The Washington herald., 1907-09-23
MONDAY. SEPTEMBER %, 1907.



States viii never abandon the Philip
pines is doubtless shared by the great
majority Of the American people How
ever great the burden may now be or
may vet become, we shall. in all human
probability. continue 70 hold the islands
and TO govern their inhabitants as best
We may Our nationa! aItruism, the sen
timent to which Secretary Taft has ap-
peaied, viii support our Philippine policy,
even if economic and military considera-
tioHs should not appear TO justify the
retention Of an Oriental colony.
Admiral Dewey lays much stress upon
the strategic necessity OF an Oriental
outpost for naval and commercial pur-
poses. For purposes of offensive warfare.
the naval experts are all agreed on the
Importance of distant naval stations.
With that view we shall not quarrel al
though there are two sides even to that
question. We observe, however, that Ad-
miral Dewey holds 10 the theory that
the Philippi es are valuable as "a base
of commercial operations I'm Asia. This
is the theory which was widely exploited
when We bought the islands, and still
obtains vogue, Whoever controls Manila.
declared Senator Lodge, holds the key
10 Oriental commerce
If Japan owned the Philippines. says
Admiral Dewey. "she would command
every gateway TO the Orient. and the
United States would be completely shut
out" We see in this observation the
commonly met with i'm the writings Of
Capt. Mahan. Buccaneers still infest the
Spanish Main. and pirates abound I'm ev-
cry sea. TaTIfa yet eXacJs a tribute from
ships that pass. The frowning guns OF
fortified ports terrorize the richly laden
galleons of our merchants. Sea power is.
therefore. essential to the promotion and
protection of commerce.
But in point of fact. our commerce
with the Asiatic mainland is wholly in
dependent of the Philippines. The great
steamship lines sweep to the north Of the
archipelago. American goods are de
barked in japanese and Chinese ports,
including the British port Hongkong. di-
rect from Seattle and san Francisco.
Yokohama, not Manila. is the great port
OF call for trans-Pacific shipping ANY
one who looks at "a map Of the Asiatic
coast and OF the adjacent islands VIII
see at once why this is so. and VIII see.
Furthermore, that in the nature of
things. il must always be so. The most
important Chinese ports are far north
of Manila. So Is Japan. next TO China,
our principal Oriental customer Manila
is too far out of the main lines Of trans
Pacific commerce to be available as a
distributing point for American commerce
with the mainland. It cannot. in the
commercial sense, De a gateway, or a
key. or a strategic point, or anything of
that sort.
What, then, does Admiral Dewey mean
by saying that. with the Philippines in
her possession, Japan could shut us out
from Oriental trader Our commerce
passes under the guns Of japanese war
ships and foruesses every day without
interference. Why should it not continue
10 do so, even though the japanese owned
a Gordon Of islands along the entire
Asiatic COast2 We judge the Admiral is
really thinking Of the whole matter In
terms Of naval warfare. He f0resees the
possibility that Japan may place such
distractions in the way of our CONNER
Cial enterprise through her predominant
influence in the far East that we may
be compelled 20 fight for freedom Of
trade and the open door" In that
event, if the Philippines are a source of
naval strength, they may prove Of value
in the protection and expansion of our
Oriental commerce. But as an aid 10
the peaceful development Of trans-Pacifc
trade with the Asiatlc continent their
value is doubtful. to say the least. And,
as yet there is no gateway to Asiatic
commerce that is not open to us equally
with the japanese or any other nation,
nor do we possess any key to the Orient
except the enterprise and efficiency of
our merchants and manufacturers. As
for the islands, there seems no valid
reason why they should not become
prosperous and profitable in themselves,
and we have no doubt they will