Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-07-14
Editorial Comment
Now the Lid Is Off

The truth about the mission of
Col. Carmi Thompson to the Philip
pine islands is now out in the open.
provided We can trust the New
York Herald Troibunes interpreta-
ton thereof. That paper, little by
little. has been getting ready for the
announcement fatty made in its is
sue of yesterday.
We have no intention of granting
independence to the Filipinos. Col.
Thompson will not deal with the
rash sentimentalism underlying the
limited native desire for indepen-
dence," nor With "the thinking
American support of it." 1--WE want
to see the Philippines develop and
prosper, under reasonable and ef-
fective self government, but not I'M
der a government which obstructs
economic progress and hampers
American administration or one
which seeks to impose a harsh Fill
pino rule on the people of the Ma
hometan districts" Autonomy I'M
der sovereignty. with a proper bal
ance between the two. is the chief
| aim of American policy in the Phil
ippines." Nobody ever has advo-
Gated anything different, except
William J. Bryan and his followers;
they alone accepted the position
that the islands are only a temper
airy American possession"
Thus the Herald Tribune.
By way of contrast we append
here a few sentences from the re-
port of Charles Edward Russell. who
visited the Philippines in 1921. On
this page we printed a letter from
him dated Manila, May 16. in which
he said:
"The Jones law was approved in
August, 1916. If you have happen
ed to read it, you know that in the
most solemn fashion it pledges the
United States to grant to the people
of the Philippine islands complete
independence so soon as they shall
have established a stable govern
ment. No ifs or butts about it, and
no other conditions. They are to
have independence. not when they
shall be ready for 1t nor when they
shall be as learned as DIR. Eliot nor
as able to put things over as Herbert
Hoover, but when they shall have
established a stable government.
The present government, establish
ed under and in consequence of the
Jones law, came into full existence
In 1917. 1t has been running the
machine ever since. 1t was estab-
lished by the people of the Philip
pine islands. Nobody can saw it is
not stable; nobody tries to say So"
1t needs no special gift of proph-
ecy to forecast some of the things
that are likely to come out of the
present investigation of conditions
in the Philippines. They have all
ready begun to come out. The Her
ald-Tribune tells us that the facts
about the situation never have been
brought home sufficiently to the
American public" 1t is the function
OF this mission to see that these
facts are brought home. The de-
spatches already contain illusions to
a new point of view on the part Of
the Independistas."
In other words, there are sure to
be two opinions in this country
about the Thompson mission. One
viewpoint will be that he is there to
ascertain precise facts and report
them. The other will be that he is
there to put over a policy and a
very different policy from that con-
templated in the Jones act. Mean
time the Jones act itself is a kind of
ugly obstruction in the way of those
who want to keep the Philippines for
purposes of commercial exploitation.
and simply to ignore it lays us omen
to charges of bad faith