Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-24
By Frederick Boyd Stevenson.

| pair OF strong lungs. The
| ~ door is thrown wide open, and
Schmitz. six feet one, rather
slender, but we'll built; straight a shoe
| string, graceful, dark-some might say
handsome-stands there smiling through his
Van Dyke beard. He is well groomed. but
| somehow, somewhere-one can hardly tell
| he lacks the INDISPENSABLE finishing polish Of
your bred-in-the-b metropolitan. He is
of the west-unmistakably of the west. He
has the natural ease, the confidence, the
| force, the breeziness of the west. Take him
all in all, at the first blush this Mayor Eu-
gene E. Schmitz of San Francisco makes a
| fair impression. Will he stand digging be-
| meath the crust?
1T is late 1 begin, apoiogetically.
| Don't mention It." says the mayor. I'VE
| keep open all night" and he laughs, perhaps
| thinking OF the French restaurants in San
| Francisco that figure in some of the counts
| of. the indictments against him and Abe
| Ruef, the political boss.
"Sit down. he saws and he sets the ex-
| ample by swirlinS the long tails of his coat
| around his long legs and composing himself
| on a cushioned chair.
| He had just finished a hard day with
| President Roosevelt on the Japanese school
| question, and the last of his night callers
| had left the Hotel Willard.
! We've been busy since we have been here
| III w dSiiHStoH. lie says. All the Ilne we
| have been doing the best we could and all
| the time we have been pounded at home
| Every paper in San Francisco is against me-
| ihere isn't paper that is with me. Why,
DO You know what they said the day after
the members of the board of education and
| / got here?"
He arises. swirls the long tails of his coat
| around his long legs and sits down again.
Don't Care What Critics Say.
They said.' he continues, that we had
| no sooner struck the capital than we made
break for saloon and got drunk. That's
| what they said. But 1 don't care a-well,
l don't care. Let it go at that. We have
| come here to settle this question the best
| way We know how. 1t is not a local aues-
| ton nor a national question only 1t is an
| international question This IS my position /:
! l am the mayor of San Francisco elected
by the labor movement. I am under in
dlctment on the charge of grating. But I
say TO you, as l say to every man, / never
! TOOK dishonest dollar in my life All the
papers in San Francisco united against me.
| the republicans and the democrats formed
fusion ticket to down me, but l have been
elected three times, and / am a candidate
| Tor Reelection next fall. l don't care what
the papers do or what they say. The people
are with me, and am responsible to the
| people. They trust me- and / am willing 70
ieaVe my case with them. 1 have contin-
uaiiy asked for trial on these charges of
| grating but they have put me off and nut
me Off That's politics. They want to hold
| the case up till the fail election and tban
| spring 1t against me-"
-: he pauses minute, then. Strengthening in
his chair, goes on: "
| wen, this Japanese school question
| came up. l had a summons to Washine
| ton l went to the supreme court and the
| Judge tod me 1t was my duty to come
mere, and SO l came, not as a Californian
| alone, but as an American citizen nro-
| tecting the rights of California and tbo
| sights of the United States. You see, This is
| the situation in California as we see II and
| as the PRESIDENT and all the people ought to
see it, visit "
| AS he talks he keep time to each word
with the index finger of his right hand on
the palm of his left.
Settled the Chinese Question.
! Ihirty years ago we had Chinese prob
| lem out on the Pacific coast. The east
dldn see the menace then, but we saw
| 1t. We had our Denis Kearny and or
Sand Lot agitation. They said in the east
| that we were radicals, but we fought ont
the battle for the entire country, and We
stopped the flood of Chinese immigration
and Chinese cheap laborers to this coun
| try. Now, let me tell you about this Jan-
| anese menace. There are TODAY about % :
| GOO Chinese in California. The census shows
| tnat !here are about 10000 Japanese in
Caliornla, but that figure is undoubtedly
| too low. There are between forty and ffty
| thousand Japanese in our state. The Ian.
| anese are not only running out the whites
| but they are running out the Chinese. They
working cheaper and living cheaper than
the Chinese. Now what show has a white
man with a proposition like this?''
| The long mayor is on his feet again.
Il tell YOU. he says, unless a sion iS
put to this flood of Japanese Immigration
| these people will cover the face of the
| United States. We must make the fobt
| against them in California as we made the
| peting with our laborers in every line They
are cooks and BARRIERS They are diggjn p
the bitches and making the roads They
are building the railroads. They are taijors
| and carpenters. They are filling every line
| of labor, not only in the Cities but on the
! farms. And not only are they filling the
| labor field, but they are arising above it
| and are becoming contractors and builders
| and are putting up buildings, and on
| every side they are undertaking white la
! Dor and white capital. 1t is impossible for
white man to compete with them, for he
| cannot live anywhere near as cheap as
| Japanese can live. Why, a Japanese can
| live cheaper than a Chinese ever dreamed
of living. Just at present this menace of
| the Japanese is confined to the Pacific
| coast but if the immigration continues it
| will not be long before it becomes a menace
| to the entire country. 1t is not a question
| of Mayor Schmitz coming to Washington
| on the Japanese school question, nor is it a
case of San Francisco, nor of California.
making fight against the admission of
the japanese to our public schools. It is
something bigger. something graver than
that. The school question is an incident
| Back Of it is the great question of the Japa-
nese overrunning country and driving
| our workingmen out of their jobs Are we
going to permit it? 1t is not in the tenn
| permanent of California to permit it."
Developed Into a Politician.
Thus Mayor Schrnitz expressed himself
| on the question that brought him to WASH
| ington. His action on that case has been
a surprise to those who did not know him,
as his action during his political campaigns
| at home was surprise to the people Of
| San Francisco, Before he entered the
mayoralty campaign he had never made a
| speech in public and had never before
| been in politics, but he rapidly developed
| into an excellent orator and politician.
| From the very start of the campaign he
| showed a surprising knowledge of local
| conditions and municipal affairs, just as he
! has shown knowledge of national condi-
| tons and International affairs in this jap
| anese controversy. For twenty years he has
| been connected with labor unions, and Is
president of the musicians union. He be-
/ gan work as a drummer boy in the old
Standard Theater, and made his way to
the leadership of the orchestra In the Cal