The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-06
PREPARING JAP TEST CASE.
L. =. District Attorney and san Francisco
Board 10 Agree ON Statement Of Fact.

tOdfu 10 NkTct WI SNNttI1ruN VI FdVl.
SAN Francisco, Dec. 5.-That part of
President Roosevelt's message relating TO
the exclusion OF Japanese children from the
public schools was the sole topic in educa-
tional circles to-day.
Two important conferences were held.
In the morning Hon. Henry F. MAler.
Consul General for the United States at
Yokohama, and George KEENAN,, the writer,
had a private session with the Board Of
Education for the purpose OF gathering
statistics about the number OF Japanese
children Of school age in San Francisco.
In the afternoon President Altman Of
the Board and City Attorney Burke con-
ferred with United States District Attorney
Devlin about an agreed statement OF facts
on which a test case will be submitted in
the State Supreme Court to test the con-
~stitutionality Of the law under which the
Board Of Education acted in excluding
children Of Monaghan descent from the
schools.
Neither Of these conferences was par
ticularly fruitful. Mr.. Miller was informed
that the board would not recede from it's
position. A promise was given tina he
should nave all data he desired.
There will be further conferences on
Friday with District Attorney Devlin,
when an agreed statement Of facts will be
prepared.
District Attorney Devlin said that
a case would probably be presented
to the Supreme Court on an agreed
statement of facts. but declined to
say who had instructed him to institute
suit beyond the bare statement that it was
"On Instructions from Washington" Neither
was he prepared to say that the case would
be carried into the Federal courts il an
adverse decision to the parties he repre-
scented should be given.
Il will probably be prepared to answer
that question OIL Friday" was all Devlin
would say.
Several public school teachers to-day
declared that the labor unions are back OF
the whole Japanese row and hat they had
inspired the school board 10 pass the rule
herding the Japanese with Chinese and
C~oreans, although they knew this would
cause trouble.
The man who has been most conspicuous
in fomenting this anti-Japanese feeling is
o. A.. Tveitmoe, a Norwegian, who is
secretary Of the Building Trades Council.
He was the leader in forming the Japanese
Exclusion League. He wants the same kind
of an exclusion law against Japanese that
now is in force against the Chinese
TveitmOe and other labor union leaders
are opposed to the Japanese because they
cut prices of unskilled labor. In several
cases buildings held up here because
bricks had been cleaned by Japanese labor.
A far as the schools are concerned the
whole trouble could have been settled by
placing an age limit upon pupils in primary
and grammar grades.
There are only eighty-ive Japanese in
these two grades and Of these not over
twenty are children. The remainder are
from 10 to rs years old, and it is the ASSOC
citation Of these mep with little girls that
parents object TO.
In the high schools there are about twenty
japanese pupils. A woman teacher in
one Of the high schools said to-day that
they are neat, orderly, we'll hammered
and very bright pupils. She said they
made other pupils work To keep up with
them. So far as she had observed Jsps-
nese youths never spoke 20 girls unless they
were addressed first. II was her opinion
that the whole question would have been
settled quietly Il the President had NOS
stirred w q storm with his messAss.N