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.

ECONOMIC SECTION

39

a country with such an unlimited supply of fertile lands. Then,
it becomes the duty of the inhabitants to take hold of a piece
of that land and cultivate it. Land is the source of economic
power, and the people controlling it occupy a strategic position
in any economic struggle. The Filipinos, therefore, made no
mistake in concentrating their early efforts on the acquisition
and the control of their own lands.
With changed economic conditions calling for more Filipinos in business, there is a reassessment of our social values.
Our contact with America has had two effects on our social
valuation. First, in the early days of that contact, the appeal
to able and ambitious Filipinos was to prepare themselves for
participation in the government. That appeal met with a
ready response, and soon there were not enough offices in the
government for all those prepared for the public service. In
recent years, the appeal has been for the able Filipinos to enter
the field of business. In the light of their ability to adapt
themselves to a changing social environment, Filipinos can be
expected to succeed in this new activity. Already there are
evidences to prove that as in all the other activities which they
entered in the past, Filipinos are on the way to the mastery
of their own business life.
The next paper read was that of the Honorable
Miguel Unson, Secretary of Finance. His paper
follows:
THE POSSIBLE BUDGET OF THE FUTURE
PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC
By THE HON. MIGUEL UNSON,
Secretary, Department of Finance
WThen the Executive Secretary of the Independence Congress
invited me to speak on the "Possible Budget of the Future Philippine Republic," my first impulse was to decline the honor, as
I feared that my official duties would not leave me sufficient
time to study and consider this complex subject with the care
and attention that its great importance exacts. I realized, how