Gaimusho Asked to Open Negotiations Tokyo, Sept. 2.
'The Navy, the Army' and other Government' departments interested in Japanese expansion in the South Pacific have decided to ask the Foreign Ofice to open negotiations with the Philippines and the Netherlands East Indies for relaxation of their restrictions on Japanese immigra: ton, according to oral reports.
This decision is said to have been reached at a series of conferences of officials of the Navy, War, Foreign. Overseas and Commerce "and In: dustry Ministries, which arrived at the conclusion that the Foreign Omiee has been too indifferent to the neces sity of expansion in the South Sens and should be asked to launch more vigorous policy in that direction. The eyes of Japan have long. been focussed on these regions outlets for its surplus population.
Primarly interested in the emigration question is the Overseas Ministry which is in charge of settling Japanese abroad, but without the cooperation of the Foreign Office nothing can be done so far as the Philippines and the Netherlands Indies are concerned, Entry of contract labourers into the Philippine Islands is prohibited under Article HE of the American Immigr lon Act of 1917, but as a matter of fact, a small number of such labourers from Japan have been permitted to. enter on condition that: they engage only in agriculture or commerce, In the Netherlands Indies, a quota system has been adepted for immigrants of various nationalities under the aliens' entry law. Under this system, Batavia admits annually a maximum of ten per cent, of the umber of immigrants of each nationality entering the islands annually for the ten years preceding 1033. This limits the number of immigrants from Japan to about 600 a year.
On November 1, 1932, the number of Japanese residents in the Philippines was 20,400 and in the Nether ands Indies 6,900, according to the Japanese Foreign Office—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.