OCR Text |
Show Ir.depejidense For Filipinos The President of the Philippine Government, Sergio Osment, expresses ex-presses the hope that independence independ-ence will be completed by August, Au-gust, but there seem to be difficulties diffi-culties in the way of such an early realization of Filipino de 3 'res. It is hardly probable that the Japanese will be competely ousLed from the recesses of the islands by next summer and until un-til tills is done, the holding of a. general election to name a legislature legis-lature will be impossible. The Filipinos are anxious to become independent, but, under the Act of Congress, providing for the realization of this aim, the new-born nation would face economic difficulties. Instead of receiving favorable consideration on the domestic market, the Philippines would meet tariff barriers bar-riers that might cause serious problems. While the United States is to be commended for its willingness willing-ness to relinquish control of the islands acquired from Spain, it should not be forgotten that much of the support for legislation necessary to provide for the independence in-dependence of the islands came from commercial interests in this country, anxious to eliminate Philippine competition in certain lines. |