Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-22

, autonomy over local affalfs, subject 10
| the supervision and direction of the
governor general. The American Gov
eminent is on record on general prin-
ciples as to when and how it will
consider independence. yet no Con
gress can establish a, policy for future
Congresses, and new conditions bring
new duties.
In S03. when William Howard Taft
was governor general of the Philip
pines. he declared: Whether an auton.
omy or independence shall ultimately
follow in these islands ought to de.
pend solely upon the question. Is it
best for TIE E'iiirino people and their
welfare"
Four years later az Secretary Of
| War, Mr.. Taft opened the Philippine
Assembly. and said. The policy
looks to the Improvement of the PEG
pie industrially and in Self-governing
capacity. AS this policy Of extending
control continues, 1t must logically re-
duce and finally end the sovereignty
of the United States in the islands,
unless 1t shall seem wise to the Amer
lean and Filipino peoples that the
bond shall not be completely severed !"
President Roosevelt in his 1908 mes
sage to Congress said:
II trust that within a generation
the time will come when the F'ilipinos
can decide for themselves whether Il
is well for them to become independ-
emit or to continue under the protec-
ton of strong and independent
power. able to guarantee the islands
order at home and protection against
foreign invasion"
In preamble To the Jones act
passed by a Democratic Senate in
1916, a recital was made of the fact
that we did not war with Spain for
the purpose of territorial aggrandize-
ment, that we have always intended
to grant the Philippines independence
as soon as stable government can
be established.
But. in spite of the spirit of that
organic act, Gov. Gen. Harrison
ignored official instructions of the
Secretary of War, Mr.. Newton
Baker. that he should construe the
act strictly and to allow no further
Filipino encroachment upon the
powers left to the American Govern
ment, and he signed some 80 acts
tending to curtail American SOW
ereignty. With the native Assembly
thus almost free to carry on. the
country was nearly bankrupt, when,
The National Bank of Manila failed
for $37,000,000. One of the first acts
under Gen. Wood was the issue of
SAC, 100000 of bonds, which sum was
absolutely necessary to keep the
government from collapse All the
bonds were subscribed in the United
States-not a dollar by Filipinos, al
though special efforts were made to
interest native investors.
Today there is great demand for
land for rubber plantations. The Phil
ippines could supply enough suitable,
rubber land to grow half Of the rub
Der used In America and we use three.
quarters of the rubber of the world.
Such a development would give EN-.
ployment to all the labor that the
population could supply. But no in
vestors would dare risk such a long
time enterprise without assurance
that it would have longtime security
with stable Government protection:
This is one of the new conditions"
which bring new duties in connec-
ton with the problem Of pe1manency
Of American control of the islands.
While great advance has been ac-
complished in the education of the
peasant population since the Aneri-
can control began, it Is charged that
the industrial development has been
handicapped all the time by the un-
certainty Of our continued sovereign.
ty, thus jeopardizing the perManency
OF security. 1t Is further charged by
opponents of immediate independence
that while the people are divided be-
tween per cent caciques anad "a
per cent peasants, the latter are fur
Their split up by numerous tribal sep
arations involving more than so Ian
guages and dialects, which keep them
from union of their own numerical
strength. We are teaching all to
speak English. so that. in another
decade or so, tribal separations will be
less formidable and the sense of unity
will be felt among the masses. Then
scite.