The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-05
new FREEDOM
SOLUTION VITAL
TO PHILIPPINES
Fears of Far Eastern War
Make Island Stauts
important.
BY WILLIAM PHILIP SIMMs
soripps- Howard Foreign Editor

WASA1NGION, Jan To-day,
IN the Philippines, the United
States has reached the forks Of the
road 1t must take one of three
courses.
l. Hang on to a defenseless and
understandable outpost, more than
5000 miles from san Francisco and
5000 miles from the Panama canal.
z ReWrite the treaties Of Wash
lngton and London to make it DOS
sible to build vast Notifications and
naval bases in the Philippines and
Guam, and lay down enough new
warships to double the navy we now
maintain.
s. Free the islands as soon as
practicable, negotiate a treaty of
neutrality with other majo powers.
and grant liberal trade terms to
make the islands economically. as
well as politically, independent.
Danger in Congress
The new crisis in our relations
with the Philippines was brought
about by congress passing an I'M
satisfactory independence act. its
rejection by the islands legislature
and the coming lapse of that meas
ure less than two weeks hence.
The danger now is that congress.
absorbed by domestic difficulties
and irritated by the refusal of the
F1lipinos TO ratify independence on
the harsh terms under which it was
offered, may impatiently turn the
Islands adrift without further ado, or
else forget them entirely.
To prevent either Of these fates
oyertaking the Philippines, confer
ences of crucial importance are now
under way between President Roose-
welt, Secretary Of War George H.
Dern and other high officials of the
administration on the one hand,
and President Manuel Quezon OF
the Philippine senate and a new in
dependence mission on the other.
Early Solution Vital
An early solution Of the crisis is
all the more vital because Of the
uncertainty which now overhangs
the far east. There is widespread
fear Of war in that part Of the
world, and the fact that the United
States is known to be on the point
OF giving up the Philippines only
serves to increase the islands dan
ger and further weaken Americas
position.
The scrapping Of the nine power
treaty by Japan, and its virtual
abandonment by Great Britain and
France, left the peace of the west
ern Pacific even more precariously
balanced than it was prior to the
Washington conference of 1921.
On top of that, Japan has now
served notice on the world that IN
less given approximate parity with
the United States and Great Britain
she will withdraw from the Wash
ington and London naval treaties
next year and build a fleet limited
only by her OWL desires and her
pocketbook.
Draft Plan Completed
Definitely setting at rest all
doubts as to the future status of the
Philippines. practically all Filipinos
and most Americans believe, would
reduce to a minimum the peril to
the islands and the menace which
this peril means to the United
States.
A distinguished group of Ameri-
cans representing the Foreign Pol
icy Association and the World
Peace Foundation has laid before
the President a draft solution. It
calls for early independence, trade
relations of a character to make the
islands economically sound, the
withdrawal of all military and naval
bases and the negotiation of an
agreement among the Pacific pow
ers to keep hands off the Philip
pines.
1t is now frankly recognized that
recent events have proved that in
ternational pledges are not always
kept But, it is urged, an imperial
istic power bent upon expansion
would be more likely to attack the
islands as matters now stand than
it would if attack meant running
afoul of all the major powers in
stead of only one.
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