And these Filipino people. with the aid and the tutelage of the American people who have had the experience of upwards of a century and a half in selfgovernment. will be in better position even than they were. The Filipino people are prepared now to take on the responsibilities of selfgovernment. and surely they can be prepared by July 4. 1933. which is an appropriate time for them to take .up their independence. A very important part of this bill for Philippine independence is the provision that Filipinos shall be excluded from immigration to the United States. I am not for Philippine independence merely for the purpose of excluding immigrants from the Philippine Islands. but I do believe that exclusion is vitally important to our welfare in the United States. The Filipinos take no offense at independence coupled with exclusion. because they are fairminded enough to concede that after they are liberated they should have no preferences over the Japanese. the Chinese. and other Asiatic peoples. who. under our laws. are ineligible for American citizenship. and who for that reason are excluded from immigration to the United States. Why should we not give independence to the Philippine Islands? When our country took them over in 1898 it was with the express understanding that we were doing so for the good of the Filipinos themselves. and in order to help them and tutor them in a freedom and a selfgovernment which we had successfully maintained but which they were not yet .fully qualified to enjoy.
Keywords matched
Asiatic immigration immigrants