Evening star., 1935-08-06
BY JUNIUS B. WOOD.

VA bAAC AcAnAAAo W ouPHh "NAN ~ f~
of every discussion of independence in
the Philippines. the fear of Japanese
encroachment now has the stage to
itself.
1t was feared that the many tiibes.
or peoples, of the island, 50 distinct
that each has its own language. would
chafe under government by tagalogs,
whose Manila-bred politicians are in
most of the high ofices. That Is not
so vivid today, chiefly because the
other peoples are more largely rep
resented in the government and again
because any popular government, by
acting promptly, can suppress an in
surrection at home.
Some jittery prophets still theorize
that back of the all-embracing ma
tional aspiration for independence Is
a determination. hidden deep In the
heart of the Tao, or toiling peasant.
to rise up as soon as the restraining
hand of the United States Is with
drawn, and sweep the land clear Of
statesmen. land owners and all others
who have prof1ted from his labor. The
slogan, every Filipino landowner"
will answer that If the commonwealth
is able to carry it out.
How to avoid the menace of absorp-
| ton by stronger nation, with Japan's
expanding empire coming nearer and
nearer, is not so clear.
Japan Will Face U. S. Protest.
That Japan will not come with
battleships and armies and forcibly
/ take possession in the next 10 years,
al least, not without protest and
possibly resistance by the United States,
is assured. That Japan. 10 years
hence. will not make possession an
accomplished fact before the next sun
set, is not as certain.
Many changes will come to the
Philippines in the next 10 years and
they have already started-in fact,
they have been going on for several
years. BY November Is. 1945. probably
| even before, the invisible ties of COM
merce, finance and mutual sympathy
which now bind the Philippines to the
United States, 5000 miles away will
be sadly frayed or entirely broken, and
these same ties will link the Philip
pines with Japan, only few hundred
miles away. The United States is
showing the Philippines out and Japan
is leading them in. .-..-----------.--.-.-.
1t may be part Of the inevitable
march of history.
Japan's occupation of the Philip
pines will be by the quiet but steady
process Of the yen replacing the dol
lar as the Filipinos necessity for ex-
istence. 1t has already progressed so
far that every Filipino is aware of
it. Last year. the Philippines had
an extremely favorable trade balance
for these times. 1t was entirely due
to free trade with the United States.
With the United States being closed
to him, he must accept other mar
kets. He may not like them, but It is
necessity.
japanese Trade Growing.
In March Of last year, s3.2 per
cent Of Philippine trade was with
the United States and as per cent
with Japan. In the same month
Of this year, 71.8 per cent was with
the United States. and 9.S per cent
with Japan, despite the rush to ship
to the United States before new
tariffs and quotas became effective
The trend had started before inde-
pendence was granted, and every in
centive is for it to continue faster
from now on.
Close to half of the islands hemp
is produced around Davao, on the
Island of Mindanao. Japanese colon
| lists, according to studies made by
| the American Chamber of Commerce
Journal here, produced 10 per cent
of the Davao crop and Japanese
dealers handled 73 per cent Of it.
Protection of similar Japanese in
terests and colonists was the justi-
fication Toxic gave for taking possess
sion Of Manchuria.
The same result may not follow
in the Philippines, but the trade ex-
pansion is quite evident. OF the
Davao crop, 100000 bales went to
Japan and 172,000 to the United
States and Europe. Japan bought
third of all the Philippine hemp.
for Japan buys where It sells and
makes its commercial friendship
worth while. The largest hemp ex-
porter in the Philippines is a jap
anese firm, then an American, next
Japanese, and fourth, a British
When China boycotted Japanese
goods, the predominant and firmly en-
trenched Chinese merchants in the
Philippines followed suit. Japan pro-
tested and pleaded without result.
Then Japan tried other tactics. In
Cebu. almost In a night, two Japanese
bazars blossomed into nine, and 1t
was similar in other cities, many more
in Manila. The Japanese stores still
are here and growing, and the Chinese,
or even the Filipino, stores are not
getting back what they lost.
Japan May Underwrite Bonds.
In the past the Philippines have
needed loans, and the United States
has supplied them. If they do again,
Japanese banks may underwrite the
bonds. At the present pace, Japan.
at the end Of 10 years, will be so
much a part of every throbbing artery
of the islands that making them a
part of the growing empire on this
Philippine side of the Pacific may be
merely an official gesture.
Thus, the future of The Filipino Is
forecast for the years at hand and
in wider circles for the decades to
come, but. according to Walter Robb,
the islands philosopher, that is merely
part of a greater story of the ages,
the story Of a once great race and
its last opportunity.
In bygone centuries, when Europe
was in darkness and America was
unknown, the Malays, uncanny navi-
gators, brave warriors and powerful
rulers, spread over the Pacific and
built their empire. The days of the
outrigger proa, the kris and spear
passed; European nations came to
rule, and then the United States,