The Pittsburgh Press (July 19, 1941)
Background of news –
THE PHILIPPINES
By editorial research reports
Even the so-called experts seem to have little inkling as to whether the present political upheaval in Japan portends a move against Siberia and the Russian part of the island of Sakhalin or southwards against French Indochina or the Dutch East Indies. In any new move to the South, the Japanese will have to consider possible countermoves by the United States, and that consideration involves the strategic position of the Philippines. The United States has officially informed Japan that it would see with disquiet any Japanese breach of treaty obligations which would change the status of the Dutch East Indies.
Until 1936, the United States was barred by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 from strengthening its naval bases in the Philippines. The general feeling in Washington is that little has been done to refortify the islands until recently, then mostly along the lines of a stronger air base.
An indirect step for strengthening the Philippines was taken this year when Congress, after several years of refusal, voted an appropriation for beginning a naval base at Guam. Manila, about 4,800 miles from Honolulu, is some 1,500 miles from Guam. Manila is similarly about 1,500 miles from Singapore but only 700 miles from Hong Kong. Any Japanese concentration in French Indochina might be based on the port of Saigon, less than 900 miles from Manila.
The conquest by the United States of the far-off Philippines during the Spanish-American War was viewed with alarm by some Americans who insisted that the war should be fought only to free Cuba from Spanish misrule. The peace treaty provided that Spain was to be given $20,000,000 for the islands.
William Jennings Bryan and the Democratic Party made “imperialism” the central issue in the 1900 presidential campaign, but got nowhere with it. For some years, Democratic platforms called for Philippine independence, and President Wilson urged it upon Congress in 1920. Nevertheless, the prime factor in the enactment in 1934 of the bill granting independence to the islands in 1946 was the opposition of the sugar-beet states to duty-free importations of Philippine sugar. The Western states also wanted the United States to be able to restrict immigration of Filipinos. Fear of Japan and of economic depression has dampened some of the ardor in the islands for independence, but so far only unofficial representations have been made on the subject of postponing independence beyond 1946.
At present, the main naval base in the Philippines is at Cavite, with a less important base at Subic Bay, adjoining Manila harbor. The Philippine native army consists of only some 5,000 regulars, but the islands have compulsory military service for men of military age, and the number of reservists is already around 150,000. The native government is supposed to have few planes of its own and only some patrol boats for a navy.