PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 414, 22 April 1937, Page 7

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

JAPANESE MENACE. “Overlord of Asia.” Explaining how Japan had her eyes on the Philippine Islands, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt lec.ured recently on “The Colonial Policy of the Uni:ed States” before the London University. “Japan has Let out to make herself over-lord of Asia,” said Colonel lioosevel*. “Her sixty 4 million people and highly-developed war machine are directed towards this goal I believe the Philippines are a necessary adjunct to the Japanese scheme. They lie athwart ‘the trade row es over which come many of the goods necessary to maintain ‘the Japanese people.” Colonel Roosevelt added tha 1 Japan would make no move while the United States still had a resident commissioner and military reservations in the island. There •was no object in their risking a clash with the United States when waiting a 1 few years would obviate vhis. He feared that the Filipinos believed the United S ares would embark on war in order to protect them. Colonel Roosevelt expressed disbelief in -the wisdom of -the United Sba'es policy of independence for the Philippine Islands, according to the London Daily Telegraph report. He did not believe in the Independence Bill. It would not help, but hurt, the Filipinos, ‘v‘hose bes inn. erests would have been served by working towards dominion status. Economic Hardships. Speaking of the economic hardships in score lor the Philippines v.hen inlependence takes her outside, the American tariff wall, Colonel Roosevelt said that when he w ( j s GovernorGeneral ha saw that, independence was probably inevitable, and had investigations made of the possibility of developing Philippine products suitable for world markets. “I had no success,” he declurJd. Colonel Roosevelt asked if colonial possessions were worth while. Ht believed that the average nation, particularly in mod rn times, got but little benefit out of colonial possessions. The first plea that nvas urged in .he past, and was still urged to-day, was that an outlet for surplus population was n cessary. The falsity of that was indicated by figures, whLeh showed an almost negligible flow of emigrants to colonies belonging to Fwance, Italy, England and Japan. France had obtained from 1929 to 1935 about 20 per cent, of her total trade from her possessions, but when all was considered he believed France’s colonies were a doubtful asset. In the 20 years preceding the war Germany had spent 1,022,000,000 marks, not counting contingent exand the total trade was only 972,000,000 marks. I aly had spent infinitely more than sh e had realised, and so had Japan. Groat Britain’s figures showed a general trend: possessions that w*ere not in the Dominion s-atus were playing an Ever smaller part in British trade. Far-sighted colonial policies of the future might possibly contain a still further objective—the organisation of a dissimilar people on a dominion status. That might be the ultimate answer bo many of the vexatious problems that confronted the world 10-day.