COURTS OF JUSTICE.
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 meritorios, 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, juez,
auditor, fiscal, 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
(Cadena Perpetua).
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.