The development of Philippine politics

652 THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHILIPPINE POLITICS

contact with scientists of Europe who recognized in him a
man of no mean ability. HIe became the friend of one of
the foremost students of the Malay race, Professor Blumentritt, who became very intimate with him. He studied
works in anthropology supplemented by first-hand investigation. of the rural communities in Europe, so as to
compare them with his people. HIe became convinced that
the Filipinos did not belong to an "inferior race"; that they
had the same faults and virtues as other peoples of the
world; that the virtues and vices of a people are not necessarily peculiarities of the race, but generally are the product of climate and history.
Rizal's First Visit to the Philippines
Rizal came back to the Philippines in August, 1837,
but he soon received warnings from his friends, together
with anonymous letters, telling him of the danger he was
running into. His parents were constantly alarmed, and
many people who saw him would not believe their own eyes.
They could not imagine how the author of a book so hated
by the friars could come to the Philippines. Yet at that
time the government of Spain was under liberal hands,
with Sagasta as president of the cabinet. The governor
general promised Rizal that nothing would happen to him
and that further to assure his safety, he would detail a
lieutenant, Jose Tafiel de Andrade, to be his companion.
Probably another object of the governor was to watch his
movements.
At the time of his visit the agrarian problem of his
town Calamba, was acute. The Dominican friars raised
the rents and enforced harsh methods of collection. The
government, desiring to better social conditions, requested
information as to the amount of rent the big Calamba
hacienda was receiving and whether that rent was commensurate with the taxes which were being paid. Rizal himself gathered statistics and prepared a report in which the
pitiful conditions of the tenants were exposed to the government. It was a public document read to everybody and
to which everybody affixed his name. But the report was