The Rock Island Argus and daily union., 1921-12-30
Frederick Haskin's Letter
Irrepressible Expansion.

: the climate is TOO cold to suit -.
japanese, and in addition. the "a.
that the Chinese and Koreans No.
are able to "undercut" the lam,
ese in labor by their lower stan
ards of living, in exactly the So
! way that the Japanese are akie y
! undercut Americans in Californis
Thus Japan's claim to an i'm
pressible expansion is refuted Z,
two ways. In the first place has
population is really increaslS.
very little. In the Second pIacs
none of the territory she has ST.
ed, or obtained a hold on bv CO..
cession or lease, has actually bssn
used to any considerable extern =
an outlet for surplus popula9ion
It appears then that the irreDros
sfble expansion doctrine has bse,
used with regard to these Asiatic
countries as a cloak for JaDan,s
economic Imperialism. e.. her ds-
sire to explicit them commercials
and to strengthen her military ana
naval position by her control over
them.
Jepan's claim for the right for
Japanese to emigrate TO Americs
has also generally been based on
the irrepressible expansion idea
Since there is no irrepressible py.
pansion of Japanese population (,
falls to the ground in this case
too There is no doubt but that
Japanese would come to this coun.
try in large numbers if allowed Ia
do so, however. The climate of
California suits them, in the first
place, and in the second place h
is easy for them to make money
there by reason of their ability Ia
undercut the Americans in way Of
living.
The Hidden Motive.
The irrepressible expansion doe
trine, il examined with regard to
any country, seems always to he
a cloak for economic imperialism
for the desire to exploit some 9th
er country in a commercial wa
This, in fact, is the whole motive
Of the international drama, the
cause Of war,
In all of the principal countries
the maker or producer of goods
Is paid less than what he produces
IS worth. The farmer who raises
a bushel of wheat is not paid as
much for it as that bushel is worth
in trade after it leaves his hands.
If seven operatives in shoe fac
tory between them make a pair Of
shoes worth seven dollars, they
are paid only about four. The re-
suit is that in all of the principal
countries there is
a constant tendency to pile I'D a
surplus of goods. Some of this IS
exchanged with other manufac-
turing countries, but manifestly
most of it cannot be so disposed
0f, because each of these countries
has also surplus. The result is
that the actual surplus of what
labor produces. over what labor
;an buy with its wages, must be
sold to some on-manufacturing
country where the industrial sys-
EN- does not exist, or at least is
lot so highly developed. Hence the
act that all nations compete fierce
y for markets in China. South
America, and all of the other "uH-
developed" countries. They must
lave these markets for their sur
'lus goods. The nation that does
lot get its share OF these markets
las a surplus of goods piled up on
IS hands. Then production stops,
here is unemployment, famine.
trikes, social unrest.
Every war is at bottom a strug-
lie between the principal manu-
acturing nations for special rights
n these surpIus-goods markets. and
or the supplies Of raw material
hey contain. War will stop auto
natically when the common man
efuses to fight for these markets,
which are made necessary largely
y his exploitation, and when he
earns how to check that exploita- z
ion by getting for his labor as
1uch as it is worth in goods pro-
need