XXVIII. Modern Manila…

XXVIII. Modern Manila

Commanding the entrance to Manila Bay there is the Island of Corregidor, situated 27 miles south-west of the city, towards which the traveller glances in vain, expecting to descry something of a modern fortress, bristling with artillery of the latest type which, if there, might hold the only channels leading to the capital against a hostile fleet. The anchorage for steamers is still half a mile to a mile and a half away from the Pasig River, but the new artificial port, commenced by the Spaniards, is being actively brought to completion by the Americans, so that the day may come when the ocean traveller will be able to walk from the steamer down a gangway to a quay and land on the south, or Walled City, side of the capital.

In the city and beautiful suburbs of Manila many changes and some improvements have been effected since 1898. After cleansing the city to a certain extent, embellishment was commenced, and lastly, works of general public utility were undertaken. Public spaces were laid out as lawns with walks around them; the old botanical-gardens enclosure was removed and the site converted into a delightful promenade; the Luneta Esplanade,--the joy of the Manila elite who seek the sea-breezes on foot or driving--was reformed, the field of Bagumbayan, which recalls so many sad historical reminiscences since 1872, was drained; breaches were made in the city walls to facilitate the entry of American vehicles; new thoroughfares were opened; an iron bridge, commenced by the Spaniards, was completed; a new Town Hall, a splendidly-equipped Government Laboratory, a Government Civil Hospital, and a Government Printing Office were built; an immense ice-factory was erected on the south side of the river to meet the American demand for that luxury [232]; also a large refrigerated-meat store, chiefly for army supply, was constructed, meat, poultry, vegetables, and other foodstuffs having to be imported on account of the dearth of beef and tilth cattle due to rinderpest. Fresh meat for private consumption (i.e., exclusive of army and navy) is imported into Manila to the value of about $700,000 gold per annum. Reforms of more urgent public necessity were then introduced. Existing market-places were improved, new ones were opened in Tondo and the Walled City; an excellent slaughter-house was established; the Bridge of Spain was widened; a splendidly-equipped fire-engine and brigade service, with 150 fire-alarm boxes about the city and suburbs, was organized and is doing admirable work; roads in the distant suburbs were put in good condition, and the reform which all Manila was looking forward to, namely, the repair of the roads and pavements in the Escolta, the Rosario, and other principal thoroughfares in the heart of the business quarter of Binondo, was postponed for six years. Up to the middle of 1904 they were in a deplorable condition. The sensation, whilst in a gig, of rattling over the uneven stone blocks was as if the whole vehicle might at any moment be shattered into a hundred fragments. The improvement has come at last, and these streets are now almost of a billiard-table smoothness. The General Post Office has been removed from the congested thoroughfare of the Escolta to a more commodious site. Electric tramcars, in supersession of horse-traction, run through the city and suburbs since April 10, 1905. Electric lighting, initiated in Spanish times, is now in general use, and electric fans--a poor substitute for the punkah--work horizontally from the ceilings of many shops, offices, hotels, and private houses. In the residential environs of the city many acres of ground have been covered with new houses; the once respectable quarter of Sampaloc [233] has lost its good name since it became the favourite haunt of Asiatic and white prostitutes who were not tolerated in Spanish times. On the other hand, the suburbs of Ermita and Malate, which are practically a continuation of Manila along the seashore from the Luneta Esplanade, are becoming more and more the fashionable residential centre. About Sampaloc there is a little colony of Japanese shopkeepers, and another group of Japanese fishermen inhabits Tondo. The Japanese have their Consulate in Manila since the American advent, their suburban Buddhist temple was inaugurated in San Roque on April 22, 1905, and in the same year there was a small Japanese banking-house in the suburb of Santa Cruz.

The Bilibid Jail has been reformed almost beyond recognition as the old Spanish prison. A great wall runs through the centre, dividing the long-term from the short-term prisoners. In the centre is the sentry-box, and from this and all along the top of the wall every movement of the prisoners can be watched by the soldier on guard. Nevertheless, a batch of convicts occasionally breaks jail, and those who are not shot down escape. Gangs of them are drafted off for road-making in the provinces, where, on rare occasions, a few have been able to escape and rejoin the brigands. In March, 1905, a squad of 42 convicts working in Albay Province made a dash for freedom, and 40 of them got away.

With the liberty accorded them under the new dominion the Filipinos have their freemason lodges and numerous casinos. [234] There are American clubs for all classes of society--the "Army and Navy," the "University," the "United States," a dozen other smaller social meeting-houses, and societies with quaint denominations such as "Knights of Pythias," "Haymakers," "Red Cloud Tribe," "Knights of the Golden Eagle," etc. Other nationalities have their clubs too; the Cercle Francais is now located in Calle Alcala; the English Club, which was formerly at Nagtajan on the river-bank, has been removed to Ermita on the seashore, and under the new regime the Chinese have their club-house, opened in 1904, in Calle Dasmarinas, where a reception was given to the Gov.-General and the elite of Manila society. The entertainment was very sumptuous, the chief attractions being the fantastic decorations, the gorgeous "joss house" to a dead hero, and the chapel in honour of the Virgin del Pilar.

Several new theatres have been opened, the leading one being the National, now called the "Grand Opera House"; comedy is played at the Paz; the Zorrilla (of former times) is fairly well-built, but its acoustic properties are extremely defective, and the other playhouses are, more properly speaking, large booths, such as the Libertad, the Taft, the Variedades, and the Rizal. In the last two very amusing Tagalog plays are performed in dialect. There is one large music-hall, and a number of cinematograph shows combined with variety entertainments.

There are numerous second- and third-rate hotels in the city and suburbs. The old "Fonda Lala," which existed for many years in the Plaza del Conde, Binondo, as the leading hotel in Spanish days, is now converted into a large bazaar, called the "Siglo XX.," and its successor, the "Hotel de Oriente," was purchased by the Insular Government for use as public offices. The old days of comfortable hackney-carriages in hundreds about the Manila streets, at 50 cents Mex. an hour, are gone for ever. One may now search hours for one, and, if found, have to pay four or five times the old tariff. Besides the fact that everything costs more, the scarcity is due to Surra (vide p. 336), which has enormously reduced the pony stock. There are occasionally sales of American horses, and it is now one of the novelties to see them driven in carriages, and American ladies riding straddle-legged on tall hacks. In Spanish days no European gentleman or lady could be seen in a carromata [235] (gig) about Manila; now this vehicle is in general use for both sexes of all classes. Bicycles were known in the Islands ten years ago, but soon fell into disuse on account of the bad roads; however, this means of locomotion is fast reviving.

The Press is represented by a large number of American, Spanish and dialect newspapers. These last were not permitted in Spanish times.

Innumerable laundries, barbers' shops, Indian and Japanese bazaars, shoe-black stalls, tailors' shops, book-shops, restaurants, small hotels, sweetmeat stalls, newspaper kiosks, American drinking-bars, etc., have much altered the appearance of the city. The Filipino, who formerly drank nothing but water, now quaffs his iced keg-beer or cocktail with great gusto, but civilization has not yet made him a drunkard. American drinking-shops, or "saloons," as they call them, are all over the place, except in certain streets in Binondo, where they have been prohibited, as a public nuisance, since April 1, 1901. It was ascertained at the time of the American occupation that there were 2,206 native shops in Manila where drinks were sold, yet no native was ever seen drunk. This number was compulsorily reduced to 400 for a native population of about 190,000, whilst the number of "saloons" on February 1, 1900, was 224 for about 5,000 Americans (exclusive of soldiers, who presumably would not be about the drinking-bars whilst the war was on). But "saloon" licences are a large source of revenue to the municipality, the cost being from $1,200 gold downwards per annum. A "saloon," however, cannot now be established in defiance of the general wishes of the neighbours. There is a law (similar in spirit to the proposed Option Law in England) compelling the intending "saloon" keeper to advertise in several papers for several days his intention to open such a place, so that the public may have an opportunity of opposing that intention if they desire to do so.

The American advent has abolished the peaceful solitude of the Walled City where, in Spanish days, dwelt the friar in secluded sanctity--where dignitaries and officials were separated by a river from the bubbling world of money-makers. An avalanche of drinking-bars, toilet-saloons, restaurants, livery stables, and other catering concerns has invaded the ancient abodes of men who made Philippine history. The very names of the city streets remind one of so many episodes in the Islands' progress towards civilization that to-day one is led to pause in pensive silence before the escutcheon above the door of what was once a noble residence, to read below a wall-placard, "Horses and buggies for hire. The best turn-out in the city. Telephone No. ----." This levelling spirit is gradually converting the historic Walled City into a busy retail trading-centre. For a long time the question of demolishing the city walls has been debated. Surely those who advocate the destruction of this fine historical monument cannot be of that class of Americans whose delight is to travel thousands of miles, at great expense, only to glance at antiquities not more interesting, in the possession of others, and who would fain transport Shakespeare's house bodily to American soil. The moat surrounding the Walled City is already being filled up, but posterity will be grateful for the preservation of those ancient bulwarks--landmarks of a decadent but once glorious civilization. Most of the Spanish feast-days have been abolished, including the St. Andrew's day (vide Li-ma-hong, p. 50), and the following have been officially substituted, viz.:--

New Year's Day January 1 Washington's birthday February 22 Holy Thursday -- -- Good Friday -- -- Decoration Day May 31 Independence Day July 4 Occupation Day August 13 Thanksgiving Day November 24 Christmas Day December 25 Rizal Day December 30

Manila was formerly the capital of the province of that name, as well as the Philippine metropolis. Since the American occupation the city and suburbs form a kind of federal zone; what was once Manila Province is now known as Rizal Province, and with it is incorporated that territory formerly designated Morong District, the capital town of this newly-created province being Pasig.

The Municipal Board of Manila is composed of five persons, namely a Philippine mayor and one Philippine and three American members, who are practically all nominees of the Insular Government. The emolument of the mayor and of each member is $4,500. The Board, assisted by a staff of 20 persons, native and American, has the control of the ten following departments, viz.:--Police, Fire, Law, Police Courts, Justice of the Peace Courts, Public Works, Assessments and Collections, Deeds Register, City Schools, and Sheriff's Office connected with the government of the federal zone of Manila.

Manila is the seat of the Insular Government, which comprises (1) the Philippine Commission (Legislative), composed of eight members, of whom five (including the president) are Americans and three are Filipinos; (2) the Civil Commission (Executive), the president of which holds the dual office of President of the Philippine Commission and Gov.-General, whilst the four secretaries of Interior, Finance and Justice, Public Instruction, and Commerce and Police are those same Americans who hold office as members of the Philippine Commission. The Philippine Commission is empowered to pass statutes, subject to ratification by Congress, the enacting clause being, By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission. The Insular Government communicates with the Washington Government through the Department of the Secretary of State for War.

Up to the end of 1904 the chief authority in these Islands was styled the "Civil Governor." Thenceforth, by special Act of Congress, the title was changed to that of "Governor-General."

The Emoluments of the Members of the Insular Government, the Chiefs of Departments, and the principal officers are as follows, viz. [236]:--

$ gold President of the Philippine and Civil Commissions 20,000 Four American Members of the Philippine Commission, ex-officio Members of the Civil Commission each 15,500 Three Philippine Members of the Philippine Commission each 5,000

Departments

Architecture Bureau Chief 4,000 Archives, Patents, Copyright and Trade Marks Chief 3,000 Agriculture Bureau Chief 4,000 Audit Office Auditor 7,000 Bilibid Prison Warden 3,000 [237] Civil Service Board Chief Examiner 4,000 Court of First Instance, Manila each Judge 5,500 Court of First Instance, provincial Judge $4,500 to 5,000 Court of Land Registration Judge 5,000 Court of Customs Appeal Judge 4,500 Civil Hospital Chief Physician 3,000 Civil Sanatorium (Benguet) Chief Physician 2,400 Constabulary Executive Officer 5,500 Coast Guard and Transport Office Chief (Navy pay) -- Cold Storage and Ice-Plant Superintendent 3,600 Customs and Immigration Collector of Customs 7,000 Engineering Department Consulting Engineer 5,000 Ethnological Survey Chief 3,500 Education Department Gen. Superintendent 6,000 Forestry Bureau Chief 3,000 Laboratories (Gov.) Superintendent 6,000 Manila Port Works Chief (Army pay) -- Mining Bureau Chief 3,000 Non-Christian Tribes Bureau -- -- Official Gazette, The Editor 1,800 Purchasing Agent -- 4,500 Public Lands Office Chief 3,200 Public Health Commissioner 3,500 Public Printing Office Public Printer 4,000 Post Office Director 6,000 Public Lands Chief 3,200 Supreme Court Chief Justice [238] 7,500 Supreme Court each associate Judge 7,000 Treasury Office Treasurer 7,000 Weather Bureau Director 2,500

The total cost of the Civil Service for the year 1903 amounted to 8,014,098.77 pesos (vide "Official Gazette," Vol. II., No. 8, dated February 4, 1904), equal to $4,007,049.38 gold.

At the time of the American occupation (1898) the Government was necessarily military, the first governor being Maj.-General Elwell S. Otis up to May 5, 1900, when he returned to America and was immediately succeeded by Maj.-General Arthur McArthur. On January 20, 1899, during General Otis's governorship, a Commission of Inquest was appointed under the presidency of Dr. Jacob Gould Schurman known as the Schurman Commission, which arrived in Manila on May 2 to investigate the state of affairs in the Islands. The Commission was instructed to "endeavour, without interference with the military authorities of the United States now in control in the Philippines, to ascertain what amelioration in the condition of the inhabitants and what improvements in public order may be practicable." The other members of the Commission were Rear-Admiral George Dewey, Charles Denby, Maj.-General Elwell S. Otis, and Dean C. Worcester. Admiral Dewey, however, was soon relieved of his obligation to remain on the Commission, and sailed from Manila on May 19 on the Olympia for New York, via Europe. The commissioners' inquiries into everything concerning the Islands, during their few months' sojourn, are embodied in a published report, dated December 20, 1900. [239] The War of Independence was being waged during the whole time, and military government, with full administrative powers, continued, as heretofore, until September 1, 1900. In the meantime the Washington Government resolved that military rule in the Islands should be superseded by civil government. The pacified provinces, and those in conditions considered fit for civil administration, were to be so established, and pending the conclusion of the war and the subsidence of brigandage, the remainder of the Archipelago was to be administered as military districts. With this end in view, on March 16, 1900, Judge William H. Taft [240] was commissioned to the Islands and sailed from San Francisco (Cal.) with his four colleagues, on April 15, for Manila, where he arrived on June 3. In the three months' interval, pending the assumption of legislative power, the Taft Commission was solely occupied in investigating conditions. To each commissioner certain subjects were assigned; for example, Mr. Taft took up the Civil Service, Public Lands, and the Friar questions. Each commissioner held a kind of Court of Inquiry, before which voluntary evidence was taken. This testimony, later on, appeared in print, and its perusal shows how difficult indeed it must have been for the Commission to have distinguished the true from the false, the valuable from the trivial. It was the beginning of the end of military rule in the Islands. "The days of the Empire," as the military still designate that period, were numbered, and yet not without regret by several native communities, as evidenced by the fact that they sent petitions to the authorities in Manila against the change to civil government. Many law-abiding natives explained to me that the feature in military rule which particularly pleased them was its prompt action--such a contrast to the only civil government of which they had had any experience. About two years later, in 1903, Lieut.-Gen. Miles, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army, made a tour in the Islands and drew up a report on the conduct of military operations, charging military officers with the grossest cruelty to the natives. A Senate Commission of Inquest was appointed, but it was quite impossible to prove anything conclusively on unimpeachable evidence; the general retired from his command without the blessing of his comrades, and the matter was abated.

The Philippine Commission commenced its functions as the legislative body, with limitary executive powers in addition, on September 1, 1900, the military governor continuing as the Chief Executive until July 4, 1901. Up to that date the civil executive authority in the organized provinces was vested in the military governor. From that date Maj.-General Adna R. Chaffee relieved Maj.-General McArthur in the sole capacity of commander-in-chief of the military division, the full executive civil power having been transferred to the Civil Commission, and thenceforth the Insular Government became constituted as it is at present. Governor Taft pursued his investigations until February, 1901, when he started on a provincial tour, heard opinions, and tendered the hand of peace. Municipalities united at certain centres to meet him; the rich vied with each other to regale him royally; the crowd flocked in from all parts to greet him; the women smiled in their gala dresses; the men were obsequiousness itself; delicate viands were placed before him, and, like every other intelligent traveller in these Islands, he was charmed by that distinguishing trait of the Luzon Islanders--that hospitality which has no parity elsewhere, and for which words cannot be found adequately to describe it to the reader. As Governor Taft himself said truly, "When a Filipino who has a house says it is yours, he turns out his family and puts you in." [241] Governor Taft's reception was only that which had been accorded to many a personage before his day, travelling in a style befitting his rank. He returned to Manila, captivated by the fascinating side of Philippine character: the reverse side he could never know by personal experience, and the natives secured in him a champion of their cause--"Philippines for the Filipinos." The main object of his official progress was to collect information for new legislation anent the municipalities. Civil government was rapidly established in all the provinces which were peaceful and otherwise suitable for it. The War of Independence was drawing to a close (April, 1902), and meanwhile Governor Taft made tours to Negros, Cebu, and other islands to explain and inaugurate the new regime based on President McKinley's Instructions to the Taft Commission, dated April 7, 1900. Governor Taft's administration was signalized by his complacency towards the natives, his frequent utterances favourable to their aspirations, and his discouragement of those Americans who sought to make quick fortunes and be gone. But there were other Americans than these, and his favourite theme, "Philippines for the Filipinos," aroused unconcealed dissatisfaction among the many immigrants, especially the ex-volunteers, who not unnaturally considered they had won a right to exploit, within reasonable bounds, the "new possession" gained by conquest. Adverse critics contended that he unduly protected the Filipino to the prejudice of the white man's interest. Frank and unfettered encouragement of American enterprise would surely have helped the professed policy of the State, which was to lead the Filipinos to habits of industry; and how could this have been more easily accomplished than by individual example? On the other hand, the Filipinos, in conformity, regarded him as their patron: many were unconsciously drawn to submission by the suavity of his rule, whilst his courtesy towards the vanquished served as the keynote to his countrymen to moderate their antipathy for the native and remove the social barriers to a better understanding. And, in effect, his example did serve to promote a rapprochement between the conquerors and the conquered.

Appointed to the Secretaryship of War, ex-Governor Taft left the Philippines in January, 1904, to take up his new office, and was succeeded in the presidency of the Philippine and Civil Commissions by Mr. Luke E. Wright. [242] On his way back to the United States ex-Governor Taft was entertained by the Emperor of Japan, and on his arrival in his native city of Cincinnati (Ohio) he made a remarkable speech on the subject of the Philippines, the published reports of which contain the following significant passage:--"The Filipinos elected the provincial governor and we appointed the treasurer. We went there to teach the Filipinos honesty, and we appointed American treasurers on the theory that the Americans could not steal. Never, never have I suffered the humiliation that came to me when seventeen of our disbursing officers, treasurers, were found defaulters! They are now in Bilibid prison serving out their twenty-five years."

Since then the Manila Press has recorded many cases of breach of public trust by those who were sent to teach the Islanders how to rule themselves (vide p. 493). The financial loss arising from malfeasance on the part of any civil servant is made good to the Treasury by a Guarantee Society, which gives a bond in each case, whilst it takes years to recover the consequent loss of prestige to the State. The obvious remedy for this state of things would be the establishment in America of a Colonial Civil Service into which only youths would be admitted for training in the several departments. Progressive emolument, with the prospect of a long, permanent career and a pension at the end of it would be inducements to efficiency and moral stability.

The Philippine Civil Service is open to all United States citizens and Filipinos between the ages of 18 and 40 years in accordance with Philippine Commission Act No. 5, known as the "Civil Service Act," passed September 19, 1900. The service is divided into "classified" and "unclassified." The former division is strictly subject to the provisions of the above Act; the latter indicates the positions which may be filled by appointment without subjection to the provisions of the said Act. The Act declares its purpose to be "the establishment and maintenance of an efficient and honest civil service in the Philippine Islands." American soldiers who have less than six months to serve can apply for permission to be examined for the civil service. The Act does not include examination for civil positions in the Military Division of the Islands, but the Civil Service Board is empowered to hold such examinations to fill vacancies as they may occur in the nine military departments which employ civilians. General examinations, some in English only, others in Spanish only, or both, are held every Monday, and special examinations which include those for scientific, professional, and technical positions are taken on specified dates. The commencing salaries of the positions offered range from $1,200 downwards. Medical attendance is furnished gratis, and the minimum working time is six and a half hours per day, except from April 1 until June 15--the hottest weather--when the minimum working day is five hours. American women are employed in the Post Office.

The Civil Commission is located in the Walled City in the building which was formerly the Town Hall, a new Town Hall having been built outside the walls. Occasionally, when public interest is much aroused on the subject of a proposed measure, the Commission announces that a public conference will be held for the expression of opinion thereon. A few persons state their views before the Commissioners, who rebut them seance tenante, and the measure, as proposed, usually becomes law, unless outside agitation and popular clamour induce the Commissioners to modify it. At times the proceedings have been enlivened by sparkling humour. A worthy and patriotic Filipino once gravely prefaced his speech thus:--"I rise to speak, inspired by Divine Right"--but he had to wait until the roars of laughter had subsided. When the "Sedition Act" was being discussed, a less worthy auditor declared assassination of the Chief of a State to be merely a political offence. He expected to go to prison and pose as a martyr-patriot, but the Commission very rightly damped his ambition by declaring him to be a fool irresponsible for his acts.

Philippine Commission Acts are passed with great rapidity, amended and re-amended, sometimes several times, to the bewilderment of the public. Out of 862 Acts passed up to the end of 1903, 686 of them were amended (some five times) and on 782 no public discussion was allowed. The "Internal Revenue Law of 1904" had not been in force nine months when it was amended (March, 1905) by another law. By Philippine Commission Acts Nos. 127 and 128 the limits of the Surigao and Misamis provinces were defined and afterwards upset by Act No. 787. The policy of the Americans anent the Philippines was continually shifting during the first five years of their occupation, and only since ex-Governor Taft became Secretary of War does it seem to have assumed a somewhat more stable character.

The Archipelago is divided into 41 provinces (exclusive of the Moro Province, vide p. 577), all under civil rule, in accordance with Congress Act of July 1, 1902, and War Office Order of July 4, 1902, whereby the remainder of military government ceased. In June, 1904, nearly all the above 41 provinces had native governors with salaries ranging from $3,000 gold downwards. In most of these provinces the native governor and two American officials of about equal rank, such as the Treasurer and the Supervisor, form a Provincial Council, but the member who disagrees with the vote of the other two can appeal to the Gov.-General. After the War of Independence several insurgent chiefs were appointed to provincial governments; for instance, Cailles in La Laguna, Trias in Cavite, Climaco in Cebu, etc. For obvious reasons the system is advantageous. Juan Cailles, Governor of La Laguna, is the son of a Frenchman who married a native in one of the French colonies and then settled in these Islands. For some time Juan Cailles was registered at the French Consulate as a French citizen. As commander of the insurgents of La Laguna and Tayabas during the War of Independence, he maintained strict discipline in his troops, and energetically drew the line between legitimate warfare and common freebooting.

The provincial governor may be either elected or appointed by the Civil Commission. If he be a Filipino, he is usually elected by vote of the vice-presidents (ex-mayors) and municipal councillors of the province. The mayor of a municipality is styled "Presidente." Every male over twenty-three years of age who pays taxes amounting to 30 pesos, or who possesses 500 pesos' value of goods is eligible for election by vote of the townspeople. He holds office for two years, but can be re-elected for a consecutive term. The municipalities are of four classes according to their importance, the mayor's salary being as follows, viz.: First class, 1,200 pesos; second class, 1,000 pesos; third class, 800 pesos; and fourth class, 600 pesos. Provincial justices of the peace are paid by litigants' fees only. For municipal improvements, or other urgent necessity, the Insular Government, from time to time, grants loans to municipalities, repayable with interest. In some cases two or more towns have been wisely merged into one municipality: for instance, Cauit, Salinas, and Novaleta (Cavite) go together; Baliuag, Bustos, and San Rafael (Bulacan) form one; Barasoain and Malolos (Bulacan) are united; as are also Taal and Lemery (Batangas). By Philippine Commission Act No. 719 the 51 municipalities of Yloilo Province were reduced to 17.

Malolos is the new capital of Bulacan Province, and the two former provinces of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur are now one, under the name of Ambos Camarines. In the dependent wards of towns (barrios) the municipal police are practically the only official representatives; the post of lieutenant (teniente de barrio) is gratis and onerous, and few care to take it.

The Guardia Civil or Rural Guard of Spanish times has been superseded by the Philippine Constabulary under the supreme and independent command of a cavalry captain (U.S.A.) holding local rank of Brig.-General. In the private opinion of many regular army officers, this force ought to be under the control of the Division Commander. The officers are American, European, and Philippine. The privates are Filipinos, and the whole force is about 7,000 strong. The function of this body is to maintain order in rural districts. For some time there were cases of batches of the rank-and-file passing over to the brigands whom they were sent to disperse or capture. However, this disturbing element has been gradually eliminated, and the Philippine Constabulary has since performed very useful service. Nevertheless, many educated natives desire its improvement or suppression, on account of the alleged abuse of functions to the prejudice of peaceful inhabitants (vide p. 550).

Co-operating with municipal police and the Philippine Constabulary there is an organized Secret Police Service. It is a heterogeneous band of many nationalities, including Asiatics, which, as an executive force to investigate crimes known to have been committed, renders good service; as an initiative force, with power, with or without authority, to molest peaceful citizens in quest of imaginary misdemeanours, in order to justify the necessity of its employment, it is an unwelcome institution to all, especially the lower-middle and common classes, amongst whom it can operate with greater impunity.

Not unfrequently when a European nation acquires a new tropical possession, the imaginative mind discovers therein unbounded wealth which the eye cannot see, hidden stores of gold procurable only by manual labour, and fortune-making possibilities awaiting whosoever has the courage to reveal them. The propagation of these fallacious notions always allures to the new territory a crowd of ne'er-do-wells, amongst the bona fide workers, who ultimately become loafers preying upon the generosity of the toilers. This class was not wanting in the Philippines; some had followed the army; others who had finished their term of voluntary military service elected to remain in the visionary El Dorado. Some surreptitiously opened drinking-shanties; others exploited feminine frailty or eked out an existence by beggarly imposition, and it was stated by a provincial governor that, to his knowledge, at one time, there were 80 of this class in his province. [243] The number of undesirables was so great that it became necessary for the Insular Government to pass a Vagrant Act, under which the loafer could be arrested and disposed of. The Act declares vagrancy to be a misdemeanour, and provides penalties therefor; but it has always been interpreted in a generous spirit of pity for the delinquent, to whom the option of a free passage home or imprisonment was given, generally resulting in his quitting the Islands. This measure, which brought honour to its devisers and relief to society, was, in a few instances, abused by those who feigned to be vagrants in order to secure the passage home, but these were judiciously dealt with by a regulation imposing upon them a short period of previous training in stone-breaking to fit them for active life in the homeland.

The following General Order was issued by the Division Commander in January, 1905, viz.:--

It is reported by the Civil Governor that in several places in Luzon there have gathered numbers of dishonourably discharged men from the army who are a hindrance to progress and good order. The Division Commander desires that in future no dishonourably discharged soldiers be allowed to remain in the Islands, where their presence is very undesirable. It is therefore directed that, in acting on cases where the sentence is dishonourable discharge without confinement, the dishonourable discharge be made to take effect after arrival in San Francisco, where the men so discharged should be sent by first transport.

The Philippine Archipelago is a military division under the supreme command of a Maj.-General. The commanders, since the taking of Manila (1898), have been successively Maj.-Generals Merritt, Otis, McArthur, Chaffee, Davis, Wade, Corbin, and Wood.

The Division is administratively subdivided into three departments, namely Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the two former being commanded by Brig.-Generals and the last by a Maj.-General.

The Department of Luzon, headquarters at Manila, includes the following principal islands, viz. Luzon, Catanduanes, Romblon, Masbate, Marinduque, Mindoro, Sibuyan, Polillo, Ticao, Tablas, Lucbang, and Burias.

The Department of Visayas, headquarters at Yloilo, embraces the islands of Cebu, Negros, Panay, Leyte, Samar, and Bojol.

The Department of Mindanao, headquarters at Zamboanga, includes all the remaining islands of the Philippine Archipelago.

STATEMENT OF ARMY STRENGTH IN THE PHILIPPINES ON JUNE 30, 1904 [244]

Present Absent Present and Absent Officers. Troops. Officers. Troops. Officers. Troops.

General Officers 5 0 0 0 5 0 Gen. Staff Officers 45 0 4 0 49 0 Non-Com Officers at posts 0 109 0 0 0 109 Medical Department 93 919 10 0 103 919 [245]Contract Surgeons 63 0 22 0 85 0 [245]Contract Dental Surgeons 17 0 0 0 17 0 Engineers 25 395 1 7 26 402 Signal Corps 7 353 2 1 9 354 Ordnance Corps 2 49 0 2 2 51 Officers temporarily in the Division 33 0 0 0 33 0 Total Cavalry 172 2,903 27 32 199 2,935 Total Artillery 9 293 3 0 12 293 Total Infantry 356 7,020 78 70 434 7,090

Total American Forces 827 12,041 147 112 974 12,153 Philippine Scouts 77 4,565 23 413 100 4,978

Total Strength 904 16,606 170 525 1,074 17,131

Besides the American troops, there is a voluntary enlistment of Filipinos, forming the Philippine Scout Corps, a body of rural police supplementary to the constabulary, commanded by a major and 100 American first and second lieutenants. Until recently the troops were stationed over the Islands in 98 camps and garrison towns, as follows, viz.:--In the Department of Luzon 76, Visayas 8, and Mindanao 14; but this number is now considered unnecessarily large and is being reduced to effect economy.

The Army, Navy, and Philippine Scouts expenses are entirely defrayed by the United States Treasury. A military prison is established in the little Island of Malahi, in the Laguna de Bay, whence the escape of a prisoner is signalled by three shots from a cannon, and whoever captures him receives a $30-reward. As the original notice to this effect required the recovery of the prisoner "alive or dead," two armed natives went in pursuit of an American soldier. To be quite sure of their prey they adopted the safe course of killing him first. Such an unexpected interpretation of the notice as the grim spectacle of an American's head was naturally repugnant to the authorities, and the "alive or dead" condition was thenceforth expunged.

Chapter XXIX

The Land of the Moros "Allah Akbar!"

The Military Department of Mindanao comprises the large island of that name and the adjacent insular territories inhabited chiefly by Mahometans, called by the Christians Moros (vide p. 129, et seq.).

The natural features of these southern islands are, in general, similar to those of the other large islands of the Archipelago, but being peopled by races (exclusive of the settlers) of different habits, customs, religions, and languages, some aggressively savage and warlike, others more or less tractable, but all semi-civilized, the social aspect is so distinct from that of the islands inhabited by the Christian Filipinos as almost to appear like another quarter of the tropical globe.

Early in the year 1899 General John C. Bates was appointed to the command of the Mahometan islands. In Mindanao Island there was no supreme chieftain with whom to treat for the gradual introduction of civilization and American methods, the whole territory being parcelled out and ruled by petty Sultans, Dattos or chiefs, in separate independence. In the Lake Lanao district, for instance, there is at least one Datto for every 50 men. The only individual who had any pretence to general control of the Mahometan population was Hadji [246] Mohammad Jamalul Kiram, the Sultan of Sulu [247] (vide p. 141). Therefore, in August, 1899, General Bates and this petty prince made an agreement which was ratified by Congress on February 1 following, on the recommendation of the Schurman Commission (vide p. 562), and thenceforth came into force. The principal conditions of this convention were: (1) The Sultan's dignity and certain monopoly rights were recognized under American suzerainty. (2) An annual pension of 3,000 pesos was secured to him, and annual salaries ranging from 180 to 900 pesos were to be paid to eight of his Dattos and one priest. (3) A Moro accused of crime was to be tried by a Moro judge, the maximum penalty for murder being fixed at 105 pesos (equal to about ten guineas), which was a fair price in this region, from the Moro point of view, for life here is held very cheap. (4) Absconding Americans or Sulus were to be mutually surrendered. (5) The Americans were (a) to protect the Sultan against encroachments by foreigners or European nations; (b) not to take arms against the Sulus without consulting the Sultan; (c) not to transfer their dominion over Jolo to others except in agreement with the Sultan; (d) to be at liberty to occupy any place in the Sultan's domains without trespassing on lands about the royal residence, except as a military necessity of war with a foreign Power; (e) not to interfere with the Mahometan religion, or its rites, or its customs; (f) not to travel about Sulu Island without the permission of the Sultan, who would provide an escort. (6) The American flag was to be used on land and at sea. (7) The Sulus were to be free to carry their native arms. (8) The Sultan was at liberty to collect tribute everywhere in his domains, and to have the right of direct intercourse with the American Gov.-General.

In consideration of the above, the Sultan undertook to maintain order between his Dattos, to repress internecine warfare, and gradually to abolish slavery throughout his jurisdiction.

Apparently the Sultan entered into the agreement much in the spirit of Mr. Micawber, who signed the I.O.U.'s and thanked God his debts were paid. The ruler of Sulu was not over-willing and far less able to give effect to its conditions, his power being more nominal than real in his own possessions, and in Mindanao almost nil. Nevertheless, it was a politic measure on the Americans' part, because its non-fulfilment opened the way for the adoption, with every appearance of justification, of more direct and coercive intervention in the affairs of this region. General Bates was succeeded by other generals in the command of this district, without any very visible progress towards definite pacification and subjection to civilization. The military posts on the coasts, evacuated by the Spaniards, were occupied by American troops and new ones were created, but every attempt to establish law and order beyond their limits, on the white man's system, was wasted effort. When the Spanish-American War broke out, the Spanish military authorities were on the point of maturing a plan for the final conquest of Mindanao. Due to the persistent activity of my old friend General Gonzalez Parrado, they had already achieved much in the Lake Lanao district, through the Marahui campaign. On the evacuation of the Spaniards the unrestrained petty chiefs were like lions released from captivity. Blood-shed, oppression, extortion, and all the instinctive habits of the shrewd savage were again rife. A preconcerted plan of campaign brings little definite result; it never culminates in the attainment of any final issue, for, on the native side, there is neither union of tribes nor any combined organized attempt at even guerilla warfare, hence the destruction of a cotta or the decimation of a clan has no immediate and lasting moral effect on the neighbouring warlike tribe. Life is cheap among them; a Moro thinks no more about lopping off another's head than he does about pulling a cocoanut from the palm-tree. The chief abhors the white man because he interferes with the chief's living by the labour of his tribe, and the tribesman himself is too ignorant even to contemplate emancipation. Subservience to the bidding of the wily Datto, poverty, squalidity, and tribal warfare for bravado or interest seem as natural to the Moro as the sight of the rising sun. Hence, when the Americans resolved to change all this and marched into the tribal territories for the purpose, the war-gongs rallied the fighting-men to resist the dreaded foe, unconscious of his mission of liberty under the star-spangled banner. The sorrows or the joys of one tribe are no concern of the other; thus there was seldom, if ever, any large combination of forces, and the Americans might be fighting hard in the Taraca country, or around the Lanao Lake, whilst the neighbouring clan silently and doggedly awaited its turn for hostilities. The signal for the fray would be the defiant reply of a chief to the Americans' message demanding submission, or a voluntary throwing down of the gauntlet to the invader, for the Moro is valiant, and knows no cringing cowardice before the enemy. Troops would be despatched to the cotta, or fortress, of the recalcitrant ruler, whence the lantaca cannon would come into action, whilst the surging mob of warriors would open fire in squads, or rush forward in a body, barong or kris in hand, only to be mown down, or put to flight and the cotta razed to the ground. A detailed account of the military operations in these islands would be but a tedious recital of continuous struggles with the irresistible white man. In Mindanao, the Malanao tribes, occupying the northern regions around the Lake Lanao districts, seem to have offered the most tenacious resistance. On April 5, 1902, a fierce encounter with the Bacolod tribes ended with their fort being destroyed, 120 Moros killed, and 11 Americans wounded. In the following month the bloody battle of Bayan brought such disastrous results to the natives that they willingly accepted peace for the time being. In the Taraca River engagement, 10 cottas were destroyed, 250 Moros were killed, 52 were taken prisoners, and the booty amounted to 36 cannon and 60 rifles. The Moros possessed a large number of Remington rifles, looted from the Spaniards, on whom they had often made surprise raids. The Bacolod and the Taraca tribes, although frequently defeated, gave much trouble long after the other districts had been forced into submission.

One of the most exciting expeditions was that of Lieutenant Forsyth, who went out reconnoitring with 15 men, marching from Parang-Parang Camp northwards. Moros came to meet him on the way to warn him not to advance, but Forsyth bravely pushed on until his party, surrounded by hundreds of hostile natives, was almost all destroyed. Forsyth and his fellow-survivors fled into an unknown region, where they lost themselves, and all would have perished had they not been befriended by a Datto who enabled them to get back. Then Colonel (now Brig.-General) F. D. Baldwin set out from Malabang Camp in May, attacked and captured the cottas of the Datto of Binadayan and the Sultan of Bayan on Lake Lanao, and gained a signal victory over them with a loss of seven killed and 44 wounded. Lieutenant Forsyth's horses and rifles were recovered, and the Moros suffered so severely in this engagement that it was hardly thought they would rise again. In consequence of this humiliation of the great Sultan of Bayan, many minor Lake Dattos voluntarily cultivated friendly relations with the Americans. Even among the recalcitrant chiefs there was a lull in their previous activity until they suddenly swept down on the American troops twelve times in succession, killing four and wounding 12 of them. The whole Lanao Lake district was in a ferment when, on September 28, 1902, Captain John J. Pershing was detached from Baldwin's force to lead another expedition against them "composed of a battalion of the 7th Infantry, a troop of the 15th Cavalry, and two platoons of the 25th Field Artillery." [248] Pershing inflicted such a crushing defeat on the Macui Moros, destroying many of their strongholds, one Sultan and a large number of his warriors, that he was hailed with delight as the pacifier of Mindanao. The expedition returned with a total loss of only two Americans wounded, and after Pershing's heroic exploit, not only was it in the mouth of every one, "there is peace in Mindanao," but in the Report of the Secretary of War for 1902, p. 19, there is a paragraph beginning thus:--"Now that the insurrection has been disposed of we shall be able to turn our attention, not merely to the slave trade, but to the already existing slavery among the Moros." But peace was by no means assured, and again Captain J. J. Pershing distinguished himself as the successful leader of an expedition in the Marahui district. Starting from Camp Vicars [249] on April 5, 1903, with 150 men, Maxim guns, mortars, and artillery, his instructions were to "explore" the north and west coast of Lake Lanao, but to overcome any opposition offered. It was quite expected that his progress would be challenged, hence the warlike preparations. Arrived at Sugud, the Moros kept up a constant fire from the hills on the American front. On the high ridge running down to the lake the Bacolod fort was clearly seen flying the battle flags of defiance. On the battlements there was a yelling crowd of Moros beating their gongs, rushing to and fro, flourishing their weapons, and firing their lantaca cannon towards the Americans; but the range was too great to have any effect. The artillery was brought into action, forcing many of the Moros to try their fortunes in the open; but again and again they were repulsed, and by nightfall the Bacolod ridge was occupied by the troops. The next morning the mortars were brought into play, and shells were dropped into the fort during all that day and night. On the third day Captain Pershing decided to storm the fort; bridges were constructed across the ravines, Maxim guns poured shot through the loopholes, and finally an assault party of 10 men rushed across the bridge and climbed the parapet, where they were met by the Moros, with whom they had a desperate hand-to-hand fight. It was a fine display of American pluck. The attacking party was quickly supported by more troops, who either killed or captured the defenders. Finally all the combustible portion of the fort was burnt to the ground, 12 cannon were captured, and about 60 Moros were slain. The demolition of Bacolod fort was a great surprise to the Moros, who had considered it impregnable, whilst the defeat of the savage Sultan (the Panandungan) destroyed for ever his former unlimited prestige among the tribe. The force was then divided, and before the troops reached camp again there were several smaller fights, including the bombardment of Calahui cotta. The distance traversed by this expedition was about 80 miles, the American losses being one man killed and two officers and 14 men wounded. For this signal victory the War Department cabled its thanks to Captain J. J. Pershing on May 11.

As to the management of the Moros, Captain J. J. Pershing expresses the following just opinion, viz.:--"As far as is consistent with advancement, a government by a Sultan, or a Datto, as the case may be, should be disturbed as little as possible; that is, the people should be managed through the Dattos themselves," etc. [250]

The last general in command of the District of Mindanao, prior to the present constitution of the Moro Province, was Brig.-General Samuel Sumner, who, just before his departure therefrom, wrote as follows, viz.:--"Murder and robbery will take place as long as we are in the country, at least for years to come. The Moro is a savage, and has no idea of law and order as we understand it. Anarchy practically prevails throughout the region. To take power and control away from the Sultans and Dattos until we can inaugurate and put in force a better government would add to the confusion already existing." [251]

The instructions of the President of the United States to the Philippine Commission, dated April 7, 1900, direct as follows, viz.:--"In dealing with the uncivilized tribes of the Islands the Commission shall adopt the same course followed by Congress in permitting the tribes of our North American Indians to maintain their tribal organizations and government, and under which many of those tribes are now living in peace and contentment, surrounded by a civilization to which they are unable or unwilling to conform."

From the American point of view, but not from the Moro way of looking at things, an apparent state of anarchy prevailed everywhere; but the Sultans and the Dattos took very good care not to tolerate what, in Europe, one would term anarchy, tending to subvert the local rule. There is no written code of Moro justice. If a Moro stole a buffalo from another, and the case were brought before the judge, this functionary and the local chief would, by custom, expect to make some profit for themselves out of the dispute. The thief would have to pay a fine to the headman or go into slavery, but having no money he would have to steal it to purchase his freedom. The buffalo being the object of dispute would be confiscated, and to be even with the defendant for the loss of the buffalo, the plantiff would lop off the defendant's head if he were a man of means and could afford to pay 105 pesos fine for his revenge.

The real difficulty was, and still is, that there is no Sultan, or Datto, of very extended authority to lay hold of and subdue, and whose defeat or surrender would entail the submission of a whole district or tribe. The work of subjection has to be performed piecemeal among the hundreds of Dattos, each of whom, by established custom, can only act for himself and his own retainers, for every Datto would resent, at the risk of his life, any dictation from another. All this is extremely irritating to the white commander, who would prefer to bring matters to a definite crisis by one or more decisive contests, impossible of realization, however, in Mindanao or Sulu Islands.

Such was the condition of affairs in the southern extremity of the Archipelago when it was decided to appoint a Maj.-General to command it and create a semi-independent government for its local administration. Maj.-General Leonard Wood [252] was happily chosen for this arduous and delicate task, and on July 25, 1903, he took up his appointment, holding it for about two years, when he was transferred to Manila to command the Division in succession to Maj.-General Henry C. Corbin.

This region, now called the Moro Province, was established under Philippine Commission Act No. 787 of June 1, 1903 (which came into effect on July 15 following), and includes all Mindanao [253] except the larger portion of Misamis Province and all Surigao Province (N. and E.), which are under civil government, [254] the Jolo (Sulu) Archipelago, the Tawi Tawi group, and all the islands south of Lat. 8 deg. N., excepting therefrom Palauan (Paragua) and Balabac Islands and the islands immediately adjacent thereto, but including the Island of Cagayan de Jolo. The seat of government is at Zamboanga, the headquarters of the military district, whose commander (Maj.-General Wood) acted in the dual capacity (but not ex-officio) of military commander and President of the Legislative Council of the Moro Province, which was organized September 2, 1903, and is composed as follows, viz.:--

Legislative Council Emolument

President, the Provincial Governor $6,000 gold (if he be a civilian). [255] Provincial Secretary Not exceeding Provincial Treasurer $4,000 gold Provincial Attorney Provincial Superintendent of Schools Provincial Engineer

The Council has power to enact laws "by authority of and subject to annulment or amendment by the Philippine Commission," and four members of the six constitute a quorum for legislative action. The Provincial Governor is responsible, and must report from time to time to the Gov.-General of the Philippines. The province is sub-divided into five governmental districts, and one sub-district under governors and lieut.-governor respectively. [256]

Districts Emolument of Governor

Zamboanga (including Basilan Is.) Jolo (sulu) (including Tawi Tawi group) Lanao (including Yligan and Lake Lanao) Not exceeding $3,500 Cottabato (including Polloc) gold if he be a civilian. Davao (including Catil)

Dapitan (a sub-district of Zamboanga) Not exceeding $2,000 gold, if he be a civilian.

Each district is controlled by a District Council composed of the governor, the secretary, and the treasurer. At present all the district governors are army officers.

Section 15 of the above Act No. 787 provides that governors and secretaries of districts must learn and pass an examination in the dialects of their localities within 18 months after taking office, or be subject to dismissal.

Under Philippine Commission Act No. 82, entitled "The Municipal Code," amended in its application to the Moro Province by the Legislative Council of the Moro Province Act No. 35, of January 27, 1904, the Moro districts and sub-districts are furthermore sub-divided in the following manner, viz.:--

Municipalities are established in the district or sub-district capital towns, and wherever there is a population sufficiently large and enlightened to be entitled to municipal rights. [257] A president (mayor), vice-president, or councillor must be between twenty-six and sixty-five years of age, and must intelligently speak, read, and write Spanish, English, or the principal local dialect. Ecclesiastics, soldiers in active service, and persons receiving emolument from public funds are debarred from these offices. Every municipal officer must give a bond with two or more sureties equal to at least half of the amount of annual funds which will probably pass through his hands. The maximum salary of a president (mayor) is P1,200, and that of municipal secretary P600. Certain other officers are also paid, but the vice-presidency and councillorships are honorary posts. A person elected to office by the people is not permitted to decline it, except for certain reasons defined in the code, subject to a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment. The mayor's symbol of office is a cane with a silver knob, plated ferrule, and black cord and tassels.

Natives whose habits and social condition will not yet permit their inclusion in a municipality are segregated into Tribal Wards [258] (Legislative Council Act No. 39, of February 19, 1904). The headman is generally the chief recognized by his race or people as such, and is immediately responsible to the district governor by whom he is appointed. His annual salary ranges from P240 to P1,800, and his badge of office is a baldric of red leather with a metal disc, bearing an impression of the Moro Province seal. He and his advisory council perform the usual municipal functions on a minor scale, and are permitted to "conform to the local customs of the inhabitants, unless such customs are contrary to law or repugnant to the usages or moral sense of civilized peoples."

A Tribal Ward is furthermore divided into Tribal Ward Districts. The district headman is the deputy of the tribal ward headman to whom he is immediately responsible. His annual salary ranges from P96 to P600, and his badge of office is a baldric of yellow canvas with a metal disc as mentioned above. The tribal ward headman's district deputies together constitute the police force of the whole ward. Tribal ward headmen and their district deputies are not required to give bond. At any time, on certain conditions, a member of a tribal ward can apply for full citizenship in a municipality. In short, the governmental system adopted is intended to raise the native progressively from savagery to municipal life.

The sources of Revenue are briefly as follows, viz:--

Provincial.--Property tax (7/8 per cent. of assessed value), industrial, cedula (poll tax of 1 peso for each male over 18 years), stamps, court fees, fines, sales of supplies to municipalities, and forestry collection.

Municipal.--Ownership and transfer of cattle, rents and profits, licences, fines and carts.

Customs Revenues in the five ports of entry, viz.:--Jolo, Zamboanga, Cottabato, Siassi, and Bongao.

The Summary of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1904, stands thus:--

Revenue

Provincial Taxes and Forestry payments P114,713.66 Customs Revenue 222,664.39 ---------- P337,378.05

Expenditure

Provincial P174,361.70 Appropriated for Public Works 26,181.76 Customs Expenses 53,170.62 Balance available 83,663.97 ---------- P337,378.05

The maintenance of the Constabulary Force, Post Office Department, and Courts of First Instance in this Province is an Insular Government charge.

The revenue collected within the province (including the customs receipts) is spent therein. No remittance of funds is made to the Insular Treasury, but provincial accounts are subject to Insular Government audit, and have to be rendered to Manila.

The troops assigned to this command are as follows, viz. [259]:--

Armed Forces in the Moro Province. Present and Absent. Officers. Troops.

Regular troops [260] 236 3,766 Contract and Dental Surgeons and attached Staff 25 -- Total American forces 261 3,766 Native troops 11 543

Total Strength, Military District 272 4,309 Philippine Constabulary (Moro and Christian mixed) under Civil Government orders 22 530 --- ----- 294 4,839

On General Wood's recommendation, the Bates Agreement (vide p. 571) was rescinded on the ground that it was an obstacle to good government. In truth, the Sultan of Sulu was probably quite as unable as he was unwilling to carry out its provisions. However, under Philippine Commission Act No. 1259 (amended by Act No. 1320 of April 12, 1905), certain small annual money allowances are made to the present Sultan of Sulu and his principal advisers.

In Mindanao, trouble again arose on the east shore of Lake Lanao, and an expedition was organized to march against the Taracas, who were, however, only temporarily subdued. Defiant messages were sent by the Dattos, and General Wood decided to conduct operations in person. According to private information given to me by officers in Mindanao some months after the battle, immense slaughter was inflicted on this tribe, whose cottas were annihilated, and they were utterly crushed for the time being. About the beginning of 1904 the depredations of the Moros in the upper valley of the Cottabato River were revolting beyond all toleration. Cottabato town was pillaged under the leadership of Datto Ali and of his brother, Datto Djimbangan. In March an expedition invested the Serenaya territory in the Cottabato district and operated from the 4th to the 14th of that month without any American casualties. Datto Ali's fort at Kudarangan was taken and destroyed. [261] This formidable stronghold is described by General Wood thus:--"It was larger than twenty of the largest cottas of the Lake region or Sulu, and would have easily held a garrison of four or five thousand men. It was well located, well built, well armed, and amply supplied with ammunition. There were embrasures for 120 pieces of artillery. Eighty-five pieces were captured, among them many large cannon of from 3 inches to 5 1/2 inches calibre. The other pieces in the work, small lantacas, were carried off or thrown into the river" (vide First Annual Report of the Moro Province).

Datto Ali thenceforth became a fugitive with some 60 armed followers and about a hundred others whom he pressed into his service as carriers. After the battle, Datto Djimbangan, Ali's brother, was taken unawares at his ranche by a detachment of American troops. He was conducted as a prisoner to Cottabato, and in February, 1905, he was transferred to the Zamboanga jail to await his trial for sedition and rebellion. Again the Taracas ventured on a series of attacks on the American military posts in the locality. A body of troops was despatched there in March, and after ten days' operations this tribe was routed and dispersed, the American casualties being two men killed, one drowned, 10 wounded, and one officer slightly wounded. On May 8 a party of 39 men and two officers, reconnoitring about Simbalan, up the Cottabato Valley, was attacked, 13 men being killed, two taken prisoners, six wounded, and the two officers killed. It would appear that the guides were conducting the party safely, when a lieutenant insisted on taking another route and landed his troops in a plateau covered with cogon (pampas-grass) about eight feet high. On emerging from this they all got into a stream, where the Moros suddenly fell upon them. The punitive Simpetan Expedition immediately set out for that district and successfully operated from the 13th to the 28th of May without any American casualties. Datto Ali, who was again on the warpath, is the son-in-law of old Datto Piang, the terror of the neighbourhood in his younger days and also just after the evacuation by the Spaniards. Ali declared that he would not yield to the Americans one iota of his independence, or liberate his slaves, and swore vengeance on all who went in his pursuit. Being the hereditary Datto, the inhabitants of the valley generally sympathized with him, at least passively. In the latter half of 1904, constant endeavour was made to effect the capture of this chieftain, whilst old Datto Piang, the son of a Chinaman with a keen eye to business, supplied the Americans with baggage-carriers at a peso a day per man for the troops sent to hunt down his refractory son-in-law. Active operations were sustained against him, and from the military posts of Malabang (formerly a Moro slave-market) and Parang-Parang on the Illana Bay coast there were continually small punitive parties scouring the district here and there. At the former camp I was the guest of the genial Colonel Philip Reade, in command of the 23rd Infantry, when Lieutenant C. R. Lewis was brought in wounded from a Cottabato River sortie. Colonel Reade, whose regiment had had about the roughest work of any in the Island, had certainly inspired his men with the never-know-when-you-are-beaten spirit, for the report of a reverse set them all longing to be the chosen ones for the next party. But up to July, 1905, Datto Ali had been able to elude capture, although General Wood personally conducted operations against him a year before, establishing his headquarters at Cabacsalan, near the Lake Ligusan.

The most ferocious and arrogant Mindanao tribes occupy regions within easy access of the coast. Perhaps their character is due to their having led more adventurous lives by land and sea for generations, plundering the tribes of the interior and making slave raids in their vintas on the northern islands and christian native coast settlements. In the centre of the Island and around the mountainous region of the Apo the tribes are more peaceful and submissive, without desire or means for warfare. Many of the Bagobo tribe (which I have twice visited), in the neighbourhood of Davao, have come down to settle in villages under American protection, paying only an occasional visit to their tribal territory to make a human sacrifice.

In Basilan Island, a dependency of Zamboanga, about 13 miles distant, Datto Pedro Cuevas accepted the new situation, and under his influence peace was assured among the large Moro population of that island. The history of this man's career bristles with stirring episodes. Born in 1845, of Tagalog parentage, he started life as a Cavite highwayman, but was captured and deported to the agricultural colony of San Ramon, near Zamboanga, where he, with other convicts, attacked and killed three of the European overseers, and Cuevas escaped to Basilan Island. After innumerable difficulties, involving the conquest of a score of villages, he gained the control of a large number of Yacan Moros and became a sort of chief. Some years afterwards the Moros organized an attack on the Christians at Zamboanga and Isabela de Basilan, and Cuevas offered to save the Spaniards on condition of receiving a full pardon. Two Spaniards were accordingly sent as hostages to Cuevas' camp, and after Isabela was freed of the enemy he came to see the Spanish governor. There were several Spaniards present at the interview, and it is related that one of them let slip a phrase implying doubt as to Cuevas' worthiness for pardon, whereupon the undaunted chief remarked, "Sir, I thought I had won my liberty, seeing that, but for me, you would not be alive to accord it." Thenceforth he was always a reliable ally of the Spaniards against Moro incursions. In 1882 Cuevas was opposed by an arrogant Sulu chief, Datto Calun, who challenged him to single combat, and Cuevas having slain his adversary, the tribe of the vanquished warrior, admiring the conqueror's valour, proclaimed him their Datto, which title was acknowledged by Datto Aliudi, the claimant to the Sulu Sultanate. On July 6, 1904, his graceful daughter Urang was married, with Mahometan rites, to a twenty-one-year-old Spanish half-caste, Ramon Laracoechea, who was introduced to me by his father, a very pleasant Vizcayan, resident in the Island since 1876. Educated in Manila, the son speaks English, Spanish, Yacano and Joloano. The festivities lasted for several days, some Americans being among the invited guests. Shortly after this event the Datto, at the age of fifty-nine years, ended his adventurous career in this world, regretted by all. In expectation of the demise of Datto Cuevas, which was anticipated months before, there were three aspirants to the coming vacant dattoship in the persons of the son-in-law, Ramon, Cuevas' nephew, and an American of humble origin and scant education who had married a Zamboanguena woman.

In Sulu Island social conditions were most deplorable. Under the Bates Agreement the Moros became turbulent, and even attempted to take Jolo town by assault. In August, 1903, General Wood went there, and the Dattos having been invited to meet him, quite a crowd of them came, accompanied by about 600 fighting-men in a splendid fleet of armed vintas (war-canoes). Precautions had to be taken against possible treachery, and a company of troops was brought into the town in readiness for any event. The object of the meeting was to discuss the respective limits of the Dattos' spheres, but owing to the haughty, insolent tone of the chiefs, nothing definite was arrived at. When they were invited to state their claims, they arrogantly replied, "We have no information to give. You say you are going to define our limits--well, what have you to tell us? We come to listen, not to talk." Some chiefs, however, feigned to offer their submission, and all was apparently quiet for a time.

Major Hugh L. Scott (14th Cavalry) was then appointed (in September) to the government of that district. The Sultan being too weak to control his subordinates, many of them rallied their men and independently defied all interference with their old mode of living and rule. The Sultan, not unnaturally, was averse to ceding his sovereign rights to any one, and he and his Dattos obstructed, as far as they could, the Americans' endeavours to better the conditions of the people. Every few days a juramentado (vide pp. 146, 150) would enter the town and attack a white man with his barong in broad daylight. There was nothing furtive in his movements, no hiding under cover to take his victim unawares, but a straight, bold frontal attack. Barong in hand, a Moro once chased a soldier though the street, upstairs into a billiard-room, and down the other steps, where he was shot dead by a sentinel. At another time a juramentado obtained access into the town by crawling through a drain-pipe, and chased two soldiers until he was killed. Many Americans were wounded in the streets of Jolo, but the aggressors were always pursued to death. Petty hostilities, attacks and counter-attacks, the sallies of punitive parties to avenge some violence committed, and the necessity for every individual in the town, civil or military, being armed and always alert, made life there one of continual excitement and emotion.

In November, 1903, the attitude of the Dattos became very menacing. Datto Andong actually cut a trench just outside the walled town of Jolo as a base of operations against the Americans. It was evident that an important rising of chiefs was contemplated. Major Scott having called upon the biggest chief, Panglima [262] Hassan, to present himself and account for the murder of an American survey party, he came with a large force, estimated at about 4,000, well armed, as far as the town walls. He said he wanted to enter the town with a suite of only 700 armed men, including his subordinate Dattos. Finally Major Scott agreed to his entry with 70 warriors, but still the position was threatening with Hassan's army in the vicinity. During the interview Panglima Hassan appeared quite friendly; indeed, whilst he and the major were riding together, the chief, perceiving that his host was unarmed, gallantly remarked, "As you are without arms I will relinquish mine also," and at once took off his barong and handed it to his attendant. In the meantime Major Scott had sent a request to General Wood for more troops, but the general, who had only just finished his Taraca operations, replied that he would come to Jolo himself. Almost simultaneously with his arrival in Zamboanga the general had the satisfaction to receive a message from the Taraca Datto offering his submission, and asking to be judged according to the Koran. On General Wood's arrival with troops in Jolo a demand was made on Panglima Hassan to surrender. After protracted negotiations and many insolent messages from Hassan, the general led his troops down to Lake Seite, where an engagement took place, leaving 60 dead Moros on the field. Panglima Hassan, pursued from place to place, lost many warriors at every halt, the total being estimated at 400 to 500. Cottas were razed to the ground, and the notorious Panglima Hassan himself was captured on November 14, with a loss, so far, of one soldier killed and five wounded on the American side. Panglima Hassan was being escorted into Jolo town by Major Scott and other officers when suddenly the chief, pointing towards a native-built house, begged the major to save his family. Moved by compassion and influenced by Hassan's previous friendly attitude, the major generously consented, and as they all approached the entrance, in an instant out rushed the "family"--a mob of armed Moros, who attacked the officers whilst the Panglima made his escape. Poor Major Scott was so badly cut about on his hands that he had to go into hospital for four months, and I noticed that he had had one left-hand finger and two right-hand half-fingers amputated. Unable to handle any kind of weapon, in March, 1904, he led his troops against the cunning Datto, who sent out a large body of fighting-men to meet him. After several attacks were repelled, Panglima Hassan took to flight, his followers all the time decreasing in numbers until, with only 80 men, the chief sought refuge in his cotta at Pang-Pang, the strongest fortress in the Island. Breaches were made in it, and Hassan fled for his life on a swift pony, with only two retainers, to the crater of an extinct volcano, which was quickly surrounded by the Americans. Each time a head appeared above the crater edge a volley was fired, but the wounded chief still bravely held out and hit some soldiers before he died, riddled by bullets, on March 4.

Again, in May, 1905, Datto Pala, of Sulu Island, with a large following, threatened Jolo town, and General Wood personally led the expedition against this chief. Eight miles from Maybun the Moros had dug pits and placed wires to impede the Americans' advance, but, notwithstanding these obstacles, the enemy was vigorously attacked and surrounded near the Maybun Lake, three miles from the town. After several days' desperate fighting the cotta of Lumbo was captured, and the Datto and his men were vanquished, the losses being about seven Americans killed, about 20 wounded, and over 250 Moros killed.

In June, 1904, Datto Ambutong had a dispute with another about the possession of some property, and on Major Scott being appealed to in the matter, he ordered Ambutong to appear before him in Jolo for a bichara (judicial inquiry). The Datto, in a sulky mood, at first refused to come, but on further pressure he changed his mind. Early in the morning of the appointed day a friendly chief, Datto Timbang, came into town with four retainers, all armed, to see the Governor. Major Scott, whose guest I was, kindly invited me to the interview, during which it transpired that Datto Timbang had heard Ambutong declare he would come to the bichara, but he would not leave it without taking heads. Datto Timbang added that he too desired to attend the bichara with his bodyguard, resolved to slay Ambutong if he observed any threatening move on his part. The major made no objection, and at the appointed hour four of us--my gallant host, Major Barbour, Captain Charles and myself--went to the bichara at the Governor's office in town. The Governor (i.e., the major) sat at his desk, and we other three took seats just behind him. Before us were the Datto Ambutong, his opponent in the question at issue, and, a yard off him, the friendly Datto Timbang and his followers, each with his hand on his barong, ready to cut down Ambutong at a stroke if need be. Whilst the case was being heard, Hadji Butu, the Sultan's Prime Minister, and Sultan Tattarassa, of Paragua Island, the latter afflicted with locomotor ataxy, came in, saluted us all, and took seats. The business ended, Datto Ambutong rose from his stool, gave his hand to the major, and then walked to the back of him to salute us. I thought I should like to handle the beautiful barong which was to have served him in taking heads. The Datto complaisantly allowed me to draw it from the sheath and pass it round to my friends. Sharp as a razor, it was the finest weapon of the class I had ever touched. The handle was of carved ivory and Camagon wood (vide p. 314), the whole instrument being valued at quite $100. Datto Timbang was watching, and the occasion was not a propitious one for taking christian blood.

The following translation of a letter which Major Hugh L. Scott courteously gave me will serve to illustrate how lightly human life is appreciated by the Moro.

This letter from your son, His Highness Datto Mohammed Dahiatul Kalbi, to my father, the Governor of Sulu, Major Scott, and to my younger brother, Sali.

I want to inform you that at 7 o'clock in the morning of Saturday, we had a fight with Tallu. I have taken his head, but if you will allow it, I will bury it, if my father will let me do that, because he is an Islam and I would commit an offence. It scared my wife very much when she looked at the head in my house. Those that are dead were Sadalani, Namla, Muhamad, and Salui. Beyond that I have not investigated.

With greetings to my father and to my younger brother, I beg you, my younger brother, to let me bury the head, if my father does not feel bad about it. If our father should not believe that the head is there, come to our house and see yourself, so to be sure. I would not soil the faith my father has in me. To close I herewith send the kris of Orang Kaya Tallu. The end of the pen. Sunday, February 23, 1904.

Whilst I was in Zamboanga in June, 1904, Datto Pedro Cuevas, of Basilan Island, sent a message over to say that there would be no more trouble with certain pirates who had been caught, as he had cut off their heads.

It would fill a volume to recount the legends of the sharks near Cagayan de Jolo which wreck ships; the Moro who heard the voice of Allah rising from a floating cocoanut to urge him to denounce the Sultan's evil ways; the new prophet who could point at any object and make it disappear, and a hundred other superstitious extravagances.

Jolo (vide p. 149), one of the prettiest places on earth, has been improved since the American occupation. Apart from the many new buildings erected for military convenience, there is now a fine jetty with a tramway, a landing-stage for small vessels, a boys' and a girls' school, some new residences, etc. The municipality is under the presidency of a military officer, and the clean, orderly aspect of the town is evidence of Anglo-Saxon energy in its administration. In 1904 there was only one drinking-saloon, kept by a Bohemian-born American, who paid $6,000 a year for his monopoly licence. Much to the disgust of the military, a society of well-intentioned temperance ladies in America procured the prohibition of alcohol-selling in military canteens and Post Exchanges. The eastern extremity of Jolo is appropriated for military purposes, and on the rising ground is situated the stabling for the cavalry horses. There is a large military hospital, well appointed, and a club-house for whites, overlooking the picturesque harbour. Outside the town walls towards the west the dwellings of natives, chiefly from other islands in their origin, extend about a mile as far as Tulay, where the Sultan has a residence. On the way one passes through the little square, in the centre of which stands a monument erected to commemorate the landing here of Gov.-General Corcuera, April 17, 1638. During my last visit to Jolo I called upon His Highness the Sultan at Tulay, accompanied by the civil interpreter, Mr. J. Schueck, whose late father I had known many years before. [263] Tulay signifies bridge in Tagalog, and probably this place derives its name from the bridge spanning the rivulet, which forms a natural division between this village and the Jolo ex-mural western suburb. Just across the bridge, in most unattractive surroundings, stands a roofed rough pile of wooden planks--the residence of the Sultan. At a few paces to the left of it one sees another gloomy structure, smaller and more cheerless than the royal abode--it is the domicile of Hadji Butu, the Sultan's Prime Minister.

Passing through the ground-floor, which serves as a vestibule and storehouse for nondescript rubbish, I was met by several armed Moros who conducted me up a dark staircase, the lid of which, at the top, was raised to admit me to the royal presence. His Highness, the Majasari Hadji Mohammad Jamalul Kiram, reclining on a cane-bottomed sofa, graciously smiled, and extending his hand towards me, motioned to me to take the chair in front of him, whilst Mr. Schueck sat on the sofa beside the Sultan. His Highness is about thirty-six years of age, short, thick set, wearing a slight moustache and his hair cropped very close. With a cotton sarong around his loins, the nakedness of his body down to the waist was only covered by jabul (vide p. 146) thrown loosely over him. Having explained that I was desirous of paying my respects to the son of the great Sultan whose hospitality I had enjoyed years ago at Maybun, I was offered a cigar and the conversation commenced. Just at that moment came the Prime Minister, who spoke a little English, and at the back of me, facing the Sultan, stood his trusted warriors in semi-circle, attired in fantastic garments and armed to the teeth. From time to time a dependent would come, bend the knee on the royal footstool and present the buyo box, or a message, or whatever His Highness called for. The footstool attracted my curiosity, and my eye was fixed on it for a while until I could decipher the lettering, which was upside down. At last I made it out--"Van Houten's Cocoa." The audience-chamber needs no minute description; it can be all summed up in bare boards, boxes, bundles, weapons, dirt, a dilapidated writing-desk, a couple of old chairs, and the Sultan's sofa-seat. Of course the Sultan had a grievance. The Americans, he said, had appropriated his pearl-fisheries, his tribute-money, and other sources of valuable income; they were diverting the taxes payable to him into their own coffers, with detriment to his estate and his dignity as a ruler. [264] The questions in dispute and his position generally were, he added, to be discussed between him and the Insular Government in Manila in the following month. Naturally, the study of the man and his surroundings interested me far more than conversation on a subject which was not my business. Speaking with warmth, at every gesture the jabul would slide down to his waist, exposing his bare breast, so that perhaps I saw more of the Majasari than is the privilege of most European visitors. On leave-taking His Highness graciously presented me with a handsome Moro dress-sword and a betel-cutter set in a solid silver handle, and, in return, I sent him my portrait from Manila.

Exactly a month after my visit, the Sultan, accompanied by Major Scott, the Governor and Commander of Jolo, came and made a short stay in Manila, where he was conducted around town and to the presence of the authorities. Many valuable presents were officially made to him, together with P5,000 pocket-money to console him for the postponement sine die of the "settlement" question. Driving round in wagonettes, his retinue saw the sights of the capital and made their purchases, but the Sultan himself was strictly guarded from pressmen and others who might give local publicity to his claims.

America's policy with regard to the Sultan of Sulu and all other Sultans and Dattos, as expounded to me by the best American authorities, is as clear as crystal. They wish all these petty potentates were elsewhere; but as that cannot be, they must be shorn of all power, princely dignity being out of harmony with American institutions. Nevertheless, they can call themselves what they like among their own people, provided that in their relations with the Government of the Islands they are to be simple citizens with dominion over their own personal property, but not over that of others. There is to be no sovereign power, great or small, other than American, and tribal wards are to supersede dattoships. The Dattos are more numerous than Continental barons, and of varying grades, from the Panglima Hassan type, possessor of fortresses, commander of 5,000 men, down to the titular lord of four score acres who lounges in the village, in filthy raiment, closely followed by two juveniles, the one carrying his bright metal buyo box, in case he needs a quid, and the other the bearer of the barong, lest he must assert his dignity by force. America has decreed that from these and all their compeers the Philippines are to be preserved.

In November, 1903, the District Governor of Zamboanga summoned the Manguiguin, or Sultan of Mindanao (vide p. 131), and all the Dattos in his district to attend a durbar. The aged Sultan very reluctantly responded to the call, and, accompanied by his Prime Minister, Datto Ducalat, and a large retinue, the royal party came in about 250 armed vintas. When they were within a few miles of the port they sent a message to ask if they would be allowed to salute with their lantacas, and the reply being in the affirmative, they entered the harbour with great eclat, amidst the booming of a hundred cannon. Interpreters put off to meet them and escorted them to the landing-stage, where the District Governor waited to receive them. The Sultan wore a gorgeous turban, a royal sarong worked in thread of gold, and shoes with similar adornments. On landing, the old prince, trembling from top to toe, with despairing glance clutched the arm of the Governor for protection. Never before had he seen the great city of Zamboanga; he was overcome and terrified by its comparative grandeur, and possibly by the imposing figure of the six-foot Governor himself. The police had to be called out to restrain the mobs who watched his arrival. On the other hand, as the Sultans, the Dattos and their suites together numbered about 600, and from other places by land about 400 more had come, all armed, many of the townspeople, with traditional dread, shut themselves up in their houses, believing that such a vast assemblage of Moros might, at any moment, commence a general massacre. It is well known that the question of public security did engage the attention of the American authorities, for the gathering was indeed a formidable one, and at the moment General Wood was in Sulu Island, leading his troops against Panglima Hassan. All the available forces were therefore held in readiness to meet any emergency. With faltering footsteps and shaking like an aspen leaf, the Manguiguin, followed by his Dattos, approached the double lines of soldiers with fixed bayonets stationed on the quay. There was a pause; the Sultan, who in his youthful days had known no fear, now realized the folly of walking into the jaws of death. But the Governor assured him, through the interpreters, that he was doing him the greatest honour that could be rendered to any prince or to the great president of the greatest republic. Only half convinced and full of suspicion, the Sultan walked on in a daze, as though he were going to his last doom. Having emerged safely from this peril, the great durbar was held, and lasted some hours. This was followed by a reception at the Army and Navy Club, where a throne was erected under a canopy for the Sultan, with seats of honour around it for the chief Dattos. The reception over, the royal party was conducted to where waggons and teams awaited them to take them to a suburb at the foothills of the great sierra. The Governor purposely had the biggest American horses and the largest vehicles brought out to make an impression. The Sultan point blank refused to enter the waggon. He had run the gauntlet through rows of pointed steel, and now new horrors awaited him. Perfectly bewildered at the sight of such enormous animals, he turned piteously to his Prime Minister and invited him to lead the way. "I will follow your Highness," the minister discreetly replied, but the muscular Governor, Captain John P. Finley, ended the palaver by gently lifting the Sultan into the vehicle, whilst he himself immediately entered it, and the timorous Prime Minister and suite summoned up courage to follow. During the drive the Governor gave the word to the teamsters to detach the forecarriages on reaching the foothills and let the teams go. To the great amazement of the Moro chiefs, the waggons suddenly became stationary, whilst the released horses galloped on ahead! The Sultan and his suite glanced at each other speechless with fright. Surely now their last day had come! So this was the trick treacherously prepared for them to segregate them from their fighting-men! But the teams were caught again, and the waggons brought them safely back to the sight of the port and the vintas. Allah had turned the hearts of the great white men and rescued his chosen people in the hour of imminent danger. The durbar was continued day by day until every point had been discussed. Meanwhile the Sultan and suite daily returned to their vintas afloat to eat, drink, and sleep, whilst in the town of Zamboanga the christian natives quaked, and crowds of Moros perambulated the streets in rich and picturesque costumes, varying in design according to the usage of their tribes. Before the departure of the royal visitor the troops were formed up, military evolutions were performed with clockwork precision, and volley after volley was fired in the air. The Sultan declared he could never receive the Governor with such splendour, but he wanted him to promise to return his visit. It was not politic, however, to agree to do so. And the Sultan and his people left, passing once more through lines of troops with bayonets fixed, this time with a firmer step than when they landed, thanking the Great Prophet for their happy deliverance from what had appeared to them a dreamland of dreadful novelty.

The Manguiguin of Mindanao was indeed "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," for in the days of his decrepitude he was jilted by the widow of Utto (vide p. 143), the once celebrated Cottabato Datto, the idol of the Christian-haters.

Education is one of the chief concerns of the Moro Province Government. The efforts of the School Department, up to June 30, 1904, will be understood from the following official statistics, viz. [265]:--

Teachers employed--15 Americans, 50 Christian Filipinos, and nine Mahometan Filipinos.

41 Schools were established.

2,114 Children were on the school rolls.

1,342 Christian children attended on average.

240 Moro children attended on average.

P46,898.17 were expended in the School Department, of which P28,355.09 were disbursed in Zamboanga District.

Besides the public schools, the Jesuits are permitted to continue their excellent work of civilization and education in their own schools wherever they have a mission established.

According to Moro custom the fruit of a man's labour belongs to the Datto who gives the man a subsistence. The Americans are teaching the man that the fruit of his labour is his own, and, for that purpose, market-places are established at many centres on the coast with the hope of inculcating free-labour notions, so that the seller can get cash for his goods and keep it. I visited three of these markets on the south coast of Mindanao, and also the one in course of construction at Zamboanga (ward of Magay), where Governor John P. Finley was putting his heart and soul into his scheme for creating an important Moro Exchange. By Legislative Council Act No. 55, the sum of P1,850 was appropriated for its construction, and the Governor had succeeded in persuading the Moros themselves to contribute P1,300 towards its completion. The Moros are urged to come in their produce-laden vintas and occupy the stalls erected for them in the large commodious market-shed, which has accommodation for carts and cattle if need be. Boats of less than 15 tons gross are free of tax, licence, or documents (Phil. Com. Act No. 1354, of June 15, 1905). Whenever any trouble arises up the coast the Governor's official vinta is despatched, manned by Moros, under the command of the Governor's messenger, Hadji Nuno, a parvenu Datto whose name reveals his Spanish origin.

Everything within the powers of the Legislative Council of the Moro Province seems to have been done to introduce law, order, and administrative uniformity, constrain violence, propagate knowledge and set the inhabitants on the path of morality and prosperity. The result of a century's labour, at the present rate of development, might, however, be achieved in a decade if the Insular Government had authority from Washington to relax the rigidity of the "Philippines for the Filipinos" doctrine in the special case of the Moro Province. It is true the Moros are as much Filipinos as the rest of the Philippine inhabitants, but it will be generations before they can know how to enjoy their birthright without the example of energetic white men who are, naturally, unwilling to come and philanthropically devote their lives to "pulling the chestnuts out of the fire" for the Moro. They want to reap some material advantage for themselves. Gen. Leonard Wood, in his First Annual Report of the Moro Province, remarks:--"What is needed to develop this portion of the world is a suitable class of settlers, bringing with them knowledge of modern agricultural methods, enterprise and some capital.... If he (the Moro) could see the results ... it is believed that his ambition would be stimulated and that his development would be comparatively rapid. In short, a scattering of good agriculturists throughout the province would be of inestimable value to the people. At the present time such a class of settlers is not coming, and it is not believed they will come until much more liberal inducements are offered them, especially in the way of obtaining land by settlement. Our standing among the people of these Islands has been much injured by the presence of a large and tough class of so-called Americans whose energies have been principally extended in the construction, maintenance and patronage of rum shops, which outnumber other American business establishments."

The American who would go to Mindanao to settle on 40 acres of land could not be of the class desired. [266] A maximum of 1,000 acres to an individual settler and 10,000 acres to a company of not less than five persons, would produce a rapid and beneficial development of Mindanao and push on its civilization by giant strides. There would be little fear of the natives' rights being unduly encroached upon by whites if, in addition to the Homestead Law conditions, the period of application for land were limited to two or three years from the promulgation of the law, with solid guarantees to prevent a flood of bogus applications from land-grabbers. The Treasurer, in his First Annual Report of the Moro Province, says:--"It is not reasonable to expect, under present conditions, any systematic effort on their (the Moros') part to cultivate the soil, as they know, as well as the powers that be, that they have no assurance that the land they will improve to-day will be theirs to-morrow. They have title to not one foot of land, and no guarantee from the Government that present improvements will be theirs when they are finally settled by the former. A liberal land law will also bring an influx of settlers and capital.... It will not only make this province the richest part of the Philippine Islands and the State the beneficiary, but it will remove the necessity for the soldier in the field. No other legislation is going to improve financial conditions here to any extent. There is no doubt the Government land unsettled and untouched in this province amounts to 90 per cent. of all the tillable land, and equals in area and excels in richness that of all the tillable land of Luzon."

The District of Davao is far more developed agriculturally than the other four. Planters whom I know personally are opening up land and producing large quantities of hemp, giving employment to Bagobos and others, but without any certainty about the possession of the land. Inexhaustible forests of fine timber remain undisturbed, and are left to decay in the ordinary course of nature, whilst shiploads of Oregon pine arrive for public works. My attendance at the public conferences on the timber-felling question, before the Philippine Commission in Manila, did not help me to appreciate the policy underlying the Insular Government's apparent reluctance to stimulate the development of the timber industry; indeed, it is not easy to follow the working of the "Philippines for the Filipinos" policy in several details.

In 1904 General Wood recommended to the Philippine Commission the incorporation of the present provinces of Misamis and Surigao in the Moro Province, seeing that the people of those provinces and the Moro Province belong to the same races and have identical interests. As it is, the hill tribes of Misamis find themselves between two jurisdictions, and have to pass nearly a hundred miles through the Moro Province to reach the sea coast--an anomaly which will no doubt be rectified by including the whole Island of Mindanao in the Moro Province.

The American Government's abstinence from proselytism in dealing with the Moros is more likely to succeed than Spain's well-meant "policy of attraction" adopted in the last years of her rule, for whatever progress this system made was counterbalanced by the futile endeavour to induce the Mahometans to change their religion. Under the wise administration set in progress by General Leonard Wood there is a hopeful future for Moroland.

Chapter XXX

The Spanish Friars, After 1898

The Aglipayan Schism. Education. Politics. Population.

With the American dominion came free cult. No public money is disbursed for the support of any religious creed. No restraint is placed upon the practice of any religion exercised with due regard to morality. Proselytism in public schools is declared illegal. [267] The prolonged discussion of the friars' position and claims encouraged them to hope that out of the labyrinthine negotiations might emerge their restoration to the Philippine parishes. For a while, therefore, hundreds of them remained in Manila, others anxiously watched the course of events from their refuges in the neighbouring British and Portuguese colonies, and the unpopular Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda only formally resigned the archbishopric of Manila years after he had left it. Having prudently retired from the Colony during the Rebellion, he returned to it on the American occupation, and resumed his archiepiscopal functions until the end of 1899. Preliminary negotiations in Church matters were facilitated by the fact of the Military Governor of the Islands at the time being a Roman Catholic, an American army chaplain acting as chief intermediary between the lay and ecclesiastical authorities. The common people were quite unable, at the outset, to comprehend that under American law a friar could be in their midst without a shred of civil power or jurisdiction. There were Filipinos of all classes, some in sympathy with the American cause, who were as loud in their denunciation of the proposed return of the friars as the most intransigent insurgents. They thought of them most in their lay capacity of de facto Government agents all over the Islands. It cannot be said that the parish priests originally sought to discharge civil functions; they did so, at first, only by order of their superiors, who were the de facto rulers in the capital, and afterwards by direct initiative of the lay authorities, because the Spanish Government was too poor to employ civil officials. What their functions were is explained in Chapter xii. The complaints of the people against the friars constituted the leading theme of Dr. Rizal's writings, notably his "Noli me tangere," and the expulsion of the four obnoxious Religious Orders is claimed to have been one of the most important reforms verbally promised in connexion with the alleged Treaty of Biac-na-bato. The allegation of the prelates and other members of the regular clergy who gave evidence before the American Civil Commission in 1900, to the effect that the Katipunan Society members invaded the parishes only to murder the friars and rob the churches, should be weighed against the fact that two hundred thousand Filipinos were ready to leave glowing life for grim death to rid the country of monastic rule. The townspeople, apparently apathetic, were afraid to express their opinion of the friars until they were backed up by the physical force of the Katipunan legions. It was the conflict of material interests and the friars' censorship which created the breach between the vicar and the people. The immorality of the friars was not general and by no means the chief ground, if any, for hostility against them; the frailties of the few simply weakened the prestige of all and broke the pedestal of their moral superiority. My own investigations convinced me that the friars' incontinence was generally regarded with indifference by the people; concubinage being so common among the Filipinos themselves it did not shock them in the pastor's case. Moreover, women were proud of the paternity of their children begotten in their relationship to the friars.

When, on the American occupation, the friar question could be freely discussed, hot disputes at once ensued between the friar party and the Philippine clergy, supported by the people. In the meantime, an Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor P. L. Chapelle, [268] was appointed by the Pope, in agreement with the American Government, to endeavour to adjust the friar problem. The details to be considered were manifold, but the questions which most interested the public were the return of the friars to the parishes and the settlement of their property claims. Monsignor Chapelle so vigorously espoused the cause of the friars that he appeared to be more their advocate than an independent judge in the controversy. Many friars, anxious to quit the Islands, were dissuaded from doing so by this prelate. [269] He arrived in Manila on January 2, 1900, and, without having made any personal investigations in the provinces, by the 16th of April he deemed himself competent to declare that "the accusations adduced against them (the Religious Orders) are the merest pretexts of shrewd and anti-American Filipino politicians." [270] As a matter of fact, nothing anti-American, or American, had any connexion with the subject. The struggle to expel the friars from these Islands was initiated years before the Americans contemplated intervention in Philippine affairs. Open rebellion was started against the friars twenty months before the Battle of Cavite. Nozaleda and Chapelle wished to appoint friars to the provincial benefices, whilst protests against this proposal were coming from nearly every Christian quarter of the Colony. The Filipinos desired to have the whole administration of the Church in their own hands and, if possible, to see every friar leave the Archipelago. The representative Philippine clergy were Dr. Mariano Sevilla, Father Rojas, Father Changco, and Father Singson. The great champions of the national cause were the first two, who stoutly opposed Nozaleda's schemes. Fierce discussions arose between the parties; Father Sevilla and party defied Nozaleda to make the appointments he desired, and then sent a cablegram to the Pope to the following effect:--"Archbishop and Apostolic Delegate want to appoint friars to the Philippine benefices. The Philippine people strongly oppose. Schism imminent." Father Sevilla could not be wheedled into agreeing to Nozaleda's and Chapelle's plans, so he was sent to prison for two months in the Calle de Anda, Manila, and deportation to the Island of Guam was menacingly hinted at. When the reply came from Rome, disapproving of the action of the two prelates, Father Sevilla was released from prison. Nevertheless, Nozaleda's wrath was unappeased. He then proposed that the benefices should be shared between Filipinos and friars, whilst Father Sevilla insisted on the absolute deposition of the friars. At this time there were 472 members of the four confraternities in the Islands, mostly in Manila. [271] At a meeting of the Philippine clergy the expulsion of the friars was proposed and supported by a majority; but Father Sevilla vetoed the resolution, and his ruling was obeyed. Moreover, he agreed that the friars should hold some benefices in and near Manila and the ecclesiastical-educational employments in the colleges. "We," said Father Sevilla, "are for the Church; let them continue their work of education; it is not our function." Nozaleda then made advances towards Father Sevilla, and endeavoured to cajole him by the offer of an appointment, which he repeatedly refused. Rome, for the time being, had overruled the question of the benefices contrary to Nozaleda's wish. For the moment there was nothing further for the Philippine clergy to defend, but in their general interests Father Sevilla, their spokesman, elected to remain in an independent position until after the retirement of Monsignor Chapelle, when Father Sevilla became parish priest of Hagonoy (Bulacan).

The outcome of the controversy respecting the benefices was that the friars could be sent to those parishes where the people were willing to receive them, without danger of giving rise to public disorder. This was in accordance with President McKinley's Instructions to the Taft Commission dated April 7, 1900, [272] which says: "No form of religion and no minister of religion shall be forced upon any community or upon any citizen of the Islands."

Archbishop Nozaleda left for Spain, but did not relinquish his archbishopric until June, 1903. [273] In his absence his office was administered by Father Martin Garcia Alcocer, the Spanish bishop of Cebu, whilst the bishopric of Cebu was left in charge of a popular Chinese half-caste secular priest, Father Singson, [274] who subsequently became vicar of Cebu on the appointment of an American prelate, Father Hendrichs, to the bishopric.

In the matter of the Friars' lands, it was apparently impossible to arrive at any settlement with the friars themselves. The purchase of their estates was recommended by the Insular Government, and the Congress at Washington favourably entertained that proposal. In many places the tenants refused to pay rent to the friars, who then put forward the extraordinary suggestion that the Government should send an armed force to coerce the tenants. The Government at once refused to do this, pointing out that the ordinary courts were open to them the same as to all citizens. Truly the friars found themselves in a dilemma. By the rules of their Order they could not sue in a court of law; but under the Spanish Government, which was always subservient to their will, they had been able to obtain redress by force. Under the American Government these immunities and privileges ceased.

In 1902 the Civil Governor of the Philippines, Mr. W. H. Taft, visited the United States, and on May 9 in that year he was commissioned by his Government to visit Rome on his way back to the Islands in order to negotiate the question of the friars' lands with the Holy See. The instructions issued to him by the Secretary of War contain the following paragraphs, namely [275]:--

One of the controlling principles of our Government is the complete separation of Church and State, with the entire freedom of each from any control or interference by the other. This principle is imperative wherever American jurisdiction extends, and no modification or shading thereof can be a subject of discussion. . . . By reason of the separation, the Religious Orders can no longer perform, in behalf of the State, the duties in relation to public instruction and public charities formerly resting upon them. . . . They find themselves the object of such hostility on the part of their tenantry against them as landlords, and on the part of the people of the parishes against them as representatives of the former Government, that they are no longer capable of serving any useful purpose for the Church. No rents can be collected from the populous communities occupying their lands, unless it be by the intervention of the civil government with armed force. Speaking generally, for several years past the friars, formerly installed over the parishes, have been unable to remain at their posts, and are collected in Manila with the vain hope of returning. They will not be voluntarily accepted again by the people, and cannot be restored to their positions except by forcible intervention on the part of the civil government, which the principles of our Government forbid....It is for the interest of the Church, as well as for the State, that the landed proprietorship of the Religious Orders in the Philippine Islands should cease, and that if the Church wishes...to continue its ministration among the people of the Islands...it should seek other agents therefor. It is the wish of our Government, in case Congress shall grant authority, that the titles of the Religious Orders to the large tracts of agricultural lands which they now hold shall be extinguished, but that full and fair compensation shall be made therefor. It is not, however, deemed to be for the interests of the people of the Philippine Islands that...a fund should thereby be created to be used for the attempted restoration of the friars to the parishes from which they are now separated, with the consequent disturbance of law and order. Your errand will not be, in any sense or degree, diplomatic in its nature; but will be purely a business matter of negotiation by you, as Governor of the Philippines, for the purchase of property from the owners thereof, and the settlement of land titles."

Governor Taft arrived in Rome in June, 1902, in the pontificate of His Holiness Leo XIII., whose Secretary of State was Cardinal M. Rampolla. In Governor Taft's address to His Holiness, the following interesting passage occurs: "On behalf of the Philippine Government, it is proposed to buy the lands of the Religious Orders with the hope that the funds thus furnished may lead to their withdrawal from the Islands, and, if necessary, a substitution therefor, as parish priests, of other priests whose presence would not be dangerous to public order."

In the document dated June 22, in reply to Governor Taft's address to His Holiness, Cardinal Rampolla says: "As to the Spanish religious in particular belonging to the Orders mentioned in the instructions, not even they should be denied to return to those parishes where the people are disposed to receive them without disturbance of public order . . . The Holy See will not neglect to promote, at the same time, the better ecclesiastical education and training of the native clergy, in order to put them in the way, according to their fitness, of taking gradually the place of the Religious Orders in the discharge of the pastoral functions. The Holy See likewise recognizes that in order to reconcile more fully the feelings of the Filipinos to the religious possessing landed estates, the sale of the same is conducive thereto. The Holy See declares it is disposed to furnish the new Apostolic Delegate, who is to be sent to the Philippine Islands, with necessary and opportune instructions in order to treat amicably this affair in understanding with the American Government and the parties interested."

In the same document the Holy See asked for indemnity for "the acts of vandalism perpetrated by the insurgents in the destruction of churches and the appropriation of sacred vestments," and also for the damage caused by the occupation by the American Government of "episcopal palaces, seminaries, convents, rectories, and other buildings intended for worship." The Holy See further claimed "the right and the liberty of administering the pious trusts of ecclesiastical origin, or of Catholic foundation, which do not owe their existence to the civil power exclusively"; also "suitable provisions for religious teaching in the public schools, especially the primary."

Governor Taft, in his reply to the Holy See, dated July 3, expressed regret at the suggested appointment of a new Apostolic Delegate, and sought to bring the Holy See to a definite contract. For the settlement of the friars' land question he proposed "a tribunal of arbitration to be composed of five members--two to be appointed by His Holiness, two to be appointed by the Philippine Government, and one, the fifth, to be selected by an indifferent person, like the Governor-General of India"; the expenses to be defrayed wholly by the Philippine Government, and the tribunal to meet in the City of Manila not later than January 1, 1903. He further proposed that the lands should be valued in Mexican dollars, and be paid for in three cash instalments of three, six, and nine months after the report of the award and the delivery of the deeds. Furthermore, that "the payments ought to be made to the person designated by the Holy See to receive the same," on the condition that "no money shall be paid for the lands to be purchased until proper conveyances for the land shall have been made to the Philippine Government." Another condition was "that all the members of the four Religious Orders of Dominicans, Agustinians, Recoletos, and Franciscans now in the Islands shall withdraw therefrom after two years from the date of the first payment. An exception is made in favour of any member of those Orders who has been able to avoid hostility of the people and to carry on his duties as parish priest, in his parish outside Manila, from August, 1898, to date of this agreement," because "it is certain that such a priest is popular with the people." Governor Taft adds: "Nothing will calm the fears of the people.... except the definite knowledge ... that the Spanish friars of the four Orders are to leave the Islands at a definite time, and are not to return to the parishes."

Cardinal Rampolla replied on July 9 to Governor Taft's communication of July 3, which covered his proposed contract and enclosed a counter project of convention, explaining as follows:--"The Holy See cannot accept the proposition of the Philippine Government to recall from the Archipelago in a fixed time all the religious of Spanish nationality ... and to prevent their return in the future. In effect, such a measure ... would be contrary to the positive rights guaranteed by the Treaty of Paris, and would put, consequently, the Holy See in conflict with Spain ... Such a measure would be, in the eyes of the Filipinos and of the entire Catholic world, the explicit confirmation of all the accusations brought against the said religious by their enemies, accusations of which ... the evident exaggeration cannot be disputed. If the American Government, respecting, as it does, individual rights, does not dare to interdict the Philippine soil to the Spanish religious ... how could the Pope do it? The Holy See, in accord with the diocesan authorities, will not permit the return of the Spanish religious ... in the parishes where their presence would provoke troubles."

The Holy See's counter-proposal was cabled to the Secretary of War, who, in his reply dated July 14, which was tantamount to a rejection of it, remarked: "The lay Catholic population and the parish priests of native and non-Spanish blood are practically a unit in desiring both to expel the friars and to confiscate their lands ... This proposed confiscation, without compensation for the Church lands, was one of the fundamental policies of the Insurgent Government under Aguinaldo." As an alternative, the Secretary of War accepted the proposal of the Holy See to send a new Apostolic Delegate, with necessary instructions to negotiate the affair amicably. Therefore, in transmitting this reply to Cardinal Rampolla on July 15, Gov. Taft closed the negotiations by stating: "I have the honour to request ... that the negotiations concerning the various subjects touched upon in the proposals and counter-proposals be continued in Manila between the Apostolic Delegate and myself, on the broad lines indicated in this correspondence.... I much regret that we cannot now reach a more precise agreement...."

The receipt of this last communication was courteously acknowledged by Cardinal M. Rampolla on July 18, 1902, and Gov. Taft then continued his journey to the Philippines. [276]

Monsignor Chapelle's mission had entirely failed to achieve its purpose, and he retired from the Islands on the appointment of the new Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor Giovanni Battista Guidi. Bora on April 27, 1852, this prelate was a man of great culture and a distinguished linguist, who had travelled considerably. From Rome he proceeded to Washington, and, with the United States exequatur, he entered Manila on November 18, 1902, and died there on June 26, 1904. During his mission the conditions of the friars' land settlement were embodied in a contract dated December 28, 1903, whereby the United States undertook to pay, within six months from date, the sum of $7,227,000 gold in exchange for the title-deeds and conveyances of all the rural lands belonging to the three corporations possessing such--namely, the Dominicans, Agustinians, and Recoletos. [277] To cover this purchase, bonds were issued in America for $7,000,000 bearing 4 per cent, interest per annum; but, as the bonds obtained a premium on the money market, the total amount realized on the issue was $7,530,370. It remained, therefore, with the corporations themselves to deliver the title-deeds, but on personal inquiry of the Gov.-General in the month of July following I learnt that up to that date they had only partially fulfilled this condition. This, however, concerns them more than it does the American Government, which is ready to pay for value received. The approximate extent of the friars' lands is as follows [278]:--

Province. Acres.

Cavite. 121,747 Some held for centuries. None less than one generation. La Laguna 62,172 Rizal 50,145 Bulacan 39,441 Rizal (Morong) 4,940 Bataan 1,000 Cebu 16,413 Cagayan 49,400 Gov't. grant to Austin friars, Sept. 25, 1880. Mindoro 58,455 Gov't. grant to Recoleto friars in 1894. ------- Total 403,713

The purchase negotiations became all the more complicated because, from 1893 onwards, the Religious Orders had sold some of their lands to speculators who undertook to form companies to work them; however, the friars were the largest stockholders in these concerns.

As the lands become State property they will be offered to the tenants at the time being at cost price, payable in long terms with moderate interest. The annual compounded sum will be only a trifle more than the rent hitherto paid. [279]

As Governor Taft stated before the United States Senate, it would be impolitic to allow the tenants to possess the lands without payment, because such a plan would be promotive of socialistic ideas. The friars' land referred to does not include their urban property in and around Manila, which, with the buildings thereon, they are allowed to retain for the maintenance of those members of their Orders who still hope to remain in the Islands. In July, 1904, there were about 350 friars in the Islands, including the Recoletos in Cavite and the few who were amicably received by the people in provincial parishes, exclusively in their sacerdotal capacity. At this period, at least, the Filipinos were not unanimous in rejecting friars as parish priests. Bishop Hendrichs, of Cebu, told me that he had received a deputation of natives from Bojol Island, begging him to appoint friars to their parishes. In May, 1903, the Centro Catolico, a body of lay Filipinos, well enough educated to understand the new position of the clergy, addressed a memorial to the Papal delegate, Monsignor Guidi, expressing their earnest desire for the retention of the friars. In the localities where their presence is desired their influence over the people is great. Their return to such parishes is well worth considering. Their ability to restrain the natives extravagances is superior to that of any lay authority, and it is obvious that, under the new conditions of government, they could never again produce a conflict like that of the past.

The administrator of the archbishopric of Manila, Father Martin Garcia Alcocer, retired to Spain (October 25, 1903) on the appointment of the present American Archbishop, Monsignor Jeremiah J. Harty, who arrived in the capital in January, 1904. He is a man of pleasing countenance, commanding presence, and an impressive orator. Since 1898 churches and chapels of many denominations and creeds have been opened in the Islands. Natives join them from various motives, for it would be venturesome to assert that they are all moved by religious conviction. In Zamboanga I had the pleasure of meeting an enthusiastic propagandist, who assured me with pride that he had drawn quite a number of christian natives from their old belief. His sincerity of purpose enlisted my admiration, but his explanation of the advantages accruing to his neophytes was too recondite for my understanding.

The limpid purity of purpose in the lofty ideal of uplifting all humanity, so characteristic of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe, was unfortunately obscured in the latter days of Spanish dominion in these Islands by the multifarious devices to convert the Church into a money-making channel. If the true religious spirit ever pervaded the provincial Filipino's mind, it was quickly impaired in his struggle to resist the pastor's greed, unless he yielded to it and developed into a fanatic or a monomaniac. [280]

Astute Filipinos, of quicker discernment than their fellows, did not fail to perceive the material advantages to be reaped from a religious system, quite apart from the religion itself, in the power of union and its pecuniary potentiality. As a result thereof there came into existence, at the close of Spanish rule, the Philippine Independent Church, more popularly known as the Aglipayan Church. Some eight or nine years before the Philippine Rebellion a young Filipino went to Spain, where he imbibed the socialistic, almost anarchical, views of such political extremists as Lerroux and Blasco-Ybanez. By nature of a revolutionary spirit, the doctrines of these politicians fascinated him so far as to convert him into an intransigent opponent of Spanish rule in his native country. In 1891 he went to London, where the circumstance of the visit of the two priests alluded to at p. 383 was related to him. He saw in their suggestion a powerful factor for undermining the supremacy of the friars. The young Filipino pondered seriously over it, and when the events of 1898 created the opportunity, he returned to the Islands impressed with the belief that independence could only be gained by union, and that a pseudo-religious organization was a good medium for that union.

The antecedents and the subsequent career of the initiator of the Philippine Independent Church would not lead one to suppose that there was more religion in him than there was in the scheme itself. The principle involved was purely that of independence; the incidence of its development being in this case pseudo-religious, with the view of substituting the Filipino for the alien in his possession of sway over the Filipinos' minds, for a purpose. The initiator of the scheme, not being himself a gownsman, was naturally constrained to delegate its execution to a priest, whilst he organized another union, under a different title, which finally brought incarceration to himself and disaster to his successor.

Gregorio Aglipay, the head of the Philippine Independent, or Aglipayan, Church, was born at Batac, in the province of Ilocos Norte, on May 7, 1860, of poor parents, who owned a patch of tobacco land on which young Gregorio worked. Together with his father, he was led to prison at the age of sixteen for not having planted the obligatory minimum of 4,000 plants (vide p. 294). On his release he left field-work and went to Manila, where he took his first lessons at the house of a Philippine lawyer, Julian Carpio. Two years afterwards, whilst working in a menial capacity, he attended the school of San Juan de Letran. Through a poor relation he was recommended to the notice of the Dominican friars, under whose patronage he entered Saint Thomas's University, where he graduated in philosophy and arts. Then he returned to his province, entered the seminary, and became a sub-deacon of the diocese of Nueva Segovia. In 1889 he was ordained a priest in Manila, Canon Sanchez Luna being his sponsor, and he said his first mass in the church of Santa Cruz. Although the friars had frequently admonished him for his liberal tendencies, he was appointed coadjutor curate of several provincial parishes, and was acting in that capacity at Victoria (Tarlac) when the rebellion of 1896 broke out. About that time he received a warning from a native priest in another parish that the Spaniards would certainly arrest him on suspicion of being in sympathy with the rebels. In fear of his life he escaped to Manila, where he found a staunch friend in Canon Sanchez Luna, who allowed him to stay at his house on the pretext of illness. Canon Luna, who was a Spaniard, obtained from Gov.-General Blanco papers in favour of Aglipay to ensure his safety back to Victoria. Aglipay then left the capital, making use of the safe-conduct pass to go straight to the rebel camp, where, with the title of chaplain to General Tinio's forces, he was present at several engagements and enjoyed the friendship of General Emilio Aguinaldo. The Malolos Government appointed him Vicar-General, and after the War of Independence broke out he assumed command of a large body of insurgents in the mountain region of his native province. In 1899 he proclaimed himself chief of the Philippine Independent Church, whereupon the Archbishop publicly excommunicated him. Later on he voluntarily presented himself to the military authorities, and obtained pardon under the amnesty proclamation.

Dr. Mariano Sevilla and several other most enlightened Philippine priests were in friendly relation with Aglipay for some time, but eventually various circumstances contributed to alienate them from his cause. In his overtures towards those whose co-operation he sought there was a notable want of frankness and a disposition to treat them with that diplomatic reserve compatible only with negotiations between two adverse parties. His association with the lay initiator of the scheme, unrevealed at the outset, incidentally came to their knowledge with surprise and disapproval. Judging, too, from the well-known tenets of the initiator's associates, there was a suspicion lest the proposed Philippine Independent Church were really only a detail in a more comprehensive plan involving absolute separation from foreign control in any shape. Again, he hesitated openly to declare his views with respect to the relations with Rome. Conscience here seemed to play a lesser part than expediency. The millions in the world who conscientiously disclaim the supremacy of the Pope, at least openly avow it. In the present case the question of submission to, or rebellion against, the Apostolic successor was quite subordinate to the material success of the plans for independence. It is difficult to see in all this the evidence of religious conviction.

Dr. Sevilla had been requested to proceed to Rome to submit to the Holy Father the aspirations of the Philippine people with respect to Church matters, and he consented to do so, provided the movement did not in any way affect their absolute submission to the Holy See, and that the Philippine Church should remain a Catholic Apostolic Church, with the sole difference that its administration should be confided to the Filipinos instead of to foreigners, if that reform met with the approval of his Holiness. [281]

Only at this stage did Aglipay admit that he sought independence of Rome; thereupon the Philippine clergy of distinction abandoned all thought of participation in the new movement, or of any action which implied dictation to the Holy See. Nevertheless, two native priests were commissioned to go to Rome to seek the Pope's sanction for the establishment of an exclusively Philippine hierarchy under the supreme authority of the Pope. But His Holiness immediately dismissed the delegates with a non possumus. The petition to His Holiness was apparently only the prelude to the ultimate design to repudiate the white man's control in matters ecclesiastical, and possibly more beyond.

Gregorio Aglipay then openly threw off allegiance to the Pope, went to Manila, and in the suburb of Tondo proclaimed himself Obispo Maximo (Pontifex Maximus) of his new Church.

His sect at once found many followers in the provinces of Rizal, Bulacan and Ilocos, and eventually spread more or less over the other christian provinces. The movement is strongest in Ilocos, where several parishes, indeed, have no other priest than an Aglipayan. This district is part of the bishopric of Nueva Segovia, now administered by the American Bishop Dougherty. As to the number of Aglipayan adherents, no reliable figures are procurable from any source, but it is certain they amount to thousands. I found Aglipayans as far south as Zamboanga. Just a few priests ordained in the Roman Catholic Church have joined the schismatic cause. One of these repented and offered his submission to the administrator of the archbishopric (Father Martin Alcocer), who pardoned his frailty and received him again into the Church. No period of preparation was necessary, at least in the beginning, for the ordination of an Aglipayan priest. He might have been a domestic servant, an artisan, or a loafer shortly before; hence many would-be converts refused to join when they saw their own or their friends' retainers suddenly elevated to the priesthood. At Yligan (Mindanao Is.) an American official arrested a man, tonsured and robed as a priest in an Aglipayan procession, on a charge of homicide. In 1904 they had not half a dozen well-built churches of their own, but mat-sheds for their meetings were to be seen in many towns. In the year 1903 these sectarians made repeated raids on Roman Catholic property, and attempted to gain possession of the churches by force. Riots ensued, religion seemed to be forgotten by both parties in the melee, and several were given time for reflection in prison. In April, 1904, at Talisay and Minglanilla (Cebu Is.), they succeeded in occupying the churches and property claimed by the friars, and refused to vacate them. In the following month an Aglipayan priest, Bonifacio Purganan, was fined $25 for having taken forcible possession of the Chapel of Penafrancia (Paco suburb of Manila). In the province of Yloilo the Aglipayans were forcibly ejected from the church of La Paz. In 1904 they entered a claim on the novel plea that, as many churches had been subscribed to or partially erected at their expense before they seceded from the Catholic Church, they were entitled to a restitution of their donations. The Catholics were anxious to have the contention decided in a formal and definite manner, and the case was heard at the Court of Guagua (Pampanga). The decision was against the sectarians, on the ground that what had been once given for a specific purpose could not be restored to the donor, or its application diverted from the original channel, notwithstanding any subsequent change in the views of the donor. It was probably in consequence of these disputes that in January, 1905, the Secretary of War approved of a proposed Act of the Insular Government conferring authority upon the Supreme Court of these Islands to hear cases relating to Church property claims and pronounce a final decision thereon.

Up to the middle of 1904 the particular doctrines of the Philippine Independent Church were not yet defined, and the Aglipayans professed to follow the Roman ritual. It was intended, however, to introduce reforms of fundamental importance. For two days and a half I travelled in company with the titular Aglipayan ecclesiastical governor of the Visayas, from whom I learnt much concerning the opinions of his sect. It appears that many are opposed to celibacy of the clergy and auricular confession. My companion himself rejected the biblical account of the Creation, the doctrine of original sin, hereditary responsibility, the deity of Christ, and the need for the Atonement. His conception of the relations between God and mankind was a curious admixture of Darwinism and Rationalism; everything beyond the scope of human reasoning had but a slender hold on his mind.

It is most probable that the majority of Aglipayans have given no thought as to the possible application of the power of union in this particular form, and that their adhesion to the movement is merely a natural reaction following the suppression of sacerdotal tyranny--an extravagant sense of untrammelled thought which time may modify by sober reflection when it is generally seen that the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church henceforth strictly limit themselves to the exercise of their proper functions. With the hope of re-establishing peace and conformity in the Church, His Holiness Pope Pius X. sent to the Islands his new Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor Ambrose Agius, who reached Manila on February 6, 1905. [282]

It is doubtful whether the native parish priest, bereft of the white man's control, would have sufficient firmness of character to overcome his own frailties and lead his flock in the true path. Under a Philippine hierarchy there would be a danger of the natives reverting to paganism and fetichism. There have been many indications of that tendency from years back up to the present. Only a minority of native Christians seem to have grasped the true spirit of Christianity. All that appeals to the eye in the rites and ceremonies impresses them--the glamour and pomp of the procession attract them; they are very fervent in outward observances, but ever prone to stray towards the idolatrous. A pretended apparition of the Blessed Virgin is an old profitable trick of the natives, practised as recently as December, 1904, in the village of Namacpacan (Ilocos), where a woman, who declared the Virgin had appeared to her in the form of the Immaculate Conception and cured her bad leg, made a small fortune in conjunction with a native priest. In May, 1904, a small party of fanatics was seen on the Manila seashore going through some pseudo-religious antics, the chief feature of which was a sea-bath. Profiting by the liberty of cult now existing, it is alleged that the spirits of the departed have made known their presence to certain Filipinos. A native medium has been found, and the pranks which the spirits are said to play on those who believe in them have been practised, with all their orthodox frolic, on certain converts to the system. Tables dance jigs, mysterious messages are received, and the conjuring celestials manifest their power by displacing household articles. The Coloram sect of the southern Luzon provinces has, it is estimated, over 50,000 adherents whose worship is a jumble of perverted Christian mysticism and idolatry. The Baibailanes of Negros are not entirely pagans; there is just a glimmer of Christian precept mingled in their belief, whilst the scores of religious monomaniacs and saint-hawkers who appear from time to time present only a burlesque imitation of christian doctrine.

Great progress has been made in the direction of Education. [283] Schools of different grades have been established throughout the Archipelago, and the well-intentioned efforts of the Government have been responded to by the natives with an astonishing alacrity. Since September 3, 1900, night-schools have also been opened for students to attend after their day's work. The natives exhibit great readiness to learn, many of them having already attained a very high standard--a fact which I had the opportunity of verifying through the courtesy of Dr. David P. Barrows, the able General Superintendent of Education, and his efficient staff. Both the higher schools and the night-schools are well attended. A special eagerness to learn English is very apparent, and they acquire the language quickly up to a certain point. In September, 1903, [284] out of the 934 towns in the Islands, 338 were supplied with American teachers, the total number of teachers in the Archipelago being 691 Americans and 2,496 Filipinos. The night-schools were attended by 8,595 scholars. The percentage of school-children who frequented the day-schools was as follows: In Manila, 10 per cent.; in Nueva Vizcaya Province, 77 per cent. (the highest); and in Paragua Island, 5 per cent. (the lowest). The average attendance throughout the provinces was 13 per cent. of the total population of school-children.

Education has received the greatest solicitude of the Insular Government; and Dr. Barrows informed me that at the end of June, 1904, there were 865 American teachers in the Islands (including about 200 female teachers), 4,000 Philippine teachers of both sexes, and a school attendance throughout the Colony of 227,600 children. For the youngest children there are now seven kindergarten schools in Manila, and more applications for admission than can be satisfied.

The Normal School, situated in the Manila suburb of Ermita, is a splendidly-equipped establishment, organized in the year 1901 with a branch for training Filipinos to become teachers in the public schools. The buildings are four of those (including the main structure) which served for the Philippine Exhibition some years ago. They contain an assembly hall, fourteen class-rooms, two laboratories, store-rooms, and the principal's office. In the same suburb, close to the school, there is a dormitory for the accommodation of forty girl boarders coming from the provinces. The school is open to both sexes on equal terms, subject to the presentation of a certificate of character and a preliminary examination to ascertain if they can understand written and spoken English and intelligibly express their thoughts in that language. The training covers four years, with the following syllabus, viz.:--

Algebra. Arithmetic. Botany. Drawing. English. General History. Geography. Music. Nature-study. Philippine History. Physics. Physiology and Hygiene. Professional Training. United States History. Zoology.

The training-class for children ranging from five to eleven years serves a double purpose by enabling student-teachers to put into practice the theory of professional training under supervision. For the training of youths who intend to follow a trade, there is a branch School of Arts and Trades equipped with class-rooms, workshops, mechanical and architectural drawing-rooms, and the allied branches of industry. The subjects taught are:--

Architectural Drawing. Blacksmithing. Cabinet-making. Carpentry. Cooking. Machine-shop Practice. Mathematics. Mechanical Drawing. Plumbing. Steam Engineering. Stenography. Telegraphy. Tinsmithing. Typewriting. Wood-carving.

There is also a night-class for those working in the daytime who desire to extend their theoretical knowledge.

The Nautical School (vide p. 195), established in Spanish times, is continued with certain reforms, additions having been made to the equipment. American naval officers have undertaken its superintendence from time to time, and it is now under the direction of a civilian graduate of the United States Naval Academy. The instruction ranges from history and geography to practical seamanship, with all the intermediate scientific subjects. Graduates of this school obtain third-mate's certificates, and many of them are actually navigating in the waters of the Archipelago.

A course of study in Vocal Music is also offered to Normal School students, and this may possibly lead to the first discovery of a fine Philippine musical voice.

There is also a Public School for Chinese situated in the Calle de la Asuncion, in the business quarter of Binondo (Manila).

In the Saint Thomas's University (vide p. 194) there are few changes. The diplomas now issued to students in Law and Medicine are only honorific. With or without this diploma a student must pass an examination at the centres established by the Americans for the faculties of Law and Medicine before he can practise, and the same obligation applies to Americans who may arrive, otherwise qualified, in the Islands. Practical instruction in the healing art, or "walking the hospitals," as it is called in England, is given at the San Juan de Dios Hospital as heretofore. The theoretical tuition in these faculties is furnished at the College of San Jose. Besides the Government schools, there are many others continuing the Spanish system, such as the Colegio de San Juan de Dios, where, besides the usual subjects taught, the syllabus is as follows:--

Commerce. Drawing. Japanese Language. Modelling in Plaster. Piano, Violin. Sketching from Nature. Stenography. Typewriting. Watercolouring. And preparation for the B.A. examination.

The Seminario Central de San Javier, under Jesuit superintendence, is really intended for students proposing to enter the Church. Many, however, follow the course of study and enter civil life. In the large provincial towns there are Spanish schools, and at Dagupan the Colegio Instituto follows the same curriculum as that established in the Manila College of San Juan de Letran. In Spanish times Jaro was the educational centre of the Visayas Islands. Since the American advent Yloilo has superseded Jaro in that respect, and a large school is about to be erected on 75 acres of land given by several generous donors for the purpose. The system of education is uniform throughout the Islands, where schools of all grades are established, and others are in course of foundation in every municipality. Including about P1,000,000 disbursed annually for the schools by the municipalities, the cost of Education is about 20 per cent, of the total revenue--a sum out of all proportion to the taxpayers' ability to contribute.

According to the Philippine Commission Act No. 1123, of April, 1904, the official language will be English from January 1, 1906. It will be used in court proceedings, and no person will be eligible for Government service who does not know that language.

In general the popular desire for education is very pronounced. American opinion as to the capability of the Filipinos to attain a high degree of learning and maintain it seems much divided, for many return to America and publicly express pessimistic views on this point. In daily conversation with young middle-class Filipinos one can readily see that the ambition of the majority is limited to the acquisition of sufficient English to qualify them for Government employment or commercial occupations. The industries of the Islands are relatively insignificant. The true source of their wealth is agriculture. In most, not to say all, tropical countries, the educated native shuns manual labour, and with this tendency dominant in the Filipino, it is difficult to foresee what may happen as education advances. The history of the world shows that national prosperity has first come from industrial development, with the desire and the need for education following as a natural sequence. To have free intercourse with the outside world it is necessary to know a European language. This is recognized even in Japan, where, notwithstanding its independent nationality, half the best-educated classes speak some European tongue. If the majority of the Filipinos had understood Spanish at the period of the American advent, it might be a matter of regret that this language was not officially preserved on account of the superior beauty of all Latin languages; but such was not the case. Millions still only speak the many dialects; and to carry out the present system of education a common speech-medium becomes a necessity. However, generations will pass away before native idiom will cease to be the vulgar tongue, and the engrafted speech anything more than the official and polite language of the better classes. The old belief of colonizing nations that European language and European dress alone impart civilization to the Oriental is an exploded theory. The Asiatic can be more easily moulded and subjected to the ways and the will of the white man by treating with him in his native language. It is difficult to gain his entire confidence through the medium of a foreign tongue. The Spanish friars understood this thoroughly. It is a deplorable fact that the common people of Asia generally acquire only the bad qualities of the European concurrently with his language, lose many of their own natural characteristics, which are often charmingly simple, and become morally perverted.

The best native servants are those who can only speak their mother-tongue. In times past the rustic who came to speak Spanish was loth to follow the plough. If an English farm labourer should learn Spanish, perhaps he would be equally loth. One may therefore assume that if the common people should come to acquire the English language, agricultural coolie labour would become a necessity. In 1903 one hundred Philippine youths were sent, at Government expense, to various schools in America for a four-years' course of tuition. It is to be hoped that they will return to their homes impressed with the dignity of labour and be more anxious to develop the natural resources of the country than to live at the expense of the taxpayers.

Since the Rebellion, and especially since the American advent, a great number of Filipinos have migrated to the adjacent British colonies, China, Japan, America, and Europe. There is a small colony of rich Filipinos in Paris, and about 50 or 60 (principally students) in England. They have no nationality, and are officially described as "Filipinos under the protection of the United States." When the Treaty of Paris was being negotiated, the Spanish Commissioners wished to have the option of nationality conceded to all persons hitherto under the dominion of Spain in the ceded colonies; but the American Commissioners rejected the proposal, which might have placed their country in the peculiar position of administering a colony of foreigners.

In 1904 the Government sent selected groups of the different Philippine wild and semi-civilized races to the St. Louis Exhibition, where they were on view for several months; also a Philippine Commission, composed of educated Filipinos, was sent, at public expense, to St. Louis and several cities in America, including Washington, where the President received and entertained its members. Many of the members of this Commission were chosen from what is called the Federal Party. In the old days politics played no part in Philippine life. The people were either anti-friar or conformists to the status quo. The Revolution, however, brought into existence several distinct parties, and developed the natural disintegrating tendency of the Filipinos to split up into factions on any matter of common concern. The Spanish reform party, led by Pedro A. Paterno, collapsed when all hope was irretrievably lost, and its leader passed over to Aguinaldo's party of sovereign independence. To-day there is practically only one organized party--the Federal--because there is no legislative assembly or authorized channel for the legitimate expression of opposite views. The Federal Party, which is almost entirely anti-clerical, comprises all those who unreservedly endorse and accept American dominion and legislation. They are colloquially alluded to as "Americanistas." Through the tempting offers of civil service positions with emoluments large as compared with times gone by, many leading men have been attracted to this party, the smarter half-caste predominating over the pure Oriental in the higher employments. There are other groups, however, which may be called parties in embryo, awaiting the opportunity for free discussion in the coining Philippine Assembly. [285] Present indications point to the Nationalists as the largest of these coming opposition parties, its present programme being autonomy under American protection. The majority of those who clamour for "independence" [I am not referring to the masses, but to those who have thought the matter out in their own fashion] do not really understand what they are asking for, for it generally results from a close discussion of the subject that they are, in fact, seeking autonomy dependent on American protection, with little idea of what the Powers understand by Protection. In a conversation which I had with the leader of the Nationalists, I inquired, "What do you understand by independence?" His reply was, "Just a thread of connexion with the United States to keep us from being the prey of other nations!" Other parties will, no doubt, be formed; and there will probably be, for some time yet, a small group of Irreconcilables affiliated with those abroad who cannot return home whilst they refuse to take the oath of allegiance prescribed in the United States President's peace and amnesty proclamation, dated July 4, 1902. The Irreconcilables claim real sovereign independence for the Filipinos; they would wish the Americans to abandon the Islands as completely as if they had never occupied them at all. It is doubtful whether entire severance from American or European control would last a year, because some other Power, Asiatic or European, would seize the Colony. Sovereign independence would be but a fleeting vision without a navy superior in all respects to that of any second-rate naval Power, for if all the fighting-men of the Islands were armed to the teeth they could not effectively resist a simultaneous bombardment of their ports; nor could they, as inhabitants of an archipelago, become united in action or opinion, because their inter-communication would be cut off. When this is explained to them, there are those who admit the insuperable difficulty, and suggest, as a compromise, that America's position towards them should be merely that of the policeman, standing by ready to interfere if danger threatens them! This is the naive definition of the relation which they (the Irreconcilables) term "Protection."

However, the cry for "independence" has considerably abated since the Secretary of War, Mr. W. H. Taft, visited Manila in August, 1905, and publicly announced that America intended to retain the Islands for an indefinitely long period. Before America relinquishes her hold on the Colony (if ever) generations may pass away, and naturally the Irreconcilable, will disappear with the present one.

That the Filipinos would, if ever they obtain their independence, even though it were a century hence, manage their country on the pattern set them by their tutors of to-day, is beyond all imagination. "We want them to learn to think as we do," an American minister is reported to have said at a public meeting held in Washington in May, 1905. The laudable aim of America to convert the Filipino into an American in action and sentiment will probably never be realized.

Why the Philippines should continue to be governed by a Commission is not clear to the foreign investigator. Collective government is inconsonant with the traditions and instincts of these Asiatic people, who would intuitively fear and obey the arbitrary mandate of a paramount chief, whether he be called Nawab, Sultan, or Governor. Even as it is, the people have, in fact, looked more to the one man, the Mr. Taft or the Mr. Wright as the case may be, than they have to the Commission for the attainment of their hopes, and were there an uncontrolled native government, it would undoubtedly end in becoming a one-man rule, whatever its title might be. The difficulty in making the change does not lie in the choice of the man, because one most eminently fitted for personal rule in the name of the United States of America (assisted by a Council) is in the Islands just now.

The Philippine Assembly, which is, conditionally, to be conceded to the Islanders in 1907, will be a Congress of deputies elected by popular vote; the Philippine Commission, more or less as at present constituted, will be practically the Senate or controlling Upper House. The Filipinos will have no power to make laws, but simply to propose them, because any bill emanating from the popular assembly can be rejected by the Upper House with an American majority. The Philippine Assembly will be, in reality, a School of Legislature to train politicians for the possible future concession of complete self-government. In connexion with the public schools a course of instruction in political economy prepares youths for the proper exercise of the right of suffrage on their attaining twenty-three years of age. The studies include the Congress Law of July 1, 1902; President McKinley's Instruction to the Civil Commission of April 7, 1900; Government of the United States, Colonial Government in European States, and Parliamentary Law.

The question of the Filipinos' capacity for self-government has been frequently debated since the Rebellion of 1896. A quarter of a century ago the necessary 500 or 600 Filipinos, half-caste in the majority, could have been found with all the requisite qualifications for the formation of an intelligent oligarchy. The Constitution drawn up by Apolinario Mabini, and proclaimed by the Malolos Insurgent Government (January 22, 1899), was a fair proof of intellectual achievement. But that is not sufficient; the working of it would probably have been as successful as the Government of Hayti, because the Philippine character is deficient in disinterested thought for the common good. There is no lack of able Filipinos quite competent to enact laws and dictate to the people what they are to do; but if things are to be reversed and the elected assembly is to be composed of deputies holding the people's mandates, there will be plenty to do between now and March, 1907, in educating the electors to the point of intelligently using the franchise, uninfluenced by the caciques, who have hitherto dominated all public acts. According to the census of 1903, there were 1,137,776 illiterate males of the voting age. In any case, independently of its legislative function, the Philippine Assembly will be a useful channel for free speech. It will lead to the open discussion of the general policy, the rural police, the trade regulations, the taxes, the desirability of maintaining superfluous expensive bureaux, the lavish (Manila) municipal non-productive outlay, and ruinous projects of no public utility, such as the construction of the Benguet road, [286] etc.

The Act providing for a Philippine Assembly stipulates that the elected deputies shall not be less than 50 and not more than 100 to represent the civilized portion of the following population, viz. [287]:--Civilized, 6,987,686; wild, 647,740; total, 7,635,426. The most numerous civilized races are the Visayos (about 2,602,000) and the Tagalogs (about 1,664,000).

Population of Manila (Approximate Sub-divisions) [288]

Race. Pop. Race. Pop. Race. Pop.

Filipinos 189,915 Americans 3,700 Other Europeans 1,000 Chinese 21,500 Spaniards 2,500 Other Nationalities 1,313

Total in the Census of 1903 ... 219,928

(Exclusive of the Army and Navy.)

The divisions of the Municipality of Manila stand in the following order of proportion of population, viz.:--

1. Tondo (most). 2. Santa Cruz. 3. San Nicolas. 4. Sampaloc. 5. Binondo. 6. Ermita. 7. Intramuros (i.e., Walled City). 8. Quiapo. 9. Malate. 10. San Miguel. 11. Paco. 12. Santa Ana. 13. Pandacan (least).

The total number of towns in the Archipelago is 934.

Populations of 40 Provincial Towns of the 934 Existing in the Islands

(Exclusive of Their Dependent Suburbs, Districts, and Wards) [289]

Town. Civilized Pop.

Bacolod 5,678 Dagupan 3,327 San Jose de Buenavista 3,636 Batangas 1,610 Ilagan 1,904 Balanga 4,403 Iligan (or Yligan) 2,872 San Fernando (La Union) 1,142 Balinag 1,278 Imus 1,930 Baguio 270 Jaro 7,169 San Fernando (Pampanga) 1,950 Binan (or Vinan) 1,173 Jolo (Walled City) 541 Cabanatuan 1,894 S. Isidro 3,814 Capiz 7,186 Lipa 4,078 Tabaco 4,456 Calamba 2,597 Lingayen 2,838 Taal 2,658 Calbayoc 4,430 Olongapo 1,121 Tacloban 4,899 Cebu 18,330 Majayjay 1,680 Tarlac 3,491 Cottabato 931 Molo 8,551 Tuguegarao 3,421 Daet 2,569 Puerta Princesa 382 Vigan 5,749 Davao 1,010 Santa Cruz (Laguna) 4,009 Yloilo 19,054 Dapitan 1,768 Zamboanga 3,281

Civilized Population, Classified by Birth

According to the Census of 1903

Born in the Philippine Islands 6,931,548 Born in China 41,035 Born in United States 8,135 Born in Spain 3,888 Born in Japan 921 Born in Great Britain 667 Born in Germany 368 Born in East Indies 241 Born in France 121 Born in Other countries of Europe 487 Born in All other countries 275

6,987,686

The regulations affecting Chinese immigration are explained at p. 633. Other foreigners are permitted to enter the Philippines (conditionally), but all are required to pay an entrance fee (I had to pay $5.30 Mex.) before embarking (abroad) for a Philippine port, and make a declaration of 19 items, [290] of which the following are the most interesting to the traveller:--(1) Sex; (2) whether married or single; (3) who paid the passage-money; (4) whether in possession of $30 upward or less; (5) whether ever in prison; (6) whether a polygamist. The master or an officer of the vessel carrying the passenger is required to make oath before the United States Consul at the port of embarkation that he has made a "personal examination" of his passenger, and does not believe him (or her) to be either an idiot, or insane person, or a pauper, or suffering from a loathsome disease, or an ex-convict, or guilty of infamous crime involving moral turpitude, or a polygamist, etc. The ship's doctor has to state on oath that he has also made a "personal examination" of the passenger. If the vessel safely arrives in port, say Manila, she will be boarded by a numerous staff of Customs' officials. In the meantime the passenger will have been supplied with declaration-forms and a printed notice, stating that an "Act provides a fine of not exceeding $2,000 or imprisonment at hard labour, for not more than five years, or both, for offering a gratuity to an officer of the Customs in consideration of any illegal act in connexion with the examination of baggage." The baggage-declaration must be ready for the officers, and, at intervals during an hour and a half, he (or she) has to sign six different declarations as to whether he (or she) brings fire-arms. The baggage is then taken to the Custom-house in a steam-launch for examination, which is not unduly rigid. Under a Philippine Commission Act, dated October 15, 1901, the Collector of Customs, or his deputy, may, at his will, also require the passenger to take an oath of allegiance in such terms that, in the event of war between the passenger's country and America, he who takes the oath would necessarily have to forfeit his claim for protection from his own country, unless he violated that oath. No foreigner is permitted to land if he comes "under a contract expressed, or implied, to perform labour in the Philippine Islands." In 1903 this prohibition to foreigners was disputed by a British bank-clerk who arrived in Manila for a foreign bank. The case was carried to court, with the result that the prohibition was maintained in principle, although the foreigner in question was permitted to remain in the Islands as an act of grace. But in February, 1905, a singular case occurred, exactly the reverse of the one just mentioned. A young Englishman who had been brought out to Manila on a four years' agreement, after four or five months of irregular conduct towards the firm employing him, presented himself to the Collector of Customs (as Immigration Agent), informed against himself, and begged to be deported from the Colony. The incentive for this strange proceeding was to secure the informer's reward of $1,000. It was probably the first case in Philippine history of a person voluntarily seeking compulsory expulsion from the Islands. The Government, acting on the information, shipped him off to Hong-Kong, the nearest British port, in the following month, with a through passage to Europe.

Since the American advent the Administration of Justice has been greatly accelerated, and Municipal Court cases, which in Spanish times would have caused more worry to the parties than they were worth, or, for the same reason, would have been settled out of court violently, are now despatched at the same speed as in the London Police Courts. On the other hand, quick despatch rather feeds the native's innate love for litigation, so that an agglomeration of lawsuits is still one of the Government's undesirable but inevitable burdens. There is a complaint that the fines imposed in petty cases are excessive, and attention was drawn to this by the Municipality of Manila. [291] After stating that the fines imposed on 2,185 persons averaged $5 per capita, and that they had to go to prison for non-payment, the Municipality adds: "It shows an excessive rigour on the part of the judges in the imposition of fines, a rigour which ought to be modified, inasmuch as the majority of the persons accused before the Court are extremely poor and ignorant of the ordinances and the laws for the violation of which they are so severely punished." Sentences of imprisonment and fines for high crimes are justly severe. During the governorship of Mr. W. H. Taft, 17 American provincial treasurers were each condemned to 25 years' imprisonment for embezzlement of public funds. In February, 1905, an army major, found guilty of misappropriation of public moneys, had his sentence computed at 60 years, which term the court reduced to 40 years' hard labour. The penalties imposed on some rioters at Vigan in April, 1904, were death for two, 40 years' imprisonment and $10,000 fine each for twelve, 30 years' imprisonment for thirty-one, and 10 years' imprisonment for twenty-five.

The American law commonly spoken of in the Philippines as the "Law of Divorce" is nothing more than judicial separation in its local application, as it does not annul the marriage and the parties cannot marry again as a consequence of the action. The same could be obtained under the Spanish law called the Siete Partidas, with the only difference that before the decree nisi was made absolute the parties might have had to wait for years, and even appeal to Home.

On May 26,1900, the Military Governor authorized the solemnization of marriages by any judge of a court inferior to the Supreme Court, a justice of the peace, or a minister of any denomination. For the first time in the history of the Islands, habeas corpus proceedings were heard before the Supreme Court on May 19, 1900. Besides the lower courts established in many provincial centres, sessions are held in circuit, each usually comprising two or three provinces. The provinces are grouped into 16 judicial districts, in each of which there is a Court of First Instance; and there is, moreover, one additional "Court of First Instance at large." The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, some of his assistant judges, several provincial judges, the Attorney-General, and many other high legal functionaries, are Filipinos. The provincial justices of the peace are also natives, and necessarily so because their office requires an intimate knowledge of native character and dialect. Their reward is the local prestige which they enjoy and the litigants' fees, and happily their services are not in daily request. At times the findings of these local luminaries are somewhat quaint, and have to be overruled by the more enlightened judicial authorities in the superior courts. Manila and all the judicial centres are amply supplied with American lawyers who have come to establish themselves in the Islands, where the custom obtains for professional men to advertise in the daily newspapers. So far there has been only one American lady lawyer, who, in 1904, held the position of Assistant-Attorney in the Attorney-General's office.