May 7.
The attention of readers is directed to the important de arch from the Washington cor-Fespondent of the "North-China Dally News" on the subject of the developments in Congress with regard to the granting of independence to the Philippines. The Senate is in favour of granting liberty to dhe Philippines fifteen years after a constitution has been drawn up;, the House of Representatives are inclined to make the peried of waiting shorter by seven years. Tt is doubtful if the two chambers will be able to agree upon a compromise measure, and, even if they do, it is believed' that the President will exercise his right of veto. The actions of the two Chambers, therefore, may not unreasonably be taken'at the present moment Tather as an expression of future intention than a decision which will inevitably become effective. In considering the effect of the step taken, it is important to consider the' interplay' of domestic interests. which "it is calculated will have 80 profound an infiueneé ch American policy abroad. The huge majority obtained in favour of such action in the House of Representatives was the result of the overwhelming Pressure of domestic circumstances, and it is a fair inference that had the proposition been considered solely upon its merits as a colonial quettinn, the majority would either have been very considerably redueegl or, perhaps, even completely wiped out. The suggestion, that now a stable government has been established in the Philippines capable of maintaining order, administering justice and performing interna tional obligations, there is no further reason for keeping the is-ands in tutelage, appears to be a high-sounding definition of the situation. But. judgment on the point seems to have been obscured by the depression which prevails in the United States and the desire to do everything to remedy it, Thus farm organisations, resenting the entry of Philippine products without taxation into the United States, desire independ: ence for the islands so that their products may be dealt with under the tariff as those of a foreign country rather than of an apmanage of the United States. Labour favours independence because it would be possible to exclude Filipino latour from the States and prevent competition in many trades.
But to examine the picture rather more closely the government at present established is only stable because of the prominent part the officials of the United States play in it. There is no guarantee that there would be any degree of permanence in such a government, if the wise guidance to which it at present subjected were removed, and it more than probable that the economic chaos and political and social anarchy, which the Secretary of State prophesies, would result, The genius of a people for self-government does not grow overnight, not is it likely to appear in the course of a generation. To say that some sections of the Filipinos are capable of governing the country in some more or less satisfactory style is to state the truth; but they are in a very small' minority, a minor.ty, which would" be ichly overpowered by the majority which know nothing about self-government and cares comparatively less. With its trade with the United States reduced to 4 minimum by the operation of the tariff against what would be then an alien state, commerce built upon a political' foundation would tend to collapse, the other markets of the world would be no more available than they are at present, and possibly even less, and these things combined with 4 financial inefficiency which brought about the bank scandal Of some years ago would probably have the immediate effect of wiping out the tolerably good state of affairs which prevails under this tutelage which it is desired to remove.
jose things, however, are matters which concern only the Ni ed States and the Philippine There are other aspects of the case more closely affecting the interests of other Powers in the Far East. This promise of independence, whether it ever becomes effective or not, must have a decidedly unsettling reaction upon a number of colonies on the Western shores of the Pacific. It would ba improper in the eircumstances enthusiastically to endorse the contentions of Col. Stimson in his opposition to the measure, or to punctuate some of his more pertinent observations, but these adventures into colonial polities for domestic reasons very often have results undreamt of by their originators. The various decisions of Congress in this matter are' calculated to have an unsettling effect upon the colonies of other countries and in that respect is by no means a contribution to the peace of the Far East: indeed it may very well be the reverse. Whether the removal of the Philippines from the protection of the United States would lead either China or Japan to seek to obtain mains to be seen. It is doubt in view of the spirit of the Pili: pinons whether either of them would have anything of an easy task, though economic necessity might lead to an acceleration of that penetration which is already'
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.