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Show THAT FRIAR INVESTIGATION". The Ind?pendent last week quoted largely from the report of the Taft commission such portions as bear on ihe morality the Philippine clergy. It does not give a single line of testimony testi-mony from a Protestant missionary, as it admits such evidence is always suspect, and confines itself excfusively to what these bishops and the heads of four religious orders had to say on the subject, adding one or two statements' state-ments' from wealthy and responsible native laymen. From these testimonies if would appead that there are some lax monks and lax native priests in the archipelago. Three things must be borne In mind, however, when reading this Catholic testimony against the clergy. The monks who have borne witness all belong to the "landlord orders," or-ders," whom it is the desire of the American government to remove from the islands. For there are four orders or-ders which the government Wishes to stay. They are the Jesuits, the Lazar-ists, Lazar-ists, the Capuchins and the Paulists. The orders undei? the displeasure of the government, the landlord orders, are the Augustinians, the Franciscans, the Dominicans and the Recollettos. Again these monks who have testified before the Taft commission naturally defended their own orders, and shifted the blame either on the native priests or members of other orders. Lastly, the priests who took the places of the expelled ex-pelled monks were those who espoused the revolution and followed Aguiiaal-do Aguiiaal-do and his army of free booters. They usurped the places of the expelled monks in the parishes and, of course, inaugurated a reign of scawriaj. Still the provincials of the four landlord orders admitted that they had among their members weak vessels, whom it was necessary from time to time to punish. One head of an order blamed the climatic and social conditions for the fall of many young European priests. e The people in the Philippines are lax, the climate is hot. the parishes par-ishes are lonely and the moral tone of the people is so low that clerical in-continency in-continency does not entail social outlawry. out-lawry. Now, we think we have given a piet-ty piet-ty fair statement of the evidence before be-fore the Taft commission. We shall not challenge it. as we shall not defend de-fend It. But what we would like to know is, why was this investigation inaugurated? Why was the morality of the Philippine clergy made the subject sub-ject of governmental inquiry, any more than the morality of the lawyers, or doctors, or civil functionaries? We cannot understand the genesis of the investigation, unless it was the first ! outcropping of that infernal Protestant j prejudice, which only wants a favorable favora-ble opportunity to develop' and expand. Protestants approach , the priesthood as they approach a convent or the confessional con-fessional with the lascivious spirit of a Turk. The ministers and the scarcely less ignorant and bigoted officei-s of the army, as soon as landed in Manila, Ma-nila, saw a great Catholic people: churches, convents, schools, monks and nuns everywhere. When Blucher arrived ar-rived In London, after the battle of Waterloo, he exclaimed: "What a place to pillage'! When those preachers and officers arrived in Manila, the first thought that pi-esented itself to their lecherous minds w as, "What a place to investigate." And they investigated. Now, did it ever enter into the Innocent Inno-cent brain of any Catholic in or out of the Philippines, to imagine that among the thousand and more priests and religious re-ligious in the archipelago there were not some who had fallen "from the spirit and grace of their calling? If such were the case it would be a miracle such as was never heard of in the entire en-tire history of the Christian church. Are there a thousand Clergymen under the same jurisdiction in any part of the world free from the presence of weak brethren? Are there not scandals In this country? Are not scandals everywhere where men make profession of stricter observance of the moral ' ' If some body of men were to visit St. Louis and institute an investigation into the morals of the men and women of our upper ten, "low would their ef- ' forts be received? If they pretended some laudable motive for the inquiry and tabulated the results of their inquiry in-quiry along certain places and streets, does any one suppose they would escape es-cape the vengeance of a mob? An investigation in-vestigation into the conduct of the most exclusive set among our fashionable fashion-able men and women would certainly develop many shocking scandals? but the publishers would certainly soon find themselves in the hands of the police. This whole investigation in Manila bears the ear-marks of slummers and reeks with the putridity of inavowable prejudice. That Taft inquiry was an insult to the whole Catholic world, and the report should be burned by the public hangman. Western Watchman. |