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About The American. (Omaha, Nebraska) 1891-1899 | View Entire Issue (July 29, 1898)
THE AMERICAN .V I M.Y NKW M'M'I K. AVI kit A I K A V! I U Nk " . t. . O i . 1 . . ,. ' . t . I . r ' it Mt:1 tM IIMil Ms Vol IVt V 1 1 1 . M.iiA. M:r-i:sKA. i i;iiy. .it i v . N i v M , SPAIN AND HER DEPENDENCIES Some Intcrotin 1'acH Kc gartliiv Thir Ciin em inent Furnished lij Henry ( rurli- !. ia the Atlatilir Monthly fur Julj. ( hurrh flleer lfj State OffliiaN and State Kecrw From Madrid. Henry Charles Lea contributes a timely article to the July Atlantic Monthly on "The Decadence of Spain," from which we take the following past ages: "The discoveries of Columbus did not open up a new continent to be settled by industrious immigrants com log to found states and develop their resources in peaceful industry. The marvelous exploits of the Conqulsta dores were performed ia the craziest thirst for gold, and those who succeed ed them came in the hope of speedy enrichment and return, to accomplish which they exploited to the utmost the unhappy natives, and when these were co longer available replaced them with African slaves. The mother country similarly looked upon her new pos sessions simply as a source of revenue, to be drained to the utmost, either for herself or for the benefit of those whom she sent out to govern them. Colonists who finally settled and cast their lots In the New World were consequently exposed to every limitation and dis' crimination that perverse ingenuity could suggest, and were sacrificed to the advantage, real or imaginary, of Spain. The short-sighted financial and commercial policy at home would in It self have sufficed to condemn the col onies to stagnation and misery, but In addition they were subjected to special restrictions and burdens. It was not until 1788 that trade with them was permitted through any port but Cadiz, whose merchants made use of their monopoly to exact a profit of from one hundred to two hundred per cent. Ex port and import duties were multiplied, till the producer was deprived of all in centive to exertion, and the popula tions were taxed to their utmost ca pacity, the taxes being exacted with merciless severity. "As if this were not enough, the all pervading influence of clericalism ren dered good government well-nigh im possible. Under Its influence the co lonial organizations consisted of sundry independent jurisdictions, Incompatible with the preservation of order in any community, and especially unfitted for the administration of a colony, separ ated by a thousand leagues from the supreme authority which alore, could compose their differences. There was the royal representative, the viceroy or governor, responsible for the de fense of the province and the mainten ance of order. There was the church establishment with its bishop or arch' bishop, in no way subordinate to the civil power. There were the various regular orders Franciscans, Domini cans, Augustinians, Jesuits, etc., bit terly jealous of one another and prompt to quarrel, exempt from episcopal jur isdiction, and subject only to their res pective superiors or to the pope, ex cept when suspicion of heresy might render individual members answerable to the Inquisition. Finally, there was the Inquisition itself, which owned obedience only to the Supreme Council of the Holy Office in Madrid, and held itself superior to all other jurisdictions; 'or under its delegated papal power it could at will paralyze the authority of any one, from the highest to the lowest, by its excommunication, while no priest or prelate could excommunicato its ministers. It was impossible that so irrational a scheme of social order should work smoothly. Causes of dis sentlon, trivial or serious, between these rival and jealous jurisdictions were rarely lacking, and the Internal history of the colonies consists In great part of their quarrels, which disturbed the peaoe of the communities and hin dered prosperity and growth. "In the Atlantic Monthly for August, 1891, I described at some length a com plicated quarrel between theF.ancis- cans and the Bishop of Cartagena de las Indies, In which both the Inquisi tion and the royal governor Intervene!, keeping the community in an uproar from 1683 to 1688. This was followed, in 1603, by an outbreak between the governor, Ceballos, and the Inquisi tion. In the public meat-market a butcher refused to give precedence to a negro slave of the inquisitor, who there upon had the indiscreet butsher ar rested and confined in chains in the curreles secrehtH of the inquhitlon. This in Itself was a most serious punishment, for such imprisonment left an inefface able stigma on the sufferer and on his descendants for two generations. The governor pleaded In vain with the in quisitor, and then endeavored secretly to obtain testimony to send to Madrid, but without success, for no one dared to give evidence. The fact of his attempt leaked out, however, and the secretary of the Inquisition led a mob to the pal ace, and forced the governor, under threat of excommunication, to sign a declaration that he abandoned the case to the Inquisition, that all reference to it should be expunged from the records of the municipality and all papers re lating to it should be delivered to the inquisitor. He submitted, and his only recourse was to write a piteous letter to the Council of the Indies Such ap peal to the home authorities was of un certain outcome, for the inquisitors were by no means ready to submit to an adverse decision. In a complicated quarrel between the cruzada, the epis copal court, the Inquisition, and the viceroy ot Peru, in 1729, the inquisitors of Lima formally and repeatedly re fused obedience to a royal order sent through the viceroy, alleging that they were subject only to the Supreme Council of the Holy Office. In 1751 they took the same ground in a case in which the king decided against them, and they held out until 17G0, when a more peremptory command was re ceived, accompanied by a dispatch rom the council which they could not disregard. "Thus, to a greater or less degree, all Spanish colonies were fields in which clericalism rioted at will. Par aguay, where the Jesuits succeeded in building up an independent theocracy, offers the most perfect illustration of the result, and a somewhat less con spic uous instance is found in the Phil ippines. There the missions of the Augustlnian Resolled acquired such ! power that the annals of that colony seem rather to be the records of the Augustlnian province of San Nicolas than those of a royal dependency. This Augustinian supremacy was un successfully disputed by the Domini cans, in the early years of the eigh teenth century, but the Jesuits proved to be more dangerous rival', who did not scrupple, In 1736, to induce their rative subjects to make war on those of the Augustinians. The banishment in 1767 of the Society of Jesus from the Spanish dominions left the field to the Augustinians, who have since held it, apparently without maklDg effort to secure tDe good will of their flocks. They had their own internal troubles, however, for in 1712 the hostility be tween the Aragonese and Castillans led to a schism which had to be referred to Spain for settlement, when the Cas tillans, who were the lising party, re fused to submit until the acting gov ernor, Torralba, employed the persuas ive influence of artillery. The charac ter of their relations with the secular authority can be estimated from an oc currence in 1643. when the governor, Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, pre paring to resist an expected attack by the Dutch, undertook to fortify Manila. An Augustinian convent and church occupied a site required for a demilune. Corcuera offered the friars another church and 4, COO pesos; but they re fused to move, and obstinately remained in the convent until the progress of the works rendered it uninhabitable, when it was torn down and the materials were used in the lines. They raised a great clamor, which probably was the cause of the removal of Corcuera in 1644, when they prosecuted their griev ance in court, and obtained a decree reinstating them and casting him in damages to the amount of 25,000 pesos. They tore down the fortifications, re built the church, and threw Corcuera into prison, where he languished un der cruel treatment for five years. He had been an excellent administrator, and on his liberation Philip IV. ap pointed him governor of the Canaries.' All papists are bigoted no matter how liberal they may make out to be. Rome makes it a religious duty to oppose the public ?choolt. That JeHuit 1'ostage Stamp. A full length Jesuit priest In his robe with beads and crucifix on our new one-cent postage etimp! What wonder that the people of the United States rub their eyes to make sure they are not dreaming! My attention was first called to that stamp by a really liberal Roman Catholic. He said, "I thought this was a Protestant country, and I never expected to live to see a Jesuit priest on our postage stamps." It was not quite enough to put his portrait, cross, beads, robe and savages on the stamp, but to make sure the In sult would not be missed, his name must be added. Where you find, on some stamps, the head of Washington or Franklin, or other patriotic Ameri can citizens, you see no name. Scarce ly could our government do a greater honor to any illustrious benefactor of the human race than to impress his image upon a one cent stamp, which will find ita way into every family in the Union, and be preserved in the al bums of all the philatelists in the world. The smaller the denomination the more widely it will travel. And why should this great honor be so lavishly showered upon this Jesuit priest? What was his history? He wandered through the wilderness in the great Northwest till he accident ally struck the Mississippi river the same river that DeSoto had discovered 130 years before! The Roman Catho lics claim this as a great discovery! How many discoverers do we need for one river? It has been discovered since Marquette's time by many thous and Protestants; but not one of them has ever claimed any distinction there for. Today I called upon the Third Asst. Sec. of the Postal Department to learn how tbia design was selected. If you will take the trouble to look into the Official Postal Guide, you w'll find that this postage stamp business comes within his jurisdiction. His name is John A Merritt, and he informed me that he alone is responsible for this de sign. "Somebody," he said, "suggest ed it to me." He could not.apparently, remember who. I asked him whether he was a Roman Catholic. He frankly assured me that he was not, and was not a member of any orthodox church. Ho was very urbane and answered frankly all my questions, but seemed to know really nothing about the history of Marquette. Ho seemed rather dazed when I informed him that Mar quette was a foreigner, never a citizen of the United States, nor of any state, and had never done anything worthy of note, but had taught the French and Indians to hate the early English set tlers, and to murder them, because they were heretics. The object of those French Jesuit missionaries was to overrun all that vast Northwest territory and take pos sessfon of it by right of discovery for Roman Catholic France, thus heading off Protestant England. For a full account of these matters, send 10 cents for "Religion in the American Colonies." When you shall have read that, you will know better how to appreciate this new ecclesiasti cal stamp. One copy presented to Mr. Merritt. Chase Roys, 631 F N. W., Washington, D. C. Let New Mexico Stand Aside. The Liberal, of Lordsburg, New Mexico, last week published the fol owing editoral: , The native population of New Mex ico, that Is the people of Spanish and Mexican descent are not enlisting to any serious extent. Various reasons are given for this sad state of affairs. It is said that the priests in some Mex ican towns are preaching against the United States and telling the people that Spain is their mother country, and they owe their allegiance to her; that tie of language is proving strong er than the tie of patriotism, and that a great many of them will not enlist because they are cowards. When the rough riders were being enlisted Max Luna, one of the most prominent na tives of the territory, was given a com mission and organized a company, but he got only a few natives in his com pany. When Governor Otero started to enlist the four infantry companies that are now being organized he en deavored to get the natives to enlist. He offered a commission to Perfecto Armijo,, one of the most prominent members of the powerful Armijo fam ily at Albunurque. If he would secure native volunteers. Mr. Armijo decline the commission. The governor's broth er, Page B. Otero, one of the most pop ular men in the nothern part of terri tory, went to Santa Cruz, but could not secure a single recroit. He learned that the priest had been preaching against the United States and urging the people not to enlist. If the Mexi cans do not furnish volunteers It will be a long time, as It really should bo, before the territory Is admitted to statehood. We do not want a state where a large proportion of the popu lation Is able to vote, but unwilling to fight. If New Mexico cannot or will not supply the four companies called from that territory let ber stand aside. Arizona will quickly furcish the en tire contingent from both territories. Arizona wanted to send the whole regiment anyway, and still stands ready to do so. The Oasis. Spend August in the Rlack Hills. Go first to Hot Springs. There you can bathe, rike, bicycle, climb moun tains, dance and play tennis to your heart's content. If your limbs are stiff, your kidneys out of order or If you are troubled with eczema or any other form of skin disease, a month at Hot Springs will make a new man of you. Sylvan Lake and Spearfish are with in a comparatively short distance of Hot Springs and everyone who visits the Black Hills should see them. Sylvan Lake is the prettiest and cool est su mmcr resort in the west. Spear fish is reached after a railroad ride that ranks among the experiences of a lifetime. There is nothing like It any where else on the globe. During August, the Burlington Route will run two low rate excursior s to Hot Springs; one on the 9th., the other on the 26th. of that month. Tickets will be sold at one fare for the round trip $16.40 from Omaha and will be good to return any time within 30 days. Tickets, sleeping car berths and ad vertising matter descriptive of the Black Hills can be had at the Burling ton ticket office, 1502 Farnam St., Omaha, or, by addressing J. Francis, General Passenger Agent. The success of the American arms in Cuba, In the Philippines and in Puerto Rico, and the acquisition of Hawaii will render a revision of the school geographies a necessity. Incidentally the schoolbook trust will reap a rich harvest at about the time the last sheaf of the golden grain of the' prairies shall have been garnered. The trust will perhaps alone have the facilities for furnishing up-to-date geographies in time for the opening of tho fall terms of the free schools of the repub lic. The pupils of the schools will find the study of American geography more Interesting than ever before.