Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

298 INDEPENDENCE CONGRESS PROCEEDINGS

tivation, and at least 2,000,000 hectares could be profitably
brought under cultivation. With intensive cultivation, the
application of agricultural science for the production of more
varieties of crops, and the use of mechanical contrivances to
irrigate the mountain slopes and of fertilization, it is estimated
by Dr. Nitobe that Japan can support a very much larger population than her present one.
The recent movement for industrialization, which is an attempt to provide work for the increasing population of Japan
and to stem the tide of emigration to foreign countries from
which they have been discourteously excluded, precludes also
the threat of a population menace from Japan. The present
industrialization movement which was been marked by great
advances in mass production with the aid of very little machinery calls for the fullest and most intensive use of its native
laborers. Industrial magnates, in spite of the higher wages
paid in Japan than those paid in either China or the Philippines, have not found it profitable to import indentured Chinese labor, but have preferred to use Japanese labor, not only
for economic purposes, but also for patriotic ones. The resulting demand for labor with which to carry on her industries
requires that the growing population should be made to stay.
India's population of 300,000,000, is more than the country
can support. Coupled with the poverty and political insecurity in India, Hindu immigration into the Philippines may
seem inevitable. There are, however, certain social conditions
which would prevent any form of mass migration of the Hindus
into these Islands. The village system of living and the strong
family solidarity because of the dependence of the offspring
upon their elders, and vice versa, would prevent mass migration.
They lack the independent spirit and the desire for adventure
with which the Europeans who settled in America were imbued. Furthermore, the Philippines does not possess the interest for the Hindu that the United States possessed for the
Europeans. It is true that the golden romance and the expectation of exploiting our natural resources have been prominent
in the literature on the Philippines, but these are mere possibilities. To the Hindu who lacks the adventurous spirit