The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-02-08
Hunger GrO7
In L. Islands
of p acifie
Large Sums Are Spent
Tor COnstabuIary to
Break Strike
By HELEN MARCY


"The spectre of the so-calied
Red Menace again rears its ugly
head in cur midst When ManiIs's
present labor strike of $1,000 cigar
workers pcrsistentIy refused to
give mp the ghost, despite the
adoption Of aggressive measures to
suppress il, the police and labor
authorities unanimously decided
that here again was the handiWork
Of the Communists" Philippine
Free Press-Sept. 8. 1891.
Strikes Of thousands Of workers
in recent months. in many different
industries, due to the lowered living
standards caused by the general
crisis Of capitalism and the Tydings~
McDufne lnd6Uendeuce7 bill in
great measure, has resulted IN the
more intense suppression Of the
revolutionary movement and the
raising Of the red scare by the au-
thorities in every strike.
The Big White Brother
An indication Of the civilization
that the big white brother" brought
to the Philippines is the horrible
picture of thousands Of homeless
children in Manila. BOYS and girls,
whose only bed is a dark corner in
some deserted stairway or factory.
BY day they roam the streets Of
the city like tiny scavengers fight
ing amongst themselves for the
refuse from downtown restaurants
or the market place. Others make
q few Centavos a day by selling
papers or gathering waste paper
and boxes in return for a crust Of
bread or coffee Many resort to
stealing, and those who obtain
guardians find themselves expected
to beg on the streets or they are
severely beaten.
The wiping out of the small pro-
Queer and the intense concentration
and monopoly in the hands Of a
few large producers is not only true
in the present period in the United
States but in the colonies as well.
In the Philippine Islands the Jones'
Costigan sugar law restricting the
production Of sugar is driving thou
sands Of small planters out Of busi-
ness.
Connected with the recent close
Tipped nlaneuvers in certain quarters
to scrap the McDuf1e -Tydings Bill,
the so-caled independence" bill for
the Philippine Islands, four Amer
lean Senators visited the Philippines
in December, 1884, supposedly to in
vestigate what the economic effects
Of the bill would mean, once passed.
They conducted their Investigation"
by attending cock fights, grand balls
given in their honor, champagne
parties, leisurely travel to various
resorts and otherwise having a hell
Of a good time. They were wined,
dined and faWned upon by the upper
classes. The results of their 4inves-
tigation" dealing with the conditions
Of the peasant and working masses
should prove very enlghtening.
Performs His Duty
The chief executive Of the Phtliu4
pine Islands. the Honorable Cover
nor General Murphy whom the
liberals of the nation claim as their
own, performs his duty in the
Philippines in the traditional Glib
eral' manner-in the interests of
Imperialism. Out Of rs bills voted
upon by the P. l. legislature in the
last session he vetoed %. If we
look closely into the nature of those
bills approved and those vetoed we
shall see a consistent policy Of
strengthening the yoke of the United
States and the vetoing of bills for
the industrial development Of the
p. T.
ne approved a bill which provided
1,025,000 pesos "a peso is about so
cents for strengthening the con-
stabulary. and another which ap-
propriated only $4,000 pesos for the
aid of the unemployed.
He approved an appropriation Of
10000 pesos for controlling the To-
Gust, which is eating the peasants
out of house and home; an appro=
priation Of $4,000 pesos for estab-
fishing constabulsry aviation unit:
100000 pesos for the construction of
aviation fields, and one providing
for gratuities for American en-
ployes retired upon establishment Of
the commonwealth.
If we look at our own United
States, with its millions of unem-
ployed, its potential powers of pro-
duction in comparison to the limited
world market. it is not difficult to
! imagine the plight of a small coll
onial country like the Philippines.
+ These islands we're developed as a
source of raw materials - sugar.
] hemp, cocoanut. tobacco. for the
great industrial empire, the United
States. The P. l. we're not permitted
to develop industriallv but bought
their manufactured goods from the
! U. S. Today, through the Tydings-
McDuffie independence" bill, the
imports to the U. S. of the raw
materials produced in the P. I. Is
cut to a suicidal degree. Before
they we're able to send their prod
ucts into tn U. S. duty free, but now
sky-high tariffs will shrivel up the
! exports to the U. S. In vain do the
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