I, 35, July 15, 1890 inferior race and you are not worthy of bei fepresented by your own delegates in the Par figment of the noble nation,” perhaps the ernment, relying on the “only support of nish rule” will delay the diffusion of the tufional language voluntarily, but then it would be at its own risk. FERNANDO BLUMENTRITT ON THE INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS 1 Doctor Sancianco, in his Progreso de Filipinas (Philippine Progress), has taken up this question-a Burning one as he calls it, and relying on facts and reports furnished by the very same Spanish authorities who rule the Philippines has demonstrated that such indo- tence does not exist and that whatever is said about it does not deserve a reply, not even a ing notice. Nevertheless inasmuch as discussion of still has continued not only by government e ployees who make it responsible for their own shortcomings, not only by the friars who regard it as necessary in order that they may continue representing themselves as indispensable, but also by serious and disinterested persons; inas- much as contrary to the evidence which Doctor Sancianco cites, others of more or less reliabil- ity can be cited, it seems expedient to us to study is question thoroughly, without rancor or ness, without bias, without pessimism; and inasmuch as we can serve our country only by telling the truth however bitter it be, inasmuct as a round-about artful negation cannot refute areal and positive fact, in spite of the brilliance of the arguments; inasmuch as a mere affirm ic not sufficient to create something impossible, we shall examine the facts calmly, using, of our part, all the impartiality of which a man is capable, who is convinced that there is no redemption except upon solid bases of virtue. ‘The word indolence has been greatly mis- used in the sense of litle love for work, lack of etgy, etc. ridicule has covered the misuse of is much-discussed subject has met with the same fate as certain panaceas and specifics of the quacks who, by: ssceibing to them impos- sible virtues, have discredited them. In the Middle Ages and even in some Catholic coun- tries now, the devil is blamed for everything that ‘superstitious people cannot understand or which Perversity of mankind does not wish to In the Philippines the shortcomings of 323 one or of others, the misdeeds of some and the crimes of others are attributed to indolence. And just as in the Middle Ages, he who sought the explanation of phenomena outside of inter- nal influences was persecuted, in the Philippines worse happens to him who seeks the origin of the trouble outside of accepted beliefs, ‘The consequence of this misuse is that some are very much interested in proclaiming it as a dogma and others in combating its ridiculous superstition, if not a punishable delusion. Yet from the misuse of anything it should not be deduced that it does not exist. We think that there must be something be- hind all this outcry, for it is incredible that so ‘many persons should agree to lie-among whom ‘we said that there are many serious and disin- terested ones. Some act in bad faith, for fun, due to lack of sound judgment, or to limited reasoning power, ignorance of the past, etc. others repeat what they hear without study or reflection; others speak because of pessimism cor impelled by that human characteristic which paints as perfect or nearly perfect everything that belongs to oneself and defective, every- thing that belongs to another. But it cannot be ‘denied that there are some who worship truth or if not truth itself, at least the semblance of it which is the truth in the mind of the crowd. Examining well therefore all the scenes, the men we have known from childhood and life in our country; we believe that indolence does exist there. "The Filipino who can measure {0 the most active people of the world vil doubiless not repudiate this admission, for it is true that there one works and struggles against climate, against nature, against men. But we should ‘not take the exception for the general tule and should rather seek the good of our ‘country by starting what we believe to be true, ‘We must confess that there indolence actually and positively exists; only, that, instead of holding it to be the cause of the backwardness and the trouble, we should regard it as the effect of the backwardness and the trouble, favoring the development of a lamentable predisposi- ton, ‘Those who have until now talked {of the roblem] of indolence, with the exeeplion of ctor Sancianco, have been content with de- nying of affirming it; we know of no one who has studied its causes. Nevertheless, those who admit its existence and exaggerate it more or less, have not failed to advise remedies taken here and there-from Java, from India, from other English and Dutch colonies, like the quack who saw a fever cured with a dozen sardines afterwards prescribed these fish at every rise in temperature that he discovered in his patients.IL, 35, July 15, 1890 ‘We shall do otherwise; before proposi ay we shall examine the causes and even though, strictly speaking, a predisposition is not f cause, We shall however study the true value of this predisposition due to nature, The predisposition exists, How could it not exist? ‘A hot climate requires of the individual quiet and rest, just as cold incites one to labor and action. ‘For this reason the Spaniard is more indolent than the Frenchman; the Frenchman, more than the German, ‘The Europeans them- selves who accuse the residents of the colonies very often of indolence (and I do not speak now of the Spaniards, but of the Germans and En- lish themselves}, how do they live in tropical Countries? Surrounded by a retinue of servants, never going but riding in a carriage, needing servants not only to take off their shoes for them, but even to fan them! And yet they live and eat better [than that native], they work for themselves to get rich, with the hope of a future, free and respected, while the poor colonial, the indolent colonial, is badly nourished, hopes for nothing, toils for others and works under force ‘and compulsion! Why? Perhaps the reply will Sr iar ehfie men ave not bull Yo suffer the severity of the climate, A mistake! A man can live in any climate if he will only adapt himself to ils requirements and conditions; what kills a European in hot countries is the abuse of li- quots, the attempt to live according to the nature of his own country under another sky and an- other sun, We, inhabitants of hot countries, live ‘well in northern Europe whenever we take the precautions that the people there do. Europeans ‘can also stand the torrid zone if only they would get rid of their prejudices. “The fact is that in tropical countries, violent work is not as good a thing as in cold countries jthere it means annihilation, death, destruction. Nature who knows this, like a just mother, has made therefore the earth more fertile, more pro- ductive; it is a compensation. An hour's work under the burning sua, in the midst of pernicious influences springing from active nature is equal to a day’s work in a temperate climate; therefore just that the earth yield a hundredfold! Moreover, do we not see the active European, he who has been fortified during winter, he who feels fresh blood of spring coursing in his veins~do we not see him abandoning bis labors during the few days of his variable summer, close his offices where the work is not violent and for so many is reduced to talking and Bes ticulating in tte shade and beside a lunch ‘counter, flee to watering places, sit in the cafes or stroll about, ete.? What wonder then that the {inhabitant of tropical countries, worn out and With blood thinned by the continuous and exces 325 sive heat, is reduced to inaction? Who is the indolent one in Manila offices? Is it the poor clerk who comes in at eight in the morning and leaves at one in the afternoon with only his parasol—who copies, writes, and works for him- self and for his Chief, or is it his Chief who comes in a carriage at ten o’clock, leaves before twelve, reads his newspaper while smoking and with his feet cocked up on chairs or a table, or eiining about everybody with his Senda? Who is the indolent one, the native coadjutor, poorly paid and badly treated who has to visit all the indigent sick living in the country, or the friar eurate who enriches himself fabalously, ‘goes about in a carriage, eats and drinks well, and does not put himself to any trouble without collecting excessive fees? Even without speaking of Europeans, the Chinese, the industrious Chinese who flees from country driven by hunger and want and swhose whole ambition is to amass a small for- tune-to what labor is he dedicated in tropical countries? With the exception of some bag gage-carriers, an occupation that the natives also pursue, slmost all of them are dedicated to trade and commerce; rarely do we find one dedi- cated to agriculture. The Chinese who in other colonies engage in agriculture do so only for a certain number of years and then retire, ‘We find therefore the tendency to indolence very natural and we have to admit and bless it Decause we cannot alter natural laws and be~ cause without it, the race would have disappeared. Man is not a brute, he is not a machine; his object is not merely fo produce in ‘spite ofthe claims of some Christian whites who ‘wish to make of the colored Christian a kind of motive force somewhat more intelligent and Tess costly than steam, Man's purpose is not to satisfy the passions of another man; his object is to seek his happiness and that of his kind by iravelling along the road of progress and perfec {ess latently but that itis fostered and magnified. ‘Among men as well as among nations, there exist not only aptitude but also tendencies to- ‘ward good and evil. To foster the good ones and aid them as well as lo correct the bad ones and express them would e the duty of society or of the goverment, if less noble thoughts did not ‘occupy their attention. ‘The evil is that the in- Golence in the Philippines is an exaggerated indolence, one of the snowballing type, if we may be permitted the expression, an evil that Shcreases in direct proportion to the periods of ime, an effect of misgovernment and of back- wardness like we said, not a cause thereof, Others will hold the contrary ‘opinion, especially those. who have a hand inDy, 35, July 15, 1890 the misgovernment, but we do not care; we fhade our assertion and we shall prove it, (To be continued) ee WHAT BOOKS SAY « Ithasbeensaid thatthe character ofthe native is incomprenensibie; that he is good for nothing and that he even prefers a master who maltreats him and whips him. What nonsense! And is it possible that these things have been written by en who consider themselves intelligent? “Thenative, when heis enslaved, undoubtedly carriesout better the tasks imposed on him, buthe does so for fear of punishment and only until the time when an opportunity present itself to escape and flee, which is what happens many times. “When the Spaniards or the European mal- treats him, he may exclaim ‘ Valiant Castila,’ a phrase we take in its literal meaning which is absurd, because it means to them quite the com- plete opposite “Valiant” means to them * cruel, bad, insufferable,’ etc, and so when they say * ‘Ang Castila valiente’ (a valiant Castillan) they mean abad Spaniards; while those whoare kind to them know well how to distinguish this from ‘Ang, mabutin Castila,” the noble or good Spaniard. “Moreover, when a European does not have certain manners, lets out coarse expressions that are hardly proper and does not behave properly, the natives do not recognize him as a true Span- iard. They are wont to exclaim: “Hindi Castila,” be is not a Spaniard. “Thave also heard reference to the existence of ‘servants who pray that their masters whip them because fthey did not, they wouldnot beshowing. love for them. What actually happens in such a ‘ase is that the masters fail to understand their servants; what the latterask is merely that they are ready to suffer the consequences of their own faulisifthey be guilty ofthem. “This has happened tome in connection with a servant, Someone who could have failed to un- derstand the motive would have probably interpreted thestatement in different way. Havin «ast Suspicion at one of his companions fora fault made, the servant came to me and asked me to punish him because he was the guilty one. “Couldit not be possible that similar situations have arisen and not knowing their customs, Peleg ta give cont interpretations to similar requests?” Shelia 1, Paseas por el mundo (Manuel por [Voyage Around the World], Madrid, 1878, pages 176 and 177) 327 “You must understand that freedom of the press is unknown in the Philippines and those ‘who are fond of reading newspapers and acqui ing news must content themgelves ordinarily reading simple items on morals, fit for children, Tong and pompous praises of the officials which are always the same for everybody, detailed descriptions of religious festivals, reprints of ‘sermons by Father So-and-So, many and pro- longed debates on whether or not agua (water) is written with a g or vino (wine) with a b, long ‘commentaries on the weather, humidity, the hot ‘or cold temperature then prevailing, if it should oF should not rain soon, some news of raids staged by tulisanes (bandits) in the provinces which are quite frequent, forecasts that are al- most always erroneous of coming earthquakes or typhoons, and lastly, the advertisements on Singer machines, precious stones, and long lists Of religious books which are sold in book- stores of religious literature.” (Manuel Scheidnagel, Paseas por el mundo, Madrid, 1878, page 112.) “{t happens generally that the highest offi- cials who arrive in the country have to suffer ‘the consequences of adulations from the high echelon which seem bent usually-I do not know ‘why-on disfiguring the truth and on opposing, the good intentions they might have by placing obstacles that are completely illusory and ideas which, let us be frank about it, tend to becloud their good judgment, “The selection of persons with practical ex- perience in the provinces, those who might be his official or personal representative, should be the first concern of a new governor-general of those Islands; for then, he would know from the start whatever he should have known, when due to troubles and officious meddling, he is forced out or finds himself ready to leave the important command which had been entrusted to him. “The high officials of the Philippines when ‘of their own accord or in the discharge of a duty conferred on them travel in any part of the coun- try, they find themselves like the spectator of a theatrical performance who sees only the tinsel, the superficial brilliance of artificial ight and hhears the lines of the actors, but without notic- ing either the corners filled with dust, the secrets, hidden behind the canvas, of the miserable drama which sometimes is lodged in the heart of the most charming artist.” ‘(Manuel Scheidnage!, Paseos por el mundo, Madrid, 1878, page 165.)Il, 36, July 31, 1890 wernment or the Church, from government a jons or from priesthood. This is why the tical and colonial polices to the majority of raniards are nothing more than questions of employment of of the stomach, Spain and the Spaniards will follow this road until Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines are lost 10 her, ‘Therefore We should not talk of the stick, but of uses and of meray, jot as we should nt talk of benevolence, but of pretensions and im- modesty. FERNANDO BLUMENTRITT ON THE INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS Continuation I When in consequence of a long chronic ill- ress the condition of the patient is examined, ‘one may ask if the weakening of the tissues and the debility of the organs are the cause of the tmalady's progress or the effect of the bad treat- ment that prolongs the action of the disease, ‘The attending physician attributes the entire failure of his science to the poor constitution of the patient, to the climate, to the surroundings, te; on the other hand, the patient attributes the aggravation of the disease to the treatment fol- lowed. Only the common crowd, the ingui tive populace shakes its head and cannot reach a decision. Something like this happens in the case of the Philippines. Instead of physician, read government, that is ftiars, employees, etc; instead of patient, Philippines; instead of disease, indolence. ‘And just as in similar cases when the patient els worse, everybody loses his head, each one iges the responsibility and throws it to h neighbor and instead of seeking the causes order to combat the evil in them, devotes him- self at best to attacking the symptoms; here 2 blood-letting, a tax; there a plaster, forced labor; further on a sedative, a minor reform, etc. Every new arrival proposes a new remedy: one, nine-day prayers, the relics of a saint, the viali- cum, the friars; another, advises a shower bath; Still another, with pretensions of modera ideas, 4 transfusion of blood. “Nothing! the patient has nly eight million indolent red corpuscles; Some litle white cells in the form of an agri- cultural colony will save us from the trouble.’ ‘And everywhere there are groans, gnawing of lips, lunching of fists, many hollow words, ignorance, much oratory, a lot of fear. tient is near his end! 341 Yes, transfusion of blood, transfusion of blood! New life, new vitality! "Yes, indeed, the Rew white corpuscles that you will inject into its veins, the new white corpuscles that mean ‘cancer in another organism, have to resist ll the. depravity of the system;’ have to resist the blood-1oss that it suffers every day; have to have ‘more stamina than all the degeneration, all the germs in the principal organs. Be thankful if they do not become coagulates which would impede circulation and produce gangrene. Be thankful if they do not themselves produce the cancer. While the patient breathes, we must not [ose hope, and however late we be, a careful exami- nation is never superfluous; a least the cause of his death will be known. We are not trying to Put all the “blame” on the physician and, still less, on the patient, for we have already spoken of a just and natural predisposition in the ab- sence of which the race would disappear, sac- Fificed to excessive labor in a tropical country. Indolence in the Philippines is a chronic sick ness, but ot a hereditary one. The Filipinos have not always been what they are. All his- torians of the early years after the discovery of the Islands attest to this, Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Malayan Filipinos carried on an active trade, not only among themselves, but also with all the neighboring countries. A Chinese manuscript of the thirteenth century, translated by Doctor Hirth (Globus, September 1889) which we will take up at another time, speaks of China's re- lations with the Islands, relations purely com- ‘mercial, in which mention is made of the activ. ity and honesty of the traders of Luzon who took the Chinese producis and distributed them throughout all the Islands, traveling for nine months and then retumed to pay religiously even for the merchandise that the Chinese did not remember having given them, ‘The products which they exported from the Islands in ex- change were crude wax, colton, pearls, tortoise shells, betel nuts, cloths, ete, “The first thing noticed by Pigafetta who came with Magellan in 1521, on arriving at the - first island of the ines, Samar, was the courtesy and hospitality of the inhabitants (cortesi e buoni) and their commerce. “To honor our captain,” he says, “they conducted him to their boats where they had their merchan- dise which consisted of cloves, cinnamon, pep- per, nutmegs, mace, gold, and other things; and they made us understand by gestures that such articles were to be found in the islands where /e were goin, We pinthet on he speaks ofthe vases and utensils of solid gold that he found in Butuan where the people were engaged in mining, He describesTi, 36, July silk dresses, the daggers with long hilt the ss Seabbards of carved ‘wood, the pr Beth, ete. among cereals and fruits, he men- (ane tice, millet, oranges, lemons, panicum, ate. “phat the Islands. maintained relations with eighboring countries and even with distant peg is proven by the ships from Siam, laden Sith gold and slaves, that Magellan found in Cebu. These ships paid certain duties to the King of the island. In the same year, 1521, the furvivors of Magellan’s expedition met the son Sf the Rajah of Luzon, who, as Captain-General Of the Sultan of Borneo and Admiral of his fleet, had conquered for him the great cy of Lave Garawak?). Could this captain, who was greatly feared by all his foes (temuro emmamente da géntili), have been the Rajah Matanda whom the Spaniards afterwards en- countered in Tondo in 1570? Tn 1539, the wartiors of Luzon took part in the formidable contests of Sumatra and under the command of Angi Siry Timor, Rajah of Batta, conquered and overthrew the terrible ‘Alzadin, Sultan of Atchin, renowned in the his- forieal annals of the Far Bast. (Marsden, His- tory of Sumatra, Chapter XX.) "At that time, that sea where the islands float like a cluster of emeralds on a crystal tray, that sea was everywhere traversed by juaks, paraus, barangays, vintas, light vessels like shuttles, 50 lage that they could maintain a hundred rowers ona side (Morga); that sea led to all commer- cial, industrial, agricultural places, mud by the force of oars to the rhythm of war songs, of genealogies and achievements of the Philippine deities. (Colin, Chapter XV.) ‘Wealth abounded in the Islands. Pigafetta {ells us of the abundance of foodstuffs in Paragua and of its inhabitants, who nearly all tilled their own fields (quasi tutti lavorano 1 propy compi). At this island the survivors of Magellan's expedition were well-received and provisioned, A little Iater, these same survivors faptured a vessel, plundered and sacked it (Piglamo ¢ lo sacheggiammo) and took pris: init the Chief of the island of Paragua with ‘In this same vessel they captured bronze culverins and this is the first mention of artillery ‘of the Filipinos, for these culverins were to the Chief of Paragua [in the war] against the savages of the interior. “They were held for ransom for seven days with a demand of measures (cavans?) of rice, 20 Bigs, 20 goats, and 450 chickens, “This is the ‘act of piracy recorded in Philippine history. The Chief of Paragua paid everyiaing ‘and vol- untarily added coconuts, bananas, sugar canes and jars filled with palm wine. When Caeser 343 31, 1890 ‘was taken captive by the corsairs and required {0 pay a ransom of twenty-five talents, he re- plied: “I shall give you fifty, but later I shall have all of you crucified!” The Chief of Paragua was more generous; he forgot. His conduct, while it may reveal weak- ness, also demonstrates that the Islands were abundantly provisioned. This Chief was named ‘Tuan Mahamud; his brother, Guantil, and his son, Tuan Mahamed. (Martin Mendez, Purser of the ship Victoria, Archivo de Indias.) A very strange thing and one that shows the facility with which the natives learned Spanish is thal fifty years before the arrival of the Span- iards in Luzon, the same year, 1521, when they first came to the Islands, there were already natives of Luzon who understood Spanish. In the treaties of peace that the survivors of Magellan's expedition made with the Chief of Paragua, when the servant interpreter Jorge died, they communicated with one another throigh a Moro who had becn captured iit the island of he King of Luzon and who understood some Spanish. (Martin Mendez, op. cit.) Where did this extemporaneous interpreter learn Span- igh? In the Moluccas? In Malacea, with the Portuguese? In Cebu during the few days so- journ of the Magellan expedition? Spaniards did not reach Luzon before 1571. “The members of the Legazpi expedition met in Butuan various traders of Luzon with their praus laden with iron, wax, clothes, porcelain, ttc, (Gaspar de S. Agustin), plenty of provi- sions, activity, trade, movement in all the south tr islands. “Their first news were that Luzon or its capital Manila, was where the big boats ‘of China went and that from there even the merchants of Borneo went to get provisions. (G.de S.A) : ‘They arrived at the island of Cebu, “abound- ing in provisions, with mines and gold wash- ings, and peopled by matives,” as Morga says, ‘very populous, and at a port frequented by many ships that came from the islands and kingdoms near India,” as Colin says; and even though they were peacefully received, discord foorearose. The city was taken by force and bumed. ‘The fire destroyed the provisions and, raturaliy, famine broke out in that town of a hundred thousand people, according to histori- ans and members of the expedition; but the neighboring islands quickly relieved the need, thanks to the abundance they had. "All the histories of those first years, in short, abound in long accounts of the industry and “culture of the natives; mines, gold dust, ‘afbths, farms (cultivated lands), trade by barter, Shipbuilding, raising of poultry and stock, silk snd cotton textiles, distilleries, manufactures of Sims, pearl fishing, civet industry, hora endIl, 36, July 31, 1890 ide industry, el@ ate things encountered at bide ep and considering the time and the ‘attions of the Islands, prove that there was there was activity, there was movement. ‘And if this which is self-evident does not convince the minds imbued with unfair preju- Gices, the testimony should be of some avail of the oft-quoted Dr. Morga who was Lieutenant- Governor ofthe Philippines and Oidor [Justice] of the Audiencia of Manila for seven years and who after rendering great services in the Archi- pelago was named Criminal Judge of the Kudiencia of Mexico and Counsellor of the Inquisition, His testimony, we say, is highly credible, not only because all his contemporar- jes have spoken of him in terms that border on veneration, but also because his work, from which we take these citations, is written with great circumspection and care, with respect to the authorities in the Philippines as well as the mistakes they committed. “The natives,” says Morga in Chapter VII speaking of the occupa- tion of the Chinese, “are very far from exercis. ing those trades and have even forgotten much ‘about farming, raising poultry and stock and cotton and weaving cloth, AS THEY USED TO DO IN THEIR PAGAN STATE AND FOR A LONG TIME AFTER THE COUNTRY WAS CONQUERED.” "The whole Chapter VIII of his work deals vith this moribund activity, this much forgotten industry, and yet in spite of this, how long his Chapter VIII ist ind not only Morga, not only Chirino, Colin, Argensola, Gaspar de S. Agustin and others agree on this matter; modern travellers, aftertwo hundred and fifty years, examining the decadence and misery, assert the same thing, Dr. Hans Meyer, upon seeing the unconquered tribes cultivating beautiful fields and working energetically, asked if they too would not be- ‘come indolent when they in turn should accept Christianization and a paternal government. Accordingly, the Filipinos, in. spite of the climate, spite of their few needs (they had less now), Were not the indolent creatures of our {ime and, as we shall see later on, their morality and their mode of life were not what is now complacently attributed to them. Ww then and in what way was that active 4nd enterprising pagan of ancient times con- Vetted into the lazy and indolent Christian that our present writers say [about them]? tasv® have already spoken of the more or less “ent predisposition which exists in the Philip- Pines toward indolence and which must exist Skerywhere in the whole world, in all men, be- Gaus we all hate work more or less, especially ite it may be somewhat hard and unproduc- ve. The dolce far niente of the Italian, the poe ee te ete rascarse la barriga [s " ot ike Sper [scratching one's stomach} Is, the supreme ambition of the bourgeoisie to live on his income in peace and ‘tranquility attest to this, What causes contribute to awaken this ble predisposition from lethargy? How the Filipino people, so fund of their customs as to border on routine, has given up their ancient habits of work, of trade, of navigation, etc., even to the extent of completely forgetting their past? (To be continued) THE LABOR PROBLEM IN CATALUNA In the preceding issue we said that we could not envision anything that might be a satisfac- ‘ory solution to such an important political and social problem. We saw the adamant stand of capital and of labor and since this solution pre- cisely strives for the sacrifice of the claims or for the tolerance of one or both parties, while they remain in that attitude, no compromise is Possible, We understand naturally that it was ‘hot even possible to take a middle road that would reconcile the two sides, for self-prid played a devilish role in the question. We did ‘not wish to examine then the justice or injustice Of the claims of one or the other; we only con- fined our ideas to deploring that impasse which ‘was ruining industry and increasing the misery of the thousands of laborers. But what we did not dream of was that the matter would get to the pont it had reached [shall give a report, ‘The manufacturers of Manresa and of upper Llobregat formed an association to counteract, that spirit of unionism, that solidarity of action among workers who are also united, ‘The mant- facturers did not deal directly with the laborers, ‘but with the commissioners of the three groups representing them. Since there had already be- ‘gun an open fight between capital and labor, ‘each side defending in its own fashion, their respective interests, the manufacturers pro- ceeded to dismiss the commissioners first, and to close the factories later; thus throwing the great mass of workers without work, with the ind ia view of forcing them by hunger to give up the union; once disorganized; they would then be sure of the triumph of capital. Divide et impera. ‘ Faced by this attitude of the manufacturers, the workers felt wounded in their personal and collective dignity and they vigorously protested any such attempt against the organization. Even those who did not belong to any union or center ‘made common cause with the unionists and the 345Il, 37, August 15, 1890 ling there, @ permanent source of trouble pros sed misionaries and a bad example to out enceful and quiet Filipinos. to ou Fe, finding himself in these troubles pe rnisierial apprenticeship had not him for at the start, is giving all power pepyeyler and an almost unlimited eredit to Me Uispateh of cruiser, soles, supplies ‘an expedition, etc. ‘What for, Mr. Minister of the colonies? And theonly support of Spain-the -missionarics— What are they for? ITWAS BUT A DREAM whi ‘The names of Balaguer and Becerra have for the Filipinos today only a historical value, ‘The Philippines and the Filipinos will always temember With gratitude and affection these it men who worked for its redemption from {he bureaucratic despotism of the friars, who serve only to endanger the integrity of the na~ tion. Today that era of reforms seems to be only a dream; the awakening is bitter and the people have to add one more disappointment: that of being grateful to the much talked of and mythi- cal benevolence of the Spaniards that asks for tratitude if a simple duty is complied with, and reoognition if laws and orders which they them- selves have issued are complied with. Now the Conservative Party rules in Spain~ that party whieh, despite js name, was often the cause of many uprisings and disorders. To the Philippines, the Conservative Party means reac~ tion: ‘The God of the conservative Spaniards is not Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour who by his Divine Love for the unfortunalessaet- iced His life on the cross; the God of the Con- servatives is the god of the Jews, the god of vengeance, the god who destroys tribes instead of forgiving and saving them. ‘The Conserva- tives would add deceit to Spanish ingratitude in ne of the Filipinos; those who with their fips hate and detest despotism in the Mother Country would hoist anew the dark banner of an absolutism led by the provincials and selfish interests of the regular clergy in the Philippines. The same who threw the most illustrious sons of the country into the Agaia prison and into other “Edens” of arbitrary and capricious ban- ishments. Short and ephemereal was the period of Palaguer and Becerra; now friarchy and abso- peat wil triumph, exhausting themselves in ar the noble name of the nation in ridicule, Spat Stite of its triumphs monkish | role Teas ideas of freedom. The youth of the land ‘orm the hope of the future may be perse- 363 ‘cuted, but they will not be discour will spread and reaction wil be awakened © fae cxorbly and horribly. In the Philippines wodern ideas have taken root: the Philippines will form a Spanish province and not a posses- sion, Perhaps a war to exterminate the liberals of the Philippines will be proclaimed, but what does that matter? Ideas do not die with the individual, "The Conse ble policy of ali i will pursue the i ing the “inferior” Filipi from the ‘superior Spaniard, thal i hey wil fequire the Filipinos to sce in the Spaniards foreign masters under whose yoke they suffer because brute force is imposed. But the few beautiful phrases which the Conservatives will address 10 their young brothers in the Philip- pines will not deceive anybody: the Filipinos are already far advanced and able to uiiderstand the difference between the heart and the lips, the word and the spirit, conscience and the word. The history of the Spanish colonies shows this con almost every page of its chronicle. The situation of the country shows that there are many dissatisfied and few contented persons. In the same way that in the Mother Country the Conservative government is giving new food to the Republicans, it is also encouraging the owth of ideas in the Philippines, prejudicial to those who under the pretext of patriotic mo- fives, dishonor millions of loyal and civilized subjects with the stigma of intellectual and litical inferiority. May God help the Conservatives understand that the suppression of the understand that the ‘suppression of the reforms already introduced ‘would be a mistake with transcendental conse quences. tae FERNANDO BLUMENTRITT ON THE INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS (Continuation) ination of circumstances-some, fe will in spite of men’s efforts, ‘of stupidity and of ignorance, ‘corollaries of false principles, he result of more of less wile juced the decline of labor, an evil that instead of being remedied by prudence, Sviture reflection and the recognition of the rastakes made, through a deplorable policy, Through a regrettable blindness and obstinacy tas gone from bad to worse, until it has reached dition in which we now see it, thescondbame the wars, the internal disorders A fatal combi independent of th others, offspring others, inevitable and still others, t jions-has indiIl, 37, August 15, 1890 .e new state of affairs naturally brought nck Mas necessary to subject the poops with I by force; there were fights, there was sol Those who had. submitted peacefully deal repent of it insurrections were sus- sete, and some cured; naturally, there pec xecutions and many capable laborers ered. Add to this condition of disorder the penton of Limahong; add the continual wars snvmyhich the inhabitants of the Phil wore plunge to maintain the honor ofS wa the sway of her flag in Borneo, in the Moueess, and in Indochina; to repel the Dutch Metcostly wars, fruitless expeditions in which Beh time thousands and thousands of native Sathers and rowers were known to have em- barked bul wwas never stated. st whether they returned to their homes Like the tribute that once pon a fime Greece sent 0 the Minotaur of Crete, the Philippine youth embarked for the expedition, saying goodbye to their country for- ‘ever; ahead were the stormy sea, the endless ‘wars, the rash expeditions, Because of this, Gaspar de San Agustin says: “Although long ago there were in this town of Dumanges many ple, in the course of time they have been preatly diminished because the natives are the best sailors and the most skillful rowers on the ‘whole coast; and so the provincial governors in the port of llo-ilo take most of the people from this town for the expeditions they send abroad. ‘When the Spaniards reached this island (Panay) it is said that there were in it more than fifty thousand families; but they were greatly re~ duced, . . and at present they may amount to ‘some fourteen thousand tribute payers.” From fifty thousand families to fourteen thousand tribute payers in little over half a century! We would never get through were. we to quote all the testimonies of authors regarding the frightful diminution of the ‘inhabitants of the Philippines during the first years after the di covery. In the tie of its first Bis i" that i on years after si, Philip 11 said that they had been redhat io ies thea two thirds. ‘Add to these fatal expeditions that wasted all the moral and physical energies of the country, the frightful inroads of the terrible pirates from the south, instigated and encouraged by the £0 tmmeat, first, in order to get a compl ‘against them and afterwards, o leave the islands Subjected to it, unprotected; inroads that ‘ached the very shores of Manila, even Malate itself, and during which were seen in the baleful sow of burning villages, droves of unfortunates a hhad been unable to defend themselves set 2ut for captivity and slavery, leaving ‘behind the ashes oftheir homes and the compses ciel parens and children, “Monge who re ints the first piratical invasion says: “This 365 boldness of the people of Mi damage tothe Vibeyn lance as muchby Sha they did in them as by the fear and fright which the natives acquired, because they found them- selves under the power of the Spaniards who bs oe a subjects, tribute-payers and snseless, int such a mianner thal wins abe sac eno ‘out the means with which fo defend themselves, AS THEY USED TO HAVE WHEN THERE WERE NO SPANIARDS IN THE LAND. ..” ‘These piratical attacks also reduced the number of he inhabits ofthe Philipines, snes, tbe independent Malays were especially notorious for their erveliies and murders, somelimes cause they believed that to preserve their inde- dence it was necessary to weaken the Span~ lrds by reducing the numberof thei abet: sometimes because a greater hajfed and a Geeper resentment inspted There ages the Christian Filipinos who, being of theis own race, served the foreigner in order to deprive then of Wielr precious liberty. These expe s lasted almost three centuries, repeated five cor ten times a year, and each expedition cost the island over eight hundred pesones, “With the invasions of the pirates from Jolo and Mindanao.” says, Fathor Gaspar de. San Agustin (the island of Bantayan, near Cebu) “has been greatly reduced because they easily captured the people there since the latter had gowhere to take refs in and were far from help from ‘The hostile Joloans did great damnage fo this island in 1608, leaving it ‘atinost depopulated.” (page 380.) “These severe attacks, coming from without, produced a counter effect in the interior, which, following our medical comparisons, was i purge or fasting in an individual who has just {ost much blood, ‘To resist so many calamities, to conserve their hold and take the offensive in these disastrous contests, to isolate the warlike ‘Joloan from their neighbors in the South, to care for the needs of the empire of the Indies (for one of the reason why the Philippines as pre served was because of its strate Between New Spain and the Indies, as contem- porary documents prove), {0 wrest from the Buteh their growing colonies of the Moluceas me troublesome neighbors; to ‘the trade of China with New Spain, it was necessary {0 construct new and Taage ships which, as we have seen, were costly fo ihe country not only because of their equip- tment and the rowers required, bul also bocauie "Fhe manner in which they were constructed. Femando de los Rios Coronel, who fought in {hase wars and later turned priest, speaking of these shipsto the King said: “As they were very idage, the timber needed was seareely (0 be and get rid of so ‘maintain, in short,Hi, 37, August 15, 1890 4 in the forests (of the Philippines!) and in was necessary 10 seek it with great dif- ws Hin the farthest [corner] of them, where, fice ind, in order to haul and convey it to the re rd, dhe native towns of the surrounding si had to be depopulated in order to get itt Hi ety of a. gallon coe tho natives ding to the assertion of the Franciscans, and I heard the geveencr ‘of the province where they were cut, which is Laguna de Bay, say that to faul them 7 leagues over very rough moun- tains, 6,000 natives were engaged three months ‘and the towns were paid 40 reales every month ithout giving them food which the wretched tative had to seek for himsel “And Gaspar de San Agustin says: “In these times (1690) Bacolor does not have the people that it had in the past because of the uprising in that province when Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara was Governor of these Islands and because of the continual labor of cutting timber for His Majesty's shipyards WHICH HINDERS ‘THEM FROM CULTIVATING THE VERY FERTILE PLAIN THEY HAVE, etc.” If this is not sufficient to explain the depopu- Jation of the Islands and the abandonment of industry, agriculture and commerce, then add the “natives who were executed, chase who left thelr women and children and fled in disgust to the mountains, those who were sold into slavery to pay the taxes levied on them,” as Fernando de los Rios says; add all this to what Philip IT said in reprimanding Bishop Salazar about “na- tives sold by some encomenderos to others, those flogged to death, the women who were crushed to death by their heavy burdens, those who slept in the fields and bore and nursed their children and died bitten by poisonous snakes, the many who were executed and left to die in hunger and those who ate poisonous herbs. . . and the mothers who killed their children at birth,” and you will understand how in less than thiny years the population of the Philippines Was reduced to one-third, We are not saying this; it was said by Gaspar de San Agustin, the preeminently anti-Filipino Augustinian, and he confirmed it throughout the rest of his work by pecking ‘every moment of the state of neglect in which lay the farms and fields once so flour- ishing and so well-cultivated, the decimated fanis, formerly inhabited by many leading How strany hasbeen awake Als ofthe Phil foant is it then that discouragement ed in the spirit of the inhabit- ines, when in the midst of so they) calamities they’ did not know whether Spreyyould see the seed they were planting Erave®, Whether their field was going to be their ‘© oF their harvest would go to feed their ‘immense labor, damage, and cost of 367 executioner? What is there strange when we see the pious but impotent friars of that time advis~ ing their poor parishioners to free themselves fromthe tyranny of encomenderos, to stop work in the mines, to abandon their industry to break their looms, pointing out to them heaven for their whole hope, preparing them for death as their only consolation? Man works for an object; remove the object and you reduce him to inaction, The most active ‘man in the world will fold his arms from the ‘moment he understands that it is madness to bestir himself, that his work will be the cause of his trouble, that for him it will be the cause of vexations at homie and of the pirate's greed abroad. It seems thal these thoughts have never entered the minds of those who complain about the indolence of the Filipinos. Even if the Filipinos were not a man like the rest; even were we to suppose that to him, the desire for work was as essential as the move- ment of a wheel caught in the gears of others in motion; even were we to deny him foresight and the conclusions that the present and the past suggest, there would still be another reason to explain the altack of the disease. ‘The abandon- ment of the fields by their cultivations, whom wars and piratical attacks dragged from thei homes was sufficient to reduce to nothing the hard labor of so many generations; in the Phil- ippines abandon for a year the land most beau tifully tended and you will see how you will have to begin all over again: the rain wl wipe out the furrows, floods will drown the plants and bushes will grow everywhere, and on seeing so much useless labor the hand will drop ‘the hoe, the laborer will desert the plow. Is there not the fine fife of a pirate? ‘Thus is understood that sad dismay which we find in the friar-writers of the seventeenth cen- tury, speaking of submerged plains once very. fertile, of provinces and towns depopulated, of goods which have disappeared from the market, of leading families exterminated. Those pages resemble @ sad and monotonous scene in the night after a lively day. Of Cagayan, Father San ustin speaks with mournful brevity: “A great deal of cotton out of which they made good ‘cloth which the Chinese and Japanese bought and carried away every year.” In the historian’s time, industry and trade must have come to an end. Tt seems that these are more than sufficient causes to breed indolence even in the midst of a beehive. ‘Thus is explained why after thirly- two years of the system, the circumspect and prudent Morga said that the natives “have for- Poaten much about farming, poulry-rasing, ‘stock-raising, cotton-raising and weaving cloth like they used to do in their pagan state and FORI, 37, August 15, 1850 TIME AFTER THE COUNTRY A LON SEN CONQUERED.” weal hey struggled a long time against indo walls bat enemies were 50 numerous they gave up! pata Tat they 8 JOSE RIZAL __ THE BALAGUER LIBRARY-MUSEUM ‘this beautiful institution which — was iaavguated on October 26, 1884 is found, like ‘nneaid before, in Villanueva y Geltrd, a town ve Jed almost over the ashes of the ancient and a cites of Subur and of Tolobis. At least Pomponis Mela in his Situ orbis locates these Shes in this area, although Romey in a Cuadro Comparativo asserts that Tolobis is the present Mariorell and Subur is Sitges. lis founder, the worthy patrician Don Victor Balaguer, has consecrated to it his entire fortune siving it immediately 18,000 volumes, 200 infings and many other objects of art—all from fs private property and “all laboriously gath- ered” as he used to say, “during my life.” In a letter of Mr. Balaguer sent to Don Ramon Estruch and dated August 30, 1883, which we have on hand, we find the explanation of the source of the funds which would furnish the means of realizing such a lofty project. “I am a politician,” he said, “and I believe that the money of politicians should have a purpose.” in 1874 at the age of 19, he came into his inheritance which he invested in a state bonds and railways, In 1881 his wife died and alone in the world and without children, he decided to cash in all his fortune and employ it for a ‘monument that might be useful to his country and worthy of her. Fate favored his purpose: te prices of stocks went up and be realized = Profit of about 40,000 duros with which he built this edifice, instead of constructing a house for his own comfort and use, for free education and Public omament. Let's go inside his place, but we first look atthe two marble plaques located on both sides, the gate, On them are engraved in gold {efers, among other illustrious names which we REG. We do not recall, those of Juan Luna y Noviio, Eauazdo Toda'y Giel, Enrique Serra, Ferrer y Soler Inthe center of the bui ce swept 8 objects that were Tamla and dear (0 magvidence ofthe affection that its founder pang Philipines." Hampers of burl (3 Bali 300 woven in the Ilocos and in shets § bulacan); ladles and cups of coconut ing eygeicalely made; statues made by Fili- ists representing customs of the country; 369 silk scarfs exquisitely embroidered by native women; gold dust from the Agno river (Pangasinan); very fine mats, samples of pifa, ‘abaca, and cotton cloths; musical instruments and primitive weapons; salakots (coolie hats), saddles, Ilocano kalapiu, Igorot idols, coralline amulets, ivory figures, old coins, earrings of bone and horns, Taklobos and a thousand other Filipino objects. In this hall we also find necklaces manufac tured and used by the natives of Fernando Poe; small baskets, found in an old tomb of Saint Coterinha (Brazil); embalming materials used by the guanches (Great Canary); Puerto Rican idols found in the Borinquen cemetery (Aguadilla City); tanjas or domestic idols of the inhabitants of the Andes; comb made of spines and branches of the Chonta palm of the Coreguage Indians; shell craft, mother-of-peal omaments worn by married women of Caqueta (Andes); tube for the red paste with which the Garaguags andthe Guages paint themselves~ all of them representing an exotic civilization. ‘The gallery occupies a large hall. Its walls are covered with old and modern paintings of the most renowned artists and are placed in the best of conditions, thanks to the light they re~ cccive which is softened by a rich velum on the ‘window: the Mestiza (woman of mixed blood) [painting] of Luna; paintings of Ricart, Teofilo, ‘of the Filipino M. Zaragoza, a sketch of the painting of Amerigo on the Filipino Exhibit of Madsi, and many other paintings, majority of ‘which are noteworthy and which form an artis- tic combination with statues made by the chisel ‘of Damian and Jose Campeny, of the Valmitjanas, Fuxa, Carbonell, Tasso, Sanmarti, Sunol, A. Diz and others; the Himeneo of Suncl, the Lucrecia of D. Campeny and the Episodio de Trafalgar of Diaz deserve special mention. Of engravings, we saw many by Alberto Durero, Van Eych, Jordaens, Rembrandt and Goya. , Shell-craft; Ronan carnelians and agates attract notice and Greek ones engraved on notches from Ampurias. Ceramics: Different plates, majolica-ware, ences, glazed ware, elc. Costumes: Mandarin, Arab, European clothes of the past century; helmets, armor, tap- Estries, laces, Japanese and Chinese weapons. "Archeology: Skulls, axes, adzes, and bead necklaces of the Neolithic period; mosaic pieces, glasses of Caracalla, Herculanum, and Asta rings and Romian seals, carvings found in Lunia, old Roman city, ec. Numismatic tics: Phoenician, Carthaginian, ing~of the monarchy, republic, consu- Ite, empire and of the colonies, provinces and ands which were allied to it; those of the pow-