The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-09
A Capitalist Dilemma.

independence from the big imperial
istic capitalist powers. The imper-
ialist colonial problem presents an
other one of the many insolvable
contradictions inherent in the cap
italist system of production and ex-
change. Economically the Philip
pines, like all other industrially I'M
developed countries, need the capt.
tai now controlled by the foreign
capitalists of the highly developed
industrial countries; politically, this
very much needed capital is a mill
stone around the neck of the less
industrially developed nation, dag
ger at the heart of The nation, a
menace to the very existence and
independence of the people.
The Filipinos thus find themselves
between the devil and the deep blue
sea, between Scylla and Charybdis.
The capital they would welcome eco
nomically strikes terror into their
national hearts politically. There is
no way out of the terrible difficulty
for the colonial peoples as long as
capital which is social in use re-
mains private in ownership. The
Filipinos can as much hope to make
the economically welcome capital of
the American banker and manufac-
turer politically palatable as they
can hope to change the leopard's
spots. Hence the utter impossi-
bility of complete genuine national
independence ever being voluntarily
granted by the United States CAPT
talist government to the Philip
pines.
The Government In Business.
Aware of the difficulties and dan
gers that accompany the investment
of foreign capital, the native Fill
pino government attempted to meet
the situation by getting into bust
ness itself, by taking over the role
of the foreign capitalist itself. The
development of the Islands natural
resources, banking, transportation,
the sugar and coal industries were
some of the enterprises embarked
upon by the Filipino government.
In 1916, while American capital
lists were busy piling up fabulous
! profits thru their supplying the bel
| lgerents with the means of life and
death, the needs of industry and
war, the Philippine Legislature
passed Act 1886 to encourage the
organization of various Industries
along the Japanese lines thru the
guarantee of a per cent dividend
on stocks Of certain kinds of indus
tries for a period of five years. In
the same year Act 2,612 was passed
10 provide the proper fiscal agency
for these native developments. The
Philippine National Bank was thus
founded on Feb. 4, 1916. Then there
were formed in quick succession, the
National Coal Co. under Act 2,705
on March 10, 1917, to develop the
coal resources; the National Petro-
leum Co. under Act 2,S14 on March
4, 1919 to develop the Filipino oil
fields; the National Development Co
I under Act 2,849 on March 10, 1915
TO help the Philippines become self
subsisting thru the financing of iso-
lated enterprises; the National &C.
ment Co. on March IL, 1919 under
Act 1855, to meet the great demand
for cement in she Islands. In the
meanwhile the Manila Railroad was
taken over by the government from
British capitalists.
An of these corporations were
organized on the basis of the native
government owning at least 81 pei
cent Of the stock SO that foreign
capitalists could not sneak in thru
some financial back door and stife
the Filipino people.
General Wood Butts In.
For few years the situation was
developing rather favorably. Their
the great economic depression Of
1920-1921 that swept the world sci
in and set its heavy foot on the
throat Of the rising enterprises Of
the native government. Of course
these government Industries, like al
industries everywhere suffered anC
suffered severely thru the acute eco.
nomic crisis.
| Here the American capitalists saw
their chance, tho the precise extent
TO which their observation was con
scious cannot be guaged accurately