Pueblo chieftain., 1921-12-28
BY Frederic ]. Haskin.

by fTeueTlc y. iiuskill
Washington. d. c., Dec, 25.-The doc
trine that prolific people, living in
crowded country must have some place
to which its surplus population can
go. is one which has been put forward
repeatedly by aggressive and growing
nations and which has always attract
ed. n certain amount of popular sympa-
thy.
This doctrine of irrepressible expan-
sion was put forward by Germany be-
fore tho great war and it was synpa-
theticaliy received, especially in this
country, Tho same claim to nceu
for more room Is now put forward con-
stantly by the Japanese as a reaso"
why they should be given either more
land in Asia or immigration rights IN
America and Oceania.
That this doctrine is wholly unsound
seems to be agreed by all serious stu
dents of the matter. In fact. its un-
soundness probab bly, is generally recoG-
nized by those who put it forward, as
well. Its value Is simply that it is n
plausible sophistry which always has
its effect with the ignorant public.
The fact with hegard to population Is
that il tends to increase as fast as tne
food supply allows. When the food sup
ply no longer permits OF much increase
in n given country, the Increase auto
matically stops. on the other hand in
sparsoly populated regions the increase
is always rapid. In other words any
people will expand indefinitely II given
enough land in a suitable climate. nu,
1t Is hard to see why one nation should
have more right to such indefinite ex-
pansion than another Thus Holland
and Belgium have long been the mos.
thickly settled countries in Europe ana
among the most thickly settled in the
world. But we do not hear from those
nations demand that they be given
another continent or two to populate.
They are not strong cough to make
such demand. Instead, these peoples
have stayed within their boundaries:
and their populations, having reached
tho saturation point. have ceased 10
JAPAN's POPULATION
In point of fact. the very same phe-
nomenon has been observed In Japan
in whose behalf the irrepressibie ex-
pansion doctrine is now generally put
forward. In the past 25 years Japan
has expanded her territory about 40
per cent by tho annexation OF Korea.
Formosa and southern Saghaltn. Dur
ing the first 20 of these % years the
Japanese population increased rapio-
fly. For the past ; years tho Increase
has been very small. In 1920 IL was only
about one-half OF one per cent. What
does this mean? Simply that the Japan
csc population increased as much as It's
Increased land area justified. and then
As matter of fact. Japan has much
land within her present boundaries
which is not used. All OF northern ia
pan is thlnly populated. Tho reason for
this Is that the japanese do not ike
n cold climate.
,fapan annexed Korea under tho pre-
text that her irrepressihic expansion
OF population made 1t necessary. As
matter Of fact, Korea already pro-
duces barely enough food for its ma
tive population
Japan ha. gained a powerful hold on
Manchuria for the same alleged rea-
son. There Is land to spare in Man
churia, but the Japanese arc not max
ling much use OF 81. Since 1908 when
Japan first gained her present position
| In Manchuria ahou, 100000 Jara ~ nc.n &c
have gone there. but only about 10000
remained ir 1890. lu word. the Japan ,
Csc population har refused To cNp'n"
| irrcprcss!bly In that direction. inc
I reason Is again that the climate Is 100
cold to suit the japanese. and In ad-
ditlon. tho fact that the Chinese ana
Koreans both are able TO ''undcrcut
the Japanese in labor by their lower
standards Of living. in exactly the same
way that tho Ja;>nosc are am" 10 un-
dcrcut Americans in California.
| Thus Japan's claim to an irreprcssf-
bic expansion Is rcfutcd in two ways.
In the first place. her population II
really Increasing very littlc. In INC
second place, none Of the territory she
has seized. or obtained hold % ny
concession or lease. has actually been
used to any considerable extent as an
outlet for surplus population. u APP
pears then. that the irrcprossiplc cS-
pansion doctrine has been used with
regard to these Asiatic countries as q
cloak for Japan's economic Imperial
ltsm-i @ her desire TO exploit them
lcommcrcialiv and to strengthen her
military and naval position by her con-
troll over them.
Japan'2 claim for the right for Japan
osa 10 emigrate to America has also
generally been based on tho irrcpres'
l,ibic expansion idea. Since thcrc * n'
llrrcrrcssibic expansion OF japanese
lpopulnt!on. n falls to tho ground ir
this case. too. There IL no doubt but
that japanese would come to this coun'
TRY In largo numbers II allowed to Dc
so however. The climate Of Califor,
MIA sults them. in the first place. and
lin tho second place. IL ir easy for then
Ito make money there by reason Of theii
ability to undercut the Americans II
way Of living.
THE HIDDEN MOTIVE
Tho irroprcssihlc expansion doctrine
In examined with regard TO any coun
try. seems always to he n cloak fo
economic 1mpcrialism-for tho desire e