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May 6, 1936

Visited Director Camus of the Bureau of Plant Industry. He is a relative of Judge Camus who was present. This director is a fine example of the energetic, clean, highly educated public servant. The poor chap was zealous to show se his whole industrial plant in the short time at our disposal, which was interesting but exhausting. My seeking him was to ascertain whether there is any “overlapping” with the Bureau of Science; as, indeed, there turned out to be in the work of soil analysis, and probably in other botanical and agricultural enterprises. He said Quezon and Murphy had been there. The latter allowed him 10,000 pesos for a house to install his looms, and he put it up in twenty-five days to get the whole appropriation before the end of the year. He also makes cotton yarns of Philippines cotton, with old second-hand machinery. His purpose is to show the people that their cotton will find a market. He asserts that he could also make of hemp all the sugar and copra bags needed in the Philippines, and better than those made from imported Indian jute. He is also perfecting a process of manufacturing coir.

In p.m. bridge here for Guevara, Banqui and Nazario. I asked Pedro Guevara about his successor Resident Commissioner Paredes. Guevara replied that Paredes didn’t understand American Congressional psychology; said he (Guevara), without any speeches, got thru the authorization for the payment of the $23,000,000 “depreciation of gold” deposits of the Philippines at the end of a session of Congress, and even Senator Adams stood by him. Now Paredes is getting nowhere with all his speeches and public statements. Guevara also predicted the election of Landon (if nominated) over F. D. Roosevelt. Said organized business would defeat the latter. If elected, he thought, Landon and the Republicans would come out for a permanent dominion status for the Philippines and that there would never be complete independence here. Although this is exactly what Guevara himself has been working for he said he was in favour of F. D. Roosevelt because the latter was “good for the Philippines.” Also he had advocated selecting me as High Commissioner. Said when I was here it was all “like one happy family, and none of that anti-American feeling which is now growing up.”