THE PACIFIC

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 45, 22 February 1930, Page 9

THE PACIFIC

JUR GREAT NEIGHBOUR

THE POSITION OF U.S.A.

WASHINGTON TEEATY

By H. F. yon Haast, M.A., LL.B,

The arrival on Monday of Dr. Martin, the Carnegie Endowment visiting professor, charged -with interpreting American life and ideals to us, and bringing about a better nnderstand- ' ing between us and our great neighbour in the Pacific, makes timely a survey of ' the territories in that ocean administered by the U.S.A. In considering the position of the U.S.A. in the Pacific, we should remember that -by Article XIX. of the Treaty of Washington, 1922, the United States, the British Empire, and Japan agreed that the status quo at the time of the signing of the treaty with regard to fortifications and naval bases should be maintained in (1) the insular possessions which the United States then held, or might- thereafter acquire in the Pacific Ocean, except (a) those adjacent to the coast of the United States, Alaska, and the Panama Canal zone, not including the Aleutian Islands; and (b) the Hawaiian Islands. The Aleutian Islands, off the coast of Alaska, south of the ice limit containing "Dutch Harbour," which is within 3000 miles of Tokio, whereas the Hawaiian Islands are 3-140 miles distant, used to be mentioned as a possible base in tho West Paciiiu in the event of war, but Article XIX. has ruled out this possibility until the end of 1036. Tho other territories of the U.S.A. in the Pacific are the Philippines, the island of Guam, at one time regarded as a possible American Gibraltar, the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands, American Samoa, the tiny Wake Island, and the group of Midway Islands, It has been said that in the Far East the distinctive policies of the United States are the Open Door and the Integrity of China. To these must be added the determination, whether tho Philippines be granted independence or not, to protect them from attack, invasion, or interference by any other nation. An American writer has declared that American interests stretching from Porto Kicp to the Philippines can only be adequately defended by a, "great fleet of warships, powerful squadrons of seaplanes, abundant coaling and cable facilities, and largo and powerful radio stations at strategic points," and American interests in the Pacific are predominantly naval. . ISLANDS Or HAWAII. Of these territories that most frequently visited by New Zealanders is Hawaii, with its attractive capital Honolulu, annexed in 1898. It is a "territory" of the U.S.A., and sends a representative to Congress. The Governor and Secretary are appointed for four years by the President of the U.S.A. The islands have an area of CoOO square miles, and a population of nearly 260,000, of whom over 45,000 are Hawaiians, or part Hawaiian, 132,000 are Japanese, 28,000 Portuguese, 52,000 Filipinos, 37,000 of Caucasian origin, and 6000 Koreans. Honolulu is a veritablo melting pot of nationalities, as may be seen by tho motley but happy and harmonious crowd of children coining out of tho well appointed schools and .well kept grounds. Seeing that everyone born in Hawaii, whatever his parentage, automatically becomes an ■American citizen, and that of the total population over 217,000 are American citizens, it is clear that tho States have a, big racial problem before them there, in view of the determination, of tho U.S.A., Australia, and New Zealand, to keep their territories white. It is Honolulu that is really the Gibraltar of the States, which keeps some 30,000 soldiers in the extensive and complete Scholfield barracks, and has a great naval base, dry dock, and extensive •works at the neighbouring Pearl Harbour, for "the protection of the Pacific and the control of the Panama Canal." The scientific organisation of the sugar and pineapple industries, the cultivated condition of the country, and the wellordered civic life, attract the admiration of the observant, and lead the British tourist, when he lands at Suva, involuntarily and reluctantly to exclaim, "AVl.nt could not tho Yankees make of thit. h hnid if. they had control of it!" Three thousand miles west by south of Pearl Uarbour lies the Marianne Archipelago,, the Island of Guam, ceded in 18DS by Spain, 32 miles long by 4 to 10 broad, with an area of 210 square miles, with a population of 17,000, of •whom some 15,000 are natives. It is a naval station for the purpose of Government and protection. Its Governor is a naval officer appointed by the President of the States. It is one of the Pacific possessions of which the States have, by the Treaty of Washington, undertaken not to increase tho naval facilities or coast defences. About 2000 miles from Hawaii and 3000 from Hong Kong is Wahe Island with an area of one square mile, while 1200.miles N.W. of the Hawaiian Islands are the Midway Islands, a group with an area of 28 square miles, under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department. A relay cable station of the Commercial Cable Co. is established there, the cable connecting with Hawaii and the Japanese island of Yap. CONTROL OF SAMOA. It is in Samoa that the United States is our next door neighbour. As far back as 1872 the harbour of Pago Pago, in Tutuila, 70 miles from Apia, the most valuable harbour in the South Pacific, was ceded to the 'States for a naval and coaling station, and in 1899 Great Britain and Germany renounced in favour of the States all rights to the islands that now constitute American Samoa. The group has an area of 60 square miles, and a population of nearly 9000, who seem, in contrast to pur own Samoans, reported by Commander Blake as sulky children—to live a calm contented life, paying their taxes in cash or copra without a murmur. Foreigners are prohibited to buy land. It looks as if our Administrator should get from his American brother tho prescription for treatment that apparently does riot require either the medicine or the patient "to be well shaken before taken." But all these territories are small potatoes compared to the dependency of the Philippines, ceded by Spain in 1899, consisting of 7083 islands with a total area of 114,000 square miles, 21 fine harbours, and a population of 11 millions, chiefly of Malay race, of whom 00 per cent, aro Christians, mostly Eomaii Catholic, but nearly a million are Mocos or pagans. The population of Manila ia 285,000, of whom nearly 260,000 are Filipinos, nearly 18,000 Chinese, and 1600 odd Japanese. Spanish is the official tongue, and education is free, secular, and co-educational. The story of the American administration of- the Philippines is one of which any nation might be proud, and is an object lesson to the world of what can be achieved by efficient and sympathetic organisation. Two fascinating articles on "America and the Philippines" and "The Education of the Filipine People" in the December, 1924, and December, 192G, numbers of the "Round Table" respectively, should bo road by all who wish to see how tho Americans are faced with the sanio problem in the Philippines as the British in Egypt, anS India. Those who are in-

terestcd may learn how a whole nation was educated by a handful of alien American teachers in a way that achieved an intellectual awakening hardly equalled in modern times." SURVEY OF PHILIPPINES. The history of the Philippines from 1899 when the United States assumed the sovereignty is that of American and Filipino efforts to accomplish the aims which the States had in view from the start: (a) To give the -Filipino peoplo an enlightened, just, and efficient government; and (b) to educate them in self-government. Beginning with the inauguration of a great system of public education, a programme of public works and buildings, and an admirable public health service, and by making local government by municipalities both autonomous and democratic, but subject to rigid accounting and auditing regulations imposed and enforced by the Central Government, America enabled the Filipinos to acquire experience in the conduct of their own political affairs with the result that almost '' every official of prominence in the executive and legislative branches of the Philippine Government or political parties has behind him a successful record in his municipal or provincial, government." Tho process of Filipinization extended steadily to every branch' of the insular, provincial, and municipal governments until "the Philippine Autonomy Act, 1910," the Jones Bill, declared "that it has always been tho purpose of the people of the U.S.A. to withdraw their sovereignty over tho Philippine Islands and to recognise their independence as soon as a stable government can be established therein." The Act substituted for an appointive Upper Chamber an elective Senate, so that the wholo Legislature became practically Filipino, but the Act associated that representative legislature with a chief executive representing tho Government of the United States. As\Ncw Zealand found when self-governme'ut was first given, this association is apt to end "either in hopeless deadlock or in legislative control of the government concerned, including the executive brunch thereof." The Governor-General is appointed by the President of the United States, and there is a Council of State consisting of the Governor-General, the presidents of the two Chambers of tho Legislature, and the Secretaries of Departments. The Governor-General is by no means a figure-head, but possesses a veto power applicable to all legislation, whether local or otherwise. Tho Fili* pinos have great powers, they have(a Legislature, municipalities, civil service, lower judiciary, almost completely Filipino. Tho Chief Justice and about half the judges of the Supreme Court are Filipinos. President Coc'idge says that "the Filipinos have the rights and privileges of American citizens without their obligations. They pay no Federal taxes, are exempt from the exclusion provisions of our immigration law, do not pay for tho defence or diplomatic services, and arc represented in the U.S.A. by their own choseii representatives, who are paid 'by the United States." RESIDENT COMMISSIONERS. The two Resident Commissioners chosen by the Philippine Legislature as their representatives in the American House of Representatives "possess in practice the status of other members except that they cannot vote." Viscount Bryce wrote, "In India, Egypt, or the Philippines, when a Government has, directly or implicitly, raised expectations and awakened impatience,1 misgivings as to the fitness to receive a gift may have to yield to the demand for it." While America feels that she cannot yet safely grant independence to the Philippines, the Filipinos "won't bo happy .until they get it." "INDEPENDENCE DANGEROUS." The writer in the "Round Table "sin W2i considered that conipleto independence would be dangerous, first, because of the result upon tho international situation, second, because tho immediate loss of their preferential tariff position in the American market would spell early economic ruin for the Fili- ; pinos, 75 per cent, of whose products are sold in 'the U.S.A.; thirdly, because independence would raise tho expenses of the Government to a point far beyond the present financial resources of the Islands. "Immediate independence would jeopardise the permanence of those political principles, and material accomplishments which1 the United States has sought to establish in the Philippines." But he admits that the existing system has outlived its usefulness. The solution he suggests is that the U.S.A. should offer to recognise a Philippine Republic and establish relations with it analogous to those which exist between the U.S.A. and Cuba, and agree that at the end of a fixed period the Philippines should become completely independent, if so desired. Such a scheme should include an American guarantee of Philippine independence, American control over Philippine foreign relations, including loans, a gradually disappearing tariff position in the U.S.A., and the right to intervene forcibly to preserve domestic order in ease of necessity. The Filipino answer to that . was given by-Dean Conrado Benitez in his opening statement at the Kyoto Conference: "The Philippines has only one big question, and that is Independence. " .