The Daily Alaska empire., 1942-11-16
ONE HUNDRED
 FIFTY ATTEND
 BANQUET HERE
Commonwealth Day Cele. bration Given by Fili-
 pinos Great Success


 night in the Gold Room of the Baranof Hotel by the Filipino Servicemen and civilians of Juneau was one of the most successful ever held in Juneau.
 Acting Governor E. L. Bartlett was the principal speaker at the affair which commemorated tn e seventh anniversary of the Com monwealth of the Philippines and short talks were given by Lieut.. Col Roy w. Riegle, pfc. Lucas, Lieut.. Nearing, pfc. Florendo, with closing remarks given by Corporal Figueroa Corporal Rayela acted as toastmaster.
 Among his impromptu comments, Col Riegle highly commended the bravery and fighting spirit of the Filipinos in their own country and stated that those he had under his command m Ia de fine soldiers. Among delinquencies and infrac- tions of regulations that have been reported to me have not found one Filipino name"
 The long tables were beautifully decorated with flowers, candles, flags of the Philippines and Unit ed States while in a place of honor was a large picture showing the signing of the treaty by which the Philippines were to be given their independence in l946. Music was furnished by a Philippine string orchestra and solos were given by Miss Juanita Diaz and Miss Mary Judich
 The banquet was followed by dancing.
 Giving the principal address of the evening, Acting Governor Bart lett said in part.
 "A year ago tonight it was my privilege and my honor to be with you to celebrate Common wealth Day We meet today under vastly altered circumstances. A year ago Filipinos were preparing to take over their government un- der the terms and conditions of the Independence Act of l946 in establishment of the first great democracy of the Orient Now the 16,000,000 inhabitants of those beau- tiful islands are an enslaved peo- pie. Their valiant fight against the Japanese, fight which they waged to the end in company with their American comrades, failed finally but heroically under the weight of superior numbers and superior equipment.
 ValOr Not Dimmed
 "The valor of those who fought for us in faraway lands is not diminished in the slightest by a frank admission on our part that Japanese arms have been crowned with success in the Far East. In a space of months a great empire 
 fell before the men of Nippon. Re- sources they badly needed came into their possession; and at the same time those resources, vital in war and peace, were denied to us.
 Let us be frank Let us admit along with General Stillwell when he left Burma that we got hell of a beating Let us admit that the beating was administered to us throughout the East Let us admit that our victories in the Coral Sea and at Midway have been holding victories, defensive in character. They merely prevented the enemy from accomplishing his purpose they did not accomplish a purpose which we ourselves established.
 If we were a weak nation, if we were people lacking the will and the ability to fight it might be that any admission of this char acter would be bad. The reverse is. true. Only by cool analysis of our past errors may be prepare the way for better future.
 We shall not be content to de- stroy Japan one ship at a time; we shall be content only when her Navy is wrecked and her Army is shattered and the Japanese people know they have been led by false gods. That time will come soon or late, but come it will, and then not only will the United States be safe from some future Pearl Harbor, but all the hundreds of millions of people of the Far East will be allowed to go their own way without the shadow of an awful threat constantly over them"
 In conclusion he said:
 Two weeks ago we could have told those millions of enslaved Fili- pinos to be of good cheer. that their day of deliverance was coming, in full confidence that our words were words of truth. Today we can utter those words with greater confi- dence. The Americans armies are on the march. They will win as always they have won before. The shackles will be thrown off. We shall mt forpat the fleOple of the