Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-27
LABOR IN CALIFORNIA
Agitation of the Japanese Problem
on the Pacific Slope.
NO NEED FOR ALARM
So Says an Official Of the Jap
anese Legation.
THE SITUATION IN HAWAII
Written for TIE Evening Star.

| Press dispatches state that the belief ha
| arisen that the Japanese question will 500
become as pronounced an issue on the Pa
| cific coast as the perpiexing Chinese prob
! lem, and that it is apparent that the influ
| of japanese laborers, If actually pcndins
| VIII. to greater or less extent, affec
] every other section of the country, as the
Will be distributed from San Francisco t
all the fruit and agricultural districts
| where their services cah be made available
There would be manifest improperly i
! the public discussion by one officially con
nected with the japanese government of
| question of this Kind If It were actuall
! pending. But that can hardly be said t
be the case
Neither the question itself nor the agi
tation to which it has given rise is new
ard neither has as yet produced anythin,
more serious than that species Of spasnod
agitation which arises on the Pacific coas
whenever anything in the nature of orien
tai immigration is under consideration
There might De some excuse for this agi
tation If it were founded upon any rea
knowledge of Japan and her people A:
the case stands, it is based upon hypoth
eses SO mdnifestly and absurdly untrue
that 1t Is difficult ID treat them seriously
China and Japan Are Different.
China is vast empire, having an over
crowded population. with whom the strug
gle for bare existence is so strenuous
that any change is welcome. 1t has always
been easy to get Chinese in any number te
go anywhere, and to do any kind of work
II there Is only the remctest prospect OF
improving their condition. They accept
hardship, Ill treatment and pay that would
be scorned by any other class of laborers
because the worst abroad Is as an almost
frvariable rule, an Improvement upon thu
best they can find al home.
To L.. -
entirely different. Japan is not now and
never has been an overpopulated country.
Nor have the conditions of life even for the
hUmblest ever been SO hard to make an
exodus of any considerable Fart OF the
population either welcome or necessary.
Wages are, a rule. comparatively low.
but the cost of living is low ALSO while the
multiplication ard growth of numberless
new industries, which have been such d
marked feature of Japan's progress during
the past thirty years, have afforded a re-
numerative field for surplus labor.
In the present agitation in California
concerning the evils to be apprehended
from Japanese immigration the danger of
the ingress of Japanese laborers from the
Hawaiian Islands has a prominent place
A press dispatch states that a contractor
at Honolulu has signified his willingness
and his ability to supply California fruit
ranch'rs and farmers with any amount of
Japan ese labor at very low price, if the
laws against contract labor can be avoided.
best by description Of the nature and ex-
tent of Japanese emigration to Hawaii
Japanesc Emigration.
1t should be stated, by way of preface
that before Japan entered into treaty rela-
lions with western powers all japanese
were forbidden by law. on penalty of death
IN case of infraction, to &C to foreign
countries. This was in accordance with
the policy of seclusion which kept japan
lnmured from foreign intercourse, except
under the most stringent restrictions. for
nearly three centur eS. After the coacli-
sion of the first foreign ties, and espa-
cially after the reStora ton of 1865 this pol
icy was changed. but not so as to admit of
the free and untrammeled em;grat ton of
japanese to foreign countries. The govern
ment still retained the power to restrain the
people from leaving the country in large
numbers. exacting that every Japanese sub
ject who went abroad should be provided
with passport according the requisite per-
mission So far as regarded travelling for
pleasure. for business or for study, this re-
Str1ction was a mere formality. 1t did
however, act as an effectual bar to any
thing like the establishment of a system of
"coolie' emigration, and this Undoubtedly
was the object of the law.
Jnpapese In Hawaii.
The emigration of japanese laborers tc
Hawaii was The result of a desire on the
part of the Hawaiian government to get
rid of Chinese labor. The presence of a
large number of Chinese in the islands was
considered dangerous menace to their
we'll being, and as long ago as the early
seventies an earnest effort vas made to
secure Japanese lahorers. For some time
the Japanese government refused to listen
to any such propositions, but finally an ar
rargement was made by which Japanese
aborers could go to Hawaii This arrange
ment was. however, as totally different
from anything like coolie emigration as it
was possible for any system to be. In the
made the subject of a formal treaty. The
interests and welfare of the emigrants
were guarded in every particular. They
were provided with Interpreters. doctors
what was little short Of species Of extra
in their new home. 1t was
possible for them at any time to release
themselves upon sufficient cause from their
Voluntarily assumed obligations, and in no
,ase was hardship or oppression possible
Under the plan of supervision and control
ably devised and carried out with the ut
most care, the experiment has had Won
ierful success, and has resulted in mutual
profit and satisfaction to the Hawaiian
planter and the japanese laborer.
Why They Would Not Go to Americn
1t seems unnecessary to point out that
this state of things Is essentially unique
and that it could not occur except under
he peculiar conditions which prevail in the
Islands. The japanese who go
% Hawaii are picked men, and a certain
of their wives and families ac-
company them. The men, as a rule, are
mail farmers or farm faborers, who desire
o earn enough to pay their debts to buy
more land. or in other ways to improve
heir condition at home. When the time of
heir service is ended they either return to
Japan or re-engage for further term with
he planters. They have not set out upon a
owing mission, but. as a general rule. upon
!. specific purpose. There is only the
slightest likelihood, at least in the great
majority of cases. of their going to the
United States and there becoming men
ice to domestic labor. The Hawaiian
planter would in any case be able to offer
hem inducements as tempting as any to |
'e found in the United States. Labor is an |
lrticle of prime Importance in the Ha-
vaifan Islands, especially so under the pc
;uliar conditions which at present prevail |
here, and 1t is only reasonable to suppose |
hat the planter will USE every effort to |
prevent the diversion of skilled labor It |