The independent., 1907-02-21

q pair of Stocky cooHe Jdpd'-ese On
the ferry: Hello, Skippy. HOW S
your. friend Rooseyeit?' The japanese
looked straight out to sea- Say, skip
nv, the bows persisted, we're going
TO paint the white house yellow for
you." Still no answer from the jap
anese. except catlike dipping of the
eyelids Nor would there be any unless
they were attacked. Then they would
have fought like devils.
/ had been reading the local dailies
in the sleeper, and 'these irresponsible
gamins.' thought |, in my wisdom,
"are the product of newspaper agita-
tion.n Michael de Young, of the
"Chroncle'' started the furore. He
knew that the way to make circulation
is not to caution people to be reason
able, but to spring sensations which
will confirm them in all their suspl-
ciOns, prejudices, and dislikes. When
DE Young got @rise," Immediately
Hearst's Examiner took the cue In
tense rivalry followed.
The 'Chronicle' is still In the lead.
Michael de Young alone, without re-
serves, support, or line of commune
cation, is able to mash Japan to
jelly with one hand. The Hearst organ
has landed at least two army corps
of Japanese veterans with artillery
concealed in their pockets in Hawaii.
Coolies who ballast the Southern Pa
cific have located all the gun positions
at strategic points in the Rockies,
which seems little strange to me,
considering that in the war with Rus
sia the Japanese went by Russian
maps which they had captured. AS
for spies, new species in new place
is found every day. They are the
pawns in the war of publicity.
Ruef and Schmitz were quick to join
the procession. Schmitz, eloquent over
exclusion. declared in an anti-Japanese
mass meeting that he was ready to lay
down his life-possibly to postpone his
trial for extortion. Besides, he would
not be needed when De Young had al
ready spoken first for the privilege
Perhaps he and Ruef had the same
object as the man who diverts atten-
tion from himself by crying: 'Stop,
theft"
And now | hear you Say-you Wlo
live three thousand miles away, With
the beam in your eye-that 'its ali
been a matter of dirty politics, this
transgression of great principle
Not in the least. The politicians have
simply pandered to public sentiment.
Every printer, reporter, editor believed
in the policy acclaimed by the press.
This view has been crystalized into
habit like that of the Irish about
Cromwell. The political mouthings of
that automatic speechmaker, Con-
gresham Kahn, and others were the
efforts of individual craft to get moro
wind than their rivals.
San Franciscans are people used
to having their own way. They come
~
divide, and with the mountains at
their backs they look out to sea. When
they were beginning to build their
city anew they concIuded-possibly be-
cause knight-errant Michael brought
1t so sharply to their attenton-that
tbls was the time to make one of the
changes they had long had in mind
The result was the oriental school,
When l visited it and saw all the Chi
nese and the Koreans-whom we for
get in the east-I could understand
why 1 would not want to attend there
If | were a japanese The Chinese
and the Koreans rarely wash, while
the japanese take a bath every day
The Chinese say that the japanese
smell like fresh fish, and we can i'm
agine ourselves how the Chinese smell
to the Japanese. One solitary jap
anese boy, Frank Kobayashi. now
attends the oriental school. He has
written to the president saying that he
prefers segregation because he learns
faster than he did in American classes.
Kohayashi is to me marvel in raci9.
anomalies He is pea that grows
outside a pod like a cranberry
To the san Franciscans their action
was part with that Of a merchant
who decides To put partition between
two departments. Japan's protest was
as much of a surprise as If Il merchant
from a neighboring town has wanted
the partition down because one OF the
clerks was a relatiye of his Were
they living in Germany that they
might not regulate their local affairs?
IL so. then it was to be borne in mind
that the kaiser has been long time
In making his Polish subjects drink
out of tho Teutonie creek. The preSi-
dents message turned their Polish cx-
aspcration into n white heat Of anger
which has cooled 10 il quiet determina-
ton on the part OF thinking san Fran
ciscans, while Michael de Young has