Importance of interpreters in Philippines. Interpreters are especially indispensable in the Philippines, where the alcaldes never by any chance understand any of the local dialects. In important matters the native writers have generally to deal with the priest, who in many cases becomes the virtual administrator of authority. He is familiar with the characters of the inhabitants and all their affairs, in the settlement of which his intimate acquaintance with the female sex stands him in good stead. An eminent official in Madrid told me in 1867 that the then minister was considering a proposal to abolish the restriction of office in the colonies to three years.[5]
Fear of officials’ popularity.The dread which caused this restriction, viz., that an official might become too powerful in some distant province, and that his influence might prove a source of danger to the mother country, is no longer entertained. Increased traffic and easier means of communication have destroyed the former isolation of the more distant provinces. The customs laws, the increasing demand for colonial produce, and the right conceded to foreigners of settling in the country, will give a great stimulus to agriculture and commerce, and largely increase the number of Chinese and European residents. Then at last, perhaps, the authorities will see the necessity of improving the social position of their officials by decreasing their number, by a careful selection of persons, by promoting them according to their abilities and conduct, and by increasing their salaries, and allowing them to make a longer stay in one post. The commercial relations of the Philippines with California and Australia are likely to become very active, and liberal ideas will be introduced from those free countries. Then, indeed, the mother country will have earnestly to consider whether it is advisable to continue its exploitation of the colony by its monopolies, its withdrawal of gold, and its constant satisfaction of the unfounded claims of a swarm of hungry place-hunters.[6]
Different English and Dutch policy.English and Dutch colonial officials are carefully and expressly educated for their difficult and responsible positions. They obtain their appointments after passing a stringent examination at home, and are promoted to the higher colonial offices only after giving proofs of fitness and ability. What a different state of things prevails in Spain! When a Spaniard succeeds in getting an appointment, it is difficult to say whether it is due to his personal capacity and merit or to a series of successful political intrigues.[7]
[1] Le Gentil, in his Travels in the Indian Seas, (1761) says: “The monks are the real rulers of the provinces.... Their power is so unlimited that no Spaniard cares to settle in the neighborhood.... The monks would give him a great deal of trouble.”
[2] St. Croix.
[3] St. Croix.
[4] There are three classes of alcaldeships, namely, entrada, ascenso, and termino (vide Royal Ordinances of March, 1837); in each of which an alcalde must serve for three years. No official is allowed, under any pretence, to serve more than ten years in any of the Asiatic magistracies.
[5] The law limiting the duration of appointments to this short period dates from the earliest days of Spanish colonization in America. There was also a variety of minor regulations, based on suspicion, prohibiting the higher officials from mixing in friendly intercourse with the colonists.
[6] A secular priest in the Philippines once related to me, quite of his own accord, what had led him to the choice of his profession. One day, when he was a non-commissioned officer in the army, he was playing cards with some comrades in a shady balcony. “See,” cried one of his friends, observing a peasant occupied in tilling the fields in the full heat of the sun, “how the donkey yonder is toiling and perspiring while we are lolling in the shade.” The happy conceit of letting the donkeys work while the idle enjoyed life made such a deep impression on him that he determined to turn priest; and it is the same felicitous thought that has impelled so many impecunious gentlemen to become colonial officials. The little opening for civil labor in Spain and Portugal, and the prospect of comfortable perquisites in the colonies, have sent many a starving caballero across the ocean.