The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-11-04

has its center in San Francisco
and intense on this coast. |
where the japanese congregat'
and where the labor unions are strong
est. Public opinion here seems to b
united in the conviction that the Jap
anese must be excluded, perhaps a:
vigorously as the Chinese, II a rac'
war is to be averted. The leaders o.
the movement to exclude the japanese
are the labor unionists, but the feeling
against the orientals is by no mean:
confined to those who feel the effect
of their competition.
The chief point of friction thus far
developed between the whites and the
Japs is in the use of the public schools
Unlike the Chinese the Japs are quick
to seize upon every opportunity to
acquire English. Most Of them are
young men. even boys. and they are
entered the schools here in large mum
bers, crowding out white children in
some cases Parents object to the as
sociation of half-grown or even fully
grown Orientals with their children
and cases are cited with more or less
evidence to prove that vicious habits
have been acquired by American
youths through this contact.
On account of the protest that went
up Japanese scholars have been forced
by the school authorities to take a
back seat, and It is possible that they
viii be excluded entirely from the
schools The immediate result Of this
action has been to raise a counter
protest in Japan, where the leading
newspapers are discussing the Incl
dent, with the sealing case and others
as proof Of the growing anti-Japanese
feeling in this country
The young Japanese who are using
the American schools as a means OF
acquiring English maintain themselves
by waiting on table, scullery work.
and as Wallets, etc Few of them are
able at first to do any kind Of work
which comes into direct competition
with American labor. The rough la
borer, the railroad digger, is another
kind of Jap. and there are some of
these on this Coast, but they are not
numerous. Gangs of them are en-
ployed in washington, Oregon, Idaho,
Utah and Nevada, but the Jap who
comes to Nevada, Is of different sort.
He is a dapper, acute, oily chap, who
knows just exactly what he wants.
and who is going to get 1t quickly.
He joins a gospel society" and by
the artifice of trying to study the
white mans God and doing the white
mans chores he manages to obtain
an education without cost. The white
people who rejoice when a heather
soul is redeemed are only too glad to
aid one of these young fellows. They
feed him on sacred literature and pa
tiently assist him in his studies. A
little later, when he has obtained just
what he wanted, they are grieved to
find him just as devout Buddhist or
Shintoist as ever.
The want columns Of San Fran
cisco were full until recently of appli-
cations for work from young Japs
They read like this:
Japanese young boy, honest reli-
able wants work after school for his
board"
The day has gone by when the peo-
pie of this coast admired the japanese.
At first they welcomed them, after an
unpleasant experience with the Chi
nese. Now, odd as it may seem, the
Chinese are not as unpopular as the
Japs. Neither Oriental is fayorite,
but if Californians were compelled to
chooe between them, they would pre-
for the Cinnamon. The Chinaman
fiocks by himself, and never butts in"
where he is not wanted. He is usually
a man Of his word, and after making
a hard bargain he will keep it. He
does not quarrel with outsiders. His
hatchet and pistol are exercised al
most exclusively in his own highbinder
scraps, which concern the whites not
at all.
The Jap as he is found and develop
ed on this coast, is often trickster,
quarrelsome, totally unreliable, and
otherwise offensive. Perhaps the
stories of immortality, which are cur
rent here, should be aiken with pinch
of salt, but there is no doubt that the
Jap in an American community Is far
from being the quaint, cleanly, honest
smiling little fellow he is pictured to
be at home. There Is enough of the
Malay in him to keep him at cross
purposes with the white man at all
times. The less said of the Japanese
women who infest San Francisco the
better.
japanese immigration did not be-
come serious matter until about the
time of the Spanish war. Japanese
laborers were imported into Hawaii,
but they did not come to this coast in
large numbers. At first the Hawaiian