Evening star., 1939-10-08

pOScu IIlc government. 90 lQc feQeral
party was merged in course of time with
the Democratic" party, which declared
for ultimate, and not immediate, inde-
pendence. But the feeling that the is
landers would be safer If the connection
with America were maintained persist
ed, especially among the property-own-
ing class. Recent events, like the Japa-
nese invasion of China, the outbreak of
another European war, which once more
threatens to attain world proportions,
and, most of all, the economic situation,
have revived and stimulated that
feeling.
Rather late in the day." writes Edgar
Snow in Asia, "Filipinos are now COM
pretending that, while the United States
can give them political self -suficiency,
they must fight for their economic self
sufflciency with the whole world. Plenty
OF nations are anxious enough to supply
the Islands with the manufactures they
must import, but there are no volunteers
remotely on the horizon to replace the
United States, which has been taking an
average of over so per cent of all Philip.
pine exports" High Commissioner Nc
Mutt, who went to the Philippines in
1887 with the conventional idea that
independence was the normal outcome.
soon became disillusioned and in
Washington address of 1898 strongly ad-
vocated realistic re-examination" of
the whole problem, with a view to re-
tention. Speaking at Shanghai on June
last, he expressed the belief that the
Filipino leaders were agreed that COM
plete independence is not possible under
present Far East conditions and have
altered their position accordingly" add
ing his own conviction that an attempt
to confer complete independence now
would probably mean servitude. They
are unable to stand alone amidst the
violent forces now loosed in the Far East.
II the United States flag descends the
result will be bloody struggle for
control"
Disorders Cited.
In the last sentence he may have re-
ferred to the agrarian troubles of the
present year which caused President
Quezon to go to the scene of an extern
sive anti-rent strike and make per-
sonal appeal to the tenants, or to the
"Sakdal' movement, whose leaders
planned the capture Of High Commits
sioner Murphy "the archbishop and
other Americans" and even the burning
OF Manila. But the keynote of the Nc
Mutt speech was the statement that I'VE
have given them dhe Philippines)) eco
nomic dependence"
Recent advices from Manila tell of To-
cal efforts to make these views effective,
In the Manila Bulletin of May 26 it was
announced that:
'The Commonwealth Association. Inc.
which advocates indefinite postponement
OF independence, has recently enrolled
about 5000 new members in Central
and Northern Luzon and the Vsayan
Provinces clerks, farmers, indus
trialists, laborers and those belonging to
almost every trade. On account of linn
tied funds and personnel, only a few
provinces have been visited so far, al
though it is the desire of the associa-
tion's officials to carry the campaign to
all parts of the Philippines"
The prevailing American attitude
would, almost certainly, be that any
movement for modification should
come from the Filipinos. Any proposal
now to retain sovereignty over them
against their will would, inevitably, be
rejected here. If, however, they find,
as they approach the end Of the proba-
tionary period, that what they had so
fondly envisioned as complete inde-
pendence" is actually but a mirage,
leading them to the fate of Formosa.
Korea end Manchukuo, the occasion for
invoking American opinion will arise.
And this time it should be a disinter-
ested opinion-not that Of the sugar
interests, nor of the vegetable oil inter-
ests, nor of the cordage interests, nor
any OF the other interests having axes to
grind-but the interests as a whole Of
both America and the Philippines and,
in fact, of the world. For the Philip
pines appear destined to become, If they
are not already, world problem. Their
acquisition by Japan would afford a
rising menace to the surrounding DOS
sessions Of Britain (Hong Kong, the
Straits and Singapore), France undo-
China and Farther India) and the Meth
arloy,As (ree$ Y~d{~.N ~,>..,S