Mohammedan Law in Our Philippine Possessions

for two years, studying law in the meantime, and working on a country newspaper. He was admitted to the bar when twenty-one years of age, and in 1875 he removed to Lancaster, having foreseen the development of that town. From 1890 to 1896 he represented Lan caster in the Legislature, and from 1896 to the present time he has served on the bench of the Supreme Court. He was also for years county chairman of the Democratic party, chairman of the Con gressional District Committee, and was on the State Executive Committee.

319

In 1875 he married Rebecca Wyse, daughter of the late Joseph Wyse of Edgefield County, and has two sons and three daughters. He is an elder of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in his home town of Lan caster. His alma mater, Erskine College, has just conferred upon Chief Justice Jones, at the recent commencement exercises, the degree of Doctor of Laws, an appro priate honor for one so finely represen tative of what is best in the life of the New South.

Mohammedan Law in Our Philippine Possessions By Samuel MacClintock, Ph.D.

OUR Philippine possessions contain people of all degrees of develop ment. Some of them are upon the lowest scale of savagery, some are truly enlightened. Perhaps the most inter esting of these to students of govern ment, and certainly the most difficult to handle, from an administrative stand point, are the Moros, or Mohammedan Malays, who live in the southern part of the Archipelago. Who the Moros Are.— The word Moro is a corruption of Moor. The people to whom it is applied are Malays of the same stock as the pagan and Christian tribes who dwell in the south ern part of the Philippine Islands. Shortly before Magellan discovered the Archipelago, these southern inhabitants were given the alternative of accepting Islam or the sword. For a century afterwards the conquering faith spread

rapidly and it looked as if all the inhabi tants would be converted to its militant ranks, but the superior political and military power of the Spaniards finally prevailed, and Islam was confined to the southernmost islands. Their Political System.—The Moros never effected any political organization larger than a loose confederation of small, semi-independent tribes, paying at least nominal obedience to a superior ruler called sultan. In theory, the sultan was the representative of Mohammed, and, according to the writings of the Prophet, the "Shadow of God" within his sultanate. He was enjoined to keep well versed in the Mohammedan relig ion, law, and customs, and to see that no injustice was done. But he was also the sole judge of what was law and justice, and therefore, in theory, an irresponsible despot. This scheme of