Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

FIRST PLENARY SESSION

27

such a serious case, as the Philippine independence would necessarily occupy some time; that Congress is a body which proceeds
very slowly; that if it were true that the American public
opinion has reached to a certain point, it would be hard to
foretell the immediate influence on the natural inertia of Congress; that the international relations of the United States are
not probably in a position to make it convenient for the
country to abandon her control over the Philippines; that the
administration has not yet expressed any opinion in favor of
King Bill; that there were many urgent questions of national
interest for America which were pending action in Congress
as the tariff, appropriations, prohibition, railroad matters, the
consolidation of public utility and others; that the activity
itself of economic interests from the standpoint of egotists
might provoke an unfavorable reaction in public opinion taking
into consideration that the deciding factor in the solution of
the great questions in America radiates not in egoistic interests
but in altruism in good faith, in the spirit of liberality and
justice of the American citizens.
I keep believing, however, that the actual moment is one
of the most propitious which we have ever had in order to work
for independence. The same reactionary agitation, which
surged as a contradictory policy almost immediately after we
had been assured by the late President Harding that there would
be no back steps in Philippine politics has prepared the path
to the independence which we are looking for. One of the
most current fears expressed after Wilson's fall was that there
might come a perfidy of political reaction and that probably
the promise of independence would be inclusively withdrawn.
I believe that the country can congratulate itself for the happy
results of its campaigns against such sinister tendencies. Our
campaigns have put into proofs, on one side, our country's
decision to always march forward and never backward, looking
for its complete freedom without renouncing a bit of its conquered privileges, and on the other side, the American spirit
of justice in refusing to withdraw the concessions and plighted
words. The Philippine Autonomy cannot be a toy of whimsical interpretations. It is a real deed. It is a part of our life