Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-07
A TEAPOT TEMPEST


From the Democratic point Of view
the rumpus over the Japanese school
question in san Francisco is amusing
rather than serious Republican
statesmen and newspapers of the party
have suddenly become sticluers for the
strictest construction Of the funda-
mental principles Of states rights.
They are giving further evidence of a
tendency to veer around toward the
Democratic point of the political COM
pass But, as is quite usually the case
with fresh converts, they reach the ex-
treme length of the jealous tether.
The California delegation in con-
gress, which is solidly Republican,
backs the school authorities Of San
Francisco in the ostracism of japanese
pupils from the white public schools.
Leading Republican newspapers Of the
northern part OF the state take the
same position. This in face of
the treaty between the United States
and Japan and defiance of the
attitude assumed in the question
by President Roosevelt. And in
this newly found respect for the alb
stract doctrine Of states rights, 1t may
be properly said that these inconsist-
ent Republicans are democratically
right on the constitutional point
raised.
Not even an International treaty to
which the United States government is
a party can deprive state of the
right to manage its affairs in its own
way so long as it violates no provision
of the federal constitution. There is
nothing in the constitution even re-
motely bearing on the issue raised in
San Francisco. That issue, conse-
quently, comes within the scope of
article 10 of the constitutional amend
ments: THE powers not delegated to
the United States by the constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are
reserved to the states respectively, or
to the people,"
But while the San Francisco school
authorities and their hackers are con-
stitutionally right in this matter their
bumptious attitude is suggestive of "a
tempest in a teapot" The San Fran
cisco officials and the Republican
statesmen who represent California in
congress appear to be working their
wrath up to the fighting point. They
are intimating that war between the
United States and Japan would be a
trivial matter of consideration COM
pared with the tolerance of Japanese
pupils in the white public schools of
San Francisco. 1t is a ridiculous but
characteristic situation in that sorely
afflicted city.
AS a matter of fact the row over the
Japanese school question in San Fran
cisco is merely an offshoot of the eff
forts made by union labor leaders to
stop Japanese immigration to the
United States. Although California
interests are suffering today because
of insufficient labor, as witness the
orange industry, the labor leaders
would bar just the kind of labor that
is needed the most.
The absurdity of the claim that
| Japanese immigration is a menace to
California is conclusively proved by the
official immigration statistics for last
year. The total number Of Japanese
immigrants to the United States in
1905 was 1882. Only a very small
fraction of that number were unable
to read and write. During the same
period more than 100000 immigrants
came from Europe. About 100000 of the
number were from Italy and south
eastern Europe. OF the 100000 Italians
4S per cent could neither read nor
write and the record for the rest of the
10000 was but little better.