Читать книгу The Inhabitants of the Philippines - Frederic H. Sawyer - Страница 27

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Alcaldes—The Audiencia—The Guardia Civil—Do not hesitate to shoot—Talas.

The foulest blot upon the Spanish Administration in all her former colonies was undoubtedly the thorough venality of her infamous Courts of Justice. Unfortunately, amongst the heterogeneous population of the Philippines, a low standard of morality prevails and has prevailed from the earliest times. The natives at the time of the conquest were partly civilised, so far as building houses and cultivating their lands by slave labour is concerned. But notwithstanding the assertions of the Filipinos, the late Dr. Rizal and others, a study of the ancient authors demonstrates that they were sunk in ignorance and superstition, and that their customs were those of semi-savages. When they came under the rule of the Spaniards, they might have made great advances if the administration of the laws had been confided to persons of honour capable of interpreting that wise code, the “Laws of the Indies,” in the noble and Christian spirit which had inspired their makers.

But what class of man was it that the Spaniards appointed to this office?

Thomas de Comyn, p. 134, says: “It is quite common to see a barber or footman of a governor, a sailor or a deserter, transformed into an Alcalde-Mayor, Sub-delegate, and War Captain of a populous province, without other counsel than his own rude intelligence (understanding) nor other guide than his passions.”

What could be expected from such men as these, living in such an atmosphere? And if some solitary alcalde might cherish in his heart some spark of honour, some lingering love of justice, there were two elements in the country to extinguish that spark, to smother that feeling.

Woe betide the alcalde who would decide a case, whatever its merits, adversely to any one of the religious orders. I personally knew an alcalde who (at a great price) had obtained the government of the province of Batangas, from whence his immediate predecessor, also well-known to me, had retired with a large fortune, but leaving everybody contented so far as could be seen. He had kept on good terms with the priests. His successor unfortunately forgot this cardinal rule and allowed himself to be identified with some anti-clerical Spaniards.

Every kind of trouble fell upon that man, and finally he was recalled to Manila and received a severe reprimand from General Primo de Rivera, who was said to have received $12,000 for turning him out.

He was removed from wealthy Batangas and sent to the fever-stricken capital of Tayabas, a wretchedly poor Government, affording few opportunities for peculation. He escaped with his life, but his wife, a very charming Spanish lady, succumbed to the malaria. Similar instances of the results of being, or being thought to be, an anti-clerical, will occur to old residents in the Philippines. The arm of the Church was long and its hand was a heavy one.

The second influence I referred to is the presence of the heathen Chinee in the islands. To a Chinaman the idea that a judge should take bribes seems as natural a thing as that a duck should take to the water. And yet the Chinaman will not, unless he knows he is on the right track, brutally push his bribe under the judge’s nose. Either he or one of his countrymen will from the judge’s arrival have rendered him good service. Does the judge want a gardener or cook? Ah-sin soon provides an excellent one who never asks for his wages. Have some visitors arrived at the Alcaldia Ah-sin sends in a dozen chickens, a turkey, and the best fruits. Is it the judge’s name-day? The wily Celestial presents a few cases of wine and boxes of fine cigars. Is the roof of the Alcaldia leaking—a couple of Chinese carpenters will set it right without sending a bill for it. Then, having prepared the way, should Ah-sin be summoned before the alcalde, he may confidently hope that his patron will not hurriedly give judgment against him, and that he will probably get a full opportunity to present substantial reasons why the suit should be decided in his favour. In fact, the practice of the alcalde’s courts was only a shade better than that of the Chinese Yamens, where the different cases are put up to auction amongst the magistrates and knocked down to the highest bidders, who then proceed on a course of extortion, by arrest and by the torture of witnesses, to make all they can out of them.

In an alcalde’s court, there would be several mestizo or native writers or auxiliaries. Some of them were what is called meritórios, that is, unpaid volunteers. Of course, they expect to receive gratuities from the suitors and would take care to mislay their documents if they were neglected. Sometimes the alcalde was so lazy that he left the whole matter in the hands of his subordinates and signed whatever they laid before him. I have been a witness of this, and have even remonstrated with a judge for so doing. He, however, said he had the greatest confidence in his subordinates and that they dare not deceive him.

Bad as the alcalde’s courts were, I think that the culminating point of corruption was the Audiencia of Manila. Escribano, abogado, júez, auditor, fiscál, vied with each other in showing that to them, honour and dignity were mere empty words. They set the vilest examples to the mestizos and natives, and, unfortunately, these have been only too apt pupils, and having little to lose, were often ready to go one better than the Spaniards, who after all had to keep up appearances. I cannot adequately express the loathing I feel for all this tribe. I look upon a highwayman as a gentleman compared to them, for he does risk his life, and you may get a shot at him, but these wretches ruin you in perfect safety.

They dress their wives, they nourish their children, upon the reward of roguery, the price of perjury, the fruits of forgery, the wages of some wicked judgment.

What can be expected of the spawn of these reptiles, what but by the process of evolution to be more envenomed than their progenitors? Is there not amongst all the multitudinous Philippines some desert island where the people trained in the Spanish courts and all their breed could be deported, where they might set up a court, and bring actions against each other and cheat and lie and forge till they die?

What a Godsend for the Philippines were this possible, if besides getting rid of the Spanish judges, they could now get rid of their aiders and abettors, their apt pupils and would-be successors.

Bribery is a fine art, and there were those in Manila who were well versed in its intricacies. We heard one day of a decree by a judge against the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Club gossip asserted that the judge who issued the decree had lost some hundreds of dollars at the gambling table of the Casino the night before, and that the artistic corrupter had called on him in the morning with the means to pay the debt of honour and to try his luck again. The judge was known not to have the means of paying, yet he paid and simultaneously issued his decree. Old Manila hands drew their inference.

The record of these courts from the earliest times is one long-continued infamy. Thank God that is over and a new chapter has begun. I rejoice exceedingly that their sins have at last overtaken them, and I recognise that, though

“The mills of God grind slowly,

Yet they grind exceeding small.”

Owing to the demoralisation of the mestizo and native lawyers by these vile examples, it will be very difficult to break the traditions of venality and to find men worthy to occupy the bench.

These courts were not only corrupt, but they were inept. At a time when brigandage prevailed and many notorious criminals were apprehended almost red-handed, convictions could not be got, and the bandits were liberated on various pretexts.

So great was the scandal that Moriones issued a decree that all persons accused of gang-robbery should be tried by a military tribunal. And he appointed a permanent court-martial for this purpose, to the great disgust of all the lawyer element. These courts were abolished some years later after his return to Spain; then the Guardia Civil made their own arrangements, and the mortality amongst bandits was excessive. When some well-known robber was by any chance taken alive, he always, so they said, tried to escape by running away from his captors, and this obliged them to fire upon him. They never missed on these occasions, and it was thought that the range never exceeded ten paces and was often less.

However necessary this military action may be, it is, undoubtedly liable to abuse, and the power of life and death is a great one to put in the hands of a junior officer or non-commissioned officer of police. The Guardia Civil, an armed force with Spanish officers and native soldiers, was organised in 1867, and I must say that I looked upon it as an excellent institution, the terror of evil-doers and a protection to all law-abiding people. My native friends, however, are of a different opinion. They accuse the Guardia Civil, both Spaniards and natives, of behaving in an arbitrary and cruel manner, and with practising extortion upon defenceless natives. They are accused of torturing witnesses to extort evidence, and this charge was no doubt true in many cases.

On the other hand, the bandits or tulisanes were exterminated by this corps of picked men, and security to life and property was assured. At the formation of this corps the officers and men were very carefully selected. The Governor-General himself examined the records of every officer, and only Spanish gentlemen of the highest character were appointed. Similarly the soldiers were natives who had served their time in the army without having a crime noted against them. But in later years this precaution was relaxed, and colonels of regiments were allowed to dump their rubbish into this corps.

I knew of a case where a Filipino with Irish blood in him was posted as a lieutenant to this corps and behaved most abominably. I am glad to say, however, that he was sent out of the islands. This was only another instance of the fact that whatever the natives have to complain of the Spaniards, the mestizos, and their own rich people, treat them and have always treated them far worse.

Both officers and men were well paid and were dressed in a very smart and neat uniform, well suited to the climate, which they kept spick and span whatever service they were on. They were armed with Remington rifles and bayonets, and in addition carried a heavy chopping knife. They were posted at all the chief towns of Luzon and in some of the Visayas Islands. The greatest crime a native could commit was to kill a Guardia Civil, and such a matter never came before a Civil Court. If the slayer by any chance was not killed on the spot, he would probably be shot at sight. If apprehended, he would be tried by a court-martial composed of officers of the Guardia Civil, and, needless to say, there would be no monkeying with the verdict nor with the sentence, which would be promptly carried out.

Even to resist the Guardia Civil was so great a crime that the sentence of a court-martial in such a case was penal servitude for life (Cadéna Perpétua).

How surprised a London rough would be at this severity after being accustomed to expiate the most brutal assaults upon the police by a fine of a few shillings.

To sum up the Guardia Civil, I may say that their practice was comprised in five memorable words, addressed to a similar corps by Mr. A. J. Balfour in his energetic days, a most sensible order, that he may well be proud of: “Do not hesitate to shoot.”

Amongst other duties of the Guardia Civil in bygone years was the making of periodical expeditions against the remontados and the hill tribes, officially designated Talas, or cuttings down.

At certain favourable seasons of the year, especially before harvest time, the Guardias, accompanied by some Cuadrilleros, and on important occasions by a company of native infantry, marched up into the more accessible hills.

The hill-men obstructed the tracks in the most difficult places by cutting down trees and making abattis.

They also placed sharp bamboo spikes carefully concealed in the earth or mud of the footpaths, and these, if trodden on, inflicted most dangerous wounds that were apt to gangrene. Sometimes if they had much at stake, the hill-men or outlaws would venture an ambuscade, and hurl their javelins or send a flight of arrows amongst their enemies.

But even the boldest races rarely came to close quarters, for their weapons were no match against rifles and bayonets. So, led by their spies, the Spanish forces laboured upwards, and on arriving at the hamlets of the mountaineers or outlaws they burnt down the rude huts, reaped the crops, taking away what they could and burning the remainder.

They cut down every fruit tree and took special care to destroy every tobacco plant. They then retired, leaving a scene of devastation behind them.

If any of the hill-men fell into their hands their fate depended upon whether there were any murders to avenge or upon the humanity of the officer in command. This wanton destruction was committed chiefly in the interests of the tobacco monopoly, but also in order to force the hillmen to come down and reside in the towns. It had, however, an entirely contrary effect, for the savages either retired into more inaccessible regions, or perhaps abandoned cultivation and lived a roving, marauding life like the Itetapanes and Catubanganes.

Since the abolition of the tobacco monopoly the Talas have been less frequent, and there was a feeling amongst the authorities that these cruel and demoralising expeditions should be discontinued, unless in cases where the hill-men had given great provocation.

The Spaniards are, of course, not the only nation to make these forays. In the last campaign against the Afridis the British troops were employed, under orders, to blow up the houses, break the mill-stones, and cut down the trees of the enemy, not even sparing the shade trees round a mosque. It was probably the only way to inflict punishment on the Afridis.

The worst feature is that in all such cases a crop of bitter hatred is sown in the hearts of the sufferers, which matures later on, and which is handed down from one generation to another.