Perth Amboy evening news. [volume] (Perth Amboy, N.J.) 1903-1959, 1923-12-26
SAYS CEN. WOOD
IS RIGHT MAN
President of Manila
Rotary Club Tells RotarianS
About Philippines

Perth Amboy Rotarians got some
first hand information concerning
the Philippine Islands today when
they had for their speaker at their
weekly luncheon at the Westminster
Ray w. Berdeau, of Manila, former
president of the Rotary Club of that
city. Mr.. Berdeau came as the guest
of Colby Dill who made his acquaint-
ance on the steamer on the way
home from Europe recently.
Mr.. Berdeau is strong supporter
OF Governor General Wood. He de-
clared that General Wood was the
right man In the right place at tho
right time. He said that the Ameri-
cans themselves are largely to blamt
for the trouble they are now having
in the Philippines, and it was due
largely to the American system OF
education which has been introl
duced. A class is being developed
that can never rule the islands, yet
they are bound to breed trouble as
long as they WELD any influence.
The failure of the Jones law which
was passed by congress under the
Wilson administration was pointed
out. Governor General Harrison who
was appointed by President Wilson
went to the islands with the deter
mination to make them as nearly
Independent as possible The Fill
pinos were given the greatest powers
possible In self government. They
put the government into almost
every line of business, using the
nj m he
prises with the result that the bank
was on the verge of failure. The
Filipnos, Mr.. Berdeau said, proved
conclusively their inability to govern
themselves by the mess they made
of things.
When General Wood went to the
islands he was under instructions to
take the government out of business,
to balance the budget, reduce the gov
ernment personnel, and bring order
out of chaos. He naturally was op-
posed by the politicians among the
Filipinos and he has been having a
great deal of trouble doing his work,
but he has been an able admins
traitor and he has accomplished
much in stabilizing conditions there.
The differences in the population
was referred to by Mr.. Berdeau, as
one of the reasons why the islands
can never become self-governing,
The different islands are populated
by peoples of different races and
religion and they can never work
together in harmony. The appalling
infantile mortality was cited as an
example of conditions there, and the
illiteracy of the people made 1t diff
cult to accomplish much in the way
of self government.
The tremendous population of that
particular part of the world was re-
ferred to, and 1t was shown that az
the present rate of increase, the
white race would, in future years,
have n great deal to contend with.
Mr.. Berdeau then emphasized the
Importance Of the boys work which
Rotary clubs are doing, declaring
that IL you have money to spend,
spend 1t on the white boy. Out in
the orient, he declared. 1t was the
policy TO EDUCATE and care for the
white boy as a means of preserving
the race.
The great hindrance in the de-
velopment of the Philippines COM
mercially is the fact that ships car
AhB 6bNS Llltit tbHHOL ger re-
turn cargoes. Manila is an ideal
location, Mr.. Berdeau said. for ware
houses and docks from which to dis
tribute merchandise all about the
Chinese coast and to Java and In
dia. Under a stabilized government
the Philippines would be OF great
commercial advantage to the United
States.
He said there was no actual prom
ise of absolute independence for the
Philippines, and all that America is
bound to give is a very broad colo
NAL government under American
protection Out of a population OF
100000 there are only 5000
Americans at the present time. The
country can be greatly developed
and under such development the re-
turn cargoes for ships could be pro-
vided. Mr.. Berdeau advocated al
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