diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

completely give up the Islands, the position of El Eco Filipino and clearlyexpressed in a few verses about the reforms needed in the Philippines. Afterasking the Overseas Ministry to end the tobacco monopoly, and much laterthe freedom of the press and representation in the Cortes, a third stanza adds:Then must you allowThe troop of halo and cowlMarching with the musicTowards another goal.For in those regionsAs pleasant and satisfyingAs the friars, the bestAre not the regulars?'The paper served as an echo, with its usual commentaries, of the articlesand information from Francisco Arriaga's pen, with whom almost certainlythe editors were in constant personal contact—recall the article this ex-Franciscan published in El Correo de Espana. With regards to the fall ofGovernor Carlos Ma. de la Torre, it was taken for granted that the friars hadresorted to the "system of spreading those specious stories that frightenpeople with plots and riots, even if there was no reason for them." It is alsosaid that the friars "will believe, and with reason, that the ProvincialSuperior's powers are greater than the Spanish monarch's since they can andhave been able both on that occasion and at other times, to countermand thesovereign will, not passively, but with the assent and even cooperation of thecivil authority." Of course, Herrero's apologetic writings on behalf of thefriars are commented on and discussed. Finally, on receiving notice of thelamentable' incidents of January 1872 in Cavite, as well as the execution ofthe priests Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora, El Eco Filipino stated its opinion inthe following terms. According to the latest information received, theparticipation of the three priests in the mutiny seemed certain and meritedcondemnation mainly for two reasons: "it knows perfectly that, successfullyor not, it cannot lead to anything else but to serious disasters anddisturbances, and annihilation." And, "There is never a good reason to justifya son turning against his mother."Concretely, however, with regards to the execution of the three priests,two nuanced statements appeared in two successive issues. (1) "That thethree condemned secular priests be called traitors because the carrying out oftheir sentence leads one to believe was reasonable:12 Nothing else was81