Evening star., 1930-06-27
FREE PHILIPPINES
I. HELD BLOW TO u. S.
Senator Bingham Ayers Plan
Would Be Harmful to Com
merce and Diplomacy.
Continued From Twelfth Pageo

Continued From Twelfth Page)
, stimulated sugar industry. the failure
Of their national bank, which is bound
up with sugar and is the depository of
| government securities; an immediate
depression in trade, serious reduction
OF income, accompanied by q heavy in
crease of taxation, and a lowering of
the whole standard Of living OF the
people, whose average per capita income
is now only $35 a year"
| Truly this Is a gloomy and most for
bidding picture. And does any one
! seriously contend that these calamitias
could be avoided by a brief five-vear
period of attempted economic adjust
mrnt-a quasi trial independence?
1t is my own conviction, based upon
personal observation of the Filipinos
and upon the evidence of well informed
/ ofncialS and others who have spent years
| in the study of this question. that the
, people Of the Philippines are today
! totally unprepared for independence
and that to bring their development,
under the most favorable possible con-
| ditionS, up to a point where their in
terests would not be gravely mena"ed
by such action on the part of Congress
would require a period of at least 80
! years.
| Note Secretary Stimson's view:
The separation Of the Philippine
| Islands" he says, from all leadership
or control by the American Government
| would destroy government in the
Philippines, and the result would be
either a condition of anarchy or q con-
dition OF oligarchy in which a COM
paratively small class of Filipinos-
money lenders and local politicians
would exercise arbitrary power over the
/ nf.Hi irNn rtn Nf ts,l
small men of the islands" subjecting
them to financial tyranny from the one
class and to political tyranny from the
! other. To build up suhhcient resistance
| to these influences would take far longer
| than the proposed readjustment period.
| In recent article Mr.. Roosevelt thus
| touches upon the financial aspect of
| the subject:
Financial Difficulties.
The greatest difaculties which the
politicians would have to face In the
event Of independence would be of a
! financial nature. The Filipinos today
are paying as high taxes as it seems
possible to collect. These revenues, to-
| gether with the rebate on the internal
revenue tax of the United States on
| tobacco. which is paid by the United
States Treasury to the Philippine treas
/ ury, cover the actual administration of
the civil arm of the government. But
they do not pay for the defense of the
Islands or for the representation of
their diplomatic interests abroad. The
former item, including the extensive
| Notifications of Corregidor and the
maintenance of military and naval
| forces. is paid by the United States.
The diplomatic and consular interests
of the Philippines are cared for by
Americas foreign service representatives
at Americas expense.
! 1T follows. therefore, that the Phil
ippine republic would begin its inde-
pendent career with the added financial
| burdens OF national defense and repre-
sentation abroad, and would at the
same time have to do without the SUBJ
stantial contribution dn the neighbor-
hood OF 100000 annually which is now
received from the rebate on Philippine
tobacco taxed in the United States, q
sum which, Of course, neither should
nor would be presented as a gift to the
Philippine government once the ties
with the United States were severed"
| Touching upon public health condi-
| tionS in the islands, Mr.. Roosevelt
showed that American sanitation meth
DDS had greatly reduced mortality from
smallpox and cholera, an improvement
whose continuation could not be rea :
Sonably hoped for under q new and
independent Filipino government. un-
aided by our vast resources of knowledge
and experience. In this connection he
said:
In the matter of public health great
strides were made while the health work
was under American supervision. Deaths
from cholera dropped from about 100,-
900 in 1900 to 800 in 1915, and deaths
from smallpox fell from 10000 to 276.
Then came the FiIipinization OF the
| government service, and strict American
supervision of the health work was re-
| laxed. Deaths from cholera jumped
from 800 in 1915 to 1887 in 1919. The
situation was so alarming that the
Americans again took hold of the work.
and by 1924 there were no deaths from
cholera and only six from smallpox.
Two subsequent threats of epidemic
were promptly checked by drastic steps
on the part OF the American executives :"
With this striking picture before us,
picture which graphically portrays
what has happened when Filipinos tosk
charge of the Public Health Service.
and which may fairly be said to portray
what will probably happen again as soon
as the arm hand of the American Gov
10 ACAhOfCu, S IL IalT
Fflipinos or to ourselves to grant them
independence in the near future9
Public Health Factor.
Let me give you these figures once
more. When We began the service in
1900 deaths from cholera were 100 .ooc
Under strict American enforcement they
fell to 800 in 1918. Under the admin
lstration OF Gov. Gen. Harrison q diff
ferent policy was followed. The Fill
plnoS were allowed q very large measure
of government What happenedp
1887.
Now. take the statistics relating to
smallpox. Where there had been a de-
cline in deaths from this disease from
10000 to 276. when the Filipinos largely
took the reinS in the Harrison regime
there was the appalling increase in the
smallpox death rate from practically a
negligible figure to almost so 900.
Then came the resumption of Ameri-
can public health control under Gen,
Leonard Wood. with stringent regulation.
and in 1924 cholera rIa inoad MOI . .;v