The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 24, 1899, Page 27

HE SUNDAY CALL. the Mnsurrection in the Pbilipvines HIGEL A QRTETTIYTTEN i ‘K y was a good one, apparently inexplica- mor power of oaths e little k pinos w common good, in its nat- akingly un- answer and ga,” and it tegrated stmply stick together, and not Insiama of Rank in Filiong Armu. Hatipunan Badge o] Death to All Foreigners. They would form a tirely of the low- s. cemented into ere ig no coun- where the are called, opportunity. ier, composed ¢ the herhoo world, be it known ple,” as tr dominate and rule everything, hovel to palace, !f they would but together and stay together in s or penalties or es. ich and the icated everywher ever advantage in numerical strength possess is mora than neutralized, as the mon peo pow a general thing, by their lack of adher- ence to ¢ other and to the principle involved in any movement which they in- rate his difficulty the Filipino leaders de- termined to overcome by the simple expe- dient of making the penalty for even the g t defection so severe as to render prit incapable of do furthe , while h te should be a grue- varning to such of his companions a reminder as to their duties and obligations in the premises Oaths taken in the presence of stern- browed men, any one of whom is not only ready but in honor bound to avenge their breaking by a swife, silent and dead- ly dagger thrust, are not likely to be lightly considered. A society in which s n is not only the guardian of his own vows but is guardian also of the vows taken by every ome of fellow members, s not apt to be a weak or eas- fly dispersed organization. o it was that the Kataastaasan Ka langgalang Katipunan rose “out of the depths,” as it were, in the year 18! The dominant spirit in the assoclation at that time wes Andres Bonifacio, inteliigent unlimited influ- Filipino who had almost ence with just that class of men who were considered to be most eli- gible for membership. He lab: ceasingly to popularize the ide through his individual efforts thou of Filipinos were admitted to grees of the order. To attract the nalives and encourage them he represented to 1 supporters that the movement, though for gertaln reasons confined as to its active members to those in the humbler ranks of island life, had the hearty ment of all the wealthy merchants of Manila, and that vast stores of arms and ammunition were being provided for the use of the “revolutionist as they then styled themselves, whenever the moment came that such use should promise to be efect- ual, Many of those who joined the K. K. K. in those first days did so impelied & purely patriotic motives. They saw in its hidden but far-reaching influence the one and only hope for future Filipino indepen- dence and prosperity, but this noble senti- ment of love for and lovalty to their country soon became perverted into an insensate and revengeful hatred of ail forelgners, friendly or unfriendly, of any nationality, who had for any reason dared to intrude upon Philippine shores. The initial idea was to effect the simul. taneous massacre of all the Spanish elergy and authorities in the islands, and thus rid themselves of the presence of that hated and tyrannous race with one swift and revengeful stroke, but this idea quickly expanded until all sojourning strangers, however innocent of harm, were included in this secretly written death warrant. The oaths which were administered to the neophyte during the ceremony of initiation were the most terrible that the Fillpino mind could possibly invent, and avere well calenlated ‘o, impress upon lis his countr: . Postage Stamp. almost o Iplessne: igno! mind a Iming ant sense of his utter n in- dividual entity, and his almost unlimited power as a firmly welded part of the mighty whole which was about to make him its own. Five of the vows are sub- antially as follow: -1 will slowly, by the most hideous torture, before I will divulge any- thing that 1 know, learn or conjecture about this Very Exalted and Honorable Union."” 11— will execute at any cost to my- self or others, immediately, unquestion- ingly and exactly. all orders received by me which are accompanied by ‘the Sacred and Secret Word." " T11.—“T will cherish active and undying hatred inst all Spaniards and other foreigners." IV.—*When the personally assist to slaughter, at and without mercy or distinction, foreigners within reach of my reveng V.—“I will keep these oaths while my life laste, and should I forget or disobey them in the least part I will expect and most rightfully suffer the most horrible h which my associates can devise for lict upon me. Tc deeply brand upon the brain of the initlate the bloody purpose of the Katipunan, and the murderous meaning of the oaths which he had taken. there was alw on these occasions displayed before his eyes a part of their parapher- nalia consisting of a painted representa- tior. on a white scree in, through which were thrust two bare brown arms, the hand of one grasping by the hair a typical European head, while the other struck at its neck with a bloody dagger. The motto was “Death to Foreigners,” and the ghastly symbol expressed this, and expressed also that all death-blows were to be struck from behind the sheltering vell of an all-enshrouding secrecy. The official banner of the society is com- posed of three broad lengthwise stripes, one red, one white and one black; nearest the top is a royal crown heavily em- broidered with lustrous white silk; below this are the Initials K. K. K.; next a conventionalized picture of a flaming sun resting just half-way above the horizon; and beneath this again is a grisly skull and cross-bones. The crown typifies the height of power. The sun, peculiarly placed as it is, can be looked upon as either rising or setting, and symbolizes both the end of forelgn Interference and the beginning of Filipino independence, The skull and cross-bones means death wherever the hideous trinity appears, As it Is against @ most strictly enforced I will once all order comes and i ) law in the Philippines for any one to carry firearms without having obtained epecial permission, every member of the Katipunan provided himself, or was pro- an ery ef- ab- as vided with, a bolo, or native dagger ugly implement of heavy steel, not sharp except at the point, but a fective weapon when it comes to bing and slashing at close quarters, both Spani; and Americans have found to their co Equipped with this death- lealing instrument the low-grade pino feels that he is a match for ar enemy who is brave enough to meet and argue with him face to face, or whom he is fortunate enough to come upon sud- denly and in the darkne A special feature of the initlations was the ceremony of adopting the new mem- ber into *“Blood Brotherhood.” A knife of peculiar shape, with many cabalastic figures carved on the handle, was used in the simple surgical operation which left the “mark of the order” on some portion of the new-comer’s body at the same time that it made possible the blood transfu- sion, or rather commingling, which made the “brotherhood” something never after The signing of the membership roll with a mark made by his own blood and the receiving of the <, ed and ret word” which always thereafter gave authenticity der received, to any or- candidate a full-fledged member of the K. K. K. at the same time that it, figurative- burned all his bridges behind him. It must be all advance and no re- treat with him thereafter, for the signing of the roster was the signing of his own death warrant should the fact of his mem- p become known to the Spanish of- who spared no effort to extermi- all connected with this hated so- ficlals, nate So complete was the necessary system of secrecy pursued by the K. K. K.’s that the membérs of one band did not know the whereabouts of another Even the names of the heads of the order were un- known to those beneath them. The meet- ings were changed from place to place, and orders came in secret from unknown sources and were carried out blindly and to the lette even’ though obedience meant death him who received the to mysterious and inexplicable command. The growth of the organization was absolutely phenomenal, for, in spite of the unceasing vigilance of the Spanish au- thorities, over 30,000 men joined it during the first two vears of its existence, and in 189 its membership had increased to nearly 50,000. Attempts were made by means of sples to keep the Government posted in regard to the affairs of the Katipunan, but all such efforts failed most disappointingly to achieve anything of real importance. The natives became aware that they were under the inimical espionage of pretended friends and gave them and their employ- ers a few bloody but salutary proofs of thelr disinclination to submit quietly ta treachery in any form. It behooved every man who was in- cluded in their “Blood Brotherhood” not only to be scrupulously loyal to his breth- ren in deed and word and life, but to avold even the faintest “‘appearance of evil” lest a shadow of suspicion should fall upon him and deepen into the dark ness of death before he realized his danger. The principal government spy was a man named Aguede del Rosario. He had been very actively instrumental in the ar- rest of a number of the Katipunan mem- bers, although his part of the work had been done so secretly that it was some lit- tle time before his identity became completed the rite of ad-| mittance to the first degree and made the; 5 28 known. As soon as his guilt was made certain, information was purposely con- veyed to him regarding a new meeting order, and, anxious to dis- If still further in the eyes for whom he w working, place ting of the .,r. of the man walked unsuspectingly into th xmp ared for him. No hint of his fate ever reached the world out- side the doors that closed behind him on that fatal night. Whether he was stabbed or strangled or -slowly tortured into eternity, no member of the Katipunan who was not at that meeting ever cared to ask, and no member who was there ever red to tell. It was sufficient for them all to know that he had gone be- hind the curtain of Silence and thence- forward w powerless to harm them. The persecutions which the K. K. K.'s endured were not calculated to make them love their foreign rulers more or make them less barbarous and savage in their own revengeful acts. They were shot, garroted, confined in underground dungeons which could be flooded at the will of their jailers, tortured or starved to death, according to the fancy of their captors; but still, like an untamed wild beast, they fought wildly, desperately and RAmgrican ]riilleriman Proves the Societlu St n Power. nd death if, them even uncontrollably welcomed dying, they m carry witl one of the enemies whose iy presence made the world seem C . In 1896 thej e zenith of their altho r leaders did not then that fact. y struck then r blow had been so long pr vorld would have stood agh ctacle of unspari it they he tated too lon ws lost the oppor- tunity that to them was golden. Many arvests were made in the begin- ning of that fateful year, and on the Ist f July, at Caloocan, occurred the first open conflict between the K. K. K.'s and the h military forces. The janiards triumphed ea for the ives were armed only with bolos and amboo spears. The prisoners n by the soldiers were confined in citadel of Saint Pago, where fift re suf- focated in & single night because of tk crowded condition of the du ns, and the vice president of the socie who w tw until death rel as captured in C was bound be- two boards ed under water ased him from his agon to extort from him plans of the Katipu- in atte on as to the in the v It was during this rebellion that Agu- inaldo first came into prominence. He was sub-governor of Cavite Viejo and jearning that he was to be arrested on g more than he should d not only co de i Stlang officers sts in juspicion of knowir ve union arov own ge but San Fra labon, Naic, Noveleta, Imus 5 digpute Spanish power. All th f the Civil Guard and all the pri is district w hlessly massacred at this time, and Aguinaldo assumed the leadership of the entire rebellion, making his headquarte Imu he great mistake Wi made, however, was himself a large majo: population by ordering Bonifacio, the founder of the Katipunan, shot at Naic soon after he himself came into authority. It was claimed by Aguinaldo’ friends that he disapproved of Bonifacio’s blood- thirsty methods, but the natives believed that he feared him as a rival. However this may be it is certain that after his death of the K. K. K.’s lost heart and power. The tremendous coup d’etat which they had planned could not be accom- plished without his direction and they felt that the end of all their mighty and bloody struggle was failure. It s been thought that the once ter- rible organization was no longer a factor in Filipino affairs—that it was only a fear- some memory and not a threatening fac The recent capture of one of its most cherished banners by an American artil- lery man at Palo a few weeks since proves the fallacy of this idea, even if the “flaming sun” of the society did not ap- pear on the seal of the Filipino republic and on all its insignia and official stampa. The Kataastaasan Kagalanggalang Katipunan s alive still and is directing its forces now toward the conquering of Americans, who are, in their estimation, only a little less to be abhorred than the Spaniards were. The problem presented is: Given peace, would they settle on their rescued lands, or would they, by blood and violence, try to build up a government of their own, wherein_the educated, refined and law- abiding Filipinos would be relegated to a subservient position, and tyrannny, of a different, but no less hateful, kind' than clouded 'those fair islands in the past, would again hold full sw E. ELLSWORTH CAREY. re hich Aguinaldo alienating from of the native Filipino Sxecution by the Garrote,