Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-07-10


nese immigration has declined and the
number of Chinese in this country has
undergone a material falling off, the
Japanese immigration to the United
States proper during the ten years that
interviewed between the taking of the
two census enumerations increased by
more than 1000 per cent.
The question may be fairly asked
what way the japanese immigration
differentiates itself from the Chinese
incoming. There are not as many ia
panese as Chinese in the home country.
Japan is credited with a population OF
approximately 100000, while China
is vaguely asserted to have popula-
| ton of 400,000,00O. 1t might be said
that the yellow invasion" which has
been feared could hardly come from lit
tie Japan, but might come from the
teeming population of the empire of
| China. Still. as matter of fact, Chi
| nese emigration to the United States
has been limited to one or two prov
inces. outside of these. there has been
little or no disposition shown by the
people to leave their home country, and
hence II is possible that. relatively
small as Japan may appear to be, the
! reservoir which that empire furnishes
for emigration purposes Is quite as
large as that which China supplies.
While the Chinese empire has nearly
ten times as many people as are to be
found in Japan, 1t covers an area more
than twenty times as large as the ia
1 panese empire, and the congestion OF
people in japan is greater as a whole
than is the overcrowding OF population
in China.
The class of immigrants who arrive
in this country from Japan do not differ
essentially from those that in the past
came from China. The greatest num-
Der that are now under the flag OF the
United States are to be found in Ha-
wall. Out of total population Of 1884,
900 in that Territory, more than 81 900
are japanese. who are chiefly employed.
as the Chinese are and have been, as
laborers on the sugar plantations. The
10000 japanese who in 1900 were locat-
ed in the State Of California are EN-
/
domestic labor, and here again they are
taking the place in the scale OF work
which the Chinese formerly occupied
that is, as the number of Chinese d..
minishes, the incoming Japanese take
the places left vacant.
There is no reason for believing that
the social or industrial conditions OF
these Japanese workers are any better
or higher than was and is the social
and industrial condition OF the Chinese
The latter are probably a more thrifty,
sober, Woodworking race than the for
mer, but II the classification of pauper
labor was to be applied. IL would doubt
less strike the japanese with as much
force as II would the Chinese.
, The special character of our Congress
/, sional legislation on this subject Ia
made plainly manifest by the fact that
while restrictions Of an exceedingly
onerous character have been applied In
, the case of Chinese immigration, the
4 Japanese are permitted to come in un.
der the general rules which regulate all
foreign immigration; and yet, as We
have pointed out. with the solitary ex.
Q ception of a larger number of Chinese
than japanese in Asia, there is no dis
, tinction which can fairly be drawn OF
migration lines between those repre-
senting these two nationalities. But
I while Congress has felt itself justified
= In treating the Chinese problem in sucl
4 manner as its members have seen fit
or. possibly, in such manner as q no
overintelligent sentiment on the part o
: organized labor has dictated, the cas-,
= would assume an entirely differen
z complexion II the question of Japanes,
A immigration came up for national con
sideration.
The Chinese Government has no
: been looked upon as an aggressive fore
Q or one which could compel respect TO
its wishes. The Japanese Government
however, has shown, in recent years
an aggressive force which has taken |
entirely out of the class which the Chi
l. nese Government occupies. The ia
!. panese army and navy have been prov
ed by the test of war to have an ELI
y cheney equal to that possessed by tn
Is defensive and offensive forces of any O
o the European governments. We canno
\. ignore the international rights of thes
people as we have those of China.
we attempted to treat the japanese Il
y the contemptuous manner that we hav
1t treated the Chinese, our action woul
v be resented in Toxic in the same wa
! that we should resent action on tn
part of the japanese which deprived II
70 of rights which international usage ha
e. sanctioned. But 1t will not be strang
II the Chinese Government makes
evident before a great while that 1t doe
not propose to have these invidiou
IL distinctions drawn against its peopl
ID When the time for the renewal of on
II treaty agreements with China arrive
1t will probably be discovered that tn
Chinese do not propose to accord to 4
70 the trade privileges that they give
OF others, unless we are prepared to trei
m. China and the Chinese in the same Il
vorable way that others treat thi
country and its people, or in the SAN
manner that we ourselves treat III
l. japanese. When the question is pushe
to this conclusion, we shall be found
have logically no foundation to rest OF
policy upon. Certainly 1t cannot
On claimed that there is any equitable, rel
en- sonable ground, except fear OF retali
Oh ton, for according to the japanese in