The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-02-10
PHILIPPINES
AND HAWAII
Interests Are in Common Saws
Leading Man of
Manila.

Identical interests of the Philippines
and Hawaii with respect to trade de-
yelopment are regarded by H. NJ. Pitt,
one of the foremost commercial men
of Manila, who is aboard the s. S.
Tenyo Maru en- route to Washington.
as fundamental reason why Hawaii
should withdraw its opposition to free
trade for the Philippines as regards the
sugar and tobacco products of the great
archipelago.
Mr.. Pitt goes to Washington as the
representative of the Merchants Asso-
citation of Manila, the leading CONNER
elal organization of the Philippines, to
lay before Congress the reasons why the
Philippines believe they should be ad-
mitted to a parity with the remainder
of the United States as to a market
for it's main productions. On arrival
at San Francisco Mr.. Pitt will begin
his campaign by giving an address be-
fore the Chamber of Commerce, his ad-
dress teeming with interesting figures
and arguments as to why the Pacific
Coast should fall in with the Philip
pines request. Personally and by let
ter Mr.. Pitt hopes TO reach every Cham
Der Of Commerce in the United States
Just what Mr.. Taft may say in his
message to Congress on free trade is
uncertain. During his candidacy for
the presidency some of the states were
opposed to him on the ground that free
trade for the Philippines meant injury
to their own productions in beet sugar,
etc. Mr.. Taft modified his views some
what to meet this objection, but Mr..
Pitt is of the opinion, that if the COM
mercial bodies of the United States now
call upon their senators anu represen-
tatives in Congress to give the Philip
pines an equal footing in trade sense
with Hawaii, Porto Rico and continen-
tai America, Mr., Taft will sign any
favorable bill that comes before him
for his signature.
Mr.. Pitt states that the opening of
the Philippines to free trade will mark
an advance in commercial supremacy
for American manufactures in the ORR
ent. which will make the United States
a bulwark of political and commercial
strength in that part of the Pacific,
and with the commercial movement to-
ward the Far East Hawaii will share in
the prosperity. He says that the Uni
ted States are committed to the i'm
perial policy and the Philippines are
the base for strategic, political and
business advancement. Near the Pa.
cifc coast, he says, the United States
has Hawaii for guard to the western
coast of the United States and the
Philippines will be the base for the
Oriental trade which will necessarily
pass through Hawaii. Both Hawaii and
the Philippines must work shoulder to
shoulder for a larger navy for the Pa
cifc. Referring to the interests of Ha-
wall and the Philippines with regard
| to sugar, Mr.. Pitt said:
'fSugar is past event in Hawaii and
Porto Rico, for you have both prac-
| tically reached the limit of production,
and therefore you have nothing in that
| line u uolu OuJ 1O1 tAtois w hdS SiAS
Philippines will do will be to fill up
| the gap of demand that you cannot sup
| ply. AS to reciprocal trade relations
take, for instance, Cuba. We buy sug
ar, tobacco, etc, paying over about
| $1O0,000,000, and sell Cugar goods val
ued at about $50,000,000, leaving the
| balance of trade in favor of Cuba. We
buy coffee and rubber, ETC., to the ex
| tent of nearly $100,000,000 from Brazil
and sell her only about 100000 tc
$1S, 100000, leaving the balance of trade
to Brazil. The balance of trade il
favor of Java is about $12,000,000. The
balance of trade in favor of India i:
about $50,000000 and Japan, about
/ $28, 900, 900.
| "The United States is buying these
| stuffs from these countries and doe;
not get any compensating trade in re
| turn, when by a reciprocal arrange
| ment Porto Rico, Hawaii and thu
Philippines could produce everything
| that the United States is buying from
these foreign places.
s'The interests of Hawaii and TIT
Philippines are mutual. We have go
| to stand together. It IS utterly fool
ish for Hawaii to fight against FREE
| trade for the Philippines, because, a
I have said, Hawaii has reached thu
limit, practically, of her production o
sugar. She can not gain anything b.
fighting the Philippines.
"The big point in the Philippine
is to get capital started there. 1t is
long way off in the first place, and il
the second place there is feeling tina
the Islands are not yet absolutely tie;
TO the United States If we can ge
an absolutely free trade bill through
II will give assurance to capital, tina
Il will always have the same guaran
tee.
DsFree trade means tacit agree
ment on the part of the United State
Government that the Philippines WI