Evening star., 1925-09-08

ol tAiCaI tllotCy IA Sl anu VI tAaSAA
country afterward There is no pub
lie influence. There Is not and, never
has been q. national Filipino party op-
posed to independence. No man
against independence ever has been
or can be elected to a post of any
-- kind in the Philippine Islands. Our
peoples one passion that never will
cool and their one vision that never
will grow dim are the passion for and
the vision of freedom After all, love
Of liberty is a universal and immemo
, rial human emotion"
Why should some of your rich
men be afraid of independence?
There is no just reason for them
TO be afraid of independence. Most
p. of them are not. But there are a few
whose peculiar mentality and whose
, turn them away from the independ
ence movement. Both life and
property would be perfectly safe un
der Filipino sovereignty. We have
proved our capacity TO govern.
What is your attitude TO Ameri-
can capital?"
Our attitude to all foreign apital
rs friendly, SO long as its investment
does not move in directions inimical
10 the principle of the Philippines for
the Filipinos. Every nation has an
inalienable right 10 safeguard its ma
tional patrimony.'
What is the actual position be-
tween the Filipinos and the nom
Christian elements in the islands,"
In the first place, we all-Chris-
tian and on-Christian-are Filipinos.
Religious and ethpnlogic differences
we have, as have ner nations, but
we are all Filipinos, Our national
psychic identity has been increasing in
defniteness and in vitality with great
ra~idity for a quarter of a century.
Thir development grew naturally out
of improved communications of every
kind. inSular and interinsular, and
out of the diffusion of education and
cultural influences of all descriptions.
Linked together as a nation geograph-
ically and acquiring therefrom a dis
tinCt national destiny. our peoples
long were kept spiritually more or
less apart by impossible distances and
by lock of universal tongue.
Decisions Made Quickly.
But good roads. the telegraph, the
telephone, the radio, safe and quick
interisland ships and marvellous
awakening of popular intelligence
have brought our spiritual and mental
unity into precise conformity with our
geographical unity. This outcome, of
course, was certain from the first. 1t
get national decisions on great public
matters as readily and as accurately
as they are obtained in the most ad-
Vanced societies.
Now, with reference TO the Moros
and the pagans.. Supposed irreconcil-
able hostility between them and the
Christian Filipinos is azmyth 1t is
myth built up and assiduousK propa-
gated by two foreign nominations.
These nominations strengthened them
selves by weakening F'ilipinos through
division. Their theory was to rule by
dividing. During the seven years of
oar greatest degree of autonomy
1914 to 1921-when F'ilipinos were
given relatively a free hand in deal,
irg with the non-Christian. the wall of
prejudice deliberately constructed be-
tween them and their Christian Fill
pino brothers was torn down. We got
on with the non-Christians harmoni-
ousd~ They shared with US the con-
seriousness of nationhood. Our Ian
guasge difficulty-the language diff. |
Guilty of the Philippines as whole
has1been exaggerated TO the point of !
grotesquenesS. Every one opposed TO |
Independence descants upon our nu !
mero4uS dialects and their fancied seq !
regaEing and nationally disintegrat- |
ing operation. In truth. three dialects !
are 10 key to the entire Filipino mind |!
not NO mention the constant spread of !
Eng SSh." ------- -. F. !
Genuine Legislative Development. /
''Tfsere has been continuity of pur- |
pose and practice in your legislative {,
Development
Absolutely. We did not build
thoughE1essly. Principles were our
guide. We had knowledge of history
and of the tried maXimS of free gov |
kolr NJ NJ Nrn hn
experience of civilized life-our long
contact with Western ideas-and our
own separate and unique racial in
spiration. There is no other way to
constitute. national organism-no
other way than by consultation of
racial fund amentals in the light of the
common culture of the world. We
did that. If we had done otherwise.
if we had sdepended altogether upon
foreign experience and thought, our
title to independence would not be
what it is. .No great oak can rise from
or rest UPON anything but it's own !
farspreadin. roots. Any student of
our parliarsentarism will have no /
trouble in picking out its proofs of
originality and catholic eclecticism. |
l may rema9k, in passing, that we
adopted the national budgetary sys-
tenn some years before the United
States adopted it and that our secre- |
taries of departments have the right
To appear on The floor of the houses
Of the legislature
Interpreting the Jones law.
What is the cruX OF the trouble
between the Philippine legislature and
The governor general
Antagonistic interpretations of our
organic law-the Jones law. 1t is
constitutional ,ontroversy. We hold
that the intent Cf the law was TO con
Ter complete internal autonomy upon
The Filipino nat ton. l say internal
autonomy | reCngnize without ques
tion the right md the duty of the
United States, h e,ving regard to its
responsibilities int the existing situa
ton, to exercise sovereignty over our
external relations, l do not contend
that we legally C; IN take away from
he United States the attributes and
functions of sovel eignty. But l do
contend that the Jones law gives us.
and was designed 10 give US. unre-
stricted freedom in tthe weaving of a
fabric of internal phlitical and social