US Secretary of War on Reciprocity 'The friendly relationship of countries fronting on the Pacific Ocean depends to a great extent on the maintenance of reciprocal foreign trade in the opinion of Mr. George H, Dern, United States Secretary of 'War who is en route to Manila' as the President's personal representative at the Philippine Commonwealth's Inauguration Ceremonies, Speaking at the tiMn meetin. arranged in his honour by the Pan-Pacific Association on Tuesday, Oct. 22, noon at the Astor House "Hotel" Mr. Dern, "who was introduced by H. E, Mr. Nelson Johnson, U.S. Ambassador China, as not only a cabinet member but an inventor and a trrmer governor of the Slate of Utah, said:
"We must all realize that we can not build ourselves up by tearing others down. While foreign trade 1s reciprocal there is all good feeling. If competitive conditions arise It sometimes becomes as disastrous as a war could be,"
He also said that "AMI peoples here should be Interested in developing reciprocal foreign trade." He men tioned that this reciprocal trade was the policy of the United States, Mr. Dern, who spoke informally, told the tiffin audience that he was charmed with the atmosphere "of Shanghai and he said that the frlend~ relation objective of the assoclation was "laudable" and In perfect accord not only with his personal views but with that of the United States Government which he characterized as "a peace loving country that, desires to live in peace and harmony with all Its neighbours In connection with the inauguration of the Philippine Commonwealth Mr. Dern said that the promise of his government to free the Philippines wasa promise made in good faith that was being kept, He pointed out however that the ten year transition period seemed to be necessary for various reasons.
First among these he said was that the United States felt a moral responsibility for the debts of the Philippines and did not want to leave that country wholly alone unfit the slate was clean, fnanelally speaking.
As the second reason he gave that of the violent economic re-adjustment which the Philippines must face. Ho "The Philippines' economic success hag existed "primarily because the country had a free market in the United States. Present conditions presumably will be changed from now fon and this ten years Is to help the Fininos become accustomed to the change."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.