Colonel Thompson goes away with his report

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Colonel Thompson goes away with his report
Language: English
Source: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume 6 (Issue No.10) October 1926
Year: 1926
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Fulltext: THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL October, 19 Colonel Thompson Goes Away With His Report And What a Report It Is! Data, Data, and Data! Colonel Carmi Aiderman Thompson of Ohio has left the Philippines with a crypti cal but cordial farewell statement to the press and his luggage jammed with the elements of his report to President Cool idge. His head may have been jammed with the same material. But no, this could not have been the case; for the elements of the report, constituting what is believed the most thorough survey ever made of the Philippine government, are quite large ly the answers of various government bu reaus to the Thompson questionaires; and of course none of this mass of information in the rough could have been prepared for absorption by /the presidential emissary prior to his departure. He had therefore available for his fare well statement only his memory of a hundred banquets and receptions and a thousand banquet and platform speeches, together with hazy impressions of dozens of wee and rather unkempt tropical ports and narrow gauge railway and motorroad points; and recollections, still less clear, of countless interviews with formal and in formal committees. He is a jovial man, yet he would hardly be capable of the bold jest at the expense of the Philippines of making a serious report to the President, and even recommendations, from his mere hurried observations while being whisked officially about “an archipelago which is one of the richest lands in the world, if not the richest,” to use his own wordsIt is in the replies to the questionaires that he will find the verification for this assumption. They will be his report. He has the energy to go into them, and to assort and assemble their facts. Besides, he has no doubt been told to do so; or if not this, then he will have able assistance in Washington, so that all will be ready for the short session of Congress, for there remains hardly any doubt but that the questionaires wfere prepared in the commerce department at Washington, un NO DOUBT ABOUT SILLIMAN’S POSITION: THOMPSON AT DUMAGUETE, GREETED DY MISSION STUDENTS. der the surveilance of that master statis tician, who once rationed a nation by sche dule, the Hon. Herbert Hoover. Thompson can hardly have had anything to do with the questionaires: they bore the fingerprints of experts. They were ready upon his arrival here, and when passed out to the bureaus they immediately eng aged the whole attention of large sections of government technical personnel, until the final days of the Thompson sojourn in the islands. This was done while Thomp son himself saw the beauty of the . islands MANILA HEMP ON THE STORIED SLOPES OF MOUNT APO, DAVAO; THOMPSON SAW HERE THAT HEMP MAY BE MACHINE CLEANED AND CULTIVATED IN PLANTATIONS. and came to a realization of their virgin fertility; while he gradually came to ob serve that a militant cabal had the chief executive pocketed and was on an avowed political strike to enforce its well defined demands—always well expressed, often with plausible argument—for immediate, absolute and complete independence from the United States, and meantime for a Philippines undivided by the Bacon bill. Of what Coolidge will do upon receipt of the report, Thompson averred he had hard ly the least notion save his abiding confi dence that the presidential action would be premised upon the welfare of the Fili pino people. It is not necessary, however, to make one’s self deaf, dumb and partially blir when a man in such a position as Thom son’s is speaking; and more especial when he is speaking after a day of mellc good comradeship such as he enjoyed Sep. ember 29, at Kawit with General Emil: Aguinaldo and 5000 veteranos of the r volution of 1896 and 1898 against Spaic and the insurrection of 1899 and 190' against the United States. They were celebrating the 28th annive sary of the ratification of the Aguinah dictatorship which promised a republic. It is perhaps essential to describe tl the scene. Flags of the republic were everywhere. They were stuck up on fences and out of windows, from the boundary of the province clear into Kawit, and the official party proceeded from the bound ary into Kawit between the ranks of the veteranos lining the roadway on either side. Far out on the road, Thompson was met by an honorary committee of high of ficers of the Aguinaldo army, and with them he went into town and met Aguinal do at the gates of his residence, amid a con course of seven or eight thousand people. Upon arches over the road at frequent in tervals, the Aguinaldo platform was set forth in plainly worded placards: friend liness to Americans and faith in America; pleas for independence in accordance with assurances of Consul Pratt, Commodore Dewey and McKinley; opposition to the Bacon bill to accord Mindanao separate ministration. And true to all this Aguinaldo him; .. spoke from a balcony of his new mans ”> house, with the great reception rooms fi with Filipino, foreign and Ameri * guests, the Americans and Filipinos the most part veterans, Thompson him; 1’ among them. Aguinaldo’s remarks in his address > • the 5000 veteranos and other thousai. : patiently standing in a drizzling rain ; .J listening eagerly, contemplated a cha> . ■ of local leadership or some other effect . step toward a period of hearty cooperat a in exploitation of the natural resources ’•! the islands; and afterward... indepe - ence as a matter of course. His remarks did not exclude internatii •al complications, to be overcome before t -n final goal should be reached, nor did o: gather clearly from them that the less ta gible ties between the Philippines and t United States were ever to be severed The revolutionary leader stood precise where he stood when he returned to Mar la from Hongkong after the Battle of M October, 1926 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 7 NATIVE HEMP STRIPPING I EVICE: THOMP SON CLEANS SOME HEMP. POI ND FOR POUND STRONGER TJIAN OHIO STEEL nila Bay. He flayed severely noncoopera tion; he of course lamented General Wood’s absence on account of the operation confin ing him to a hospital bed; he frankly took up the challenge that he is an Americanista, and argued this attitude as the only possible one by which independence might be eventually gained, to the assurance of which he several times referred. The addresses by Americans commended and approved this attitude. One in parti cular, though not Thompson’s, rebuked all contrary propaganda and warned it that it would lose ground among Americans in the United States. “Hold fast, hold fast to General Aguinaldo,” said Admiral Sum ner Kittelle, now commanding the 16th naval district of the United States, em bracing the naval stations of Cavite and Olongapo. Carmi Thompson went to Kawit In a shower of rain; He had his day and said his say, And won’t go there again. With profound apologies, naturally, to the “eyes and ears” of a respected Pre sident: to an official emissary whom it were almost sacrilege to liken to the indiscreet doctor of. Mothergoose memory. From all that Thompson said at Kawit, the fol lowing may be paraphrased: He had found the people of the Philip pines to be kind, conscientious, and hospit able perhaps to a fault. Wherever he had gone in the Philippines, veteranos had grouped themselves near the speaker’s .platform. This had pleased him; the only orator whose sophistries he had rebuked publicly was a young man who thought of the veteranos as men of a past day, old fogies, and he had told this young man that America always felt safest when her public affairs were in the hands of men who had sacrificed for her in war. He said that without disparagement of other leaders, “Aguinaldo is the best known most respected and best liked Fili pino, in the United States.” He had re spected him even back in the days when he was soldiering against him. At Kawit he constantly addressed the veteranos and Aguinaldo as comrades. He had arrived in Manila July 9 believing he could render a just and unbiased report of Philippine conditions. This he still believed, “but the report will be tinged with the love and frienship I have come to feel for the Filipi no people.” Whatever might be done would be foi' their welfare. He had made, as he had peen expected to make, an economic survey of the islands, but he was not among those who would exploit the Philippines, their mineral, timber and soil resources; he was not taking heed of political differences, but if he should be the humble means of directing the Filipino’s own attention to exploitation of the islands’ resources, for themselves and for the whole world, then his visit would not have been in vain. He found the Filipinos sincere in their purpose (presumably their purpose of achieving independence), and he hoped the comrades would credit him too with sincer ity and honesty when his report came back to the islands from Washington. He would always cherish cordial memories of the islands, especially of the veteranos; and the photograph of Aguinaldo he was to receive, would be framed and hung in his office where it would ever recall to him his mission to the Philippines. Now it goes without saying, after all this, that together with his report Thomp son will submit his opinion; in other words, he will make definite recommendations, for he has said he believes the islands are en titled to know what America’s purpose as to the future is. It is also rather clear what his opinion will be, as it seems not at striking variance with Aguinaldo’s own. If the day at Kawit was, as is unques tionably true, the most significant in the estire itinerary, the day at Zamboanga was the most exciting. On the Apo, with Colonel Henry L. Stimson as his guest, Wood had called at Zamboanga and made arrangements for the Moro and Christian delegations to line up in two parades and await Thompson, only the reception com mittee going to the pier and boarding the Mindoro. But instead of arriving at Zam boanga on the morning of August 25, the Mindoro did not make port until after noon, when the Christian parade had broken up, and its disbanded elements swarmed down to the pier without leaders or commanders, some twitting the now tho roughly hungry and impatient Moros as they pased their ranks. This was dangerous business. Actual conflict was averted by Thomp son’s refusal to go ashore until the pier was cleared, and by the timely action of Major Fletcher and Moro and Christian officials and leaders following his example. The Apo, having intercepted some quite vivid press dispatches depicting the incident, hurriedly returned to Zamboanga from Jolo, and Wood read the riot act to those whom it seemed had been derelict in ad hering to the agreement. When he return ed to Manila he ignored the press insinua tions that he had dipped an oar into troubled waters and provoked greater tur bulence. > The Journal gathers the actual facts from the Mindanao Herald, and will quote the following disgressive paragraph be cause of its poignant interest: “Happy in the thought that all unpleas antness and cause for friction had been wiped out,. .. General and Mrs. Wood, with their guests, spent several pleasant hours in the old ‘General’s Quarters’, Quarters No. 7, Pettit Barracks, the Wood home of twenty years ago where, with their r OI.D GLORY AND THE ROYAL SULU COLORS OFF .TOLO young children, probably the happiest years of their lives were enjoyed. Many old friends called and renewed their alleg iance.” The data from the government bureaus that will constitute the informative and vital portion of Thompson’s report was all furnished through the office of Governor General Wood. The belief is entertained that the short congressional session may give attention to Philippine matters. Mem bers recently in Manila have said publicly that action should not be longer delayed. Congress meets December 6 and adjourns March 4. Apprised through press accounts of what Aguinaldo had said at Kawit, Quezon, d'facto dictator of the Philippines, took the floor in the senate meeting September 30 and in a two-hour addresses enunciated once more the policy of noncooperation for eco nomic development with the aid of capital from the United States until the question of independence be settled. The following day he continued this criticism of Aguinal do. He offered to submit the question to Aguinaldo’s district in the senatorial elec tions of 1928, and if defeated to retire from politics, with unchanged views. He reiteGALLERY SEATS. AT A PARADE—YOUNG AMERICA, LISTEN: IT TAKES AGILITY TO DO THIS. THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL October, 1926 rated steadfast opposition to Governor Gen eral Wood in matters where power gained from the preceding chief executive might be lost by acquiescence. His vehemence regarding an attitude well known, being so often stated, will not probably be an in fluence inducing Congress to put considera tion of the Philippines indefinitely aside. Thompson had, of course, the legislative in dependence memorial in his briefcase, but it was not alone. Colonel Stimson, secretary of war under Taft and still a stalwart of his party in New York, confined his survey to three weeks, while Thompson, charged with greater responsibility, gave three months to the job. Aguinaldo was very pleasing to Stimson too, and their views about the governor general were in accord. MRS. THOMPSON After dodging about the islands during the time he had, Stimson issued a statement chastis ing the legislative attitude; a state ment pointing to the Philippines’ frown ing neighbors, envi ous of the islands’ resources; a state ment therefore set ting independence a long, long way off, at a point where the population would be several times what it now is, and exploitation of resources comir.ensurate with this growth; and finally, a statement advocating the independence of the office of the chief executive, which he thought should be strengthened by statute and by liberal 'financial provision for a staff of assistants and inspectors. Quezon replied to Stimson, of course, as he later replied to Aguinaldo himself. These many polemics may be diverting, but when the amused reader gets down to solid bedrock he finds little but artificial differences between the principal protago nists; and these, he must suppose, are for the sake of appeal to the electorate in the frequent elections in and about Manila. Both men are independence advocates, Aguinaldo assuming, however, that assur ances already made are sufficient, and that a period of capital investment may be 'wel comed, and Quezon assuming that the as surances are insufficient, “and every Amer ican dollar invested in the Philippines (until every doubt as to the final grant of independence is removed) is a nail in the independence coffin.” Then Aguinaldo counters with a state ment of the American capital invested in Philippine bonds, P161,000,000 and more, principally by enactments of the legisla ture. He doubts that Queson’s professed misgivings about capital are sincere; or if they are, his administration fails, for it has not kept capital out. The depths of this political pool being by no means clear even to the most sophistic ated residents of the Philippines, they may fall quite below the Thompson plumb line and leave that itinerant and involuntary observer completely nonplussed—quite in the dark as to what to say in Washington, and more than a little embarrassed by the duty of saying something absolutely defi nite. So, perhaps, he left us. He is a very affable Ohioan, reticent of speech, and he handled with no little finesse a situation often surcharged with unpleasant possibil ities. If at any time there was the least straining of relations between Malacanang and himself, mutual good breeding prevent ed the least indication of it. At the Thomp son farewell dinner, returning courtesies, the departing host proposed a toast to Gen eral Wood and wished for his speedy re covery; and among his guests were the staff officials who had been the convenient liaison personnel between Thompson travel ing and about the islands for the President, and Wood, both traveling about for him and laboring in Manila. Bon voyage. For the present at least, the Coolidge administration seems to have tied its ship to Aguinaldo’s towline- Replying to the senate president, the veteran revolutionist quotes the Coolidge letter in answer to Speaker Roxas’ memorial of two years ago embracing criticism of General Wood: “The Government of the United States has full confidence in the ability, good inten tions, fairness and sincerity of the present Governor General. It is convinced that he has intended to act and has acted within the scope of his constitutional authority. Thus convinced, it is determined to sus tain him, and its-purpose will be to encour age and broadcast the most intelligent co TWO FRIENDS: THOMPSON AND AGUINALDO operation of the Filipino people in this po licy." This purpose is gaining headway, there seems no doubt; from new and sometimes unsuspected native quarters come frequent attestations of support; but the adminis tration is not Congress,—and indeed, in respect to territories, Congress is rather the administration,—and upon this gamble the senate president continues to toss the dice. He feels he is certain to win at home, and is not altogether certain to lose in America. Perfervid as the political at mosphere is, men seem to see beyond it to fairer days for the Philippines—as if it were the fleeting dark before the dawn of fixed policy toward the islands. However, they will await the Thompson report with ill concealed anxiety. One thing certain to be in the report is a favorable estimate of the present econo mic condition of the people of the Philip pines as contrasted with conditions else where in the far east, particularly in China and Japan; and the fact that the islands are the one country in the east cur rently balancing its budget will be exploit ed, where all Democrats may see! Well, if our budget is less stubborn than others that just seem never to come to balance, we have neverthless for the poli tical gambler something just as good. We have a perpetually flowing stream of in vestigations, official and unofficial, and the reports of these have the same effect upon our going ahead as if our peso had the modesty of the violet and the shrinking qualities of seersucker. Men pray less fervently for what may be the tenor of the Thompson spiel, than that it may be the last of all of themi—the epilogue before the curtain shall be finally lowered over the awful farce of a great republic carrying on as a colonial power. The means have been suggested to Thompson of giving this territory the status it deserves. He has an opportunity, but the fact that he may miss it by the full length of Pennsylvania avenue will continue to make the business baro meter in the Philippines as skittish as an outlaw mustang. Men will work up their projects, it is their habit, but even the in ebriate lucubrations of a second-rate news paper scribe, to say nothing of vocal °debauches in Congress, may scatter their stock purchasers and disperse their credit ors like mist before the wind. With such conditions prevailing, the islands require no unstable budget to give their economics the heebejeebies. WOOD CONVALESCENT Governor General Leonard Wood was 66 years old October 9. He received many well-wishes. Some two weeks ago he en tered Sternberg General Hospital and un derwent an operation from which he is still convalescing- As soon as he may be mov ed he plans going to Baguio for further recuperation and to visit with Minister and Mrs. John Van A. MacMurray, who came down from Peking the first of the month and are guests at Malacanang. Mrs. Wood has been living at the hospital in a room adjacent to Gervral Wood’s since he was taken there. Their daughter, Miss Louise Wood, left Manila for China October 4. It is presumed she will await her parents either in China or Japan and journey to America with them when Governor Wood decides to go on leave. STAPLE IMPORTS: QUANTITIES The Journal has compiled from the cus toms records a table showing relative quan tities of certain staples imported into the Philippines during the first seven months of this year and last year: Commod J a n.-July Jan.-July Increase ity 1925: Kilos 1926: Kilos Decrease Flour 28,200,445 26,719,519 1,480,926 Salmon 2,416,290 3,195,700 779,121 Sardines 4,163,829 4,955,700 791,871 Matches 819,067 661,571 157,496 Barbed 1,945,315 2,767,481 822,166 wire Cotton Prints 18,779,072 11,541,362 7,237,710 (This item in pesos)
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