The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-06-18


by Frederic j. Haskin.)
LOS ANGELES, June 2.-Wherever
the japanese subjects live under the
American flag, from Honolulu east
/ southwark to Los Angeles, there is
conflict between Occidental and Orient
al civilizations. The japanese point
| of view in looking upon this contest is
entirely different from that of the white
man. The white man is faithful to be-
lieve that his form of civilization is
superior in every way to that of the
Orient and he brooks no interference
with the working out of his creed. The
Japanese, as representing the Orient,
believes as firmly in the moral superb
ority of his form of civilization, but he
recognizes greater opportunity to make
money under the Occidental forms of
life. So he is willing to assume the
outward forms of western civilization
for purposes of revenue only. To his
critics and detractors he replies in a
fashion which suggests a curious MKT
ure of the East and West.
He defends his right to come to the
United States and to live here by APP
pealing to the doctrine of personal
liberty and equal rights which was
born among Anglo-Saxon people in
England and which had it's fruition in
America. It is a doctrine which is ut
terly repugnant to the institutions of
Japan, and at war with every tenet of
the faiths of Asia. He goes further
and justifies his remaining here by an
argument to prove his proposition that
he is a wealth-creator whose energies
benefit the United States more than
they do Japan. Then his mind turns
from the West to the East and he
to remain here because of the fact that
he is still a loyal Japanese and that
Japan and America are friends. Ignor-
ing the fact that the San Francisco
school issue was raised by Japan, the
japanese resident in America is sure
to assume the inscrutable face of the
oriental and swear that Japan loves
America, has always done so and a.
ways will do, so, no matter how harsh
the misguided Americans may be in
their unjust criticism. Then, invaria-
bly,, the speech is concluded by touch
ing reference to Commodore Perry.
The Commodore was a lighting man
and he sailed the seas in ships as good
as any navy had in those days. He
went to Japan on a mission of peace
which received slightly more attention
the n it otherwise would have received
on account of the guns which backed
it up. He opened Japan to COM
the world, the Japanese named their
great harbor Mississippi Bay in honor
of his flagship, and modern Japan
dates its history from Perry's coming.
Undoubtedly the Japanese of today
have an honest sentimental affection
for the name of Perry, but they have
used it so much in pa,avering .Ameni-
cans that it has become almost tire
some.
In Hawaii the japanese were great
ly incensed at first on account of the
restriction of immigration, but the
general policy of Cancellation they have
adopted has buried that feeling out of
sight. The japanese leaders there now
declare that the restriction is proving
to be a good thing for the Japanese
in Hawaii because of the fact that it
has stopped the fitting to the mainland
and has made the population more
stable and reliable. They point out
the fact that Hawaii Japanese no long
er buy much merchandise from Japan
but are manufacturing the things
formerly imported. Establishments for
the manufacture of soy, the japanese
sauce which is universally used, and
for making Japanese vermicelli, are
among the promising industries of Ho-
nolulu. The raw materials used, wheat
and beans, come from the mainland
of the United States. This is the
creation of an industry which swells
American trade and which would not
have been in existence were it not for
the great japanese population of Ha-
wall The opening of the Honolulu
vermicelh factory was celebrated by a
banquet attended sby 300 business men.
of all races and creeds. The products
of these japanese factories using
American materials under the Ameri-
can flag are to be sold not only in
Hawaii, but all over the Western
states where there is a Japanese popu-
lation to demand them. The advant-
age in freight and tariff rates will
permit the Honolulu Japanese to out
strip their cOmpatriots of osaka and
Kobe
japanese business men in Honolulu
deny that their wholesale merchants
are cutting into the trade of American
firms. There are about dozen large
wholesale concerns in Honolulu con-