Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-04-07
PRESENT INFLUX VERY SMALL.

legislature of Nevada is moving in the same direction. Oregon did so several years ago and would renew its petition any time that this action promised any results. Some of the leading newspa- pers of the coast are taking the subject up vigorously. It Is doubtful if eastern opposition to Japanese exclusion is any stronger today than was eastern oppo- sition to Chinese exclusion when that policy was first advocated. The public soon becomes accustomed to almost any system of law which is steadily maintained.
 But the question which the Japanese immigrants present is widely different from that raised by the Chinese. The great objection to the latter was their tendency to displace manual laborers of the white race. The Japanese is ob- jected to because he is so constantly aspiring. Californians say that he does not want to work in the ditch or on the ranches any longer than the old time Americans of English stock. He is pressing forward at every opportunity. He becomes carpenter, or plumber, or restaurant keeper, or merchant. There is nothing apparently which the Jap cannot in time learn to do, and his progress Is so rapid that he does not long content himself to displace the lower class of laborers. He stipulates in accepting position that he shall be afforded time for study or to attend evening schools. This is the great trou- ble which the Californians have with the Japanese as house servants. They want to hurry away from the dinner table to attend school. -
 About 5000 Japanese a year are now coming into the United States. It would take many years to pile up a large Japanese population. It Is as- sumed, however, that with the close of the war immigration will proceed much more rapidly Taxes will be 50 heavy at home unless relieved by tremen- ious indemnity-ande even then Japan's military and naval ambitions must be remembered--that the economic Oppor- tunity in the little archipelago will be limited. For many reasons the Japa- nese would like to come to the United States aside, from the opportunities here for earning good wages. They could. quickly get into touch. with the western civilization, of which they are SO fond. They are clever artisans. A large field opens for people who put brains and aspiration into their every day work. A considerable colony of Japanese has already been established in Texas, where they have proved most useful.
 Whether the United States could treat the people of a strong Asiatic power as roughly as 1t has treated the Chinese remains to be seen. China has always been restive under our treat ment of her subjects. It Is not so much the exclusion from our shores to which she objects as to the badge of degrada- ton which our laws afflx to person of Chinese blood. But as a nation she is 90 weak and flabby that she must toler- ate anything from a western power. This may not be the case with the Jap anese, no matter how much they might welcome friendship with the United States.
 The treatment which the individual Jap receives in the west is often rather bad. In one of the towns of the Puget sound when James J. Hill brought in colony of Japanese to work on his rail road and provided them with little houses along it's line the custom used to be for American working men as they walked by to throw stone in through a window, often sending the Japanese who happened to be in range to the hospital. The lack of regard for the law for its own sake. which seems characteristic of the far west, may greatly compl!cate our diplomatic rela- tions with the Japanese. Experiences with the Chinese in Idaho and with the Italians in New Orleans have already shown what might occur.
 While 5000 Japanese in a year is small. in view of the million persons who will fin this calendar year come in- to the United States as immigrants from the rest of the world. it is evi- dently capable of some expansion. The San Francisco Chronicle. which is lead ing in the agitation. asserts that Japan could spere 50OOOO year after the war closed without depicting her home population. This is obviously an ex- aggeration in view of the outlet which Korea and Manchuria will afford. but it is representative of the arguments which may arouse the Pacific coast. The American population of those states as yet is small. and an ingress of 10000 Japanese a year would soon make themselves felt The Californians do not like the Japanese personally so well as they do the Chinaman- The former. fin popular estimation. is less honest. Defenders of the Japanese as- sert that the merchant classes in Ja- pan have always been held in low es- teem as only little above the outcasts. with the result that the best standards of Japan do not prevail among those who buy and sell. with whom the Amer. leans naturally come into contact