Marianas: The ‘other’ Micronesia
pp. 17-18 · Read in the full issue
‘other’ Micronesia
It is not surprising that one as sociates the term “Micronesia” these days with the island gov ernments on the road to free association: Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States
of Micronesia have dominated the news in recent months.
But tucked away in the north west comer of the Trust Territory is the Northern Marianas which stretch from Rota in the south to
Farallon de Pajaros in the north.
The group, and its approxi mately 17,000 inhabitants, are something of a political anoma ly. They are unabashedly pro- American, so much so that one of the hot issues there has been whether local residents can soon become officers in the United States military.
At present, Northern Marianas residents are eligible to serve in the enlisted ranks. But until the
group achieves “full” U.S. com monwealth status that is, when the trusteeship is ter minated the highest rank a young man or woman from those islands could hope to achieve is sergeant.
It is an indication of how seriously the United States wants to keep the soon-to-be Common wealth happy that efforts are underway to find the means to open commissioned ranks.
Notes from the North Floyd K. Takeuchi on Micronesia
Such is the irony of the situa tion, however, that if and when such an option is available, it is uncertain whether many would
even qualify.
The U.S. Army maintains a small reserve contingent on Saipan. While there has been considerable interest by young men and women in wearing the
Army green, many applicants
have failed the entrance exami nation. Thus, it is hard to see how many would make the even more difficult cut for the officer corps.
Still, like their cultural cousins to the south on Guam, which has been a U.S. territory since 1898, the Northern Marianas islanders can be expected to contribute significantly to the American armed forces in the coming years.
What will also be interesting to watch is the political matura tion of the Commonwealth, par ticularly as it relates to Guam.
In the 19605, Guamanians in a
plebiscite resoundingly rejected
any formal political association with the Northern Marianas. If a similar vote was held today, it is likely Guamanians would eager ly seek unification of some kind.
That is so because Guama nians are envious of the lucra tive, and more flexible, relation ship the Northern Marianas has been able to work out with
Washington.
However, if the islanders to the north were asked today if they would accept unification with Guam, they would undoub tedly say “no” by a large margin.
In the 19605, they would prob ably have said yes.
This difference of opinion will not be a serious problem for some time. Guamanians may eventually get around to agreeing on what new political status they’d like to pursue, although it seems clear any such relationship would include continued close ties to the United States. In the Northern Marianas, it will be some time before politics there will be able to get beyond its present internecine character.
But eventually, perhaps by the
end of this century, both groups and the United States may be ready to look long and hard at the question of unification.
For one thing, it probably will seem nonsensical to members of the U.S. Congress that two ex
pensive bureaucracies are being
maintained with federal dollars in political entities of the same cultural background and with people who speak the same
language.
For another, should Washing ton develop a significant military presence in the Northern Marianas a possibility that
today seems quite remote
there may be pressure from the Pentagon to consolidate the gov ernments to make operations easier.
If present economic patterns continue, it seems likely there will be active trade relations bet ween Guam and the Northern
Marianas. Certainly, if tourism continues to be the major non
governmental income producer,
there could be pressure by business executives to consoli date the bureaucracies to increase
efficiency.
And the same could be said for other sectors of the economy:
agriculture, mariculture and light
industry, should that become a reality in either or both groups.
The major stumbling block to unification is Guam’s larger population, now about 100,000.
Unless a formula was devised to protect the Northern Marianas from demographic domination, talk of political consolidation is going to remain just that.
But there is reason to believe some way can be fashioned to
bring the two together.
The constitution of the North ern Marianas, for instance, es tablishes a bi-cameral legisla ture. The lower house is based on population, but the upper cham ber is composed of representa tives from islands with no direct relationship to the number of voters.
In addition, each populated island other than Saipan, where the vast majority live, is guaran teed a certain percentage of
funding.
It is not inconceivable to im agine a similar arrangement ap plying to Guam and the Northern Marianas.
Still, in the end, any such decision is not necessarily going to be made on purely rational grounds. It seems few political decisions in Micronesia are.
Rather, the success of the Commonwealth will be a major factor in determining how eager ly islanders in the north would consider unification, as well as how anxious Guamanians may be to link up with them.
Another factor will probably be where the capital of any feder ation would be located. Again, the rational approach would have Agana in Guam serve the pur pose. But for those who have lived on Saipan and Guam, it would be a most difficult deci sion given the former’s stunning beauty and more agreeable character.
But that is for future genera tions to decide.
At the moment, leaders on
Saipan would do nearly anything
to hasten the demise of the trus teeship. The longer that anac hronistic administration is in place, the longer it will be before they can enjoy what they voted for nearly a decade ago: full Commonwealth status and
American citizenship.
Floyd
K. Takeuchi.
Park in Saipan: “The stunning beauty and more agreeable character” of Saipan are accepted by those who have lived there and in Guam, writes Floyd K. Takeuchi.
Rota, the most southerly island of the Northern Marianas, is just north of Guam. Unification of Guam and the Northern Marianas would be complex, but not inconceivable.