The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1936-01-16

and industry are rapidly taking adj
vantage of the richest soil of the is
| lands to assume the leadership of the
hemp industry, which the Philippines
| alone possess.
The Japanese have improved roads
in the hemp country, introduced mass
| production methods, and installed ma
| chinery to strip the hemp fiber from
| the trunk Of the abaca plant. They
| have introduced cooperative market
ing direct to the shipper. Contrast
| this with the Filipino native who chops
down plant, carries home the trunk
and strips off the fiber by hand-a
back-breaking job, dries it in the sun,
shares it with his landlord and gets a
| poor price for what is left, and it is
easy to see why the Japanese colony
controls % per cent of the total hemp
production.
Japs Control Retail Trades.
The same superior business methods
have enabled the japanese to corner
large and ever-increasing share of the
retail trade in the cities Of the archi-
pelago. One estimate, probably high,
puts 40 per cent of all the retail busi-
ness of the islands under Japanese con-
troll, with Americans and FilipinOs
holding 80 per cent and the Chinese 25
per cent or less.
Inability to compete with Japanese
| industry is but one of the things that
has made of the Filipino farmer a
| peOn. Another is the evil of the ap-
portionment of land. Much Of the land
| in the islands consists of a few great
units held by the Roman Catholic
church, which refuses to sell it, and
| by a handful of wealthy Filipinos.
For this reason, large share of the
| farmers are tenants, share-croppers
who have no opportunity TO acquire
| their own land, and are often ex-
plotted by the land owners. Even the
of land he works is often a share
cropper He obtains seed loans at the
almost unbelievable interest rates of
10 to 20 per cent, compounded every
month, and by the time he has repaid
enough in crops to cover his debt he
is lucky to have enough to provide
for himself and his family.
Political campaigns have taught this
peon to believe that the answer to the
ills from which he suffers is independ-
ence, and his hot desires for his rights
have often provoked him to actual acts
against the government in Manila. An
example was last Mays uprising of
many thousands of Sakdal peasants
in the areas where landlordism exerts
its highest grip. They marched upon
the capital city and formed a ring
around it. and they were dispersed
only after 60 of them had been killed.
Build Army for Defense.
Undoubtedly one of the reasons for
the large army the Quezon govern
ment is building is the danger of fur
Their argrarian uprisings. However, the
chief reason is the need for defense
of the islands against invasion. 1t is
admitted that an army of 10000, with
100000 reserves, would not be sufficient
to save the islands from conquest by
one of the major powers, but Quezon
points out that it is big enough army
to make such a conquest so expensive
that it would not be worth the trouble.
The army is going to be so expen-
sive that it might seriously embarrass
the government financially. The ST.
100000 annually required to support
it Ga figure which would be rock bot
tony is one-fourth the total national
income. Since the army is to be Gre
ated under the direction of Gen. Doug
las Macarthur, former chief of staff
of the United States army. 1t may be
expected to function efficiently, how
ever.
AS 1t has been pointed out, there is
much. ground for the contention that
the Philippines actually do not want
independence because they don't know
what independence means.
When and If the Philippine people
decide that they had better not give
up the protecting wing of the United
States for their dream of independ-
ence, the problem resolves itself in
to this: Do we want the islands back?
That will be determined perhaps not
so much by our desire to retain our
ninth largest customer abroad as by
our general Far Eastern policy.
q Western Newspaper Union.