The semi-weekly messenger., 1906-11-06
(By Ira E. Bennett.l
San Francisco. October &c.

ASAN~ioA SA50AASI TIC JdpclC5G is
becoming more general and intense on
this coast. 1t has its center in San
Francisco, where the japanese congre-
gate and where the labor unions are
strongest. Public opinion here seems
to be united in the conviction that ths
japanese must be excluded, perhaps
as vigorously as the Chinese. If a race
war is to be averted The leaders OF
the movement to exclude the japanese
are the labor unionisrs. but the feel
ing against the Orentials is by nc
menas confined to those who feel the
effects Of their competition.
The chief point OF friction thus far
| developed between tie whites and the
Japs is in the use Of tie public schools
Unlike the Chinese, the Japs are quick
10 seize upon every opportunity to ac-
quire English. Most of them are
young men, even boys, and they have
entered the schools here in great num-
bers, crowding out white children in
some cases. Parents object 20 the as
sociation Of halg-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 youth
| through the 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 impossible that
theysW1ll be excluded entirely from the
| schools. The immediate result of this
| action has been to reise 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 them
selves by waiting on table. scullery
work, and as Wallets, &C. Few of them
are able at first to do any work which
comes into direct competition with
American labor. The rough laborer,
the railroad digger, is another kind
OF Jap, and there are some of these
| on this coast, but they are not nu-
| merous. Gangs Of them are employ
ed in Washington, Oregon, Idaho,
Utah and Nevada, but the Jap who
comes to California is a different sort.
He is a dapper, acute, oily chap, who
knows exactly what he wants and how
to get 1t quickly. He joins a gospel
society,"" and by the artifice of trying
to study the white mans God and do
ing the white mans chores he man
ages to obtain an English education
without cost. The white people who
rejoice when a heather soul is re-
deemed are only too glad to aid one of
these young fellows. They feed him
on sacred literature and patiently as
s1st him in his studies A little later
when he has obtained what he want
ed, they are grfeved to find him lust
as devout Buddhist or Shintoist as
ever.
The want" columns of San Fran
CISCO were full until recently Of applf-
cations for work from young JAMS
They read like this:
Japanese young boy, honest, relia-
Die, 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 a favorite.
but if Californians were compelled to |
cnoose between them, they would pre-
fer the Chinaman. The Chinaman |
focks by himself, and never butts in /,
where he is not wanted. His vices |
aHect himself. but the white is rare |
ly contaminated. 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 almost exclus-
lively in his own highbinder SCRAPS.
which concern the whites not at ALL
The Jap, as he is found and devel-
oped on this coast. is often a trickster.
quarrelsome, totally unreliable. and
otherwise offensive. Perhaps the stor-
les Of immortality which are current
here should be taken with a pinch of
salt, but there is do doubt that the
Jap IN an American community is far
from being the quaint. cleanly. hon.
est. smiling little fellow he is pictured
% be at home. There is enough of the
Malay in him to keep him at cross
purposes with the white man at all
lines. The less said Of the japanese
women who infest San Francisco the
1etter
japanese immigration did not be-
'ome a serious matter until about the
lme OF the Spanish war Japanese
aborers were imported into Hawaii.
'ut they did not come to this coast
q large numbers. AT first the Ha-
vallan sugar planters were delighted
With the little brown men. They
hought they were Ideal laborers. until
he camps became little flel1s on earth
nth continual squabbles. AS the
aps increased in number they be-
anne insoleTSk and made life unbeara-
lie for the Portuguese 1aG other labor
rs. Now the Hawaiians are anxious
get rid OF the Japs, who are pour /
lg in and making themselves ex-
eedingfy offensive. Since the Russo