Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-31
ExTRArAeANT EXPECTATIONS.

IdSNtiu u~dlluldCluTeTS anu merchants
are said TO be expecting very great com.
mercial advantages in the far east from
the results Of the wal and 1t appears
that there is n strong sentiment among
them in favor of the United States re-
talning possession of the Philippines.
1t is not to be doubted that American
trade in Asia will be increased as a
result of the war. This country has
already acquired a prestige in that quar-
ter of b world which cannot fail to be
of material benefit commercially. But
1t Is quite possible to have ~eXtravagant
expectations in this direction. There is
n great field in the far east for CONNER
cial enterprise, but we shall find there
n most vigorous competition. We shall
be brought into closer touch with the
other great commercial nations and the
strife of competition for trade will be
intensified by the entrance into the lists
of a formidable competitor. The en-.
deavors each will put forth will be
keener and keener. Whether, there
fore, we. permanently occupy Asiatic
territory or not, success in obtaining our
share of trade will depend upon our
ability to meet the competition of our
commercial rivals.
There is n view of this matter which
appears to have escaped the attention
of most people. This is the possibility
that in the event of the United States
permanently occupying the Philippines
there will be an industrial development
there which will supply a large share
of the demands of the Asiatic trade,
thus curtailing the opportunities in that
quarter of our own manufacturers OF
course in such development American
capital would find employment, but it
would by no means have the entire
field to itself. Freed from Spanish
domination and administered under
more liberal laws, capital would flow
into the Philippines from Europe to es-
tablish there such manufacturing indus
tries as the products of the islands
should invite and which promised q
profitable return on the investment. The
manufacture of cotton goods would be
established there on a large scale,
wooden manufacture would be carried
on, such industries being practicable,
and they would compete with similar
industries in New England and the
south, with the advantage of cheaper
labor. Labor in those islands can be
had for about one-third what it costs
in thn TTnttnl StntnS n,I fIn,A t, M
abundance Of it. The inevitable ten
dency of this would be to bring down
the price of labor in this country EN-
ployed in like industries. The American
manufacturer would find himself eX-
cluded from the markets of the far east
If he could not sell his goods there as
cheaply as the competing manufacture
ers of the Philippines and his ability to
do this would depend upon the labor
cost Of his product. American labor
no other way could our manufacturers
successfully compete for the Asiatic
trade against manufacturers located
nearer to that trade and employing the
cheapest labor in the world.
We have annexed Hawaii, thereby
probably striking a damaging blow to
the domestic beet sugar industry and
perhaps opening the way t. manufac-
turing enterprises from whose competi-
ton our home industries will suffer. In
the opinion of those who have investi-
gated the matter there Is no reason why
the manufacture of cotton and wooden
goods cannot be carried on upon q more
or less extensive scale in the Hawaiian
islands, where labor is worth from 20
to 30 cents q day. 1t is now proposed
that we shall take permanent possession
of the Philippines, where labor Is as
cheap as it is in Hawaii and the OPP
p~ortunity for establishing manufactur-
ing industries to compete with those of
the United States for the trade of the
far east is even better than in Hawaii.
1t seems to us that American manu-
facturers who favor this policy, on the
theory that it will be an advantage to
them. are the victims of a grave delu-
sion from which sooner or later, if the
policy some of them desire should be
carried out, there will be a rude awak-
ening.