811B.01/166
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
During the call of the Japanese Ambassador today he called my attention to three statements in my letter to Senator Bingham about the Philippines: first, that the Philippines had become a base for American influence—political, economic, and social—in the Far East. I said that that was so; that it had been proved in the last thirty years. The second statement was that withdrawal would be followed by the domination of the Islands by some other country, probably either China or Japan. I pointed out that already the Philippines were largely economically dominated by the Chinese and partly now by the Japanese. The Ambassador said that he knew that and if I meant economically, he understood the phrase. I said that was what I did mean. The third statement was about the present situation where I said that every element of stability was threatened by the state of affairs in the Far East. I pointed out that the letter was dated on February fifteenth and suggested that he remember the situation at Shanghai at that time. He said, yes, he remembered it.