Speech #720006743

We value freedom more than tariff protection. We. of course. object most strenuously to the imposition of duty on the products of the Philippine Islands while they are retained under.the American flag and while all American products enter the Philippine market free of duty and without limit. I desire to invite attention to the fact that the solving of the Philippine problem would be an effective means of partially bringing relief to American labor and solve once for all the question of immigration from the Philippines to the United States without resorting to the obnoxious proposals of effecting Filipino exclusion and Filipino restriction while the Philippines remains under the United States. The Philippine problem. furthermore. is not only intimately linked with the problem. of the tariff. the problem of American agriculture. and with your problems of labor and immigration. but it is very vitally related to the problem of unemployment. By turning us loose this country could save from one source the amount of four to ten million dollars annually. an amount which would go a long way toward relieving unemployment in this country. The Secretary of War has admitted a saving of over $4.000.000 a year for military garrisons should the Philippines be granted independence.