AGAINST 
 (EPENDENCE 
 ilR ANSWERS 
 
 VVASHING'ION, D. C. 
 September, 191^ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2007 witii funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.arcliive.org/details/argumentsagainstOOmeleiala 
 
ARGUMENTS AGAINST 
 PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE 
 
 AND 
 
 THEIR ANSWERS 
 
 BY 
 JOSE P. MELENCIO 
 
 y 
 
 With an Introduction by 
 
 CONRADO BENITEZ 
 
 Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, University of the Philippines 
 
IIOV 14 1911 
 
 PUBLISHED BV 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE PRESS BUREAU 
 
 Munsey Building 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 September, 1919 
 
 MOORE'S PRINTCRAFT SHOP: WASHINGTON. O. C. 
 
CONTENTS /^T 
 
 Page 
 
 A. INTRODUCTION (by Conrado Benitez) 7 
 
 B. THE ARGUMENTS STATED AND ANSWERED. 
 
 I. The Filipinos are neither savages nor semi-savages 10 
 
 Percentage of non-Christian peoples 10 
 
 Literacy today 10 
 
 Treatment of the non-Christian population 11 
 
 Pre-Spanish civilization of the Filipinos 12 
 
 Advancement during the Spanish regime 12 
 
 Filipinos are ready for independence 13 
 
 Philippine government is autonomous 14 
 
 11. The Filipinos are a homogeneous people 15 
 
 The word "tribe" a misnomer IS 
 
 A common language exists 15 
 
 No regional antagonisms 16 
 
 Absence of caste 16 
 
 III. The Filipino people are one in their demand for independence... 17 
 
 Composition of the Philippine Mission 17 
 
 Filipino attitude towards freedom 18 
 
 IV. The Japanese bugaboo 19 
 
 A scarecrow 19 
 
 Assurances from Japan 19 
 
 Attitude of Oriental peoples toward the Japanese 20 
 
 The sanest course for Japan to take 21 
 
 The League of Nations 22 
 
 V. Will America be imperialistic ? ; . . . 22 
 
 America's right to take the Philippines 23 
 
 America's promise of independence 23 
 
 The Philippines never an integral part of America 24 
 
 America's Far Eastern interests and Philippine independence 
 
 are compatible 24 
 
 C. THERE IS A STABLE GOVERNMENT IN THE 
 
 PHILIPPINES TODAY. 
 
 The only condition precedent to the granting of Philippine inde- 
 pendence 25 
 
 Structure of the present Philippine government 25 
 
 The islands are self-supporting 26 
 
 D. LET US HAVE FAIR PLAY. 
 
 The Philippines have been misrepresented 27 
 
 The Philippines today and the United States in 1776 28 
 
 E. CONCLUSION. 
 
 Desire for an international personality •. 29 
 
 America generous but unseeing 29 
 
 Grounds for retention refuted 30 
 
 5 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 IT HAS been the privilege of the undersigned to have read 
 almost all of the editorials and newspaper articles about the 
 Philippines published in the United States since the arrival 
 of the Philippine mission last March, and, as a part of the work 
 in the Philippine Press Bureau, it has been his duty to write to 
 those editors whose views were clearly based on misinformation. 
 There were, however, so many of this type of editors that it 
 became well-nigh impossible to write to them all, and to send them 
 the same kind of data which had been already sent to many others. 
 Hence, the necessity of gathering and classifying the arguments 
 advanced, and answering them wholesale in one single publication. 
 This Mr. Jose P. Melencio, graduate of the University of the 
 Philippines, and member of the Philippine bar, has successfully 
 done. 
 
 With the publication of our weekly printed press bulletin, sent 
 to all the important newspapers of the United States, and the 
 Philippines, we are now enabled to challenge the truth of many 
 gratuitous assumptions concerning the Filipinos — statements which 
 heretofore had not been questioned because of the absence of 
 Philippine publicity agencies in this country. But our press bulle- 
 tins reach only newspaper men. On the other hand, the newly 
 awakened interest in the Philippines, and in the Far East gen- 
 erally, has created a big demand for Philippine materials on the 
 part of libraries, colleges, and schools. Already several state 
 departments of education, and colleges have adopted the Philippine 
 problem as a topic for debate. Other institutions, both religious 
 and educational, keep asking for important data. To meet this 
 demand, the Philippine Press Bureau is now in a position to 
 furnish the minimum amount of information which an American 
 citizen should possess before he can intelligently pass judgment 
 upon a vital American problem : the redemption of America's 
 pledge to the Filipino people. 
 
 Washington, D. C, Conrado Benitez. 
 
 September 2g, ipip. 
 
"The destiny of the Philippine Islands is not to be a state or 
 territory of the United States of America, but a daughter republic 
 of ours — a new birth of liberty on the other side of the Pacific, 
 which shall animate and energise those lovely islands of the 
 tropical seas, and, rearing its head aloft, stand as a monument of 
 progress and a beacon of hope to all the oppressed and benighted 
 millions of the Asiatic continent." — Jacob Gould Schurman. 
 
 "We ought to give the Filipinos their independence, even if we 
 have to guarantee it to them,. But, by neutralization treaties with 
 the other great powers similar to those which safeguard the in- 
 tegrity and independence of Switzerland today, whereby the other 
 powers would agree not to seize the islands after we give them 
 their independence, the Philippines can be made as permanently 
 neutral territory in Asiatic politics as Switzerland is today in 
 European politics." — James H. Blount. 
 
 "Once the United States decide to give the Philippines their 
 freedom, the Japanese government will be the first to sign an 
 agreement for their neutralization." — Premier Hara of Japan. 
 
ARGUMENTS AGAINST 
 
 PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE 
 
 AND 
 
 THEIR ANSWERS 
 
 Seasoned now and then with caustic and 
 The Arguments insulting phrases, there are five arguments 
 Stated against Philippine independence that are 
 
 habitually adduced in this country whenever 
 the question crops up for discussion. These arguments are : 
 
 First. That the Filipinos, if not actually semi- 
 savages, are still fresh from that stage of human develop- 
 ment denominated "savagery," and that, therefore, they 
 are not fit to paddle their canoe of state. 
 
 Second. That the Filipinos are a heterogeneous con- 
 glomeration of tribal groups, hopelessly differing from 
 one another not only in language but also in customs and 
 aspirations; and that, if given independence, they ivill be 
 "cutting each other's throats." 
 
 Third. That the bulk of the inhabitants do not desire 
 independence. 
 
 Fourth. That at the portals of those beautiful isles, 
 there stands the frightful figure of Japan ready at the first 
 opportunity to seize the archipelago in its iron claw. 
 
 Fifth. The promise to haul down the American flag 
 from the Philippines must be withdrawn — the American 
 Republic must be preserved. 
 
 The first three of these arguments are the result of ignorance 
 or of misrepresentations of things Philippine. The fourth is 
 based on pure surmise, and calculated to be a scarecrow. The 
 fifth smacks of imperialism. 
 
 The following answers are submitted for the unbiased con- 
 sideration of this commonwealth : 
 
I. 
 
 THE FILIPINOS ARE NEITHER SAVAGES NOR SEMI- 
 SAVAGES. 
 
 It is not true that the Filipino people are savages. Neither 
 is it true that they are semi-savages. It is admitted that there 
 are about 500,000 non-Christian peoples in the archipelago, 
 who used to be in a stage of savagery, dressed in scanty gar- 
 ments, indulging in head-hunting at times, and dwelling in 
 the mountains with only the bow and arrow as their venerable 
 companions. But the days of head-hunting are gone. The 
 mountain tribes as well as the Moros of Mindanao are fast being 
 won over to the ways of civilization and of Americanism. 
 Schools, hospitals and religious centers have been instituted 
 among them. Many of them have been Christianized. They 
 actually enter into trade transactions with the rest of the 
 natives. 
 
 But the significant fact is, that they constitute but a small 
 fraction of the entire population of the islands, which is 
 10,500,000. There are ten million Christian Filipinos. They 
 have been Christians for 333 years. Forty-five per cent of the 
 entire population of ten years of age and over 
 Percentage of were literate before the Americans came. 
 Non-Christian They have been educated in the schools which 
 Peoples Spain had the kindness to establish among 
 
 them. The foremost Spanish University in 
 Manila is a quarter of a century older than Harvard. The 
 founders of the short-lived Philippine Republic were, and many 
 of the leaders of today are, products of Spanish schools. The 
 system of teaching pursued was mediaeval to be sure. But the 
 
 Filipinos made the best of it, and we were fairly 
 Literacy well transformed into Mediaeval Europeans long 
 Today before the implantation of America's sovereignty. 
 
 The percentage of literacy now is 70 per cent. It 
 is higher than the percentage in Italy, Greece, Roumania ; 
 higher than in most countries whose independence has recently 
 been recognized by the associated powers. 
 
 The non-Christian peoples of the Philippines have always 
 been accorded just treatment by the Christian population. 
 Now they have representatives in each of the Houses of the 
 
 10 
 
Philippine Legislature. There is a Moro Senator, two Moro 
 Representatives, and one Igorot. The Mo- 
 Treatment of the hammedan religion is respected by the rest 
 non-Christian of the archipelago, resulting in a closer 
 
 Population. relation between the Moros of Mindanao 
 
 and the Christians of Luzon and the Vis- 
 ayas. The following passage in a speech of a Moslem third 
 member of the sub-province of Zamboanga is significant : 
 
 "He who thinks that it is impossible for the Moslem and the 
 Filipino to live together in peace and participate together in the 
 government is foolish and lacks wisdom." 
 
 The summer capital of the Philippine Islands (Baguio) is 
 located in the heart of the mountains of Northern Luzon where 
 Igorots abound. Daily, multitudes of them can be seen com- 
 ing down from their homes among the pine trees, bringing 
 the products of their plantations to the market, buying of the 
 Christian Filipinos whatever objects attract their taste, and 
 otherwise mingling peacefully with the visitors from the low- 
 lands. Daily, they can be seen serving as waiters in hotels, 
 employed as messengers and salesmen in stores, or acting as 
 guides through the fastnesses of the mountains. In recogni- 
 tion of their civic virtue, the charter of the city provides that 
 there shall be an advisory council to be composed of Igorots. 
 Igorots play baseball and tennis ; they send their children to 
 school. Many of them are intermediate graduates, and many 
 more are in the high schools. One Igorot is about to receive 
 his degree of Doctor of Medicine in the University of the 
 Philippines. Those who are Christians bear American names 
 (such as Clapp, Irving, etc.), and are proud of it. 
 
 It will surely be a question of only a decade or so when the 
 non-Christian peoples of the Philippines will be completely 
 won over to the ways and manners of civilized races. Being 
 immuned from Mediaeval influences, and being reared exclu- 
 sively under the ambient air of Americanism, they are destined 
 to be a vigorous element in the ensuing processes of Philippine 
 nationalism. 
 
 There is one thing that the Filipino people have regretted 
 ever since their association with America began. It is, that 
 Americans, the great bulk of them, have always thought that 
 twenty years ago the people of the islands were still in the 
 
 U 
 
paleolithic stage of human development, and 
 Pre-Spanish that it was only when the Americans came 
 Civilization of that tiie processes of Filipino regeneration 
 the Filipinos commenc*.i. We humbly retort that the 
 
 Filipino people were possessed of a civiliza- 
 tion of their own even before the Spaniards came. This is 
 not stated by way of self-lauHation. It is the opinion of foreign 
 writers, who, unbiased, have delved into the records of the 
 centuries and have reproduced their discoveries in print. The 
 following quotations are submitted : 
 
 "The inhabitants of the Philippines possessed a culture of 
 their own prior to the coming of the Spaniards to the islands. 
 
 Those along the coasts were the most advanced in civilization. 
 Their material wealth was considerable. The chief occupations were 
 agriculture, fishing, weaving, some manufacturing, and trade both 
 inter-island and with the mainland, generally in the form of barter. 
 They were expert navigators. They used standard weights and 
 measures. The year was divided into twelve lunar months. They 
 had a peculiar phonetic alphabet, wrote upon leaves, and had a 
 primitive literature. The majority of the people are said to have 
 been able to read and write." (Justice George A. Malcolm, "The 
 Government of the Philippine Islands," pp. 27 and 28.) 
 
 "The inhabitants of these islands were by no means savages, 
 entirely unreclaimed from barbarism before the Spanish advent in 
 the sixteenth century. They had a culture of their own.*' (John 
 foreman, an English scholar.) 
 
 "They had already reached a considerable degree of civiliz- 
 ation at the time of the Spanish conquest." (Ferdinand Blumen- 
 tritt, an Austrian professor.) 
 
 "Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, they found the ancestors 
 of the present-day Filipinos in possession of considerable culture 
 which is somewhat comparable to that of some of the mountain 
 peoples of today." (Dr. James A. Robertson, an American scholar.) 
 
 Three centuries of Spanish domination, 
 Advancement despite its vices and illiberalities, had im- 
 
 During the proved the condition and extended the 
 
 Spanish Regime attainment and culture of the inhabitants 
 
 of the Philippines. Let foreign writers 
 again speak: 
 
 "Three million people inhabit these different islands, and that 
 of Luzon contains nearly a third of them. These people seemed to 
 me no way inferior to those of Europe ; they cultivate the soil with 
 intelligence; they are carpenters, cabinet-makers, smiths, jewelers, 
 
 12 
 
weavers, masons, etc. 1 have gone through their villages and I 
 have found them kind, hospitable, and affable." ("Voyage de la 
 Perouse, author du Monde," Paris, I797. ^^, P- 347-) 
 
 "If the general condition of the civilization of the Tagalos, 
 Pampangos, Bicoles, Bisayans, Ilocanos, Cagayanes, and Sambales 
 is compared to the European constitutional countries of Servia, 
 Roumania, Bulgaria and Greece, the Spanish-Filipino civilization of 
 the said Indian districts is greater and of larger extent than of those 
 countries." (Ferdinand Blumentritt, in La S olidaridad of October 
 15. 1899-) 
 
 " * * * the Spanish rule was generally a mild one, partaking 
 of a patriarchal character. * * * The governors and the gov- 
 erned married, mingled socially and worshipped together. * * * 
 Latin civilization was implanted. This found its principal avenues 
 through the results of Christianity; the unifying influences of a 
 central administration ; modern laws ; education, although not uni- 
 versal ; freedom for women far in advanced of other Oriental 
 countries; the introduction of other staple products; and contact 
 with the outer world." (Justice George A. Malcolm^, The Govern- 
 ment of the Philippine Islands, pp. 102-103.) 
 
 THE FILIPINOS ARE READY FOR INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 But, then, it is said that, despite their own civilization, 
 despite the progress they have accumulated through the years, 
 despite their magnificent response to America's approach — 
 despite all this, it is said that the Filipinos are not fit to be 
 the directors of their own affairs. America has preferred to 
 give credence to the haphazard statements of travelers and 
 to the sweeping assertions of multicolored interests. The 
 opinions of her own governmental representatives — that of 
 Admiral Dewey, those of the governors that were, and that 
 of the actual incumbent — opinions expressed in their official 
 capacity and under their official responsibility attesting to 
 the capacity of the Filipino people to set up an independent 
 nation — have all been discounted. It is easy to understand, 
 however, why advocates of retention should harp upon, and 
 ever and anon blazon out to the world, the unfitness of the 
 Filipinos for self-government. We say it is easy to understand, 
 because it is the only ground on which prolonged sovereignty 
 over the Philippines can possibly be justified. In the words 
 of Mr. Blount, "ever since Mr. McKinley took the Philippines, 
 it has been the awkward but inexorable duty of the defenders of 
 
 13 
 
tlujt good man's fame to deprecate Filipino capacity for self 
 government/' 
 
 The Filipinos submit that, tested by their showing of the 
 last twenty years, their capacity for an independent national 
 status cannot be challenged. All of the provincial governors 
 who are the chief executives of the provinces, are now Filipinos, 
 
 except the governors of the provinces of 
 The Philippine Cotabato, Lanao and Sulu, in the department 
 Government Is of Mindanao and Sulu. Of the forty-six 
 Autonomous provincial treasurers, who are the chief 
 
 financial officers, only seven are Americans. 
 There are thirty Filipino district engineers and thirteen Amer- 
 icans. There are about 1,000 municipalities in the Philippines 
 all of which are governed by elective Filipino officials. There 
 are about forty-five provinces likewise governed by Filipinos. 
 There are two elective houses of the legislature composed 
 entirely of Filipinos and elected by direct popular suffrage. 
 Out of seven members in the Cabinet six are Filipinos, and 
 most of the heads of the executive departments of the govern- 
 ment are Filipinos. The Insular Treasurer is a Filipino. Al- 
 most all of the teachers of the primary schools are Filipinos. 
 Ninety-eight per cent of the teachers in the intermediate 
 schools are Filipinos. And of the teaching force in the sec- 
 ondary schools, 44 per cent are Filipinos. Of the 3o0 super- 
 vising teachers 86 per cent are Filipinos and the majority of 
 the academic and industrial supervisors are also Filipinos. 
 There are six Filipino division superintendents of schools, and 
 both the assistant director of education and the undersecretary 
 of public instruction are Filipinos. About 50 per cent of the 
 instructors and professors in the University of the Philippines 
 are Filipinos. The local administration of justice is entirely 
 in the hands of Filipinos, with the exception of sixteen Amer- 
 ican ex-officio justices of the peace. Of the twenty-six District 
 Judges of First Instance, nineteen are Filipinos and seven are 
 Americans. There are four Filipinos and five American Just- 
 ices in the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice has always been 
 a Filipino. 
 
 That is how autonomous our institutions are. And that is the 
 autonomy which the Filipinos want converted into genuine sov- 
 ereignty. We desire an international personality. We can never 
 
 14 
 
hope to he a virile nation or race unless we are left alone to stand 
 the battering of the times. The question of our fitness for self- 
 government is for us to determine. WE KNOW THAT WB 
 ARE FIT. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE FILIPINOS ARE A HOMOGENEOUS PEOPLE. 
 
 Secondly, it is not true that the inhabitants of the Philippines 
 are a heterogeneous mass of more or less antagonistic tribes 
 ready to spring upon each other's throat as 
 Word "Tribe" soon as they are set free. The outstanding 
 a Misnomer fact is, that despite the distances from one 
 island to another, we are a remarkably homo- 
 geneous people. In the words of Mr. Taft, 
 
 "the word 'tribe' gives an erroneous impression. There 
 is no tribal relation among them. There is a racial 
 solidarity among the Filipino people, undoubtedly. 
 They are homogeneous. I cannot tell the difference 
 between an Ilocano and a Tagalog, or a Visayan. The 
 Ilocanos, it would seem to me, have something of an 
 admixture of the Japanese blood ; the Tagalogs have 
 rather more of the Chinese ; and it seems to me that the 
 Visayans had still more. But to me all the Filipinos 
 were alike." 
 
 From the mountain tops of Luzon to the southernmost point 
 of Mindanao the peoples have similar features and color ; their 
 ways and manners are very much the same ; their style of 
 living and their customs are very much alike ; and they are 
 being educated along identical lines. True, they speak many 
 languages ; for that topography has been responsible. But they 
 have always had a common medium of social and govern- 
 mental intercourse. It used to be the Spanish language. It 
 is now fast being supplanted by the Eng- 
 A Common lish. And English is well-nigh the exclu- 
 
 Language Exists sive social and official language of the 
 archipelago. The system of education is 
 so conceived and executed as to conduce to that end inevitably. 
 American methods and standard of living, American history 
 and ideals, are being daily brought home to the children. All 
 which makes for a strong nationality, for a virile spirit of 
 nationalism that will be more potent as the days go by. 
 
 15 
 
There exists no antagonism whatever between the various 
 peoples of the PhiHppines. The national legislature is com- 
 posed of men from all "tribes." All groups enjoy equal civic 
 rights. Sectional riots have never transpired. The test for 
 
 a governmental position is not a sectional test : 
 No Regional it is individual mettle and capacity. The 
 Antagonisms President of the Philippine Senate is a Tagalo. 
 
 The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
 is a Visayan. The Attorney General is an Ilocano. The Presi- 
 dent of the University is an Ilocano. And so on in gradation. 
 Everywhere in the government, the Tagalo works side by side 
 with the Visayan, Ilocano or Bicolano. No cleavage between 
 the "tribes" can be shown to exist, and no cleavage has ever 
 existed. 
 
 Likewise, aristocracy and caste are absent in the social and 
 political structure of the Philippines. The Four Hundred, in 
 its popular acceptation, finds no counterpart there. The 
 wealth of the islands is evenly distributed. There is an unusual 
 
 division of land among the people, giving rise to 
 Absence an intelligent middle class. There are no big in- 
 of Caste dustrial combines such as America has, which are 
 
 often accused of tampering with legislation. Our 
 leaders rise to power, not through money or pull. They rise 
 through grit and intellectual alertness. Many of the foremost 
 men in the islands today have come from the humblest families 
 dwelling in unpretentious nipa homes. The spirit of our in- 
 stitutions is identical with America's spirit — the spirit of 
 equal opportunity to all. It is the spirit that makes men free. 
 
 Arid what is most remarkable — we need not give instructions 
 in a hundred per cent Philippinism. We need no apostles to 
 preach that kind of a gospel. We are not confronted with the 
 stupendous task of making every citizen a hundred per cent Fili- 
 pino. We have no anarchists in our midst. No bolsheviks. No 
 I. W. Ws. A Filipino, however hyphenated he be, loves his flag, 
 which, by law, he is not permitted to display. He loves his 
 country. He does not think of disrupting her. He would light, 
 bleed and die for her. 
 
 But, then, it is prophesied that if independence is granted, "the 
 people will quarrel, there will be rival factions, and neither will 
 
 16 
 
have the mental balance to accept results that are adverse." So 
 be it. But we answer : Was not America's civil war the great 
 disruption that promptly solidified her national structure, until 
 today she is the mightiest commonwealth on the face of the globe? 
 
 III. 
 
 THE FILIPINO PEOPLE ARE ONE IN THEIR 
 
 DEMAND FOR INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 It is not true that the Filipinos as a whole do not want inde- 
 pendence. All statements to the contrary are calculated to defeat 
 the present campaign for independence, for reasons more or 
 less personal. The mission that recently visited this country, for 
 example, has been attacked as non-representa- 
 Composition of tive of the will of the masses and that it was 
 the Philippine composed of a coterie of politicians dominated 
 Mission solely by a desire to attain personal distinction. 
 
 The facts about that mission are as clear as 
 day. It was composed of members of both Houses of the Phil- 
 ippine Legislature and of representatives of the commercial, labor 
 and agricultural interests of the islands. Both parties of the 
 Philippines were likewise represented. The mission was created 
 by the so-called Commission of Independence, which, in turn, 
 was created by the Philippine Legislature and is a permanent 
 body enjoined to consider and report to the Legislature: (a) 
 Ways and means of negotiating now for the granting and recog- 
 nition of the independence of the Philippines; (b) external 
 guarantees of the stability and permanence of said independence 
 as well as of territorial integrity; (c) ways and means of organiz- 
 ing in a speedy, effectual and orderly manner a constitutional 
 and democratic internal government. The sending of the mission 
 had the sanction of the Legislature, as is evident from Concurrent 
 Resolution No. 11 passed by that body. That sanction was sup- 
 plemented by a "Declaration of Purposes" which was drawn up 
 by the same Legislature for the guidance of both the Commission 
 of Independence and the Philippine mission to this country. In 
 that "Declaration of Purposes" the Legislature expressly says : 
 "Therefore, as far as it is humanly possible to judge and say, we 
 can see only one aitn for the Commission of Independence : In- 
 dependence; and we can give only one instruction: To get it." 
 
 Now, it must be conceded that all representative governments 
 are based on the principle that the constituted delegates of the 
 
 17 
 
people are the true spokesmen of their desires. This is the very 
 essence of the system of popular representation. That being the 
 case, it is not understood how any man acquainted with repub- 
 hcan institutions can assert that the action taken by the Philippine 
 Legislature does not reflect the real desires of the Filipino people. 
 
 But that is not all. As soon as the sending of the Philippine 
 mission was approved by the Philippine Legislature, the 1,000 
 municipalities of the islands as well as the various associations 
 throughout the archipelago flooded Manila with resolutions unani- 
 mously ratifying the step taken. Organs of public opinion, in 
 their editorial columns as well as in their special articles, were 
 also emphatic in their approval of the sending of the mission to 
 this countr}\ The manifestation at the pier when the mission 
 sailed was an eloquent and graphic testimony of the popular 
 sentiment with regard to independence. 
 
 These facts, coupled with the further fact that the Philippine 
 mission came over at the expense of the Filipino people, con- 
 clusively show that the Filipino people endorse the purposes for 
 which the mission had come. If the movement for independence 
 fails at this time, other missions will be sent in the future to raise 
 with more vigor the Philippine cry for that ideal. 
 
 It is indeed idle to speak of the Filipinos as not desiring their 
 freedom when history records that they fought for that freedom 
 before the Americans came. They had established a republic 
 before America set foot on Philippine soil. They resisted 
 America's coming by force of arms during all 
 Filipino Atti- the time that America had not specifically pro- 
 tude Towards claimed her real colonial policy. It was only 
 Freedom when America announced that she came to the 
 
 Philippines, not for the purpose of exploiting 
 the islands, but for the purpose of lifting them to the level of 
 modern civilization that the Filipinos consented to be under 
 America's control for the time being. 
 
 Today especially when imperialism has already been dislodged 
 from the throne-rooms of empires and when freedom is the tide 
 and passion of the time, it is a bagatelle to say that our people 
 do not want independence. Our desire for independence is not 
 the mere wild prank of a raw, unbalanced populace; it is a 
 national movement to consummate a dearly cherished national 
 ideal. It will not do to dismiss our plea with an icy smile. 
 
 18 
 
IV. 
 
 THE JAPANESE BUGABOO. 
 
 Statements that Japan covets the Philippines are based on 
 sheer surmise. No facts have been cited to support them. The 
 papers would have it understood that Japan will just lay its claws 
 on the Philippines, reason or no reason. By some such statements 
 
 the American people were scarecrowed a few years 
 A ago not with respect to the Philippines but with 
 
 Scarecrow respect to America herself. It was said that Japan 
 
 desired to invade America ; that America, unpro- 
 tected as she was, was an easy prey. Years have passed since 
 then, and the prophecy was not fulfilled. Will the prophecy be 
 fulfilled in the case of the Philippines ? The Filipinos think other- 
 wise, and their opinion is based on the considerations that follow : 
 
 The flow of Japanese immigrants into the Philippines is neglible 
 as compared with the flow into the United States, California and 
 Hawaii specially. Today, there are only about 10,000 Japanese 
 in the Philippines. If it was the intention of Japan's diplomacy 
 to absorb the islands through pacific methods, an unlimited num- 
 ber of her subjects would have been sent to the country year in 
 and year out. Be that as it may, the United States today is not 
 giving the Philippines protection against that system of conquest. 
 The Philippine Legislature, for example, enacted a law limiting 
 the ownership of Philippine lands to Americans and Filipinos, but 
 that law required the approval of the President, and the State 
 Department decided to recommend that it be vetoed ; so the law 
 had to be withdrawn. 
 
 Japan has repeatedly belied her intention to colonize the islands. 
 Count Okuma, while premier of Japan, has explicitly said : "Japan 
 has no ulterior motive, no desire to secure more territory, no 
 thought of depriving China or any other people of anything they 
 
 now possess." Dr. T. Masao, the President of 
 Assurances the recent Parliamentary Mission that visited 
 From Japan Manila, has assured the islands thus : "Japan 
 
 and the Philippines are the best of friends. There 
 is no ground, no basis, no foundation for quarrel and suspicion. 
 You are rich in natural resources. Your country is immensely 
 wealthy in raw products. Japan is eminently a manufacturing 
 country. We are rich in finished products. There is every reason 
 
 19 
 
to be gained by mutual friendly and peaceful co-operation." The 
 present Premier of Japan has likewise stated in his official ca- 
 pacity that Japan has no intention to take over the Philippines 
 for colonial purposes, and that the Japanese government will be 
 the first to sign an agreement for the neutralization of the archi- 
 pelago. To the same effect was Baron Uchida's assurance. 
 
 The Filipinos see no reason why these utterances shouldH be 
 distrusted. On the contrary, we are aware that the spirit of 
 Bushido is incrusted in the consciousness of Japan — she respects 
 her given word. And at times we are even led to think that if 
 at all Japan poses as the champion of the Orient, zmth now and 
 then an outpouring of hostility against the Occident, it is because 
 all Bast has ever painfully suffered from the racial prejudice of 
 the West. 
 
 Then there is the general attitude of Oriental peoples towards 
 the Japanese to be considered. Japan's designs on China have 
 been exposed before the powers in the peace conference. The 
 Chinese, as a bulk, have never liked the Japanese by reason of 
 the many concessions that have been wrung 
 Attitude of from China by the Japanese government, 
 
 Oriental Peoples under the guise of "spheres of influence." 
 Toward the These spheres of influence are in fact and 
 
 Japanese import a shattering of Chinese territorial in- 
 
 tegrity, an absorption of China's most fertile 
 spots, such as her regions of coal supply, her iron mines, and the 
 like. The more Japan encroaches upon the mainland of China, 
 the more will the Chinese feel that their destiny as a nation is 
 doomed and the more they will dislike the Japanese as a people. 
 The case of Shantung has intensified that dislike. And if ever 
 China awakes from her lethargy, Japan will have to account for 
 all the alleged affronts. 
 
 Korea is actually in revolution against her Japanese rulers. 
 The spirit of nationalism is surging in this land of 18,000,000 
 people. Hatred against the Japanese is manifested on every side. 
 Actual force has been necessary to quell disturbances. Freedom 
 is the cry there, 
 
 Russia, which is a country of astounding magnitude, lies in 
 the north of Japan. The results of the Russo-Japanese war are 
 still painfully fresh in the minds of the Russians. The day may 
 
 20 
 
yet come when the Russians will attempt to wrench from the 
 Japanese that part of Russian territory known as Manchuria 
 which might and the tide of battle have thrown into the hands of 
 the Japanese. 
 
 Japan, therefore, is surrounded by peoples not bound to her by 
 ties of blood or national interests, peoples who look upon her 
 international acts with open fear and suspicion, peoples who 
 have never been willing to be subject peoples, peoples who are 
 awake to the modern principles of government and of interna- 
 tional relations. 
 
 To add to that array of unwillinq nationalities another unwilling 
 nationality like the Philippines would he to throw the ivhole Bast 
 into a camp always antagonistic to pretensions of domination on 
 the part of Japan. In the course of time, the potency of the an- 
 tagonism will be irresistible. 
 
 The Filipinos will never condescend to look up to the Japanese 
 as their rulers. The reason is plain : Their custom and manners, 
 their religion and their ideals are glaringly dififerent from, if not 
 antagonistic to, those of the Japanese. 
 
 Japan, of course, might indulge in the hazardous act of killing 
 every Filipino — of wiping the entire race out of the globe, a 
 cold-blooded deed. But would she in the light of Germany's 
 experience? 
 
 Strategically also, it would be unwise for Japan to add to her 
 already scattered territory a group of islands numbering about 
 3,000, because all of these must needs be protected and fortified 
 if Japan is to remain secure in her foothold. 
 
 Viewed from all these aspects, the sanest course for Japan to 
 take with regard to the East is to court the friendship of all 
 Oriental peoples. This is the sanest course notwithstanding the 
 Ishii-Lansing agreement or any other gentlemen's agreement that 
 
 might exist or be negotiated. To pose as the 
 The Sanest Master of the Orient will be hazardous for 
 
 Course for Japan in the extreme. The staunchest opposi- 
 
 Japan to Take tion will come from the Philippines. Other 
 
 nationalities of the Far East will follow suit, 
 for the nations there are attuned to the new era of progressive 
 humanity. The Filipinos would be glad to be a friend to Japan 
 
 21 
 
commercially and internationally. They would contribute their 
 mite in the regeneration of the East. But they will never count- 
 enance Japanese domination over them : they will never consent 
 to be a footstool of the Nipponese Empire. 
 
 But all these considerations aside, it would seem that all hob- 
 goblins concerning the Japanese menace should vanish in the 
 face of the new order of things in the world. Reference is mad© 
 to the new international instrumentality which has just been 
 
 instituted by the powers and denominated the 
 The League League of Nations. This is the most promising 
 of Nations creation of the age. The old order of perpetual 
 
 conquest and dominion-seeking has been blotted 
 out. The peoples of the world are war-weary. "Never again !" is 
 their plaintive cry. That might is right is a discarded pet phrase 
 of the militant world. The rights of small nationalities have been 
 vindicated and safeguarded. The Parliament of Man and the 
 Federation of the World of which Tennyson had sung is well- 
 nigh a reality. 
 
 We Filipinos are not pinning our faith, however, on the ma- 
 chinery or efficacy of the League of Nations. // the zvorld is to 
 remain donned in armors of steel and iron, we, too, could equip 
 land and naval forces. We confidently believe we could turn out 
 fighters that can approximate, if not equal, other soldiers of the 
 world in valor and skill. We, too, can fortify our islands. We 
 are aware that despite their numerousness, they have a unique 
 military advantage — a physical strategic unity. In the words of 
 Messrs. Davis, Frye and Reid, "there is hardly a single island in 
 the group from which you cannot shoot across to one or more of 
 the others — scarcely another archipelago in the world in which 
 the islands are crowded as closely together and so interdependent." 
 (Cited in Blount, "The American Occupation of the Philippines," 
 
 V. 
 WILL AMERICA BE IMPERIALISTIC? 
 
 The traditional policy of America is against colonial expansion. 
 From the foundation of this Republic to the present day, the 
 American people have adhered to that policy. When, therefore, 
 we hear American statesmen today crying in vigorous language 
 that the promise of independence to the Philippines should be 
 withdrawn lest the American republic disintegrate, we are tempted 
 
 22 
 
to suspect that some Americans are resolved to override their 
 country's traditions. 
 
 The PhiHppines fell under America's domination by the stroke 
 of chance. The taking of the islands was not an inevitable result 
 of the war to liberate Cuba. America herself was startled when 
 Dewey cabled the unexpected news that the American flag had 
 been hoisted on Philippine soil. That America 
 America's had no right to take the Philippines may be 
 
 Right to Take proved beyond question. Mr. James H. Blount 
 the Islands has done that admirably in his book, "Ameri- 
 
 can Occupation of the Philippines." We shall 
 not rehearse the circumstances here, because it will only be re- 
 viving the gloomy discord of the past. 
 
 The people of this country know that the Filipinos have always 
 been desirous of being free. The resistance to America's coming 
 is the eloquent proof of the sentiment in the Philippines with 
 regard to freedom. Ever since the implantation of American 
 sovereignty the spirit of nationalism has been 
 America's vigorously asserting itself in the archipelago. 
 
 Promise of The clamor for independence has been insistent. 
 
 Independence It became acute somewhere in 1916, and the 
 Jones Bill was passed by the United States 
 Congress, which announced in unequivocal terms that America 
 will unrivet the shackles of political bondage and give the long- 
 awaited independence as soon as a stable government is estab- 
 lished by the Filipinos. The Filipino people firmly believe that 
 this declaration by the duly constituted representatives of the 
 American nation will not be a mere scrap of paper, to be shriveled 
 to ashes at the whim of imperialistic souls. It will not do to 
 contend, as one writer has contended, that the preamble of the 
 Jones Law of August 29, 1916, containing that declaration, is 
 not an integral part of the law itself and that, therefore, it may 
 be flung aside by succeeding Congresses if they so choose. De- 
 spite that fact, if fact it be fairly and logically, the promise to 
 grant independence is there, clear and unmistakable. It is in 
 black and white. It is a ratification of the policies enunciated by 
 the Presidents of America, from McKinley down. To repudiate 
 the promise, as was ponderously trumpeted some time ago, is the 
 most crass injustice that can be perpetrated by America upon a 
 people whose only national fault, in the words of Andrew Car- 
 
 23 
 
negie, "is that they believe in the American Declaration of In- 
 dependence." 
 
 The Philippines have never been an integral part of the Amer- 
 ican republic. America's Constitution did not follow her flag 
 in the islands. The Filipinos have never been American citizens 
 as the Porto Ricans have been. The tw^enty million dollars paid 
 Spain by the United States was not a pur- 
 The Philippines chase price of the islands and their people. 
 Never an The amount was paid : First, as a salve to 
 
 Integral Part Spain's feelings; second, as an assumption 
 
 of America of Spain's debt for pacific improvements, ex- 
 
 isting then in the form of bonds bearing 6 
 per cent interest; and third, because America preferred to pay the 
 sum rather than indulge anew in the costly luxury of war. (Vide, 
 "The Americans in the Philippines," by Le Roy, p. 124, note; 
 also pp. 369-370; "The Government of the Philippine Islands," 
 by Geo. A. Malcolm, pp. 178 and 179; pp. 193-194, note.) If the 
 Philippines are not, thus, an integral part of America, it is not 
 seen how it can be averred that if the islands be given their status 
 as a sovereign nation, the American republic would disintegrate. 
 
 One thing should not be overlooked : the sooner independence 
 is granted to the Filipinos the stronger will be the ties that bind 
 them to the American commonwealth and to the American people ; 
 the more the granting is delayed the more will the Filipinos sus- 
 pect that America is bent on the perpetual retention of the archi- 
 pelago and the denial of the righteous claims of Philippine na- 
 tionalism. That would be astoundingly disappointing to the Fili- 
 pinos whose love for freedom is inborn. Admiration for America 
 might dwindle as a consequence, and trade relations between 
 America and the Philippines might suffer impairment. 
 
 The granting of independence to the islands should not neces- 
 sarily jeopardize America's interests in the Eastern hemisphere. 
 The attitude of the Filipino people with regard to the maiter 
 seems to be this: If America desires coaling statiotis in the 
 
 Philippines, she may have them as 
 America's Eastern well under a Philippine republic. If 
 
 Interests and America desires to make Manila her 
 
 Philippine Independence threshhold to the trade of the rapidly 
 Are Compatible unfolding East, she shall have the 
 
 privilege under a government by the 
 Filipinos. If America must have military and naval bases in the 
 
 24 
 
archipelago — if she must have an "easternmost frontier," as one 
 American editor has expressed it — she will also have that. The 
 proposition of the Filipinos today is to have America recognize 
 now the independence of the Philippines, under terms to he ne- 
 gotiated upon by duly appointed representatives of the Americans 
 on one part and of the Filipinos on the other. The Filipinos owe 
 to America much of what they and their country are today, and 
 it is not selfish — much less, unreasonable — for Americans to insist 
 that any political arrangement affecting the status of the islands 
 shall definitely and adequately safeguard the needs of America's 
 commerce. 
 
 THERE IS A STABLE GOVERNMENT IN THE PHIL- 
 IPPINES TODAY. 
 
 There is only one condition precedent to the granting of Phil- 
 ippine independence. And that is, that as soon as a stable govern- 
 ment has been established in the islands, independence will be 
 granted. There is today a stable government in the Philippines. 
 
 It is a government elected by the 
 The Only Condition peaceful suffrages of the people, sup- 
 
 Precedent to the ported by the people, capable of main- 
 
 Granting of Philippine taining order and of fulfilling its inter- 
 Independence national obligations. It is patterned 
 
 after republican institutions. It has 
 the necessary checks and balances. It is run on the party system. 
 We have a legislature which is composed entirely of Filipinos, 
 and elected by direct popular suffrage. We have a Council of 
 State which is an advisory body to the governor general. It de- 
 termines the policy of the different departments of the govern- 
 ment and recommends measures to the Legislature. We are 
 more progressive than many countries of the world in fiscal legis- 
 lation ; we have adopted the budget system of government appro- 
 priation and expenditures, and this has systematized our finances. 
 
 Our government is divided into several 
 Structure of departments, much in the same way that 
 
 Present Philippine the United States Government is divided. 
 Government At the head of each department is a Secre- 
 
 tary. And the department secretaries con- 
 stitute the Cabinet, the members of which might appear or might 
 
 25 
 
be summoned before the legislature to account for their acts. 
 They are thus directlfy responsible not only to the chief executive 
 of the islands, but also to the representatives of the people. 
 
 The whole archipelago is divided into provinces ; they cor- 
 respond to the states of the American Union. Each province is 
 divided into municipalities ; these correspond to the counties of 
 the United States. At the head of each province is a governor; 
 the legislative body is Provincial Board. The executive of each 
 municipality is a president; the legislative body is a municipal 
 council. The governors, the presidents and the members of the 
 local legislative bodies are all elected by direct popular suffrage. 
 
 Such in skeleton is our system of government. It has been 
 functioning without a hitch ever since its adoption. It combines 
 the fine traits of American institutions and the virile attribute of 
 the English system of governmental finance. Above all, it has 
 been honest. And it is self-supporting. It has established peace 
 and order throughout the archipelago. It has undertaken numer- 
 ous public works. It has made education universal and free. It 
 has improved the sanitation of the islands. It has encouraged 
 agricultural and industrial enterprises. It has extended credit. 
 
 It is not a fact, as many Americans assert, that the islands are 
 a financial burden to the United States. The Insular Treasury 
 has always had sufficient funds with which to meet all the expenses 
 of the Insular Government, and a surplus besides. No United 
 
 States dollar has ever been expended in the 
 The Islands Are sanitation, education, and public works of the 
 Self-Supporting archipelago. What America has done was to 
 
 furnish the brains, the enterprise, and the 
 example with which to hasten the material and intellectual de- 
 velopment of the Filipino nation. The financial part of the 
 undertaking was borne by the Filipinos through a representative 
 system of taxation. 
 
 America, it is true, has a standing army in the Philippines which 
 is paid from the United States Treasury. But the existence and 
 maintainance of that standing army are incident upon the taking 
 over and retention of the islands. Clearly, if America must con- 
 tinue holding a territorial possession, she necessarily must have 
 forces and fortifications with which to challenge aggressive de- 
 signs on the part of any other power. » 
 
 26 
 
LET US HAVE FAIR PLAY 
 
 We protest against the insidious tactics of some American 
 writers who, in the haste to cripple the Fihpino plea for inde- 
 pendence, invariably decorate their magazine and newspaper 
 articles with pictures of the backward, scantily dressed, peoples 
 of the Philippines. We call that foul play. For those people are 
 by no means representative of the bulk of Filipinos. They con- 
 stitute the decided minority — one-twentieth of the total population 
 of the archipelago. They inhabit the mountains and do not 
 meddle with the affairs below. It is not fair to predicate Filipino 
 capacity for self-government on the looks, attire and backwardness 
 of those mountain people. They are to the Philippines what the 
 Indians are to America — no more, no less. The 10,000,000 Chris- 
 tian Filipinos are doing their best to educate. Christianize and 
 otherwise bring them within the fold of modern civilization. We 
 do not seek to exterminate or exploit them. We do not confine 
 them in reservations. We are approaching them in the most 
 friendly way. And they are responding eagerly. 
 
 So, too, by press materials cunningly 
 Islands Have Been arrayed and cunningly written, actual con- 
 Misrepresented ditions in the Philippines have been twist- 
 ed. Our manners and mode of living have 
 been ridiculed. We have been misrepresented beyond forgetting. 
 Our defects have been exaggerated. And our virtues and attain- 
 ments have been misantrophically brushed aside. 
 
 We would request the writers who are antagonistic to the 
 Philippine ideal to once in a while favor our cause with pictures 
 and descriptions of the conditions of today — not ot the conditions 
 of two decades ago — in the regions where modernity has had its 
 touch. 
 
 To American eyes, it may be true that we are crude in un- 
 numbered ways, that our proletariat are oftentimes destitute of 
 the means by which they could enjoy the modern comforts of 
 life, that our standard of living is very far behind that of America, 
 that we have traits that are not very Occidental. But these are 
 no arguments against our ability to govern ourselves. Neither 
 should they be made a deterrent to the granting of our complete 
 independence. For we are advanced in thought and ideas; we 
 realize the advantages and, unbaffled, we practice the ways of 
 
 27 
 
modern republicanism; zve have the poise, the intelligence and the 
 aplomb that are essential in a democracy. 
 
 "Let him who scoffs at the impossibility of Phihppine progress 
 without even awaiting events make a comparison between the 
 United States when she adopted her Constitution, and the Phil- 
 ippines if she be permitted to ratify hers. In 1790 the number 
 of inhabitants in the United States was under 
 The Philippines four million. The Philippines have double 
 Today and the this. Of the American inhabitants, nearly one- 
 United States fifth were negroes. The Philippines have 
 in 1776 nowhere near this proportion of non-Chris- 
 
 tians. Of the American inhabitants, the 
 ancestors of eight-tenths were probably English and a homogen- 
 eous part of the community. Of the Filipinos, at least as large 
 a percentage are of one race. Of the Americans, the intellect of 
 the people was little developed. The graduating classes of all the 
 colleges in 1789 counted up to about 170. The graduating classes 
 of one university in the Philippines exceed this number. In 
 economic conditions the United States were little advanced, 
 although the country abounded in natural resources. The same 
 statement can be written for the Philippines." (Justice Geo. A. 
 Malcolm: "Government of the Philippine Islands," p. 250.) 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 We wish to write across the consciousness of America that the 
 Filipinos are a nation moved by an intense desire to be free ; that 
 we are a people with a feeling and a sense of dignity, and as such 
 resent the numerous insults repeatedly hurled against us; that it 
 is not fair that we be invariably and indiscriminately pictured as 
 savages, neither is it just that our defects should be exaggerated 
 and our virtues ignored, whenever we press our claims to 
 sovereignty. 
 
 The burning desire of the Filipinos is to have an international 
 personality. They long for a more dignified place in the sister- 
 hood of the nations. They believe that too long a dependence on 
 
 28 
 
America would only stultify their initiative and their latent 
 energies as a people. Clearly, they cannot hope 
 Desire for an to be a strong nation or race unless left alone to 
 Internationa] face the vicissitudes of time. They are perfectly 
 Personality willing to take a chance. It is a manly attitude 
 and should not be discouraged. It should com- 
 mand instead the admiration of this stalwart republic. Certainly 
 it deserves the encouragement and support of true Americans. 
 
 Signs of impatience for the long-awaited freedom are already 
 visible in the Philippines. The people feel that justice delayed 
 is justice denied. America, indeed, has been generous but 
 unseeing. She has chosen to listen — unconsciously, let us hope — 
 
 to the incantations of bigoted interests with 
 America Generous regard to the capacity and attainment of the 
 But Unseeing Filipinos, and not to the testimony of her 
 
 duly appointed representatives. And the 
 Filipinos properly inquire : Of what use are America's official 
 representatives in the Philippines if their opinions and recom- 
 mendations are to be discarded as soon as uttered? There is 
 Governor General Harrison, for example, and there is Vice 
 Governor Yeater. They have repeatedly made statements sub- 
 stantiating the claims of the Filipinos that they are ready for 
 their badge of sovereignty. Governor General Harrison person- 
 ally appeared before Congress the other day. Under his responsi- 
 bility as representative of the American people in the Philippines 
 he stated that the Filipino people are ready for an independent 
 status as a nation. What was the result? A portion of America 
 smiled. A portion said that the official did not know what he was 
 talking about. A portion stated that the Governor was playing 
 politics and riding for a fall. A portion is asking : "Is it possible 
 that the Filipinos have advanced so far?" The limit of jaunty 
 indifference was reached when the joint committee which heard 
 the presentation of the Philippine case pigeonholed the plea for 
 independence, to be resurrected time alone knows when ! We 
 repeat our query : Of what use are America's official representa- 
 tives in the Philippines if they are not to be believed? 
 
 Retention of the islands is sought to be justified on many 
 grounds. Fear of aggression on the part of Japan is one of them. 
 Magnified with a thousand doleful phrases, this is the ground that 
 
 29 
 
has been repeatedly pushed to the forefront to scare the Filipino.- 
 But in thus hesitating to turn the islands 
 Grounds for loose, because Japan might gobble ihcm up, 
 
 Retention Refuted does not America, to quote the Charleston 
 (S. C.) American, "openly confess that she 
 has failed to make the zvorld safe for democracy f" Is the world 
 to understand, then, that America dares not challenge the power 
 that dares lift its finger to defile the magnificent colonial handi- 
 work that is the Philippines? Shall democracy be ever cowed in 
 front of dynastic imperialism f 
 
 Then, it is said that the Philippines are being held as a trust 
 to civilization ; that the trust is a sacred trust ; that it must be 
 fulfilled before the islands could be allowed to go to shift for 
 themselves. Pray, tell us who shall decide whether the sacred 
 trust has been executed or not? Will it be the imperialists who 
 would cling to their outworn creed even though the heavens fall? 
 Will it be the commercial interests of the land whose deity is 
 the Dollar? Will it be the exigencies of politics? If any of these 
 be the case, then Philippine independence will never come to pass. 
 For plead for it as best we can, any of those as the judge will 
 just be standing by "as unheeding as the Nile," 
 
 Finally, we are told that this is not the time for talking inde- 
 pendence, that the world is in a state of flux, that it is unsafe 
 to let us embark in the turbulent tides of international aflfairs. 
 And yet other small nationalities of the world were given their 
 freedom even before the smoke of battle had died away. They 
 are nations, too, that are sandwiched between dynasties and 
 peoples born and reared beneath the dogmas of haughty militarism. 
 And America, in all her present greatness, rejoices to behold the 
 scene, because it was her job! Shall there be exceptions, then, in 
 international justice? Must America sympathize only with the 
 cause of Ireland or only with the cause of Poland, or of the 
 Czecho-Slovaks ? How long will the shot heard around the world 
 be turning back against the principle which propelled it? 
 
 The Filipinos cannot but zvonder! 
 
 30 
 
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