diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

trill had read all the books by the friars and peninsular authors. If the learnedprofessor had arrived at a different viewpoint or did not fall victim to theprejudices and calumnies of those authors, it was due solely to his commonsense and care to study things carefully.A most correct evaluation of Blumentritt's labor! It is easy right from thebeginning to realize that Blumentritt has gone far beyond producing an essayfor topical discussion or brought about an actual happening. One mightalmost say he used the defense of Noli as a welcome pretext to come to termswith Spanish and monastic rule in the Philippines. He took the opportunity topresent an investigation of the racial, social, political, and economicrepercussions of Spanish colonial policy for the Philippines, thereby drawingup an analysis that has lost nothing of its scientific and historical value to thisday, a hundred years after his opening paragraph which had becomesomething of a classic:In that distant corner of the globe, known under the name of "The Philippines,"the state of things today is such that it calls to mind past centuries. Theadministration of the country, thoroughly military and bureaucratic, issubordinated to the interests of the omnipotent friars. Without representation inthe Cortes, and without freedom of the press, abuses there are the order of theday, and like the provinces of ancient Rome, the well-being or the misfortune ofthe country depends, not on laws, but on the personal qualities of each employeein particular.1°Blumentritt points out that the clergy in the Philippines possessed suchpower and prestige as could never be found in any other Catholic country, noteven in the ancient states of the Church. He gave credit to the monastic ordersfor protecting the natives from slavery, cruelty, work in the mines, heavytaxation, although this praise was very much disputed by some historicalsources that spoke of depopulation of the Islands due to wars, brutal treatment,slavery, and mass suicides.In Blumentritt's opinion all of this changed when the era of splendidisolation preserving the friars' power ended with the opening of the Philippinesto the outside world, and the monastic orders had every reason to fearthe loss of their privileges. This situation provided the basis for his analysiswhich went beyond a mere critique of the Noli, and assumed the character ofa thorough investigation in which several aspects may be discerned:1) The Economic Aspect—By no means could progress be prevented,Blumentritt stated. Manila has opened her gates to world trade, and theopening of the Suez Canal has reduced traveling time between Europe and234