Philippine Forecasts

With the approach of the Congressional Session, there also approached Senor Manuel Roxas, Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives, who was on his way to the U. S. to tell the War Department and members of Congress why the Philippines should be made independent.

This young-looking Filipino holds the post which was vacated by the astute Sergio Osmena who preferred to sit in the Philippine Senate under his brother politician, Quezon. It may have been that Osmena foresaw unprofitable struggles with Governor General Wood, and preferred to avoid a position of open leadership. At any rate, Roxas was made Speaker of the House and side by side with President Quezon of the Senate has opposed General Wood. Now he comes to Washington for the thankless task of trying to convince the Administration that the Philippines should be made independent. The political prognosticators prophesied: " Rising winds, colder, with storms."

Hardly had Senor Roxas set sail for the U. S., however, when Manuel Quezon and Antonio de los Alas (who is acting as Speaker of the House, in Roxas' absence) agreed with General Wood on the appointment of officers to the National Coal Co. This was apparently a direct reversal of Quezon's policy of absolutely non-cooeperation which he and his Collectivist followers adopted. Reports came of a near-rapprochement between Quezon and Wood. " Ah," said the prophets, " Fair and warmer."

The next news was that General Wood, who had returned to Manila from Mindanao before setting out on a visit to Java, had vetoed a bill passed by the Legislature. This bill was to remit penalties for nonpayment of land taxes in 1923. Filipinos, like U. S. farmers, have suffered lately and are crying for aid --more however on account of crop losses than prices--but General Wood did not regard the situation as sufficiently serious to warrant abandonment of penalties for nonpayment of taxes. The Legislature is expected to rise in protest--the Governor having departed for Java. The weathermen shook their heads: " Cloudy, with more stormy weather in the offing."