Magpie and Martinet?

Secretary of War John Weeks kept the cables to Manila busy for several days trying to find what was causing a disturbance in the Philippines.

Roy Conley, formerly a soldier, was a Secret Service Agent in Manila. He set up a crusade against gambling and cock fighting. Then, whether or not as a consequence, he was accused of taking a bribe. Governor General Wood suspended him. Conley was tried three times before a Filipino judge and each time acquitted. Then Governor General Wood, believing in his innocence, reinstated him. But Conley resigned.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Manila and the Secretary of the Interior also resigned as a protest. Then Manuel Luis Quezon led the whole Filipino Cabinet into Governor Wood's office and they all resigned because they had not been consulted on Conley's reinstatement. Quezon declared that

General Wood had exceeded his authority. General Wood "begged to state" that "each and every" one of Quezon's declarations was without the slightest foundation in fact, and he accepted the resignation of the Cabinet. Then both sent cables to the War Department.

Of course the question of a secret service agent kept no one from his sleep. Quezon is a very clever politician. He issued a statement saying: "The masses understand that the issue revolves around certain fundamental principles of government..." It does. Under the Jones Act of 1916 the Philippines were promised independence when they achieved a stable government. They were given a legislature to make their own laws on nearly every subject, the United States Senate having a veto. The Governor General, appointed by the President, selects his own Cabinet which must be approved by the Philippine Senate.

Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmena carry the Philippine politics more or less in their political vest-pockets. Quezon is a Spanish-Filipino, fiery and magnetic Osmena a Chinese-Filipino,. coolheaded, sphinxlike.

Governor General Harrison (1913-1921), allowed the Filipinos great latitude and freedom in self-government. William Howard Taft, ex-Governor of the Philippines, denounced the latitude allowed by Harrison as unwise. General Wood has held to a stricter policy in treating the archipelago. Secretary of War Weeks does not believe that General Wood has exceeded his authority in the present case, however.

Emilio Aguinaldo, former revolutionary leader, called upon the people to " show equanimity, heeding nothing else but the dictates of peace and order."

Various people see various things behind the present controversy:

1) That General Wood as a martinet put the last straw on the camel's back.

2) That Quezon, a clever magpie of a politician, is executing a local political maneuver.

3) That General Wood's refusal to rescind penalties for delayed payment of taxes in regions devastated by locusts and typhoons has aroused the Filipinos to action.

4) That Quezon is using this case as a pretext for another drive for Philippine independence.

Meanwhile Quezon is planning to come to this country to protest to President Harding, and General Wood will appoint a temporary cabinet until the Legislature meets in the Fall.