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THE AMERICAN
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Xi MiiKit 27.
Volume VUI.
OMAHA, XEttKASKA. FIJI DAY, JTI,Y I, ls:is.
PUT "HOLY WATER
IN THE MILK SOLD.
Priests Control the Govern
ment. Commerce, Society
and Religion of the
Philippine Isles
Some iniisintr, Interesting mid Intruc
tire Stories of Life in the I'bilippfne
Islands aft Told Bj the M. Lftuis
fclobe Democrat, June 19th.
Oolf p an Ozaota is the soa o( a native
Manila merchant of great wealth. He
is 25, cosmopolitan in character and ed
ucation, and is now in America for the
purpose of studying trade relations.
" He has traveled extensively in Eu-ope,
and studied for a time at Berlin. He
has visited every part ot the Philip
pine Islands and is thoroughly familiar
with life in them. He left Manila after
the insurrection against Spain broke
out, but before it was known there that
war with this country was imminent.
The stories he tells of native Philip
pine life are most fascinating.
"Milk dealers in Manila carry their
wares about the streets in bags, as a
rule," sa'd Mr. Ozaota, in the course of
a long conversation today, "though of
late ambitious dealers have afforded
two-wheel carts. Just before I left
borne the dealer who served us with
milk was accused of diluting bis milk.
Of course he denied the charge at first.
Being pressed before the tribunal, he
confessed to the truth of the allegation
The Roman Catholic priest, who is al
ways a figure in such tribunals, arose to
admonish the accused before sentence
' should be passed, whereupon the dealer
confessed that be had used, in diluting
his milk, holy water from the church
font. Forthwith he was released and
the priest blessed everybody, present
acd absent, who had drank of the milk.
The magistrate did not relish the turn
of affairs, but he was powerless, since
the edict of the church is supreme.
"Elections t3 public offices are con
ducted in ways that would be thouirbt
quite novel here. The Governor of the
province, or in his absence, a deputy,
presides. Some priest of the church
' is chosen to take part He alts on the
' rleht of the Governor or deputy. The
' three form an election board, which
sits high up in the common hall. The
same plan is followed for cities and
tow28 as in provinces. These three
persons select by lot six 'cubezaa' and
six-'gobernadorcellos.' With the Gov
ernor of the preceding year, these thir
teen comprise the electors. Each one
of the thirteen must in every instance
be sanctioned by the priest, and here
is where the church gets not a little of
its vast power.
"Before voting begln9 the Governor
reads the statutes, which exhorts all to
duty and ti patriotism. The electors
then come forward. Ech elector writes
three names upon a slip of paper. And
each one of these three names must be
approved by the priest. Elector num
ber two repeats this performance, and
so on up to the thirteenth, each writing
three names, and each three being
sanctioned by the priest. The person
who receives the largest number of
votes is the one elected. The people
have no voice in the matter, usually
the only person wielding any power
being the priest. The same plan cf
elections is followed, with slight varia
tions only, on all the islands, and in all
of the towns. Sometimes natives are
chosen by lot among the electors, and
bometimes not. It all depends on
whether thty are friendly to the Span
iards, and to tne priest.
"Natives of the Philippines have a
novel explanation of the creation of the
world. It is a tradition handed down
froa many generations back. I re
member to have heard it as a small
child, and to have believed it implicit
ly. A vulture was hovering in space,
atd found no place to rest. Water
from somewhere arose at tbit juncture.
It neared heaven, causing by ,.i.ltgJto
the wrath of an Almighty p jwtr. Ow
ing to this wrath islands were created.
Finding upon the largest island a great
bamboo, the vulture splits it, and out
spring a man and a woman. The
couple from the bamboo is most fruit
ful of children, and when their number
became very great, the vulture drove
everybody out with blows. In their
flight some concealed themselve in
the chamber, and these became datos
goddesses. Others took refuge in the
kitchen, and these became slaves. The
balance went down the stairs and be
came the common people. This story
of the origin of the earth and of man
kind is believed today, I suppose, by
millions of my racial kinsmen.
"The number of acquirements de
manded of a parish priest in the Phil
ippines is very great. If he does not
possess all of them the puhlic interests
suffer. For example, a priest must be
an architect, because it is be who must
draw up all plans for the erection of
churches; an engineer, for he is ex
pected to make acd to mend all roads;
a doctor, for he la the only physician,
except a few who are stationed at one
army hospital; a teacher, for the
church delegates the education of the
people to no one not in orders; and he
must be a businessman, for no one
thinks of undertaking any great mat
ter without consulting the priest.
More than this, he is the adviser of the
judges, and there is very little justice
meted out that be does not dictate. As
related, the priest supervises the el c
tions, and therefore has to keep in
touch with what jou Western people
call 'politics.' Naturally he is a very
busy man.
"When I attended service on day at
a cburch near my home in Manila the
priest announced from the pulpit a raf
fle, and held up the watch which was
to be rt tiled for, in order that all might
see it. There were also to be rt flies
for dresses for women, and these he al
so displayed. Without leaving the pul
pit, he proceeded to organize a society
for women, cal'cd the 'Co-fradta de
Sar Jose,' the members of which were
to sell tickets for the riffle. Beyond
the prayers that incident was the en
tire service for the day.
on the islands, tor Iheve visited a,ar.y
' of the principal ones, there are images
having movable parts. Whenever the
priest addresses a saint the arm of the
saiat's figure would rise. I used to
think there were no confederate, aid
that the spirit, maybe the power of the
priest, was at work. I know better
now, and yet I think perhaps the na
tives of the Philippines are no worse
off because tbey still believe in this
manifestation of the priestly power.
"I notice here that you let tramps
wander about in idleness. We do bet
ter. We in the Philippines provide
tramps with miniature images of saints,
or, If Images cannot be had by the
priest, he gives a picture instead. A
glass care is put over the image or pic
ture. The tramps carry these about
the streets of the city and invite any
who wish to do so to kiss the glass upon
payment of a small fee. A blessing is
supposed to follow. The tramp must re
turn figure and money to the pr'est,
who in return gives him or her, for we
sometimes have female tramps in the
Philippines, a moaicum of the money
collected, himself retaining the greater
part. In this way priests find out what
saint is most popular in a given com
munity. The one receiving the most
kisses gets the next church named for
it In any event, the unemployed is
provided with something to do and the
people are benefited.
"The sale of masses is quite frequent
with us. A priest named Father Ca
103 struck a bargain with a Spaniard
at Nueva Carcerej. The priest told
the Spaniard he would give him a ham
from Gallicia for every ten masses he
secured for him. The prle&t charged
the equivalent of $1 for each mass
the regular price. People in my
country go to church because it Is the
custom. But if a commu&icact does
not go he is liable to punishment
One man whom I knew was macie by a !
magistrate to rcc jive twenty lashes in i
the public highway and two months'
labor at rope-making in the fortifica
tions of Cavlte.
"There are three seminaries in
Spain all the students of which are
sent to the Philippines upon gradua
tion. There are seminaries there
where student priests are trained for
other Spanish eolon'es, as Cuba acd
f'o'rto " Rico. The advantage qI th;s
plan is that priests thus get special
; training for service in the country
where they are to serve the church.
I For you must remember that all the
priests in the Philippines are Span
iards. 036 of the seminaries where
priests are trained for tie Philippines
is located at Vallad 'lle1, another at
Oiaca ard the third at Moreto Argude.
The first earned 1b the principal one.
Upon their arrivalin the Philippines
they are given a small cure to allow
them opportunity to learn the lan
guage. In most of the cures be is the
only white man. .In consequence, the
priest becomes in this way the re pre
sentative not only of the church but of
the Spanish Government. Priests edu
cated for service in the Philippe have
to remain there for life. None ever
retarn to Spain or are sect to service
elsewhere, so far as I ever knew.
"Every village has its cathedra!,
sometimes pretentious, sometimes not,
but as a rule it is the finest building in
the town. Five orders of priests have
charge of thee churches, and o! other
religious work. The first order to be
establishment there was the Domini
can?, who came in 1770. Close after
them came the Austin Friars, in 1778.
After them came the Franciscans, the
Reeoleios, a branch of the St. Augus
tines, and, lastly, the Jesuits. The
hierarchy consists of archbishopric and
four 6uffragan bishoprics. The pri
mate is the Archbishop of the Philip
pine?, acd his name is Don Bernardino
Nozaloda. His residence is at Manila.
The suffragan Bishops are located at
Nueva Segoria, Cebu, Jaro and Nueva
Carcere9. The church is supported by
the state to the extent of about $750,
000 a year. The salaries of the priests
range from $300 to $2200 a year. The
Archbishop of the PcUippitts receives
$12 (00 a vear, aid tin fi n- s.-.fT.pai
Bishop? t5 0j0 a y .-oij. Eic-i or
der o' pries; has J cii bty, a law
yer, s'.atoutci ut Mai ri ! v ;t k a!t;r
its tempo; ai if.ert-f.s. Ia lk8 the
state spent $724 CC0 'or ;h aupucr; of
the churches, tee m:ssi jie and me cat
tic convents.
"The Sat,;h ti rvoe ccjojs the
right of conferring tiifitrtci itdulg-e-ntts
to people iu t-e Philippiner,
even for ser.vu crime, uu.tg u in the
came of the holy see. This right is
acquired wholesale Red sold to priests
at retail, together with other monopo
lies, such as tobacco, brandy, lottery
ticket?, stamped paper, all sold through
the agencies of the priests, without the
assistance -f whom very little commer
cial business would be transacted. The
income from the sale of these indulg
ences amounted in 1719 to $15,930: In
1839, $20,390; In 1880, $.-.8,934. The
priests receive as their share from
t&ese sales from 6 to 6 per cent gross.
Popes Gregory IV. and Innocent IX.
issued hulls offering rewards for the
use of beads, medals and crosses.
Among these rewards were nine plen
ary indulgences every day for the res
cue of nine souls.
"I find a marked difference between
the Roman Catholic church here and
the same church at home. A Catholic
there, I have difficulty in understand
ing it here. I do not say there is a
difference in doe'rine, but in practice,
Ourchurcb, like our business and our
government, has suffered at the hands
of the Spaniards. The same greed
that caused these Spanish cormorants
to rob us in tnxes, and to persecute any
man foun 1 to be making money, has
not scrupied to u-e the church for the
selfish and immoral purposes."
Concerning Jesuits as Chaplains.
Considerable criticism of the admin
istration is now eoing on because of the
appointment of quite a number cf Cath
olic priests as chaplains In the volun
teer army. It Is known that some of
these priests are jesuits and it is al
leged that by their appointment as
chaplain, the authorities at Washing
ton are playing directly Into the hands
of Spaia who Is the mother of the Jesu
its and of other Roman Catholic orders.
It Is true that the Roman Catholic au
thorities in this country have publicly
declared their loyalty and sympathy
with the United States in the present
war with Spain, but no one can tell
what is hidden beneath the mask of
jesultlsm. None can 'deny that they
are under the most solemn oaths to
make the advancement of popery the
first object of their Uvea. It Is also
well known that Senor Du Bosc while
In Canada had a complete army of spies
Id this country and It 1m more than sus
pected that his schemes were largely
promoted by the johuita. But this is
no time to criticise the administration.
We adhere to the principle of the no
tice posted In a Rocky Mountain stage
coach. "No gassing the driver while
going down Breakneck canon." But
we hope and pray th e authorities at
Washington will not forget the dangers
which have come to other nations by
giving roign to the jesults. Let not
this country nor Protestantism be
wounded In the bouec of Its friends.
Omaha Christian Advocate.
Oar Enemies.
One of the aims of Evangelical
churches is to overthrow heathenism
and establish the religion of Christ and
a knowledge of the bible, but the jesu
lts would prefer heathenism to Evan
gelical Christianity. We quote from a
prominent church historian: "Already
the Island and the Islands about it
(south sea l6lnd) bd been at least
outwardly christianized, when the jes
ults landed under the guns of a French
cruiser and broke up the church. But
the converts remained faithful, and In
1803 were organized anew by the Paris
(Protestant) Miss otary Society." If
the jasults hate anything it is the bible
and those who teach the bible in a
common sense way and that Is what
they are trying to do for the United
States. They would prefer to have
heathenism here today than the knowl
edge of the bible with the attending
blessings. If they could only have the
French gucs, c the Spanish guns to
support them you would see every jes
ult true to hla mental reservation,
when he swore allegiance to the
United States. At the present time the
Spanish arms are not successful and
for that reason they crouch like a sick
kitten under the flag of this free coun
try. They are an enemy to any nation
and a despotic "combine." Heis.
Ask the newsdealers in you town for
this paper. Have your friends also en
quire. Help spread the truth.
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can paid for this year? If not you
should m nd in $2 00 by the very next
mall. Do not delay.
"In wime churches that I have visited
y
