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

71

Government. A great portion of the official funds is destined
to be used for the fostering of agriculture, for the construction
of water system that would insure the normal and abundant
harvest of our agricultural products, for the opening. of new
roads in order to improve our interinsular commerce. The
departments of Agriculture and that of the Commerce and
Industry, two official dependencies which are detailed to the
promotion of our agriculture and commerce, take a good portion of the funds which are annually appropriated by the
administration. These ordinary means cannot develop our
limitless natural resources in the proper way. Knowing this,
the Government, through the Legislature, has gone further and
has undertaken a paternalistic policy engaging itself in the exploitation of our natural resources where private capital is
timid, or is not available.
In a country like ours with only a very limited portion of
our resources under exploitation, with immense possibilities
for production, with abundant prime material for the development of various industries and the manufacture of products
which we now import from other proceedings, in a country
which we can say is practically in the initial period of its economic development, it seems clear that we adopt a policy of
protection to stimulate the few established industries and foster
the creation of new others.
The most practical and most effective method for gaining
worthy protection is to raise the tariff on imported articles
which are also produced and manufactured in the country.
Whoever is familiar with the economic history of the United
States, with the rapid and gigantic economic development of
that marvelous country, has to admit that the policy of intense
protectionism originated by its statesmen was the factor responsible to the great economic prestige which it now enjoys.
The present agitation against our products is inspired by an
elevated protectionism.
Under the well-understood policy of protectionism we should
encourage the establishment of a variety of industries. The
Philippines, though fundamentally agricultural, needs to produce
articles which because of the abundance of the prime material