Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-12


Star and broadcast over a coast coast
network of the Columbia Broadcasting
System.
The text Of his address follows:
Since President Hoover made his re-
cent trip to Porto Rico and the Virgin
Islands considerable interest has b en-
aroused in the means by which and the
manner in which the United States gov
ems the various islands that lie beyond
the horizon of the mainland.
AS a matter OF fact, we have almost
as many kinds of insular governments
as we have groups Of islands. We have
islands that are virtually an integral
part of the United States and just as
much under our Constitution as the
STATES of the mainland We have
islands where the Constitution has no
force and where even the eighteenth
amendment has no influence. We have
islands where all the natives are Ameri-
can citizens and islands where none of
them are citizens. We deny that we
have any colonies. We certainly have
no colonial policy. We have no branch
OF the Government exclusively con-
cerned with colonial affairs. We have
not even a branch or bureau Of any one
department concerned with all our over
seas islands. The Interior Department
looks after some of than. The War
Department looks after some and the
Navy Department looks after the rest.
1t is q most extraordinary situation and
seems to have grown good deal Ike
that celebrated child of fiction known
as Topsy.
Conditions Differ Widely.
AS q matter of fact, conditions are
10 very different in the different groups
of islands that 1t is virtually impossible
TO treat them all in the same way. Per-
haps you would be interested to know
exactly how they differ.
In the first place the Hawaiian
Islands are an integral part of the
United States and a Territory gov
erned in much the same way as were
our Western Territories until they were
all made States. During most of the
nineteenth century Hawaii was an in
dependent kingdom, recognized and re-
spected by the great nations Of the
world. In the last decade of the CEN
fury the kingdom was overthrown and
a republic set up, which gave as fine
an example Of efficient government the
the able handling of resources, the
careful attention to schools and the
building of roads as any government
In the world. An effort was made to
secure annexation to the United Staes
by a treaty. While negotiations were
still pending the Spanish War came on
and We had to send expeditions to
Manila. The Army and Navy told us
they needed Honolulu as a way-station,
and so the Congress by joint resolution
annexed the Hawaiian Islands and ac-
cepted them as an integral part of the
United States The citizens of Hawaii
became American citizens, but. as has
always been the case in the Territories,
they cannot vote for President nor can
they elect their own Governor The
Governor, one or two of the territorial
officials and the judges of all their
courts are appointed by the President
OF the United States. Otherwise they
govern themselves, pay more income
taxes into the Treasury of the United
States than a dozen of the larger States
OF the Union and are solving their
raclaI problems in an admirable man
ner. Their population Is one Of the
most heterogeneous imaginable. There
are. OF course, thousands of HaWaiians.
thousands of Yankees from the main
land, thousands Of Chinese, many thou
sands Of Japanese thousands of Ko-
re2ns, thousands of Portuguese. thou-
SANDS OF Porto Ricans, and among the
most recent ccmers, thousands of Filipi-
nos. To make this heterogeneous group
into good Americans has been a ciificult
problem, but no one who has witnessed
the nag ceremony in the Honolulu
schools has any doubt that we are build
ing up as loyal a body of American
cltlzens In Hawaii as on our own main
4and: such problems as they have
which need attention in Washington
are attended to either by the Secretary
OF the Interior or the Territorial Dele
gate In Congress.
Navy Rules Guam.
If one we're to take a cleaner from
Pan pan francesca and go to Honolulu and
tnen continue in general westerly di-
Eectlon Tor some three thousand miles or
more, the next bit of American terri
TORY which he would encounter would
De In the Marianas Islands, where, dur
ing the war with Spain, We acquired
Che Island Of Guam. The rest of the
group is now governed by Japan. but
Guam, the most important island of
81, belonging to the United States, has
ABOUT $4,000 people, consisting largely
OF natives, who are mixture Of Malay
ana Eastern Asiatic In origin and who
are governed under the direction of the
PRESIDENT OF the United States by the
Navy Department. A famous naval
writer at one time wrote a book in
which he urged upon US the making of
Guam the Gibraltar in the Pacific
since Guam is only a few hundred
miles from Japan. this very much
alarmed the Japanese, and quite nat
0NAOAC any was QOUE
about it, however the Washington
treaties OF 1922 made it impossible for
us 70 fortify the island. japan was
greatly relieved, and We were probably
Kept from what might have been a very
foolish undertaking. The people Of
Guam are not American citizens. They
are governed by a benevolent despot-
namely, the naval oficer whom the
Secretary Of the Navy sends there as
TEniF Ia T,ae l.
own responsibility, granted them a bill
oI-rights and form of government
which, Of course, can be changed at any
time by the Secretary Of the Navy or
the President or the Congress, but
seems admirably adapted TO make the
people OF Guam happy and contented.
one OF the problems which faces the
Congress Is whether Guam should con-
tinue TO be an insular possession of the
United States or whether IL should be
given TO Japan, which now has the
sovereignty over the other islands Of
the group, of which Guam has the
principal and best harbor 1t seems to
me, however, hardly likely that the
people of the United States will wish
TO give away this little possession Of
ours TO our friends in Japan and vet,
II We are going to keep 1t. the Con-
gress ought 70 pass an organic act con-
1erring upon the citizens of Guam
whatever rights and privileges are in
accord with our colonial policy, If we
have one Meanwhile, the population
of Guam, under the able direction Of
the Navy and the guidance of Navy
surgeons, is rapidly increasing in health
and in numbers. The children are
nearly all at school, and there appears
TO be a good oeal Of happiness and
contentment. Our transports touch
there occasionally on their way TO the
Philippines, but the island has no COM
mercial future and merely constitutes
a colonial problem which, fortunately.