The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-01-09
lAPS MCALIFORNIA
WHY THE WHITES OBJECT SO
STRONGLY TO TIE LITTLE
BROWN MEN.
Kahn. in the Independent.

to California, for the most part. is
not an unsldlled laborer. He is a cob
bier. tailor, gardener, cook, waiter,
or n or other of a dozen classes OF
workmen, as the case may be. He
lean. and does, live just as cheaply. a
little dried fish. and a cup Of tea make
a square meal for him. And we feel
convinced that II he be allowed TO
come TO these shores In undiminish-
ed numbers, he will ultimately drive
out all Caucasian competition in ev-
cry occupation which he enters, Just
as the Chinese coolie did a quarter Of
a century ago. He has already driven
the cherry orchardist out OF the pro-
ductive Vava Valley, about sixty miles
north OF San Francisco. But 1t is IN
the latter city that he Is the great.
est menace. o speak specifically, let
lHs take the case of a cobbler. He
has learned his trade In his W coun-
TRY. He has scarcely set foot in that
city. when he rents a dingy little room
in close proximity to a white shoe
maker who has been established in
that location for many years. Then
the little brown man puts up his sign
and his scale of prices. y
perusal of the latter shows that he
asks about one.half the amount charg-
ed by his white neighbor for similar
work. Gradually his business in.
~creases, while that of his white neigh
Dor diminishes. The white man. with
u white mans habits of living. trying
TO bring up his little family decently
and honestly, trying, II o please, to
give his children the benefit Of u good
education. finds that he has e
brought face to face with an alien corr
petitor whose material wants are few,
and who can subsist on fare on which
a Caucasian would starye. He tries
to stand It for a little while: but soon
err or later, when he sees the blanch-
ed faces of his little mes, when he
begins to realize that he cannot pro-
vide for them as has been his wont,
the iron enters his soul. He begins ID
understand that this unequal competf-
ton means that he must come down
to the Japanese's standard OF living,
or he must quit the neighborhooa in
which he has been established these
many years. to begin anew the strug-
! gle for existence in some other sec.
ton which the little brown man has
not as yet invaded.
I have not overdrawn the picture.
1t has its counterpart in practically
every street In San Francisco. 1t Is
such conditions that ultimately lead
to bloodshed and rae riot. We want
by all means to avoid anything Of that
kind. We are ~peaceable. ~law-abidins
citizens, but we want the Japanese
, coolie kept out of our State. Nor do
we think we are unreasonable in II
demand. II similar conditions con-
fronted the citizens of Massachusetts.
we feel confident that they, too, would
feel as we do. The Japanese in his
NATIVE land is a great fisherman. Sup
| DOSe lV,UUV Vi lltSe JdIhItSS houtt
men should settle neal Gloucester and
embark In the codfshing industry.
Would the Gloucester fishermen
stand 1t with equanimity. or would
they, like their brethren in Califor-
mia. raise their voices in indignant
protest? And so with every other com
munity and every other class of work
ingmen.
Since the disastrous conf'agration
Of last April the situation has been in
tensiied by the manner In which
many white tenants were practically
evicted from their homes by Japanese.
The latter elected to establish them.
selves In one of the most desirable res
idence sections of San Francisco. They
would offer the landlords OF property
twice and thrice the amounts that were
being paid by white tenants, and aft.
er the latter had been dispossessed,
would open japanese boardinghouses
desirable residences. When the white
man saw that he was being ousted
to make way for the Oriental it did not
serve to establish a more cordial re-
lationship between the races. One
must also Dear in mind that at this
time, by reason Of the conflagratior,
houses for e were exceedingly
scarce, and many Of the families thus
d~ispossessed had to seek homes on
the other side Of the Bay of San Frau
cisco.