Four best Manila newspaper March editorials

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Four best Manila newspaper March editorials
Language: English
Year: 1928
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Fulltext: April, 1928 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 11 Four Best Manila Newspaper March Editorials <§> <§> University Selection: Also the Best Among the Four CAREFUL (Times, March 4) The full import of Governor General Stim son’s inaugural speech is causing considerable discussion among Americans, other nationals, and Filipinos. His remarks on the need for new capital in the Philippines, on his earnest hope for cooperation, his desire for industrial develop ment and his statement that the independence issue will not be settled here but in Washington, were the highlights of the governor general’s address, it seems to us. On this matter of new capita! for the Phil ippines a word of warning might be sounded. We don’t wish to pose as Sir Oracle but it must be admitted that leading business men here are wary of seeing capital forced into the Islands ■without the consent of the Filipinos. That would be disastrous and would force business, now healthy, into stagnation. Unless the Filipinos consent to the introduction of new capital here, attempts to ram it down their throats will cause only retching and regurgi tation. Of course, there is no question that the Filipinos want new capital but in all fairness to them they want something to say about the terms of its entry. Unwelcome capital will hamstring capital that is already here. If the Filipinos have something to say about the terms of the entry of new capital here there would be a fine exemplification of the spirit of cooperation which as Webster’s Dictionary points out is “to concur in action, effort or effect.” In bringing new capital into the Phil ippines, and the Lord knows the country needs it, the investors and the Filipinos must “concur in action, effort or effect.” Absolutely essential. The Filipinos and other nationals who bring in foreign capital must act as a partnership and in harmony. The cards must be on the table. When either party starts to deal from a “cold deck” or off the bottom all the attempts to introduce new capital and proceed to the develop ment of one of the richest sections of the globe will be as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. The introduction of new capital must be attended by mutual consent for it is only in that way that the cooperation policy so ably pleaded for by Governor General Stimson will reach its highest fruition. Strong arm methods should be shunned. —Best of the Month. WHAT PRICE HOSPITALITY? (Bulletin, March 28) Teodoro R. Yangco, who has given large sums of money for philanthropic purposes, is out spoken against encouraging indolence through charity. The things he has to say about this apply to any place in the world to some degree. Where the idea of thrift is not well developed they apply to an extra degree. Therefore they apply in the Philippines to an extra degree. Much which ordinarily is not thought of here as charity is just that nevertheless. Hospitality is a much overworked expression. The “pariente” custom in these Islands is an enemy of thrift. Extending hospitality to relatives, in fact, frequently becomes charity and nothing more. Then it becomes an evil. It results in harm just as any misdirected charity becomes harmful. Because it is custom, individuals who are too lazy to work, who think themselves too good to accept anything below a position of dignity, can sponge on their relatives, near or distant, indefinitely. That applies to about all classes from the “tao” to the college student. Pride which expresses itself on many occasions seems to be unexpressive in regard to this state of dependency because custom has placed a stamp of approval upon it. There is nothing which will put an end to it until thrift is more fully developed, until the spirit of saving is a more general trait, until the significance of the ac1. Careful. (Times, March 4)—Se lected by Professor Hilario. 2. What Price Hospitality? (Bulle tin, March 28)—Selected by Profes sor Hilario. 3. A Premier Example. (Tribune, March 6)—Selected by Shannon. 4. The Financial Basis of Local Au tonomy. (Herald, March 7)—Se lected by Shannon. Best of the Month: Caieful.—(Times, March 4)—Selected by Hilario and Shannon. Certified. — G. P. Shannon. cumulation of property is more thoroughly understood and appteciated. The plan which Mr. Yangco has for establish ing an institution through which blind people may be taught trades by which they can earn their own livings is excellent. Such an instiant Director Camus is Youngberg’s absence. Dr. Stanton Youngberg, direc tor of the bureau of agriculture, is leaving Manila for the United States via Europe with Mrs. Youngberg. He has given data to Trade Com missioner Howard on the local beef cattle supply, which he thinks sufficient. Assist acting during Dr. tution should not only help those disabled individuals who come under its instruction but it should serve as a school to teach the general lesson of self-reliance. He who teaches a blind beggar to support himself renders a far greater service than he who dispenses the charity which supports the blind beggar. He who moves a college student to the effect to dig for himself that he may be self-supporting renders a greater service than he who coddles a relative through college. A PREMIER EXAMPLE (Tribune, March 6) Despite the dramatic manner in which at times the United States is denounced as the arch-imperialist that would dominate all the Latin and South American peoples between Rio Grande and Cape Horn, virtually one-fifth of America’s exports are bought by these nations. Their spokesmen, when attending councils or congresses or conferences, pillory the United States for supposed conspiracy to limit the sovereignty of small, helpless nationalities, but patriotic perorations seem, when viewed against a relentless economic penetration, helpless to contain the progress of business invasion. The fervor of oratory has not impaired a confidence in American goods representing a line of com modities which, po.itics or no politics, are prof itable to the Latin American dealers as well as to the Latin American consumer. Of course, in this successful entry of American exports in a foreign market heretofore under the control of British, German, and Fiench interests, an immense power resides, to the advantage of America and her nationals, in an American investment of $5,000,000,000, in the existence of improved steamship and cable communica tions, in effective trade promotion campaigns, and in the economic asset of the Panama Canal. All these factors placed American sales to the Latin countries toward the end of last year $100,000,000 ahead of the combined exports to them of England, Germany, and France. It seems that it is becoming a commonplace in the commercial relations between countries that political issues sometimes yield to the impositions of trade, that the normal attitude of buyers everywhere is not the resultant of their loyalties to political principles but merely the leaning of their wants for goods that strike their fancy at prices that they can pay, regard less of the origin of the commodities. And the premier example, to our mind, is America’s position in the Latin American market, where the United States is politically unpopular, but where American exports have increased gradually since the war. THE FINANCIAL BASIS OF LOCAL AUTONOMY (Herald, March 7) It is a generally admitted fact that the main drawback of our municipalities is their impecuniosity, whether they are naturally poor or potentially wealthy. The cause of such a state of affairs is the present centralized system of government, the very spirit of paternalism by which the insular government collects and ap propriates the greatest portion of public reve nues, leaving only the "crumbs” to the munici palities. By this arrangement, whether or not a town has all the economic resources to be finan cially independent of the central government, it becomes still dependent to a large extent on the insular treasury, in a pecuniary way. Thus, town improvements are scarce, and social prog ress slow. But under the new piece of legislative act, recently passed by the Philippine Legislature, granting the municipalities greater degree of autonomy, especially in the creation of sources of municipal revenues, vast opportunities for self-improvement are now open to municipalities. While seemingly innocent or limited in scope this municipal autonomy act portends the flowering of obscure towns, could they but make wise use of this chance to open new sources of municipal revenues, and confine their acts within sane limitations. t , The new instrumentality for public service being untried and the municipalities still inex perienced in the difficult task of taxation, it would be only wise for the higher governmental authorities to extend their help, by way of suggestions to municipalities, in making the new act operative. And it is most encouraging, indeed, for the provincial treasurers to take the first step towards this direction in recommending to all municipal councils the levying of special taxes on properties which are benefited by newly constructed barrio roads. Such proper ties, through a public improvement, gain in value, and it is only logical that the municipality should get its share of the unearned increment of the properties thus benefited. It is quite natural to expect that property owners would balk against the special tax, but the townspeople must be educated to the fact, through actual lessons of government that town progress, with all its connotations, requires their support. And there are perhaps no better lessons of good government that can be im parted to the citizens than the levying of just revenue and the expenditure of public money on town improvements, from which the people can derive direct benefits, such as roads, schools, markets, water systems, and sanitary works. The provincial treasurers also have struck a felicitous idea when they recommended the levying of a tax on each person entering a cock pit. The cockpit is a form of legalized vice. And when a person willingly pays the price of luxury, plus the tax which the dealer must pay to the government, it does not seem unjust for municipalities co exact a head tax on cockpit addicts who indulge in a legalized vice that brings no benefit to society. The crux of the application of the municipal autonomy act, to our mind, is to get the people acquainted with its true spirit and have them educated to the benefits that would accrue to the townspeople with the wise enforcement cf such a law.