Dr. J. H. Landman urges a protectorate

Title

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XVIII (Issue No.12) December 1938

Year

1938

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

December, 1938 7 HE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL Dr. J. H. Landman Urges a Protectorate O We comment elsewhere on Dr. Landman's address +c Filipinos, quoting its gist below.—Ed. “If I were a Filipino, as an intelligent man, I would not urge independence for my country. Instead I would aspire for the status of protectorate like that of Cu ba’s relationship with the United States un der the Cuban treaty of 1934. This treaty abrogated the treaty of Relations of 1903, between the United States and Cuba, which contained the famous Platt Amendment giving the United States the right to inter vene for the protection of Cuba’s indepen dence and financial integrity. “Under the new treaty, the Cubans en joy complete independence in domestic and foreign affairs, except for one naval base over which the United States has absolute sovereignty. The United States by virtue of this treaty base can continue to imple ment her Caribbean Policy. This treaty has also made it possible for Cuba and the Uni ted States to enter into tariff and military agreements for mutual advantages. “In addition to this, Cuba is protected by the Franklin D. Roosevelt corollary to the Monroe Doctrine which grew out of the Pan-American Conference of 1933 by which the matter of maintaining peace and order in the Latin-American countries devolves upon all of them including the United Sta tes, jointly. Landman’s Plan “My suggested plan for the Philippines parallels the provisions of the Cuban Trea ty except that several naval bases and mi litary posts may be substituted for the one naval base; the American Far Eastern pol icy for the Caribbean policy; and the open door policy and the Nine Power Treaties of 1922 for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Corol lary. “Absolute independence would mean that the Filipinos would have to make the sacrifice of a much lower standard of liv ing comparable to the one now prevalent in the Orient and to face the menace of Ja panese aggrandizement. In order to com pete in the world markets Philippine pro ducts would have to be produced with cheap labor which would entail disease, fewer educational opportunities and lower living standards. “Freed from American imperialism, the Philippines would then be confronted with the menace of Japanese autarchic impe rialism. The Philippines are just as attrac tive to Japan as China is , because the Phil ippines would be an excellent source of raw materials needed by Japan for her indus tries, while China would furnish the huge market in which to sell the products of Ja pan’s industrial machines. “The Filipinos appear to exaggerate the virtues of freedom and independence. Na tionalism and patriotism are intellectual and emotional diseases and blind a people to the realities of life. The Filipinos are not alone in this. The Irish, the Egyptians and the Hindus are troubled with the same disease and are suffering economic suicide as a result. As a Filipino, I too would be very much concerned about the success of my new government because of, first, the poor qualifications of the electorate; sec ondly, the absence of a middle class since Philippine trade today is monopolized by Chinese, Japanese .and Americans; and thirdly, the diversity of religious, linguistic and racial groups. Independence Is Relative “The status of the protectorate would continue to give the Philippines the cul tural, economic and military blessings which the United States have accorded them without the Filipinos losing much of their internal political independence. In dependence is after all only a relative term. Examine the map of the world. How many countries are absolutely independent poli tically and economically? I have the great est admiration for Filipinos who want ab solute independence for their country, but I believe Filipinos who demand indepen dence for the country, no matter what the consequences may be, are foolhardy. “I urge strongly that the Philippine lead ers request of the United Congress that it grant the Philippines the same status as that of Cuba for an. indefinite time. This will enable the Philippines to prepare it self more adequately for independence. It will have more time to build up its mili tary and naval organizations. It will be able to educate its people more thoroughly in the science of government so that they might enjoy democratic government and prevent the economic and political domina tion of the 1,000 Philippine families who now exploit their own people. It will give the Philippine Islands greater opportunity to diversify their economic life and develop their own middle class. Lastly, it will help to eradicate Philippine provincialism and social stratification based on race, language and religion which are defects in any na tional body. Must Take Initiative “Philippine leaders must take the initia tive and make such a formal request of Congress in January. The American peo ple and Congress will not take the initia tive. I strongly urge that the request be made soon, or it might be too late. “Since the American people and Congress are hostile to the thought of perpetuating United States rule over the Philippines, I recommended that when the Philippine leaders petition Congress for a continuous protectorate status, they offer as induce ment to increase the tariff wall to exclude the trade of other countries, particularly, that of Japan, which was as much as $12,171,000 in 1935, so as to assure American exporters of a greater Philippine market. This would tend fo convert the AmericanPhilippine unfavorable balance of trade for the United States into a favorable one. “An unfavorable balance of trade for the United States with the Philippines would be justified in event the Philippines sold goods to the United States which the United States lacks and are indispensable for the economic welfare of the United States, but the conditions do not exist. Se condly, the Philippine leaders ought to make Congress and the American public conscious of the role of the United States in the Far East and the significance of the strategic location of the Philippine Islands in the Pacific. The Military Value “Through the Philippines as such are a financial liability to the people of the Unit ed States, they ought to realize and can be convinced of the military and naval value of the Philippines in America’s Far East ern Policy. No isolationist program on the part of the United States will permit the United States to escape being embroiled in the affairs of the Pacific. “In the near future the Far East will be the scene of great economic, industrial, political, social and imperialistic changes which will be so universal in their influence that the welfare of all civilized peoples will be involved. The Philippines will then be in the cross-fires of imperialist conflicts in the Pacific. The great nations will soon throw themselves into another world war to capture the markets and raw materials of the Orient. “The enormous profitable market of China with 450,000,000 customers and the vital raw materials of rubber, tin, vegetable oils, sugar and tropical fibers in British Malaya, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines will be the stakes of this war. The Philippines lie athwart all the prin cipal trade and aerial routes of the Pacific. Its strategic location would enable the Unit ed States to use it as a military and naval base, when properly fortified, to enforce its Far Eastern program whether it be the Open Door Policy in China or an effort to halt Japanese expansionism in Asia or whatever policy we may have in the Far East.” EXPERIENCED AMERICAN Desires position. General bookkeeping and accounting; mine accounting; construction work. Age 27; Married. Best references. Write to B. Y. c o this magazine. Box 1638 IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL

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27

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