The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-14
|QUEzON ASPIRES
 TO INDEPENDENCE OF PHILIPPINES
|Impresses Visitor As Man Perfectly Capable Of
 Self Governments

NEW YORK, Sept. 13--We are too I lied up on the good things of life to realize what it means not to be inde- pendent, but the Philippine Indepen- dence Mission, little group of men with a fund of $5,O0o, GOO. the earn ings of the people they represent. trav- eled Il, 900 miles to tell us that they are waiting for us to redeem the pledges we have made to them from time to time since 1900.
 The man who steered the frail little Icraft of immediate independence for the Philippines' straight into the plat form of the Democratic party in Ian Gguage which can't be misunderstood is Manuel l.. Quezon, president of the Philippine senate and chairman of the Philippine Independence Mission. He is also credited with having written the John Bill" which was master stroke in diplomacy and which paved the way for present demands. a
 Naturally the people who nave dreamed the dreams of independence have pictured to themselves the inaugu- ration of their first president. The man they picture as the center of all ! festivity incident to this wonderful event is the man that they have elected three times president of the Philippine senate since 1912, when President Will son appointed majority of Filipinos in the upper house, thereby placing in the hands of the Filipino people the control of their \ legislative affairs. With the election of democratic presi- dent this year the Filpinos expect the plank pledging 'immediateN N indepen- dence" to the Philippines to- mean just E that and nothing else.
 Can Govern Himself
 Whatever your idea of Philippine in- & dependence may be, you would be in q terested in talking with Quezon. Match x your wits with his, and no matter how, brilliant you may be or how dis tinguished a position you hold, you will blush for shame at the thought of & telling such man that he isn't fit to V govern himself.e
 "There is great deal If misconcep- tion in America in regard to, the Fili- |} pinos," Mr. Quezon said. You cannot go into the mountains of Kentucky and \ come away with a high ideal of Ameri- cans. You do not let those mountaineers VI govern your country, so why point out so-called head hunting tribe and use E it as indicative of Philippine mental ity? Why not instead recognize the & fact that nowhere in the world does E the woman hold higher position than the Filipino wife and mother? This ' one fact alone implies much. Again < that word tribe confuses the American mind in regard to us. We are all Fili- pinos and it is as foolish to speak of us as different tribes as it would be for us to speak of you as the tribe of # Texas, or Virginia; or California. M hoU mi Iog- n pd oxya grown tremendously in the last twenty six years. We have gotten all of our # fundamentals from the United States since she took a Spanish wreck and started us as she would feed an infant, # guarding it step by step from kinder- 4 garten t2 grammar school, into high school &id through college, until now, E after twenty-five years, we stand as a < promising young man on the threshold of life with the future bright before him.
 '"The idea of promising us our free X dom in another twenty-five years is absurd. We have reached our ma turity and must be allowed to live our |5 own lives, else the capacity of a whole & generation for self development will have been wasted. Furthermore, it is nothing short of silly for men in power today to commit themselves as to what is to happen twenty years from now. Not only will the powers that be be out of power in twenty years but they will be out of the world. It is not in any mans control to make promises for twenty years from now, and twenty years of imposed government is apt to have a disastrous effect on men yearning for freedom with as high and holy motives as controlled your Wash 4 ington and Jefferson"