The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-04-25
MAJ. JOE B., COOLEY
VISITING IN NEWBERRY
Talk. Interestingly About condi-
ton. in the Philippines. 10 now
Successful ,Business Man.

relatives and friends IN ms clty. MI.
Cooley is an old Newberry boy who
left this place thirty years. ago and
since 1899 has resided in the Philip
pine islands. This is his first visit to
the United States, since 1e11'>at
which time he was called to Wash
ington /on official business, and he
included 'Newberry in his. itinerary
before returning to the Philippines
When asked his. opinion of Gen.
eral Woods being sent to the Phil
ippine islands this month, Major
Cooley said:
zone purpose Of General Woods
trip is 10 devise some plan for the
thorough scrutiny of the strategic
situation in the Pacific. Strong de-
Tense is predicted. I believe that
President Harding will call indie
pendence. of for twenty-five years,
in order to invite much needed CAPT.
tai for the development Of the ma
tursl resources Of the islands. / be-
lieve that General Wood will submit
q, comprehensive report to President
Harding on the military and strate-
gic situation in the Far East The
Far East military and 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 ~destroyers. Naval officers, with
whom I have talked, believe that at
least 100 of the 900 ~destreyers now.
in commission should be established
with Manila as their base. An ade-
.quate force of aircraft, submarines
and ~destroyers, located in Manila,
ewould> make 1t almost impossible,
naval experts believe, for any ma
ton to seize the Islands in the event
Of war. :
cit is believed that, if General
Woods report as to the fitness or
the u~nitness of Filipinos for self
government should prove as the ad-
ministration indicates the situation
to be it is the intention on advices Of
many people in which the admin
stration relies to take several steps,
with a view not only to quieting the
situation, but to restoring prosperity
in the islands. One of these is the
definite statement of policy to the
world that the present status Of the
Philippines will be established for at
least rs years. The idea of this is
to give capital the assurance that it
viii have a quarter of a century of
government which will have what
ever stability the United States gov
ernment continues to have. Further,
it. will make it possible for the
Philippine government, and the
municipalities 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 gov
eminent have made capital for
both purposes so timid that virtually
none is obtainable. .>
"Followingyt the statement Of the;
intention of this government to hold
on to the islands for not less than rs
years, the plan would seem to be to
raise the present debt limit Of M
islands, so that money can be Dor.
rowed for needed purposes. The pres
ent debt of the Philippines is about
$4,000 100000 or in the neighbor-
hood of about $3.50 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 sS00,562,13s, an
increase. of s64, 0O0, 900 over 1919,
and by far the largest in the history
of the archipelago. The total imports
for 1920 were s149 ,438,2s2, as COM
pared with s12s,s6s,O54 in 1919.