often substitutes one of his children, who in this manner sinks into slavery for life. Murder is usually punished by a heavy fine divided between the family of the victim and the men who try the case, a datu receiving an extra share. If a man commits a crime when intoxicated, the case is investigated to see whether he was in that condition voluntarily or whether others were partly to blame, and this fact is taken into consideration in the infliction of punishment. The customary laws of these people thus allow money to be paid in settlement for almost all crimes. In fact, this was the usual practise among the Malays of the Philippine Islands. With the Samal Laut particularly this method is the natural one, in view of the fact that not only the somewhat unsettled and roving life of the tribe is unfavorable to devising means for guarding prisoners, but especially because the system of fines is a source of income to the headmen. The Maguindanao Moros have but few criminals and generally deal summarily with them. Ordinarily a fine is imposed, but in rare cases offenders are sentenced to confinement, and, in the absence of jails or other strong buildings, are secured by attaching a huge block of wood to the ankle. Among the Sulu tribes, the sultan appoints a judge before whom all cases are tried. The fine for murder is two hundred ten pesos for each person killed. In default of payment for a crime, the culprit is sentenced to slavery. According to the rules of evidence, the accused can not testify in his own behalf. He may be convicted upon the testimony of a single witness, which fact, together with the custom of giving half the fine to the complaining witness, often makes the prisoner the victim of revenge. What has been written refers generally to the conditions existing at the time of the American occupation. Many of these customs and laws are slowly giving way before the system of government inaugurated and maintained in the Moro country by the Americans. The tribesmen, particularly the Malanaos and Maguindanaos, are realizing more and more the value of a stable government, of just courts and of the sympathetic and unprejudiced attitude of their American governors. Hundreds of cases, disputes which formerly were settled solely by the datus themselves, are now regularly brought to the district capitals and submitted to the white governors and judges for adjudication. The old warlike and predatory tendencies are slowly but surely dying out, as the Moro begins to appreciate the meaning of a peaceful and quiet agricultural existence with a swift and relentless justice ever at hand to punish the evildoer. This does not apply to the datus, who naturally object to being deprived of their ancient authority. Practically all the non-reliable and outlaw chiefs, who until about 1913 made necessary the presence of considerable bodies of American and native troops in the Moro Province, have now been hunted down and disposed of, and the balance of the datus and sultans, with that fatalism characteristic of Islam, show a disposition to accept the new order and to turn from war to agriculture and peace. The Moros have never been on good terms with the Filipinos. The attempt to bring them into closer relations by establishing agricultural colonies composed of members of both races is still in the experimental stage. PART II The Historical Background "In the light, then, of impartial history raised above race prejudice and religious prepossessions, after a comparison of the early years of the Spanish Conquest in America as with the first generation or two of the English settlements, the conversion and civilization of the Philippines in the forty years following Legaspi's arrival must be pronounced an achievement without parallel in history." Edward G. Bourne. CHAPTER V Discovery and Conquest A HALF-CENTURY OF ACCOMPLISHMENT Route to the East-Struggle Between Spain and Portugal-Appeal to the Pope-The Demarcation Bulls-Treaty of Tordesillas-Ferdinand Magellan -Extension of Demarcation Line around the Globe-The Circumnavigation of the Globe-Discovery of the Philippine Islands-The Junta of Bandajos and the Treaty of Saragossa-Voyage of Villalabos and the Naming of the Islands-Andreas de Urdaneta-Expedition under Legaspi-Mohammedism in the Philippines-Conquest of Luzon and Founding of Manila-Death of Legaspi-Expedition of Salcedo-Limahong's Expedition Against ManilaExpedition to Borneo-The Conquest Completed and Government Established -Missionary Character of the Enterprise-Proprietary Government-Salazar and the Appeal for Reform-Sanchez Sent to Spain-Reorganization of Affairs-Salazar the First Archbishop-The End of the Constructive Era. The discovery of the Philippine Archipelago by Ferdinand Magellan was one of the immediate results of the attempt of Pope Alexander VI to reconcile the conflicting claims of Portugal and Spain in the newly discovered and to be discovered parts of the world. The overland road to the Far East was obstructed by the Egyptians and Turks. Somewhere in that half mythical region were the famed islands where grew the prized nutmegs, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, pepper and other spices. "Here see o'er Oriental seas bespread Infinite island groups, and alwhere strewed; 1 Camoens' The Lusiads, Canto XII, p. 407 (Burton). |