561.35E1/50: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Bingham)
79. For Atherton: Department’s instruction No. 260 of February 21, 1934. On page 4 of basic instructions, Section I (c), regarding the Philippines, insert the following:
“This Government believes that the provisions of its sugar plan as embodied in the legislation now before the Congress will operate so as to assist the Philippines in bringing into equilibrium the production and marketing of Philippine sugar. Under Section 8 of this legislation, the taxes collected upon the processing continental United States of Philippine sugar may in the discretion of the President be used ‘for the benefit of agriculture, and/or paid as rental or benefit [Page 675] payments in connection with the reduction in the acreage or reduction in the production for market, or both, of sugar beets and/or sugarcane … through agreements with producers or by other voluntary methods.’
By means of this arrangement, this Government believes that the Philippine Government will be in a position to do its share towards bringing about world stabilization of the production and marketing of sugar. Philippine cooperation must be dependent, however, upon the cooperation of the other producing areas, particularly those embraced in the British Empire. Moreover, crop restrictions will work a far greater hardship in the case of the Philippines where the economy is based on the production of sugar than in that of the British producing areas in the Pacific (Australia, South Africa, and India), where sugar production is of secondary importance.
In recognition of this obstacle facing Philippine readjustment, and in view of the desire of the other producing countries to bring the Philippines into an international agreement, this Government desires you strongly to urge the granting to Philippine sugar of a certain share in the world market. If requested to name the amount of the share desired, you should use your own judgment, although this Government has in mind a figure of 200,000 long tons.
In case of adamant opposition, please refer to the Department for further instructions.
For the present there is a problem of surplus sugars, with regard to which this Government is prepared to support any agreement that is satisfactory both to the Philippines and to the other producing countries interested in this problem.”