-: but gradually the ; friars became arrogant and domineering. , The religious motives of the earlier missionaries were forgotten. Nearly the whole of ihe cultivable land passed into the hands of the clerrrv, who be cam 3 ex- i tremelv rich and powerful Churches and ■ convents were built everywhere, most of i which remain to this day. and many of i which I myself have visited. The clersv ! both controlled the Government and be-1 came their most zealot supporters. ' Through the confessional they were able , to detect risings and .insubordinations and to warn the secular authorities. Indeed, i such was the discontent of tho prop'e who ! saw themeelves dispossessed of their lands : and cruelly oppressed, that without tho '' asista"ee of the Church Spain co"ld not • have held the Islands a single decade; with their aid the Spanish dominion was . complete. No priest who was not a j Spaniard could come- to the Islands; no ! foreigners conld trade. The non-Catholic j had no rights whatever. No complaint j on the part of tho natives could'he lodged until it had been signed bv the curate. ; Everything had to be vised by the priest, j If any person displeased him he was liable j to be denounced to the authorities and severely punished. Justice was practically unknown; decisions were openly bought and sold. Any evidence desired ivas extorted by torture. The only education civen was reading, writing," and "religion." No book was allowed to enter the Islands that described any other country except Spain ; r.or was any part of the Bible translated and given, to the natives. The Spanish, language was withheld in order that the people micht be entirely dependent on what priests said, but they began to see that their spiritual wants were not the only care of tho priests, and could not help resenting their encroachments. Notwithstanding their vows of chn.stity and poverty, it became the recognised custom for priests to take concubines and to live in luxury. There is scarcely a town where the offspring ordescendants of priests are not to be found. One of my__hostesses in Manila was t'w daughter of a priest, who, she au7r.::'H. had been a good father to his children and given them a good education. On one i of the islands is a monument to a priest

wbo was canonised, as the inscription eaya, on the ground that he had "Jived and died a, virgin," 'showing how uncommon the virtue of priestly chastitywas. Whilst reprobating their conduct and especially tiheir cruelties, we must not. however, juldge these men too harshly. They were not all bad, and there were at least extenuating circumstances. They were partly the victims of a system, partly of local circumstances. At first many of them, at all events, were really fired by religious zeal By and by, as they became rich and powerful, they became insolent and shameless. The religious motives of the earlier missionaries ■were forgotten. The natives themselves did not resent the 5 nnchastity of the priests, but rather encouraged it. The curate's "companion" became a power, in the community. She allied her family to the dominant race. Her status was raised rather than lowered, and on relinquishing her the priest generally provided her with a hnsband and dowry. Even Pope Clement X. is said to have declared- that a tropical climate could not produce a saint; that bananas and saints could not grow together; and I think there is truth in the saymg. The position of a. celibate priesthood in a warm, enervating climate living an indolent life, with almost complete irresponsibility and with almost unlimited power over the bodies and souk ot the natives, is not conducive to virtue and, taking human nature as we know it' it is no wonder that most fell.. (Of Amer Govt. Report on this subject; 56th Congress, 2nd Session; also works of Foreman, Rizal, Worcester, and others.) The above narrative does, not, of course, reflect on the character of' the priests and friars of to-day, who live under a different regime, and, I believe are a much superior class of men, doing much good work. It is not only the men that are to be blamed. As Kiplinc bluntly puts it, "single men in barracfs don t grow into plaster saints." Then, as time went on, a new and serious difficulty arose for the Church, which even now has not been entirely overcome—namely, the jealousy that arose between the various Orders of the jealousy that led to continuous quarrels and dissensions, to frequent appeals to .Spain and Rome, and m 1768 to the expulsion of the Jesuits, the secular clergy especially, who had come to be largely Filipino, were indignant that all the benefices were filled by Spanish friars, and this was one of the chief factors in bringing about the sanguinary revolts of 1872 and 1898;- the foundation of the Independent Catholic Church by Bishop Aglipay, and the ultimate iall of the Spanish dominion. In the various uprisings against Spain, caused chiefly, I am sorry to say, by the oppression of the clergy, it is estimated that nearly 300,000 natives perished. The character and customs of the natives themselves must be reserved- for my nest article. J