The Washington herald., 1908-05-26


II is to organized labor that the activity
Of the anti-Japanese agitation may be
traced. The Asiatic Exclusion League is
an international organization. including
Canada with the United States, but II
finds most OF it's support among the or
ganized labor men Of this city. The ma
uon-wide interest which has been aroused
in the question Of japanese exclusion, de
spite the fact that Il has been throttled
in Congress, is indicated by the corre-
spondence OF this league. In one month
this year requests for information on the
subject were received from thirty-slx
States. OF these requests there were 119
from debating societies. p from high
schools. o. from universities, and 2SS from
individuals. To all such requests for in
formation the league officers send out
bales OF literature covering every phase
OF the question.
This literature bases its anti-Asiatic
opposition on a frankly racial antag-
onism, but its supporting arguments
usually deal with the economic problems
involved. The trades unions are against
the japanese in San Francisco for the
Two sufficient reasons that the japanese
not be bound by the rules OF organized
labor Even In San Francisco everybody
does not agree with the trades unions but
II is very difficult to find any one who
does not agree with them on the Japanese
question. Housekeepers who employ Jap
ahese servants because they are easy to
get are among the loudest in their de-
nunciation Of the Japanese faults Only
one class OF San Franciscans are heard
TO say good word for the japanese
coolle, and that class Is made up Of rail-
road contractors and others who employ
Iaoorers on a large scale. Even some OF
these want n white man OF a Chinese for
foreman OF gang OF japanese workers.
In San Francisco the japanese are found
in practically every trade and calling. A
largo majority still prefer personal serv-
Ice and are TO be found employed as
servants in private bones. hotels. and
apartment houses. The telephone book
discloses the fact that there are sixty
seven professional housecleaning estab-
hshments among the japanese. Investi-
CATION shows that practically every one
or these establishments is conducted IN
connection with a tailor shop. a cigar
store. or some other business. The pro-
prietor OF such a shop gathers about him
number Of japanese. often OF the stu
dent class. and they live on the prem
ises, When there is a telephone call for
the housecleaner, one Of the students is
sent out
Many San Francisco people live in
apartments. more than in any other city
except New York, IL Is said. Servants
are expensive and troublesome, so milady
does the lighter part OF her hOusework
and telephones to a japanese house
cleaner 10 come in for an hour and do
the rest. The trades unions declare that
this system OF assisted light housekeep-
ing has thrown 5000 servant girls out of
employment, and has not saved the EN-.
ployers anything, as housewives who
nave no cooks are apt 70 take the family
out 10 restaurants frequently and spend
more on one meal than the difference In
cost between "a white maid servant Of
all work and the Japanese housecleaner.
Nogi In the kitchen" Is an established
institution. OF course and many house
keepers are proud OF their japanese cooks
who stay on the job and do good work
But even these h0usekeepers say they
would prefer Chinese Many San Fran
cisco housekeepers have been accustomed
10 man cooks and man servants always
The Chinese population is steadily de-
creasing, and many OF those sim here
are getting too old for satisfactory. serv-
ice When they leave a home, the mis-
tresS VINO knows nothing but Orientals
Tor servants replaces them with lana
nese boys IL requires a readiustmept
OF domestic affairs. for the Chinese al
ways ordered things to suit the con-
Venience OF his mistress; now the mis-
tress must order things TO suit the con-
Venience OF the servant. Despite the Ioud
cries OF dissatisfaction with the Jana
nese, they are still able 10 find employ
ment as servants.
II the japanese servants remained
servants there wouldn't be half so much
opposition 20 them. A Chinese cook once.
is Chinese cook always. But a Jana
nese cook to-day is a shopkeeper to-
morrow, and a banker next week with
aspirations for still higher honors. His
ambition carries him above a menial DO
sition Of its own force. Thus he Is dis
liked while he is a servant. and hated
when be branches out into skilled trades
by the cut-price route
This is the reason why all San Fran
cisco rises up and says II would rather
have dozen Chinese than one Japanese.
The Chinese send money to Asia to a
greater extent per capita than do tho
japanese, they buy fewer American prod
ucts. and are in some other ways less
desirable than japanese, But their great
VlNue Ia comparison is that they will
stay put The greater part OF the United
States never thinks OF a Chinese except
as a laundryman. The Chinese ''washee-
fG al
rated on principles as old as cloth and
water. The japanese have a half dozen
large steam laundries in San Francisco.
and are making It hard Shedding for
both the steam laundries. operated by
white labor and the Chinese hand
laundries
Ihe japanese steam laundries charge
prices lower than the white steam laun-
dries can afford 70 offer with the high
wages which they must pay. Japanese
laundry workers are not bound by any
notions Of uniOnism, and Will work for
the best price they can get II their
employer Is also a japanese II Is probable
that the whole working force will live
with the proprietor on the premises. A
half dozen men viii In this wav live for
what one ordinary American laborer
would spend.
The housecleaners who work out for
. cents an hOur-which is about the
standard price-always have some other
trade. II a cigar store Is the headquar-
ters OF the housecleaners there probably
IS a shoe repairing annex, and when the
student housecleaners have q little Ie,s-
ure they will fall 20 and work at the
cobbler's bench. They VIII work long
hours for cheap wages. and they can
live on what Americans throw away as
waste
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