The Social Cancer, by José Rizal - Home

CHAPTER XLIX 225
"Elias," answered the youth, "I don't know who you are, but I suspect that you are not a man of the people;
you think and act so differently from others. You will understand me if I tell you that, however imperfect the
condition of affairs may be now, it would be more so if it were changed. I might be able to get the friends that
I have in Madrid to talk, by paying them; I might even be able to see the Captain-General; but neither would
the former accomplish anything nor has the latter sufficient power to introduce so many novelties. Nor would
I ever take a single step in that direction, for the reason that, while I fully understand that it is true that these
corporations have their faults, they are necessary at this time. They are what is known as a necessary evil."
Greatly surprised, Elias raised his head and looked at him in astonishment. "Do you, then, also believe in a
necessary evil, sir?" he asked in a voice that trembled slightly. "Do you believe that in order to do good it is
necessary to do evil?"
"No, I believe in it as in a violent remedy that we make use of when we wish to cure a disease. Now then, the
country is an organism suffering from a chronic malady, and in order to cure it, the government sees the
necessity of employing such means, harsh and violent if you wish, but useful and necessary."
"He is a bad doctor, sir, who seeks only to destroy or stifle the symptoms without an effort to examine into the
origin of the malady, or, when knowing it, fears to attack it. The Civil Guard has only this purpose: the
repression of crime by means of terror and force, a purpose that it does not fulfil or accomplishes only
incidentally. You must take into account the truth that society can be severe with individuals only when it has
provided them with the means necessary for their moral perfection. In our country, where there is no society,
since there is no unity between the people and the government, the latter should be indulgent, not only
because indulgence is necessary but also because the individual, abandoned and uncared for by it, has less
responsibility, for the very reason that he has received less guidance. Besides, following out your comparison,
the treatment that is applied to the ills of the country is so destructive that it is felt only in the sound parts of
the organism, whose vitality is thus weakened and made receptive of evil. Would it not be more rational to
strengthen the diseased parts of the organism and lessen the violence of the remedy a little?"
"To weaken the Civil Guard would be to endanger the security of the towns."
"The security of the towns!" exclaimed Elias bitterly. "It will soon be fifteen years since the towns have had
their Civil Guard, and look: still we have tulisanes, still we hear that they sack towns, that they infest the
highways. Robberies continue and the perpetrators are not hunted down; crime flourishes, and the real
criminal goes scot-free, but not so the peaceful inhabitant of the town. Ask any honorable citizen if he looks
upon this institution as a benefit, a protection on the part of the government, and not as an imposition, a
despotism whose outrageous acts do more damage than the violent deeds of criminals. These latter are indeed
serious, but they are rare, and against them one has the right to defend himself, but against the molestations of
legal force he is not even allowed a protest, and if they are not serious they are nevertheless continued and
sanctioned. What effect does this institution produce among our people? It paralyzes communication because
all are afraid of being abused on trifling pretexts. It pays more attention to formalities than to the real nature of
things, which is the first symptom of incapacity. Because one has forgotten his cedula he must be manacled
and knocked about, regardless of the fact that he may be a decent and respectable citizen. The superiors hold it
their first duty to make people salute them, either willingly or forcibly, even in the darkness of the night, and
their inferiors imitate them by mistreating and robbing the country folk, nor are pretexts lacking to this end.
Sanctity of the home does not exist; not long ago in Kalamba they entered, by forcing their way through the
windows, the house of a peaceful inhabitant to whom their chief owed money and favors. There is no personal
security; when they need to have their barracks or houses cleaned they go out and arrest any one who does not
resist them, in order to make him work the whole day. Do you care to hear more? During these holidays
gambling, which is prohibited by law, has gone on while they forcibly broke up the celebrations permitted by
the authorities. You saw what the people thought about these things; what have they got by repressing their
anger and hoping for human justice? Ah, sir, if that is what you call keeping the peace--"