811B.01/640

The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of War (Stimson)

WASHINGTON, February 28, 1944.

MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: The receipt is acknowledged of your Department's letter of February 20, 1944, in which you state that the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with the approval of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy, have designated the War Department as the agency to plan for the administration of civil affairs in the Philippines during the initial military period, and that it is desirable to coordinate the activities of civilian agencies engaged in planning and making preparation for the return of United States forces to the Philippines with the plans to that end of the military authorities. You propose that an ad hoc committee be formed composed of representatives of the Secretaries of State, War, Navy and Interior, respectively, and of the Foreign Economic Administration and you request, if the Department of State approves of the proposal, that a representative thereof be appointed.

I approve of the formation of an ad hoc committee as above outlined and have appointed as this Department's representative Mr. James C. Dunn, Director of the Office of European Affairs, with Mr. Frank P. Lockhart, Chief of the Division of Philippine Affairs, as alternate.

Sincerely yours,

EDWARD R. STETTINIUS, JR.

811B.01/642

Memorandum Prepared in the Department of State

8

President Quezon's letter under reference proposes an amendment to S. J. Resolution 93, now pending in the House of Representatives, which would add an additional section expressly stating that nothing in the joint resolution should be construed to authorize the postponement of Philippine independence beyond July 4, 1946.

There would appear to be some question whether the joint resolution which was approved by the President on November 12, 1943 [Public Law 186, 78th Congress] 10 has any effect upon those provisions of the Tydings-McDuffie Act of March 24, 1934, as amended, which provide for the granting of independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946.

'Not printed.

Sent on March 9, 1944, to Chairman C. Jasper Bell of the House Committee on Insular Affairs.

Dated January 12 to Congressman Bell, not printed; copy sent to the Secretary of State by Mr. Bell with his letter of March 1 (not printed).

10 Brackets appear in the original.

If the Act of November 12, 1943 does not affect the independence provisions of the Act of March 24, 1934, it would seem that a somewhat embarrassing question might well arise in the event that the conditions envisaged in the Act of November 12, 1943 (which would appear clearly to include expulsion of the Japanese from the Philippine Islands) should not have developed prior to July 4, 1946. Should the Japanese still be in occupation of the Philippines at that time, it would appear that we might be faced with formal independence of the Philippines (and consequent dissolution of the Commonwealth Government) while at the same time pursuant to legislative enactment by the Government of the United States the present President and Vice President of the Commonwealth would be continued in their respective offices. If, on the other hand, it should be determined that the Act of November 12, 1943 does modify the date of independence as specified by the Act of March 24, 1934, then the proposed amendment to S. J. Resolution 93 might not accomplish its purpose unless it specifically reaffirmed the date fixed in the Act of March 24, 1934 regardless of all other existing legislation.

A further question of interpretation would appear to be raised by the present form of S. J. Resolution 93. Section 1 declares it to be the policy of the Congress that the United States should establish the complete independence of the Philippines after having driven the Japanese from the Islands. Section 3, however, expressly authorized the President to advance the date of the independence in order to effectuate the policy declared in Section 1. With or without the amendment proposed in its present form by President Quezon there would seem to be serious question whether S. J. Resolution 93 would, if enacted, authorize postponement after July 4, 1946, in the event that the Islands have not been reoccupied by American forces prior to that date. If it does not, an amendment of the kind proposed by President Quezon would appear to be unnecessary, except perhaps in connection with the questions raised in the preceding paragraph. (2) It would seem that apart from questions of interpretation referred to above there are serious questions of policy. It is not believed that American public opinion would support any policy which would place the United States Government in the position of formally granting independence to the Philippines while they remained under Japanese occupation. Such a situation would be adverse to our broad national interests in the Far East as well as in the Philippines themselves and would contribute in no way to the benefit and welfare of the Filipino people. Furthermore, our action would probably be widely interpreted as abandoning the Philippines in their hour of peril. It would, as indicated above, raise serious questions as to the legal status of any group outside the Islands which might

claim to be the lawful Government of the Philippines and it would at the same time strengthen the hold of any group of puppet officials who might, at the time independence is granted, be functioning in the Philippines under Japanese sponsorship.

(3) It is suggested that for the present it would be advisable not to complicate the Philippine question further by adopting the amendment requested by President Quezon. It is impossible at this time to predict with certainty whether or not our forces will have reoccupied the Philippines by July 4, 1946 and it seems doubtful whether public discussion at this time of that question would be in the national interests. Expressly to reaffirm the provisions of the Tydings-McDuffie Act might, for reasons indicated above, result in unfortunate consequences to correct which would require further legislation before July 4, 1946. The possibility that such further action might have to be taken would seem to militate against the desirability of reaffirming ing the July 4, 1946 date at this time."

811B.01/643

The Secretary of State to the Philippine Resident Commissioner to the United States (Elizalde)

WASHINGTON, March 24, 1944. MY DEAR MR. ELIZALDE: Reference is made to Mr. Stettinius' letter of February 29, in reply to your letter of February 24, 1944,12 regarding a proposal to establish an Office of Exterior Relations and National Economy as a part of the Commonwealth Government and referring to other matters associated with that proposal.

The Department is not unmindful of the desirability of having within the Commonwealth Government a regularly organized and smoothly functioning department which would deal adequately with many of the matters to which reference is made in your letter of February 9 to President Quezon.13 In that connection the Department has assumed that President Quezon would not wish, in advance of the complete independence of the Philippines as pledged in the Act of March 24, 1934, to take any step which would nullify the right of this Government, when and where the need arises, to act on behalf of the Commonwealth Government and all matters concerning its foreign relations. Reference to Section 2, paragraph 10, of the above mentioned Act will show that it was the clear intent of

11 Legislation authorizing the President of the United States to advance the date of Philippine independence was enacted as Public Law 380, approved June 29, 1944; 58 Stat. 625.

12 Neither printed.

18 Not printed; copy transmitted to the Department with letter of February 24.

the Congress that the foreign relations of the Commonwealth Government should be under the direct supervision and control of the Government of the United States until such time as the Philippines become free and independent. In view of this condition and notwithstanding the Philippines even now possess many of the attributes of an independent state, the Department does not feel that it would be free to acquiesce at this time in the establishment of any department, bureau or office in the Commonwealth Government possessing functions which would permit it directly to conduct relations of a diplomatic character with foreign governments in a capacity such as is customarily vested in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With the understanding, therefore, that jurisdiction in such matters would remain, as at present prescribed by act of Congress, with the Government of the United States until full independence is granted to the Philippines, the Department would certainly offer no objection if President Quezon should establish a bureau or office in the Commonwealth Government designed to work specifically along the lines described in the second and third paragraphs of page three of your letter of February 9 to President Quezon, namely, to make a thorough study of trade treaties and their possibilities with respect to the Philippines, to make plans for the organization of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of a Foreign Service to function when the Philippines become independent, to effect a better liaison between the Commonwealth Government and the Department of State, to effect a method of exchanging information between the Commonwealth Government and the Department of State on Pacific affairs and on all subjects of actual or possible concern to the Philippines, and to effect coordination in all matters relating to special studies and special researches undertaken to promote the mutual interests of the two gov

I am sure that a bureau or office created to deal exclusively with such matters would be of the greatest benefit to the Commonwealth Government pending the granting of full independence.

With reference to the training of a limited number of pensionados, as mentioned in President Quezon's letter to you of February 16, 1944,14 the Department is prepared to offer facilities for training in diplomatic and consular work to a few especially selected young men whom the Commonwealth Government might recommend for that purpose. It would be expected that no young man would be recommended for this training who had not, in advance of his appointment, been given a deferred status by the Selective Service System for a cause satisfactory to the Department. If the Commonwealth Government should decide to avail itself of this offer, the details of the

14 Not printed; copy transmitted to the Department with Mr. Elizalde's letter of February 24.

arrangement could be worked out at a later date between representatives of the Commonwealth Government and of the Department of State. It would scarcely be possible to afford facilities, initially, for more than ten or twelve pensionados, but it might be possible to increase this number later if so desired by the Commonwealth Government and if in practice it is found that the plan is feasible.

This letter is intended to be an acceptance in principle of the suggestion looking to the training of a limited number of pensionados in the manner described above. To the end that arrangements may be concluded with as little delay as possible the Department is prepared to designate a representative, or representatives, to confer with one or more representatives of the Commonwealth Government at such time as may be mutually agreed upon to devise a plan which will make available to the appointees a broad and useful training program. The Department stands ready to lend its fullest cooperation in this matter in every feasible way.15

Sincerely yours,

CORDELL HULL

811B.00/10-1044

Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Philippine Affairs (Lockhart) to the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Grew) and the Deputy Director of that Office (Ballantine)

[WASHINGTON,] October 10, 1944.

The most important recent development in Philippine affairs is the departure about a week ago of President Osmeña,16 accompanied by Colonel Romulo, Philippine Resident Commissioner to the United States," and other Filipinos of cabinet rank, for the Philippines via

15 On December 29, 1944, the Chief of the Division of Philippine Affairs sent to the Philippine Secretary of Finance at Washington (Hernandez) an "informal and unofficial" memorandum entitled "Preparations for the Handling of the Future Foreign Affairs of the Philippine Republic" (811B.021/12-2944). No copy of this memorandum has been found in Department files. The transmitting letter cited an earlier memorandum handed to President Quezon by Francis B. Sayre, United States High Commissioner to the Philippines, at an undisclosed date. This memorandum, of identical title, not printed, was prepared in the Office of Philippine Affairs on June 4, 1940, and transmitted by the Secretary of State to the High Commissioner on June 11, 1940 (811B.01/450a).

16

Sergio Osmeña became President following the death of President Quezon on August 1 at Lake Saranac. In a letter to Mr. Osmeña on August 2, Acting Secretary of State Stettinius stated that officers of the Department stood ready to render him "all appropriate assistance" and gave assurances "that it is the purpose of this Government for its part to see that the happy and mutually helpful relations which have so long subsisted between the peoples of the United States and the Philippines will continue during the present period of transition and under the independent government which the Congress has authorized." (811B.001 Osmeña, Sergio/8-244) For text of the Acting Secretary's statement on the death of President Quezon, released on August 1, see Department of State Bulletin, August 6, 1944, p. 134.

17 Col. Carlos P. Romulo became Resident Commissioner on August 10.

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