The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1921-04-19

sidered an authority on all matters
pertaining to the islands, and his
opinions are sought by students Of
the Far East situation.
When asked his opinion of Gen
eral Woods being sent to the Phil
| ippine islands this month, Majo,
Cooley said:
zone purpose of General Woods
trip Is to devise some plan for the
thorough scrutiny Of the strategic
situation in the Pacific. Strong de-
fense' is predicted. l believe that
President Harding will call independ.
ence off for twenty-five years, in or
der to invite much needed capita
for the development of the natural
resources of the islands. l believe
;; that General Wood will submit a
comprehensive report to President
Harding on the military and strate.
gic situation in the Far East. The
Far East military ard strategic prob
lem is considered by the world at
large as Of very real Importance. In
my opinion, Manila bay should be a
Strong naval base, well equipped with
air craft, mines, submarines and de-
stroyers. Naval officers, with whom
1 have talked, believe that at least
100 cf the 800 destroyers now in
commission should be established
with Manila as their base. An ade-
quate force Of aircraft, submarines
and destroyers, located in Manila,
would make it almost impossible,
naval experts believe, for any nation
to seize the Islands in the event of
war.
ct is believed that, if General
Woods report as to the fitness or the
unftness of Filipinos for self.
! government should prove as the .ad,
vices of many people in with the ad.
n1inistration indicate the situation. to
be, it is the intention of the ad-
ministration to take several steps
with view not only to qnie.ing the
situation, but to restoring prosperity
| in the islands. One Of these is the
definite statement of policy to the
tworld that the present status Of the
| Philippines will be established for at
/ least 25 years. The idea Of this is
! to give capital the assurance that it
will have quarter of a century OF
government which will have whatever
stability the United States govern
ment continues to have. Further, il
will make it possible for the Philip
pine government and the municipali-
ties Of the islands to borrow money
on loans ranging up to quarter OF
a century.
money is needed very badly both
in business and by the local govern
ment in the islands, but the present
agitation for immediate independ-
ence, coupled with the declarations
of the Wilson administration that the
islands are capable of self government
have made capital for both purposes
so tinid that virtually none is OBJ
tainable.
Following the statement of the
intention of this government to mold
onto the islands for not less than rs
years, the plan would seem to be to
raise the present debt limit Of the is
lands, so that money can be borrow
ed for needed purposes. The pres
ent debt of the PHILIPPINES is about
SIS, 900, 100000, or in the neighoor-
hood of about s1.50.a a person. The
national debt of the United States
amounts to about $4,000 a person.
"The foreign commerce for the
PHILIPPINE islands in 1920 reached
the high total of S300,562,1 1880, an
increase of s64,ooO,oOo.oo over
1919, and by far the largest in the
history of the archipelago. The total
imports for, 1920 were s149, 9,43S,-
282.00, as compared with s128,369'-
054.OO in 1919. Of these, about
e2 1-2 per cent or s92,ooo,ooo were
purchased from the United States.
The export total was slightly above
the import figures, being Sl5l'l23,-
$500, as against s113,157,761.O0
in 1919. Of the goods exported
from the islands, s105,216,622.OO-
or SO per cent-were bought by the
United States.
ssrne most important item among
the exports was sugar, of which the
United States bought s39,348,9S4.Oo
out of a total of S49,619,2 ,26O.OO. 1t
would be unreasonable to expect, IN
view of world conditions and the very
r-lyot nf