The Wilmington morning star., 1946-10-12
CARPETBACCERS'
LEAVING ISLANDS
BY JOHN r. WARD
Associated Press Correspondents
Recently Returned From
Manila

mdu1la
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 11-R-
Business is stacking off for "carn.,
bagge-s" in the Philippines, som.
of the late arrivals having Io,.
their shirts and returned to tbe
United States.
Those showing up in Manila tardi.
ly with handbag and trunks cram
med with Swiss watches, costum.
Ijewelry and other trade good,
either found shelves creaking unds.
the weight of articles brought in
last spring, Or they ran head.on
into Chinese merchants who couiS
land often did-teach them sy
pensive lessons about business
angles.
A number of the free-lancins
American businessmen were form
er U. S. soldiers who made fast
tracks back to the islands after
shedding khaki in the United States
When most of them left thu
Philippines on troop ships last
winter there had been only a
trickle of luxury items coming in
land Filipinos love knickknacks
During their absence the t.icke
became a flood.
However, some Of them are max.
ing the grade-particularly those
who were able TO obtain their dis.
charges in Manila and establish
connections with export firms in
the United States.
BY "wheedling and dealing" with
material purchased from the
Foreign Liquidation commission,
others have succeeded in accumu-
lating capital for a variety Of
ventures.
Filipinos will decide next March
IL whether they want to grant
Americans equal business and prop
erty rights, a provision required
by the Bell Trade act.
Unless the Philippine constitution
is SO amended in the national
plebiscite, the act, providing finan.
cial assistance to the new republic,
will be ineffective-and the already
long-delayed task of -%econstruc.
ton will receive another setback.
The issue of equal property rights
has been a hot one in the islands
since the Bell act was enacted by
the U. S. Congress last April. Presi-
dent Manuel Roxas has stoutly de-
tended it. He said it wasn't exactly
what he wanted, but was the best
deal he could get in Washington.
Straws in the tropical breeze-as
REFLECTED by a poll conducted cu--
rently by the Manila Post-appear
to indicate that the bill will be
rejected by the electorate, how
ever.
Roxas argues that persons Of
any nationality can own property
and conduct business in the Philip
pines, and have been doing SO Tor
wears before the war. He cites as
an example the scores of establish
ments owned and operated by
Chinese and-before the U. S. Prop
erty Custodian stepped in-the
Japanese. Not only that, says the
President, but Filipinos and other
nationalities own property In the
United States.
His opponents counte~ that the
Bell bill is merely a vehicle for
American domination of Philippine
trade with an attendant influence
on the republics politics.
But they don't have to worry
about many of the Johnnie-Come-
Lately "carpet-baggers." They re
leaving Manila with visions Of fo:-
tune faded like a cheap blue shirt
| On ships sailing from the Philip
pines you hear them talking about
guys we knew who made 1lffy
grand selling watches; and tna.
other guy who got a shipload o.
good whiskey in early" They tax
about forming an eff ida CLUB
IF IDA only got here sooner"