'Cbe Conservative. 11
to the Spaniards for the establishment
of schools throughout the colony , and
their unremitting exertion to pre
serve and propagate Christianity by this
best of all possible means , the diffusion
of knowledge. ' ( Journal of an embassy
to China , oh. viii , p. 442. )
11 'It is said,1 observes the wife of the
American navigator , Captain Morrell ,
that in Manila there are more convents
than in any other city in the world of its
size , and the general voice of natives and
foreigners declares that they are under
excellent regulations. ' And then she
describes their inmates. 'They all
seemed full of occupation. There is no
idleness in these oonventp , as is generally
supposed , ' as her own account of the
various work accomplished in them
sufficiently proves. Moreover , 'their
devotions begin at the dawn of the day ,
and are often repeated during the whole
of it , or until , late in the evening , in
some form or other. ' Altogether , the
effect produce'd on the mind of this lady
was remarkably different from that
which Mr. Abeel records. 'I was born a
protestant , ' she says , 'and trust that I
shall die a protestant , but hereafter I shall
have more charity for all who profess to
love religion , whatever may be their
creed. ' ( Narrative of a voyage , by
Abby Jane Morrell , oh. ii , p. 44 ; oh. v. ,
p. 90. )
"In 1833 M. de la Gironiere , who
spent twenty years in the Philippines ,
informs us that the present race of
missionaries is not unworthy to be com
pared with their martyred predecessors.
Thus he relates how Father Miguel de
San-Francisco , a friend of his own , used
to collect the young men in his house ,
four at a time , keep them with him for
a fortnight under diligent instruction ,
and then send them in different direc
tions to communicate to others the les
sons which they had received from his
patient charity. In this way he would
contrive gradually to leaven a whole
district. M. de la Gironiere also notices
the important fact that while Manila and
its suburbs contain about one hundred
and fifty thousand souls , the Spanish and
Creole population hardly amount to one-
tenth of that number. ( Vingt aunees
uux Philippines , par P. de la Gironiere ,
p. 89 (1858. ( )
"In 1845 an American statistical writer
addressed to Mr. Ingersoll the following
account of the Philippines : 'The colony
is in a very flourishing condition. Most
of the native Tagalos and Horaforas
have been converted to the Catholic
faith. There are three saffragon bishops
in the provinces ; one of them , the
bishop of New Segovia , island of Luzon ,
wrote me in 1837 , that 'his diocese con
sisted of upwards of six hundred thousand
'
and Christian souls. ' ( Letter to the
Hon. Charles I. Ingersoll , etc. , by Aaron
H. Palmer , p. 14. ) Let these facts be
compared with the history of Dutch or
English Protestant missions in the same
part of the world. "
I think from this it will clearly appear
to yon that the slur upon the various
orders of Catholic priests in the Phillip-
pines contained in the article signed by
Mr. Evans , whether that slur be original
with Mr. Evans or contained in Mr. Yon
Ferdinand Blumentritt's book , is en
tirely unwarranted , is not based upon
facts , and , strange to say , contains its
own refutation in that part of the very
article signed by Mr. Evans which is
written for the purpose of showing
that 8,000,000 Filipinos are Chris
tians , educated , highly accomplished ,
and in every way fit for self-govern
ment ; for the facts are that , if all of Mr.
Evans * article about the eight million
Christian Filipinos is true and they are
in every way fit for self-government ,
they owe that condition entirely to the
very orders of Roman Catholic priests
who are slandered by the article signed
by Mr. Evans. Yours respectfully ,
PAUL BAKEWELL.
St. Louis , Mo. , Oct. 13 , 1900.
THE QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTERS.
All rules which govern elections are
of particular interest at this time. The
electoral laws of Belgium provide free
transportation to voters who have ceas
ed to live where they are registered ;
there they are compelled to vote , unless
before election day they give satisfac
tory reasons to a justice of the peace in
their district why they cannot come to
polls. Elections are held under the su
pervision of a magistrate and police
commissioner , who must have corrected
lists of all the voters in their precincts
before them. The officers see to it , not
alone that the votes are properly east ,
but also that they ore all cast. The man
who neglects to vote is cited at once to
appear before a justice , who either rep
rimands or fines him , unless he can
show that he was excused from coming
by proper authority granted before elec
tion day. A second offence is more
severely punished , and the name of the
refractory citizen , with a statement of
his delinquencies , is published by the
magistrate and posted on the gates of
the town hall. The man who without
excuse has abstained from voting four
times in ten years is considered unwor
thy of citizenship ; his name is stricken
from the poll lists , and for ten subse
quent years he is debarred from holding
any public office. Whoever is convict
ed of having intentionally absented
himself from the polls for the purpose
of affecting the result of any election is
fined to the extent of five hundred
francs and imprisoned for a month , to
gether with the person who may have
induced him so to act.
Duty of Citizens to Vote.
Punishments are inflicted on the slug
gish citizen in republican Switzerland
and other countries of Europe ; similar
laws existed here in Georgia and other
American colonies before they became
states ; if they remain on the statute
books they are no longer enforced. Yet
in times when grave questions are to be
decided such laws would be useful.
Since 1860 , when a majority voted for
the abolition of slavery by choosing
Abraham Lincoln , no election has taken
place the result of which will have a
greater influence on the destiny of the
country than the present one.
Citizens who abstain at this
juncture from voting because
they are indifferent or because
both candidates are distasteful to them ,
neglect a duty which they owe to the
commonweal. They ore not worthy of
the privileges which they enjoy under
our institutions , because they do not
help to perpetuate them. If we had
laws like they have in Belgium to pun
ish their neglect , to hold them up to
public scorn , eventually to disfranchise
them , they probably would exercise
their privilege of suffrage.
The impossibility of curtailing the
elective franchise in Belgium , a densely
populated and flourishing country ,
which in name only is a constitutional
monarchy , while in reality ite institu
tions are republican , induced the framers -
ers of its electoral laws to substitute for
restrictions premiums which entitle citi
zens who deserve it to additional votes.
The qualifications required from an
ordinary voter are similar to those of a
citizen of ourstates. . But a married
man of thirty-five or a widower with
children who pays as much as one dollar
a year in taxes is entitled to two votes
instead of one.
When we consider how this rule
would apply to our conditions we must
admit that a man who marries and rears
children has more interest in the admin
istration of good government and should
have more influence than he who re-
mains single. Louis Windmuller in
Harper's Weekly.
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