The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-05-24
TRADE WITH THE ORIENT.
RETENTION OF PHILIPPINES A
DISADVANTAGES SAID DU BOIS.

Activity There Would Serve to
Arouse China and the Dragon
Would Devour Trade OF the World.
Cheap Philippine Labor Would Sc
riOusIy Compete With Our own
Manufa ctures-Beveridge Answers
That Development of China Would
Mean n Large Increase in Trade.
Washington, May ga temperate
and carefully prepared speech was de-
livered in the Senate to-day on the
Philippine bill by Mr.. Dubois of Idaho.
He confined himself almost entirely
to a discussion of the commercial and
industrial aspects of the Philippine
question, with a view to showing that
Il would be disadvantage to the peo-
pie of this country to retain the is
lands. This governments activity in
the Philippines would also serve to
rouse China from her lethargy and,
once aroused, the dragon would devour
the trade of the world. Mr.. Dubois
reviewed at length the agricultural re-
sources of Japan and China with a
view to showing that with their ad-
vantages of cheap labor they would be
able to control the markets of the
Orient. including the Philippines.
Mr.. Dubois contended that little adj
vantage in holding the Philippines
would accrue to the people of the
United States, except possibly to the
capitalists, who would go into the ISL
ands and obtain under concessions
great tracts of land which they would
devote to the cultivation of sugar, to-
bacco and cotton, to which the land
was peculiarly well adapted. These
products eventually would come into
competition with the same products in
this country, the result being detri-
mental to American capital and labor.
Mr.. Dubois expressed the fear that
with the cheap labor available in the
Philippines our retention of the islands
would result seriously to American
labor as well as to the American man.
ufacturers. Manufacturing establish
ments would ultimately spring up in
the islands. and their products would
come into competition directly with
the products of this country in the mar
kets of the world.
Bevcridge Replies to Dubois.
A reply to Mr.. Dubois was made by
Mr.. Beverage of Indiana, who con-
tended that the development of China's
resources would be of great advantage
in trade and commerce to the United
States, as the industrial development of
other nations had been. The argument
of Mr.. Dubois, he claimed, was refuted
by all the facts, as it had been demon
strated, he said, that our exports had
increased most rapidly to those coun-
tries in which internal de-
velopment was increasing, as thereby
the people of those countries were the
better able to purchase from the
United States This would certainly
be as true Of China. he said, as It had
been of other nations. AS the coun-
try was developed, the wants of the
people would increase and so would
our opportunity to supply these
wants. Japan had had recently
wonderful development and along with
that development our exports had in
creased from about S3.000,0 900 a year
to more than $29,000000 a year. This
would be true of China. The exports
to China from outside countries
amounted to about $3.50, 900. 900 a year
and he believed that 1t would be pos
sible for the United States to secure
one-half of that trade. The Philip
pines, he said, were a door to the Chi
nese trade.