Before proceeding to relate the most salient facts in the life of our subject, let us take notice of an important incident which shows not only the determined character of Mr. Avanceña, but also that when he is bent on some errand he cannot be set back by any consequences which may trample him down.

When the Revolutionary Government under which Mr. Avanceña was holding the office already indicated, was provisionally established in the town of Jaro, and while the Spaniards were yet in possession of Iloilo, Molo and La Paz, three adjoining towns which formed the last stand of Spanish domination, it became necessary for the provisional government to get into communication with the Central Government of Luzon, which was then located at Malolos. It was therefore discussed whether it would not be advisable to send a member of the provisional government with a member of the army, to take the first boat to leave Iloilo, and then proceed to Malolos, the temporary capital of the Central Government. After the deliberations, the Revolutionary Government decided in the affirmative and our subject was designated to carry out this commission, and together with one of the generals of the Army, Mr. Adriano Hernandez, he went incognito through Iloilo, and immediately took one of the boats bound for Manila in order to reach the place of his destination.

Long before reaching Manila, the boat on which Mr. Avanceña and his companion were, was detained by a cruiser of the American squadron, which after the occupation of Manila was patrolling the Philippine waters. While the boat was being searched, Mr. Avanceña and his companion, believing in the good relations existing between the rebels. and the American Army and believing also that the purpose which brought them to Malolos could not be misinterpreted by the Americans, explained frankly who they were and what their mission was in going to Manila on the way to Malolos. The commander of the ship, after these manifestations, immediately detained them, while a consultation was had with the Commander-in-Chief of the American Army at Manila, as to what was to be done with them; and so they were taken from the boat and placed on board the American cruiser.

Time passed on in this way, our subject and his companion not knowing what to do, and being unable to ascertain how long they were to remain in their uncertain condition, until the cruiser took the direction of the port of Iloilo. They continued in this same situation of uncertainty, when hostilities broke out in February 8, 1898, and the Americans bombarded Iloilo. In the confusion which ensued on board the cruiser, our subject and his companion happened to meet an Englishman called Mr. Chiene, the last American consul at Iloilo in the waning days of the Spanish

government. Mr. Chiene who was highly esteemed in Iloilo for his fine qualities, and who knew Mr. Avanceña by name and his companion personally, took advantage of the confusion and inadvertently placed them, on board the lorcha on which he came and which lay by the boat where our subject and his companion were detained. They were then carried to the coast of the Island of Panay whence after gaining their liberty they proceeded to resume their respective positions, giving account of how their trip to Manila had been frustrated.

Peace was now partially restored in Iloilo, the constituted Revolutionary Government having failed and the advances of the Revolutionary Army having been frustrated, and Mr. Avanceña was obliged to return to his native town and resume his peaceful life, without devoting himself to any particular work, for the conditions were such as not to allow anybody to follow any kind of profession. While in the town he was suspected by the Americans of being connected with the rebels, and was one day detained by a squad of soldiers and administered the "watercure," a punishment much used at that time by the chiefs of the American garrison at Iloilo. Soon, however, he recovered his liberty, there being no satisfactory proofs to sustain the charges imputed to him.

Peace having been restored in Iloilo and in almost every part of the archipelago, on the occasion of the establishment of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in Ioilo, Gregorio Araneta, former Secretary of Finance and Justice, who was a member of the committee, saw and appreciated the many good qualities of our subject during his short stay in Molo, his native town also. On his return to Manila, when he assumed the office of Solicitor General, and on the organization of the office of the Attorney Genereal, of which he was second in rank, Mr. Araneta offered our subject a position as one of the assistants in said office during the last months of the year 1902.

In this position, which was the first one Mr. Avanceña held under the American regime, he soon demonstrated his real worth, which it is not necessary for us to repeat here having already dwelt on his merits in the previous paragraphs. For this reason, he was offered the post of Judge of First Instance at large during the first months of the year 1905, on the recommendation of the same Mr. Araneta. In less than six months, he was appointed Judge of the 13th District, where he remained until 1910 when he was transferred to the 12th District. This last position he held up to the time of his appointment to his present post of AttorneyGeneral of the Philippine Islands on December 16, 1913.

The appointment to and acceptance by our subject of the position which he actually holds, requires our special attention, being the last link

of this chain of biographical data. When by the rise to power of the Democrats in the American Government, occurred the advent of what is called the New Era; in the avalanche of appointments for the high positions in the Government, on account of the change of personnel in the Philippine Commission which affected essentially the office of the Attorney General, in the sense that the Attorney-General was raised to the Executive Secretary's chair, the Nacionalista party had to look with caution for a person who could properly exercise the office, left vacant by the present most worthy Executive Secretary of the Government. Names were shuf、 fled, many aspired to the office, but in the necessity of finding a person who had, besides exceptional and high intellectual attainments, a character noted for integrity, and an incorruptible conscience, and to a certain extent, the qualities of a consummate diplomat, qualities which are required by the most responsible post of Attorney-General, the Nacionalistas, rightly and without any other guide but the brilliant record of an intelligent and upright judge, and a chief liked by all his subordinates, directed their attention to our subject, and the consideration of his brilliant record as a judge and a most competent employee, culminated in his appointment as Attorney-General, a post which he still holds.

The exercise of the office of Attorney General by the subject of our sketch may be said to be the third epoch of his life, and we leave it to another pen and another opportunity to write its history.

However, as a fitting conclusion, we will close this biography briefly indicating that such is the ability Mr. Avanceña has always displayed in the exercise of the different offices he has held up to the present that he is today the object of appreciation and praise by the Filipino people, by the Government which has appointed him and even by the subordinate personnel who co-operate with him, working under his guidance as Attorney General.

We will conclude by saying that if another favorable change takes place in these Islands, we firmly trust that the subject of our sketch will be raised to a post of much greater significance and responsiblity. Of this we are most certain.

BY

HON. IGNACIO VILLAMOR,
Executive Secretary.

Eminent scientists in all parts of the world have for many years been devoting themselves to the study of crime, its causes and its prevention, and the cultivators of the science of criminology already cover a vast field of research which comprises almost everything under the sun. While some analize the physiological condition of the individual, his psychology, atavistic and hereditary tendencies, the influence of age and sex on criminality; others observe geographical conditions in order to discover the influence of the atmosphere, of temperature, of the rivers and seas, of agricultral products, of the soil and subsoil of the place where the individual is found and the kind of food he lives on; and, lastly others study social conditions, in other words, the influence of poverty and wealth, of habits, usages and customs, of vices, of civil status, of education, of professions, etc., on the commission of crimes. And in order to formulate doctrines from the splendid fruits of such studies, their advocates have advanced brilliant theories in order to explain the causes of the social phenomenon called crime.

It can not be said, however, that all questions on criminology have been completely settled. There are still serious objections to some conclusions drawn by criminologists, and the law of criminal saturation, for example, by virtue of which in every social environment there is a minimum of natural and atavistic criminality, due to anthropological factors, is still a mooted question. We are, therefore, in the midst of a period of research and analysis, and by way of contribution to these studies from which civilization and humanity derive so many benefits I propose to explain some more facts, taken from our criminal statistics, in order to point out the causes which in my opinion facilitate the development of certain criminal tendencies.

I.

There are many facts tending to show that the perpetration of crime is not the exclusive work of the free volition of man, but the result of multitudinous contributory causes which constantly stir him, thus promoting the development of certain tendencies or the propensity to certain

acts.

To illustrate this proposition, we have taken the averages given by the statistics compiled by the Bureau of Justice during the fiscal years 1912 and 1913, heretofore unpublished, regarding the most common offenses against persons, against property and against chastity.

For the sake of clearness, we have divided all the provinces of the Archipelago into three regions, taking into consideration the degree of ethnological and geographical affinity between their inhabitants.