Evening star., 1939-10-29
Gold King Of Far East Fears
End Of y. S. Rule in Philippines
John w. Haussermann Believes Evervthine Ruilt
by Americans Will Be Destroyed With
Islands Freedom
By LoveH Thomas.

l am 1mpelle0 TO write this narrative
OF John w. Haussermann, the gold king
Of the Far East. not because he is SO
fabulously rich or because he is model
Of Horatio Alger success. 1t is because
he is so unusually human and at the
age of 72 so extraordinarily alive. His
has been a life not merely rich in gold,
but prodigiously rich in the humanities.
His tremendous wealth sits as lightly
upon him as his u years He could we'll
afford such spectacular luxuries as
yachts, but contents himself with living
comfortably. He still has farm at New
Richmond, Ohio, a place in Manila and
another one UP in the hills at Baguio,
where the well-to-do Americans escape
the heat of Manila
One of his principal pleasures is read.
ing. He prefers biography and history,
and the minute he hears of an interest
ing book he orders it.
He commutes between New Richmond,
Manila and Washington, with an occa-
sional trip to New York His visits to
Washington are motivated by his only
serious worry-Philippine independence
Like all other Americans who know the
Far East, including ex-High Commits
sioner Paul McNutt, Mr.. Haussermann
believes that the consummation of the
Tydings- s-McDufhe Act means the de-
struction of everything that Americans
have built up in the Philippines. He
looks upon the eventual absorption of
the islands by Japan as inevitable after
Uncle Sam strikes our flag. In fact, he
prophesies that every other nation in
the Far East will have to follow suit. the
French, the Dutch, even the British.
The principal calamity in that, he con-
siders, will lie not only in the sacrifice
OF American properties in the Philip
pines, but in this:
Highest Living Standard.
At present the Filipinos have the high
est living standards Of any people in all
Asia ard the Far Eastern archipelagoes
This is one thing the Americans have
done for them. When we withdraw, they
will be reduced to Japanese standards
Even the Filipino leaders now recognize
this although they cannot step forward
and say openly that their 40-year- long
clamor for independence has been mis-
take
Mr.. Haussermann is now devoting a
considerable proportion of his time and
energies to pointing out that mistake
Naturally his career, his position, his un-
challenged integrity lend weight to that
cause. He is rated as the first citizen of
Manila-that is, the first American citi-
zen-not only by his own kind but by the
Filipinos. A few months ago when he
was contemplating a return to the
States. high official of the Philippine
government said to him: "You can 20
without any misgivings. Rest assured
that nothing will be done to hurt you"
Mr.. Haussermann is quite proud of that.
And he likes to think that this is not.
merely because he is the biggest pro-
ducer Of gold in the Philippines. This is
another fact that makes Mr.. Haus-
sermann invaluable to the Philip
pines: He is the employer of more than
ten thousand men, the best paid, the best
fed, the best housed, the best educated
in the islands. Not only the men them
selves, but their wives, children, all their
dependents. Ten thousand employees and
not single serious labor dispute in all
these years! They represent ten thou
sand reasons why he worries as he thinks
Of what would certainly happen to them
when, as and If they become subjects
of the Japanese Mikado.
Spirit of Adventure.
There is no telling where or how or
whom the spirit of adventure is likely
to strike. In 1898 Mr.. Haussermann was
one of the most promising members of
the Kansas bar. Born in the country
near New Richmond, Ohio, he had de-
cided that farm life was not what he
wanted. He had worked as a grocer's
boy at So week. He had put himself
through the law school at the Univer-
sity of Cincinnati, of which William
Howard Taft was the dean. To do it he
had labored literally day and night, 60
ing from grocery store to packing plant,
from janitor's job in the post Office to
anything he could find to do on the
uated. Virtually his sole possessions
were his law diploma and an abiding
admiration for Dean Taft. He also had
a quality that some accounts of success
full men fail to mention-a brain.
, Those were the days when the land
still rang with Horace Greeley's classic
advice, 60 West, young man." The
young man went West and stopped off at
Leavenworth, Kans., little knowing how
much farther West the biggest days Of
his destiny were to be passed. I men,
toned his brain and his enthusiasm but
omitted two other qualities. The young
fellow from New Richmond was one of
the most amiable and cheerful of per-
sons. His face, thoughtful in repose, is
even today constantly breaking into as
attractive smile as ever spread over
human countenance. And with it all
he had curious. literal and scrupulous
honesty as the record will show.
Such was John w. Haussermann, the
"boy city attorney" OF Leavenworth,
Kans, in 1893. It was this combinatio