cause this great issue, much as it [has been] seemingly unpleasant to the Brown [brothers] of yesteryears, only serves as a precursor to a more wholesome understanding and mutual respect to the rights of the two nations, thus creating an avenue to a closer and lasting friendship.
But the very thing of which we are more deeply concerned of is to find the very cause or the forces which brought the Filipinos to this country, for to treat the effect would be easy after finding the cause. Treating the effect alone will not help the situation.
The presence of the Filipinos in this country is the inevitable outcome of the by-product of the American sovereignty and its attendant political and cultural intercourse in the Philippines, which gave the Filipinos the right to come to this country in matters of reciprocity. American government is therefore the cause of the whole matter, of which she is directly responsible. Any attempt to remove the effect without removing the cause is both impractical and unscientific. To remove or exclude the Filipinos from this country without removing the American sovereignty from the Philippines is tantamount to downright imperialism and a radical departure from the sense of proportion. Indeed, it is a “contumely” to the high sense of fair play and justice—vaunted basic principles upon which the government stands. For America to seriously consider the proposition of driving the Filipinos out of this country will be analogous to the embarrassing position of the proverbial “cart before the horse.” May we ask the Native Sons of California, the Nevada-California Veterans of the Foreign Wars, and the State Legislature to apply the “Golden Rule” by adopting a resolution urging the Congress of the United States to give back to the Native Sons of the Philippines their freedom? If this could be done, then we’re only more than willing to pack our blankets and go home. 4
1 Filipino Students' Magazine, July, 1906.
2 Helen Rillera, "The Filipina in Filipino Society," The Philippines Mail, Aug. 13, 1934.
3 Helen Rillera, "Ambition in the Filipina," The Philippines Mail, Feb. 4, 1935. Thanks to Rillera's daughter, Lala Lacuna for a copy of this essay.
4"Filipino Exclusion – Putting the Cart Before the Horse" (editorial), The Three Stars, June, 1929.