0ne hears conflicting statements today about the capacity
of the Philippines to support continued population
growth at its present rate of more than three per cent
a year.
In a recent lecture at Xavier University, an eminent agricultural
economist, well known for his aggressively optimistic
views on world capacity to support many times its present population,
attacked the opinion that the Philippines must soon
cut its rate of population growth. The opinion that living atapdards
will deteriorate if present population growth continues
unchanged is erroneous, he stated. Further, he continued, a
successful program of birth restriction at this time will harm
rather than help the Philippine economy.
In answer to questions from the audience, however, this
authority, Dr. Colin Clark of Oxford University, made two
statements that raised serious doubts in the minds of some
about the soundness of his position. First, he admitted that
since births exceed deaths in the Philippines at present by
some three per oent a year, eventually the birth rate must be
brought into some kind of balance with the death rate. This,
of course, implies birth limitation. S