FILIPINOS DEMAND THEIR INDEPENDENCE

"How can we be disloyal to the American people in time of peace when we were loyal to them in time of war," said Mr. Pedro Guevara, Filipino commissioner in Washington while discussing at the Union last night some of the newspaper propaganda which is responsible for the feeling of Americans that the Filipinos are on the verge of a revolt.

When Professor A. B. Hart '80 asked Commissioner Guevara if it was the desire of the Filipinos to have absolute independence, he replied, "Of course, if the United States can give us protection and absolute domestic freedom-of-action, we will be satisfied, but if we cannot have both, then we are willing to risk protecting ourselves among nations in order to have our independence."

Professor Hart resented the fact that Commissioner Guevara had seemed to refer to Governor General Leonard Wood M. '84 as a man comparable to Vicerey Edmund Andros of Colonial days. To him Mr Guevara replied: "I am not speaking of any particular man but of the office of governor-general. General Wood is a good friend of mile. I believed that he was the best nominee for the United States presidency at the Republican Convention in 1920. The question at hand is, 'Are you going to send a governor-general to rule the Philippine Islands, without the consent and will of the Filipinos. President Coolidge may be an excellent president of the United States, but he would not be, for the Philippines."

Mr. Guevara next gave a specific example of one of the controversies with General Wood which led to the recent break: "According to the Jones bill of 1910, the governor-general is the chief executive and should enforce all laws of the Filipino legislature. Under the civil service law passed by the Filipino legislature, the mayor of the city of Manila had the power of removing any city official, whose character was for any reason considered untrustworthy and who was not appointed to his position by the governor-general. Such an official, outside the jurisdiction of General Wood, was arrested and tried for bribery. Because of insufficient evidence, the man was acquitted, but the judge in his decision stated that the acquitted man did not have the moral qualifications to remain in public office. The mayor of Manila discharged him. The latter appealed to General Wood, who on the basis of his ultimate power of control, reinstated the man. The mayor resigned. As a result of similar situations, nearly the entire Filipino cabinet has resigned. Thus, the political crisis in the Philippines has reached a climax."