CHAPTER XXX
THE VOICE OF THE PERSECUTED.
Before the sun went down, Ibarra put his foot into Elias's bancaon the shore of the lake. He seemed displeased about something,as though he had been opposed or contradicted.
"Pardon me, senor," said Elias on seeing him. "Pardon me for havingventured to make this appointment with you. I would like to speakwith you freely, and here we have no witnesses. We can return withinan hour."
"You are mistaken, friend Elias," replied Ibarra, trying to smile. "Youwill have to take me to that town over there, where you see thatbelfry. Fate obliges me to go there."
"Fate?"
"Yes; on my way here, I met the alferez. He insisted upon accompanyingme. I thought about you, and knew that he would recognize you, and, inorder to get rid of him, I told him that I was going to that town. NowI will have to remain there all day to-morrow, for the man whom I amgoing to see will not look for me till to-morrow afternoon."
"I am obliged to you for your thoughtfulness, but you might havesimply told him to accompany you," replied Elias with naturalness.
"How's that? And what about you?"
"He would never have recognized me. The only time that he ever saw me,I don't believe that he thought to take down a description of me."
"I am in hard luck!" sighed Ibarra, thinking of Maria Clara. "Whathave you to say to me?"
Elias looked around him. They were far from the shore. The sunhad already sunk below the horizon, and, as the twilight in theselatitudes is very short, the darkness was falling over the earth,and the disk of the full moon was already shining.
"Senor," replied Elias, in a grave voice, "I am the spokesman of manyunfortunate people."
"Unfortunate people. What do you mean?"
In a few words, Elias referred to the conversation which he had hadwith the chief of the tulisanes, but omitted saying anything about thedoubts which the chief entertained, or the threats. Ibarra listenedattentively, and, when Elias concluded his story, a long silencereigned. Ibarra was the first to break the spell.
"So that they desire----?"
"Radical reforms in the armed forces, in the religious matters,and in the administration of justice. That is to say, they ask forpaternal care on the part of the Government."
"Reforms? In what sense?"
"For example: more respect for human dignity; more security for theindividual; less power in the hands of the forces already armed;fewer privileges for that body which easily abuses them."
"Elias," replied the young man, "I don't know who you are, butI believe that you are not an ordinary man. You think and workdifferently from the others. You will understand me if I say toyou that, even if it is true that the present state of affairs isdefective, there will be a worse state if there is a change. I couldarrange to get the assistance of my friends in Madrid, by payingthem. I could speak to the Governor General, but all of that wouldaccomplish nothing. He has not enough power to introduce reforms,nor would I ever take a step in that direction, for I know very wellthat, if it is true that these religious corporations have theirdefects, they are now necessities. They are what you might call anecessary evil."
Elias raised his head and looked astonished.
"Do you believe, senor, in necessary evils?" he asked, his voiceslightly trembling. "Do you believe that in order to do good it isnecessary to do evil?"
"No. I look upon it as a violent remedy which we have to make use ofto cure an illness. To illustrate further, the country is an organismwhich is suffering from a chronic illness, and, in order to cure it,the Government finds itself compelled to use medicines, hard andviolent, if you wish, but useful and necessary."
"He is a bad doctor, senor, who seeks to cure the symptoms and suppressthem without trying to find the origin of the illness, or knowing it,fears to attack it. The Guardia Civil has no other end than this:the suppression of crime by terror and force. This end it neitherfulfills nor carries out except in chance instances. And you haveto take into account that society can be severe with individualsonly after she has furnished all means necessary for their perfectmorality. In our country, since there is no society, since thepeople and the Government do not form a unity, the latter ought tobe indulgent, not only because indulgence is necessary, but becausethe individual, neglected and abandoned by Government, has less selfresponsibility than if he had been enlightened. Besides, following outyour comparison, the medicine applied to the evils of the country isso much of a destroyer that its effect is only felt on the sane partsof the organism. These it weakens and injures. Would it not be morereasonable to fortify and strengthen the infirm organism and minimizea little the violence of the medicine?"
"To weaken the Guardia Civil would be to put the security of thetowns in danger."
"The security of the towns!" exclaimed Elias with bitterness. "Thetowns have had the Guardia Civil for nearly fifteen years andwhat is the result? We still have tulisanes, we still hear of themsacking towns, and they still make their attacks on people on theroads. Robberies continue and the robbers are not punished. Crimeexists and the real criminal goes free, but not so with the peacefulinhabitants of the town. Ask any honorable citizen if he looks uponthis institution as a good, as a protection by the Government, oras an imposition, a despotism whose excesses do more harm than theviolence of the criminals. Communication between people is paralyzed,for they fear to be maltreated for trifling causes. More importanceis attached to the formality of the law than to the basal principleof it,--the first symptom of incapacity in government. The heads ofthe organization consider it their first duty to make people salutethem, either of their own will or by force, even in the darkness ofnight. In this, their inferior officers imitate them and maltreatand fleece the poor countrymen. There is no such thing as sacrednessof the fireside. There is no security for the individual. What havethe people accomplished by overcoming their wrath and by waiting forjustice at the hands of others? Ah! senor, if you call that preservingthe order----"
"I agree with you that there are evils," replied Ibarra. "But wehave to accept those evils for the good which accompanies them. Thisinstitution may be imperfect, but believe me, by the terror which itinspires, it prevents the number of criminals from increasing."
"You might better say that by that terror it increases the numberof criminals," said Elias, correcting him. "Before this body wascreated, almost all the evildoers, with the exception of a very few,were criminals because of their hunger. They pillaged and robbed inorder to live. That famine once passed over and hunger once satisfied,the roads were again free from criminals. It was sufficient to havethe poor but valiant cuaderilleros chase them, with their imperfectarms--that body of men so often calumniated by those who have writtenupon our country, those men who have three legal rights, to do theirduty, to fight and to die. And for all that, a jest as recompense. Nowthere are tulisanes who will be tulisanes all their lives. A crimeinhumanly punished, resistance against the excesses of the powerwhich inflicts such punishment, and fear that other atrocities maybe inflicted--these make them forever members of that society whoare bound by oath to kill and die [21]. The terrorism of the GuardiaCivil impressed upon them closes forever the doors to repentance. Andas a tulisan fights and defends himself in the mountains better thana soldier, whom he scorns, the result is that we are incapable ofabating the evil which we have created. Call to mind what the prudentGovernor General de la Torre did. The amnesty which he granted tothese unhappy people has proved that in these mountains the heartsof men still beat, and only await pardon. Terrorism is useful onlywhen the people are enslaved, when the mountains have no caverns,when the governing power can station a sentry behind every tree, andwhen the slave has in his body nothing but a stomach. But when thedesperado who fights for his life feels the strong arm of that power,then his heart beats and his being fills with passion. Can terrorismput out the fire which----"
"It confuses me, Elias, to hear you talk so. I would believe thatyou were right if I did not have my own convictions. B
ut note thispoint--and do not be offended, for I do not include you--I lookupon you as an exception--consider who those are who ask for thisreform. Almost all are criminals or people who are in the way ofbecoming such."
"Criminals or future criminals; but why are they so? Because theirpeace has been disturbed, their happiness taken away from them,their dearest affections wounded, and, after asking protection fromJustice, they have been convinced that they can secure it only bytheir own hands, by their own efforts. But you are mistaken, senor,if you believe that only criminals ask for it. Go from town to town,from house to house. Listen to the secret sighings of the family andyou will be convinced that the evils which the Guardia Civil causesare equal to if not greater than those which it corrects. Would youconclude then that all the citizens are criminals? Then, why defendthem from the others? Why not destroy them?"
"There is some flaw in your reasoning which escapes me now. In Spain,the Mother Country, this body lends and has lent very useful services."
"I do not doubt it. Perhaps there it is better organized; the personnelmore select. Perhaps, too, Spain needs such a body, but the Philippinesdo not. Our customs, our mode of living, which are always cited whenany one wants to deny us a right, are totally forgotten when someone wants to impose something on us. And tell me, senor, why have notother nations adopted this institution, other nations which resembleSpain more than do the Philippines? Is it due to the efforts of such aninstitution that other nations have fewer robberies of the railways,fewer riots, fewer assassinations, and less hand-to-hand fighting intheir great capitals?"
Ibarra bowed his head in meditation. Afterward he raised it andreplied:
"That question, my friend, needs serious study. If my investigationstell me that these complaints are well founded, I will write to myfriends in Madrid, since we have no deputies to represent us. In themeantime, believe me, the Government needs a body like the GuardiaCivil, which has unlimited power, in order to make the people respectits authority and the laws imposed."
"That would be all right, senor, if the Government were at warwith the country; but, for the good of the Government, we oughtnot to make the people believe that they are in opposition to thelaw. Furthermore, if that were the case, if we preferred force toprestige, we ought to look well to whom we give this unlimited forceor power, this authority. Such great power in the hands of men, andignorant men at that, men full of passion, without moral education,without tested honor--such a thing is a weapon in the hands of amaniac in a multitude of unarmed people. I grant and I will agreewith you that the Government needs this weapon, but let it choosethat weapon well; let it choose the most worthy men to bear it."
Elias was speaking with enthusiasm and with fervor. His eyes glistenedand his voice vibrated. Then followed a solemn pause. The banca, nolonger propelled by the paddle, floated tranquilly on the waves. Themoon was shining majestically from a sapphire sky. Some lights wereglimmering on the shore.
"And what more do they ask?" said Ibarra.
"Reforms in the priesthood," responded Elias, in a discouraged andsad tone of voice. "The unfortunates ask more protection against----"
"Against the religious orders?"
"Against their oppressors, senor."
"Have the Filipinos forgotten what they owe to these orders? Have theyforgotten the immense debt of gratitude they owe to them for havingsaved them from error and given them the Faith? What they owe to themfor protection against the civil power? Here is one of the evils whichresult from not teaching the history of the country in our schools."
Elias, surprised, could scarcely give credit to what he heard.
"Senor," he replied in a grave voice. "You accuse the people ofingratitude: permit me, one of those who suffer, to defend thepeople. Favors, in order to be recognized as such, must be done bypersons with disinterested motives. Let us consider in a generalway the mission of the orders, of Christian charity, that threadbaresubject. Let us lay history aside. Let us not ask what Spain did withthe Jews, who gave all Europe a Book, a religion and a God! Let us notask what Spain has done with the Arabic people who gave her culture,who were tolerant in religion and who reawakened in her a pure nationallove, fallen into lethargy and almost destroyed by the domination ofRomans and Goths. Let us omit all that. Do you say that these ordershave given us the Faith and have saved us from error? Do you call thoseoutward ceremonies, faith? Do you call that commerce in straps andscapularies religion? Do you call those miracles and stories which wehear every day truth? Is that the law of Jesus Christ? To teach sucha faith as this it was not at all necessary that a God should allowhimself to be crucified. Superstition existed long before the friarscame here; it was only necessary to perfect it and to raise the priceof the traffic. Will you tell me that although our religion of to-dayis imperfect, it is better than that which we had before? I will agreewith you in that and grant it; but we have purchased it at too higha price if we have had to renounce our nationality and independencefor it; when for it, we have given to the priests our best towns,our fields, and still give them our little savings in order to buyreligious objects. A foreign industry has been introduced among us;we pay well for it, and are in peace. If you speak of the protectionthey have afforded us against the civil governors of the provinces,I would reply that through them we fall under the power of thesegovernors. However, I recognize that a true Faith, and a true lovefor humanity guided the first missionaries who came to our shores. Irecognize the debt of gratitude which is due those noble hearts. Iknow that in those days Spain abounded in heroes of all kinds, as wellin religion as in politics, as well in civil life as in military. Butbecause the forefathers were virtuous, should we consent to the abusespracticed by their degenerate descendants? Because a great good hasbeen done for us, are we guilty if we prevent ourselves from beingharmed? The country does not ask for abolition of the priesthood; itonly asks for reforms which new circumstances and new needs require."
"I love our country as you love it, Elias. I understand to someextent what you desire. I have heard with attention what you havesaid; yet, despite all of that, my friend, I believe we are lookingupon it with a little prejudice. Here, less than in other things,I see the necessity of reforms."
"Can it be possible, senor," said Elias, discouraged and stretchingout his hands. "Do you not see the necessity of reforms, you whosefamily----"
"Ah! I forget myself and I forget my own injuries for the sake ofthe security of the Philippines, for the sake of the interests ofSpain," interrupted Ibarra eagerly. "To preserve the Philippines itis necessary that the friars continue as they are, and in union withSpain lies the welfare of our country."
Ibarra had ceased speaking, but Elias continued to listen. His facewas sad, his eyes had lost their brilliancy.
"The missionaries conquered the country, it is true," he said. "Doyou think that Spain will be able to keep the Philippines throughthe instrumentality of the friars?"
"Yes, only through the friars. This is the belief held by all whohave written on the Philippines."
"Oh!" exclaimed Elias, discouraged and throwing his paddle into thebottom of the banca. "I did not think that you had so poor a conceptionof the Government and of the country."
Ibarra replied: "I love our country, not only because it is theduty of all men to love the country to which they owe their being,not only because my father taught me so; but also because my motherwas a native, an Indian, and because all my most beautiful memorieslive in these islands. I love it too, because I owe it my happinessand will continue to do so."
"And I, I love it because I owe to it my misfortunes," said Elias.
"Yes, my friend, I know that you are suffering, that you areunfortunate, and that this makes you see a dark future and influencesyour way of thinking. For this reason, I make allowance for yourcomplaints. If I were able to appreciate the motives, if I had knownpart of that past----"
"My misfortunes have another source. If I had known that they wouldhave been of usefulness, I would have related them, for asid
e fromthat, I make no secret of them. They are well enough known by many."
"Perhaps knowing them would rectify my opinions. You know I do notrely much upon theories; facts are better guides."
Elias remained pensive for some moments.
"If that is the case, senor," he replied, "I will relate briefly thehistory of my misfortunes."