75-12-B1
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Mariana Islands
TranscriptThe islanders said Yankee don't go home when they went to the ballot box, so the Stars and Stripes are staying for keeps. I'll be right back. When World War II ended in the Pacific, the United States was given a huge expanse of ocean, three million square miles of it, to administer under trusteeship by the United Nations. This Trust Territory of the Pacific, as it is called, consists of more than two thousand islands and coral atolls divided into six districts. Now nearly thirty years later, five of the districts aren't sure whether they want to be independent in the future or maintain a loose federation with the United States, but the sixth district, the Mariana Islands, has decided its future. Resoundingly last month its citizens voted better than three to one to join the United States as a commonwealth. Though the population of the Marianas is small, only fourteen thousand, the people make up an enthusiasm for the United States what they lack in numbers. Some 85% of the eligible voters turned out for the plebiscite which was internationally supervised by representatives from Australia, France and Britain, acting for the United Nations. The decision of the voters has important national defense implications for the United States and will bring a favorable economic impact to all the people of the islands. Laying north of Guam, the Marianas saw some of the heaviest fighting of the war in the Pacific especially at Saipan and Tinian. Under the new commonwealth agreement, the Marianas will enjoy a status similar to that of Puerto Rico. The islanders will have most of the rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship, though like the Puerto Ricans they won't be voting in presidential elections or be electing representatives to Congress. The commonwealth agreement gives the United States the right to lease about 18,000 acres on the islands, most of it on Tinian for a major new military base, thus the Marianas along with Guam will become our principal line of defense in the western Pacific. 14 million dollars a year in aid for seven years will go to the Marianas too, this amounts to about a thousand dollars a year for every islander and most consider the aid package a generous one it. Coupled with a booming tourist trade from Japan should give the islanders a much better standard of living than ever before. Even the islanders who voted against joining the United States didn't really seem opposed to the commonwealth idea, only the size of the aid package. Most however are jubilant about the outcome and anxiously await the completion of Congressional action on the agreement. One islander summed it up when he said, "We're really on our feet we don't want to lose it under an unstable Micronesian government." Perhaps some U.S. mainlanders will want to celebrate the bicentennial by vacationing out there in the blue Pacific among these newest Americans 5.000 miles west of San Francisco. It might be a nice way of saying thanks for joining us. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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