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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 15, No. 11. June 26, 1952

Statistics Galore

Statistics Galore

Of the population of the world, about 3,000,000,000, over 50 per cent., about 1,400,000,000, lived in Asia. Eighty per cent of these people lived in China, India and Japan, and the affirmative would deal mainly with them. Their estimated population increase per year was fifteen million people; that is equal in three year to the total population of Great Britain! Although the death rate was extremely high there were over and above the death rate each year ten million more people to feed. During the opposition's two speeches 80 children would be born. As an afterthought he added—"through no fault of theirs." in China, with a population of five hundred million, there were an average of 1000 people to the square mile, Japan had an average of 3000! Furthermore there was no mechanisation to utilise fully land for food production.

Although the terms of the debate made birth-control only one solution it was essential to do something effective. To prevent the use of birth control, which was, on moral grounds, and to let things ripe "would be murder, plain and simple.'"

Michael Lennane asked could he present his side of the negative's case, such as it was, leaving the more conclusive (and more difficult) part to his colleague. If he could prove that education in birth control was not the essential solution to Asia's problems, his side would have won its case. He set about this task a little uncertainly, but was soon citing medical-experts with great confidence. First was Dr. De Castro, President of the United Nations World Food Production Board, who stated that of the world's 16 million acres of arable land, barely two million were being cultivated. Dr. F. J. McCann was cited as saying that contraception lead to lunacy. Since the American occupation of Japan, a comparatively well-educated country, over 200,000 Japanese had died praising it. Referring to the affirmative's views on morals, Mr. Lennane pointed out that there was a positive side to morals, which if it had been followed would prevent an insane policy of colonisation. Dr. Fisher; Archbishop of Canterbury, was quoted as [unclear: deploring] family planning. What Mrs. Sanger in America didn't realise about Asians in Asia was that they had a strong love of family. Dr. Mahatma Ghandi said that it would be impossible to change sacred beliefs of the Hindus within two generations—and that would be too late! The Chinese, even more conservative, would be even harder to change. The begetting of a family was the greatest, and at times the only pleasure of the poor peasants, to deprive them of it was no solution and would only cause friction. Far more positive would be American money and Australian food.

Marjorie Munro pointed out that the increased productivity called for by the negative side would mean increased mechanisation which would mean increased unemployment. And this disastrous productivity which meant also a higher standard of living and a lower birth rate was the only alternative to birth control.