Filipinos Refute Insults by American Imperialists

...Other sources eay there are no leu than 4,000,* 000 drug addicts In this country...

...Schools Before Americans Came Such were the Filipinos when the Spaniards came in 1521...

...A British loan to Persia, totalling about 12,460,000, ia secured by the receipts on opium...

...Filipinos Refute Insults by American Imperialists Native Population of Island, with Old Background of Culture and Progress, ts as Devoted to Political Freedom as American Colonists were in 1776 By VICENTE G. BUNUAN Syndicated articles in the imperialist press of America have recently aimed -to ridicule the independent* movement in the Philippine Islands, and have pictured the Filipinos (is a semi-savage people with vo capacity ''for self-government, j The Sew Leader is therefore es-pec tally glad to print this refutation : of false charges, written by an attache of the Philippine Independence • Commission, at Washington...

...In a four-month period during 1920, Japan imported 4,000 pounds of morphine from the United States...

...Spain is peopled by Basques, Catalans and Castilians...

...In the six years ending 1922, India produced about 3,346 tons of opium for export and about 2,860 for domestic consumption...

...The opium is then sold to the natives and exported...

...The American people should know the facts of our history...

...India is undoubtedly the greatest source of the opium vice Despite spasms of righteous word-play, English governmental and financial interests have constantly fostered the growth of the opium traffic...

...They knew and- used gun* powder before the y«a/1800, whan it had not yet been introduced In Europe...

...The Opium Conference's Family Skeleton By EDWARD LEVINSON AFTER forty-one dayft of acrimonious debate that constantly threatened a complete rupture in the International Opium Conference, forty-one days preceded by months of tortuous negotiation and discussion, the time had come to sign the convention drawn up...

...The Dutch source of supply is India...

...and Cuba by whites and negroes...

...The opium problem is tied up with the story of European imperialism in the Far East, particularly British imperialism...

...This amounted to about $30,000,000 in 1921...

...The crop, when ripe, is collected by the Government...

...All political parties in the Philippines are for immeditte, absolute and complete independence, and vie with each other in their efforts to secure their country's freedom...

...Persia is third, Laving made 162 tons in 1922...

...She has broadly emulated Britain and other opium-exploiting nations, however, and the charge is being made, with apparent full justice, that Japan has been freely smuggling morphine and cocaine into China...

...They had a culture of their own...

...Sze had not been obliged to observe the amenities of diplomatic intercourse, he undoubtedly could have thrown a revealing light on the "dark ways" and "vain tricks...

...They are dignified, courteous end reserved" Concerning .he charge that the I Filipinos still preserve their tribal relations, we rite the statements of a scientist and of a prominent Republican against independence...

...Then are the men whom Min Msyo hai termed barbaria.it...

...Admiral Dewey, after ' ttudying Philippine condition...

...The United States holds the . distinction of being the largest user of narcotics, par capita, In the world...

...Thoto faagutget, whethar spoken by Pag aa, afore or Christian, belong to tbo groat . Melay-Polynetian family...

...Merton Miller, former chief ethnologist, Philippine Bureau of Science, in a scientific paper which appeared in the Philippine Journal of Science, said: "There are many different languages or dialoctt ia the Philippiaet, but ara closely related one to another, tbo pronunciation and mode of speech vary but little from o»e section of r the Philippines to aaothor aad the majority of tbo wordt aro common to two or more of tbo Philippine languagot...

...The Filipinot, whose ancettors for centuries have fought for their country's liberty, who today are fighting in the realm of peace, and who so readily give of their worldly goods that their country might be free, certainly do not deserve the charge that independence it beyond their comprehension and understanding...

...The cultivation of the poppy as well as the manufacture, sale and distribution of opium ii...

...Aside from the pecuniary gain dir '.ly received as a result of the opium industry, the extent to which t! opium evil demora'izes the resistance and independence of . h Indian people is of incalculable benefit to the British Empire...

...Opium and Imperialism But if Mr...

...Sir Malcolm Delevingne, the British Delegate, felt he would have to confer with his Foreign Office before he could attach his signature...

...Siam, with its doubtful independence, has long been under the opium yoke, with Great Britain in the familiar role of master and i-iver...

...Now, Leon Bourgeois, representing France, suddenly recalled, though in attendance for more than a month, that he was not a delegate...

...Jobs Foreman, aa English •scholar...

...TO meet the charge that the Filipino people do not want independence, I submit the following facts: No one ran be elected (o »ny office today in the Philippines unlets he advocates independence...

...Belgium by French and Flemish...

...were expert in metal working, skillful as shipbuilders and carpenters...

...tie for star printipltt wore veterans ef the Philippine Revolution, both againsi Spain aad America, Manuel L. Quezon, President of tht Philippine Senate, whom she almost accuses of disloyalty, was ths author ef the law authorizing the calling of these 25,000 Filipinot tt serve" under the American flag, net only for the purpose ef aiding America, but as a demonstration of loyalty and affection toward her...

...They are more cepable of self-government than, I think, the Cubans are...

...They explain clearly the attack of sleeping sicknesa that bat come over tht opium conference now in session in Geneva...

...Switzerland by French, Germans and Italians...

...that the Spaniards found the natives already in commercial intercourse with China, Japan, Siam, Sumatra, Malay Penlsular, Java, Borneo and the Moluccas, and had a penal code known as the Code of Calantiao...

...Two years later, China entered Into a treaty wiga Great Britain wherein it was agreed by the latter that at the end of a ten-year period opium would cease to enter China...

...To prove this we cite a few passages from scholars and historians: Have An Old Civilisation "They bad already reached a considerable degree of civilisation at the time, of the Spanish conquest...

...Even India uses only 27 grains . per person each year...

...To them freedom Bad in-dependence it • consuming passion, even at it was with tho American patriots of 1776, and centuries of subjugation and their bloody wart with Spain and with America have brought upon them the realisation of itt meaning...

...So Impressed were Dewey and i Merrit with the cultural preparation of the F'ilipinos at the advent ! of Ameritan occupation that they j made the following official state-1 ments...

...in Germany, two grains...

...have thus joined with the foreigners in encauraginr the cultivation of opium, rather than let the huge revenue go rntirely into foreign hands...

...When it came the turn of Mr...

...For nearly four hundred years from this date they acquired Western culture and civilization Spain introduced Christianity, thus setting up in the Archipelago the only Christian country in the Orient...

...The Wood Fnrbet Mission, which reported against independence, said in its report: "From a number of warring tribes, Spain succeeded in welding the Philippine people into a fairly homoganeous group, sufficiently allied in blood and physical characteristics to be capable of becoming a people with distinctive and uniform characteristics...

...If the cindidate does not believe in independence end went* to be elected, he mutt tell the people that he wants it...

...Previously, the convention had been accepted "in principle...

...The ships and supplies which were the object of the raiding party were the same as had played that part In the American Tea Party1, British...

...So, despite the halting and backward policy which Spain adopted in her administration of the Islands, association with her produced the advance in civilization just, described...

...It advances loans to planters...

...There it a racial solidarity amoag them undoubtedly...

...These are the bones that mak* the skeleton of the opium trade...

...In HrilaiiiN Slave Slates In the Straits Settlements opium revenue was 60 per cent, of the miftl in 1919, an' 38 per rent, in 1021...

...in France, four grains...

...Through their efforts the Fili...

...There is ao tribal relation among Filipinot...

...in th* United States, 88 grains per capita are consumed each year...

...She says further: "In 1896 a definite insurrection arose against the Spanish Government, led by the mestizo, Aguinaldo...

...He, with the then Speaker Sergio Osmena, and now Speaker Manuel Roxas, as well as other prominent Filipinoa, all ol whom were direetly er indirectly < intcted with the Philippine Revolution in 1896, made possible the quota allotted to the Philippinea for Liberty Bonds to be oversubscribed...

...Upon tbo arrival of the Spaniards, they fouad the ancettors ef the preient-dty Filipinos in possession of considerable culture, which it somewhat comparable to that of tome of tho mountain peoplot ef today...

...Experts Pr»ise4 tho People "In my opinion these people (the Filipinos) are fer superior in intelligence and more capable of self-government than the inhabitants of Cuba...

...Indo-China, has one drug addict to every 1,000 of its 2,000,-000 population...

...The annual per capita consumption In Italy is one grain...

...The amount set for the drive WSJ over subscribed, the rich and the poor, men, women and children, even the beggars, gave their mite...

...Consumption has increased Ave grains per capita since 1914 in the United States...

...I cannot toll the difference between en iloeaao end a Tagalow or a Vitayaa—to ma Filipinot aro all alike...

...That waa the material, the hack-ground upon which America builded...

...Efforts were made to teach the people the rudiments of education and as early as 1866 for a population of 4,000.000 there were 861 schools for boys and 833 schools for girls...

...Though th...

...Accounts of these early explorers reveal the illuminsting fact that our city of Cebu was already flourishing when the only settlement on Manhattan Island wss an indisn village, and that Manila had been founded for half a century when the pilgrims s-et foot on Plymouth shore...

...China in 1923 produced more than 7,000 tons of opium, double the annual production of the rest of the world...

...They have lawyers, doctors, the men of kindred professions, who stand well in the community, and bear favorable comparison to those of other countries...

...The Opium War The dumping of 20,000 chests of opium from British ships into the ocean furnished England an opportunity for another of its pern He yearnings to civilize the benighted heathen...

...Thus in a few wordt, and with a thrug ef the thoulder, the dit-poses of our latt fight for liberty and freedom and onr beroet and patriots at barbariant—man who tallied forth to the battle field impelled by tho tame tpirit that tent the American patriott of 1776 to rescue their country from Britith dominance—men who today hold the groatott retpect for, have always shown tho utmost loyalty to America, at thown by tbo fact that many of tho 28,000 man that tho Philippine* offered for tor-vice to the front during tho World War to half) Aaaarlsa wia bar bet...

...Next to India conies Turkey, which in 1922 manufactured 240 tons...

...m. As early as 1721 attempts were made by Chinese leaders to curb the opium evil among their people...

...In British North Borneo, through the North Borneo Chartered Company, almost half the British loot is derived from opium, gambling and pawnbroking...

...There were also colleges and universities, among the latter the University of Santo Tomas, which it a quarter of a century older than Harvard, the oldest American University...

...It was the grief and despair of its better minds, s reign of terror end rapine imposed by a handful of barbarians upon the cowering mass of their own people...

...It lasted but sixteen months and was compounded between its leaders snd the Spanish Government fo»' cash...

...The conditions in the United States are well known...

...Disorganized as China is, divide, up intr spheres of influence for stronger outside nation?, she has been unable to check the opium traffic through her own efforts...

...The Philippine quota for the Third Liberty Loan was P6,000,000, but P9,250,000 were subscribed...

...Persia's manufacture of opium ia fostered exclusively by British finance...

...Today it is larger than it has ever been before...

...opium revenue is comparatively small i. is of vast importance when it is remembered that the British Government that rules India has no little difficulty in balancing its budget...

...China has furnished the scene for the most degrading picture of the results of the opium traffic fostered by Western and, in particular, British imperiali...

...dur-I ing the Spanish-American War, sent i the following cable statement to | the Administration in Washington, which he later repeated before a i congressional committee that looked [ into the Philippine problem at the time...

...Propaganda Slurt Martyrt Miss Katherine Mayo says that "Aguinaldo's 'Government' was never a republic even in a potential sense...

...In all of these colonies it has beeni part of British policy to derive a Itrge part of tli revenue, with which it holds these colonies in slavery, from the sales of Indian opium...

...Accounts by Spanish historians, found in the collection if Blair and Robertson, state that the early inhabitants were keen traders and skillful artisans...

...The Church wielded tremendous power and at times was more powerful than the Government...

...In the years 1913 to 1918 some 5,000 ounces of more phlne were Imported by Japan from England...

...her provincial authorities, particularly the military governors...

...I am familiar with both racot...

...Chief Justice Taft, first civil Governor of the Philippines, testified before the Senate Committee on the Philippines in 1914 as follows: "The word 'tribe' givat aa or-ronoout imprattiea...

...I think greet injustice has been dene to the native population...

...Driven to extremes by the alarming growth of the opium evil, some patriotic Chinese staged a Boston Tea Party of their own, with Canton as the locale and opium - in lieu of tea...

...A .survey made by the United States Treasury Department thowa there are at roan/ as 1,000,000 drug addict* la tht country...

...Now with the second opium conference atruggling to arrive at a decition where it will do nothing and ,at the tame time maintain Its dignity as an international opium auppression conference, the "ways" still appear "dark" and the "tricks" "rain...

...Revenue of Opium The revenue derived from the opium trade, according to British Government figures, is but 3 per cent of the total lcvenue...

...In the Federated Malay States English exactions through the opium trade represents about one-fifth of the totalled sum yearly robbed from these colonies...

...James A. Robertson, as American scholar...

...Japan has succeeded in putting the use of opium among her own people under some measure of control...

...France's colony in the East, French...

...Thia li called a conservative estimate...

...that Manila was one of the greet commercial centers of the East long before Spain planted her flag on Philippine soil...

...our quota to the Fourth Liberty Loan was P12.000.000, hut P24,246,000 was subscribed...

...pinos voluntarily gave half a million dollars to Red Cross Funds...

...In 1802, six years before Ameriran occupation, there were 2,137 schools...

...This is the general rule in other of Britain's vassal states in the East...

...India is a British Government monopoly...

...Amer* ica also was presented with a de« stroyer 'and a submarine...

...The suffering of America's drug addicts also goea to lining the British purse...

...out of a population of 106, 000,000 there are over 12 per cent negroes, and over 13,000,000 or over 12 per cent foreign-born whites, making a total of over 22 per cent of the population who are racially and socially different from the native-bom whites...

...Bulgaria by Bulgarians, Turks, Rumanians, Greeks, Jews and other nationalities...

...The British opium industry id India also supplies the drug to other British colonies in the East, the Straits Settlements,1 the Federated 'and other Malay states, British North Borneo, Sarawak, Brunei, Mauritius, Hongkong urd Irak...

...In 1922 a special Government committee reported that the opium industry "as an important source of income" must be "safeguarded...

...The Filipinos are not, therefore, savages and barbarians in Gee strings, as we are often pictured in America by prejudiced writers, but a people in which Occidental and Oriental civilisation has been happily blended...

...Sze, Chinese delegate, he permitted himself a departure from customary t iplomatic practice, and, paraphrasing Bret Harte, he said: "I with to remark that for wayt which ara dark and trickt that are vain, tho first conference it peculiar...

...General Merrit on hit arrival in Paris in October, 1898, said: "The Filipinot have impressed Vne favorably...

...The Inhabitants of these It-lands were by we meant savages, entirely unreclaimed front barbarism before the Spanish advoat la the tiateeath century...

...They are homogeneout...

...Through the efforts of Great Britain, France, Portugal and Holland, the opium suppression conference has busied itsel* with working out a convention which will continue to legalize the huge opium traffic and its immerse return, in money and imperialist influence...

...This is t vast deal more than can be said of many independent countries or even of the United States...

...In 1885 Britain forced Siam to sign a treaty forbidding the latter to tax opium imported from India...

...The ten-year period has elapsed, yet the British-Chinese opium butiness is as brisk as ever...

...The notorious opium war followed Ry 1900, 15,000,000 Chinese had be*m enslaved/ by the drug hoot...

...The Netherlands, East Indies, chief of which are Java, Si matra and the western part of Borneo, with 733,000 square miles and 49,000,-000 population, reap the benefits of tho civilizing influence of the white man to such an extent that they pay Holland, in return, 11 per cent, of its total revenue on the opium trade...

...Czecho-Slovakia by Slovaks and others...

...Ferdinand Blumen-tritt, aa Austrian professor...

...The enthusiastic and almost unanimous response given by the Filipinos whan asked to contribute to a new independence fund, after Governor General Wood and Insular Auditor Wright had placed a ban on the regular appropriation for this purpose...

...In 1922, India manufactured approximately 1,450 tons of opium, the largest quantity produced in any single country, with the possible exception of China where statistics is largely a matter of guess-work...

...Holland stands next to Britain...

...Dr...

...Moat of America's opium come* from Persia, a little from China...

...All historians agrea, including Professor »iyer, who was employed by the ood-Forbes Mission as technical adviser, that the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands, before the Spaniards came, had a well-defined civilization, lived In planned houses, had a system of government, maintained a system of jurisprudence and practised the arts familiar to the most advanced peoples of their times...

...Without belittling her work in the Philippines during the last quarter of a century, her achievements would never have been possible if she had not found in the Islands a fertile soil in which to plant...