THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 283 



government. This jurisdiction "also extends over the Mariana 

 or Ladrone islands, the Carolines, and the Pelew islands. 



There is also a lieutenant-governor, who takes the place of the 

 captain-general in case of his death, and a council in Manila, 

 which has a voice in all questions concerning the internal affairs 

 of the islands. The archbishop also exerts considerable power, 

 and the ecclesiastical authority-is interwoven in all the machin- 

 ery of government. 



The islands are divided into provinces subject to politico- 

 military governors or alcaldes mayores, who are generally civil- 

 ians. The provinces are subdivided into districts, and these 

 again into pueblos or parishes, over which is an officer called a 

 gobernadorcillo, a diminutive of governor, who is elected annu- 

 ally by the people; but the real power in these communities is 

 generally the priest, who not only looks after the spiritual wel- 

 fare of the people, but directs their material affairs. For the 

 imposition and collection of taxes Spanish ingenuity has been 

 exercised to the utmost; but the basis of the financial system 

 in the Philippines is the poll tax, which every adult, both male 

 and female, under sixty years of age has to pay, and unhappy 

 is the lot of the native who fails to meet the demands of the tax- 

 gatherer. He is arrested and imprisoned or deported to a penal 

 settlement, and his family, if he has one, is left to shift for itself. 



RELIGION AND EDUCATION 



The Roman Catholic is the. established church in the Philip- 

 pine islands, which contain one archiepiscopal see and three 

 bishoprics. Most of the ecclesiastical authority is in the hands 

 of the various religious orders — Dominicans, Augustines, Fran- 

 ciscans, etc. — who are the real rulers of the country, as their power 

 among the natives far exceeds that of the civil or military au- 

 thorities, and of this power they are very jealous, as is evidenced 

 by the long record in the history of the islands of bitter contro- 

 versies between the church and the civil authority and the quar- 

 rels of the religious bodies among themselves in their efforts to 

 maintain ascendency. There is no doubt that among the priest- 

 hood there are many devout, sincere men, who do their duty 

 faithfully and devotedly and exert an immense and beneficial 

 influence on the natives under their charge ; but, on the whole, 

 religious affairs on the islands are behind the age and would be 

 more useful to the people, who are naturally devout, if they were 



