The National tribune., 1909-02-18
EXCLUSION OF THE JAPANESE.

IENCIlSION OF THE JAfANESE'
Beneath all the froth Of talk upon
the Japanese question there is a solid
wave of invincible public sentimen Mt
which will have to be regarded.
Whether the legislation which has been
before the Legislatures of Nevada and
California is wise and timely or not, it
may be regarded as certain that there
will be laws strongly limiting the possi-
bilities of an overflow of the Japanese
and Chinese to the Pacific coast. These
laws will not be the product of shout
ing demagogs, but the work of calm,
ldispassionate thinkers, who will care
fully regard our National treaty obli-
cations and our comfy towards Japan
and China, probably even Hindustan. 1t
is unthinkable that we should allow
free access of japanese. Chinese and
Hindus to the rich fields of industry
which we have reserved for people. of
our own race. In many ways the pres
ence of these immigrants is much
more undesirable than that of the
negro. The negro has been with us
always, we have gotten used to him,
and there has grown up a modus
vivendi which assures in general way
that he shall be treated with the ut
most justice and given entire freedom
to make the best he can of his life.
The yellow races are in many ways
much more Objectionable to us than
the negro. and there is a limitless guam
tity of them. There are 50,G00,000
japanese, 400,0O0,900 Cinnamon and
nearly as many Hindus. These people
live in the most abject poverty, where
few cents day is regarded as high
wages. II the Pacific steamships
should prove as enterprising as the
Transatlantic in bringing Immigrants
to our shores they would soon be
dumping these people down on US By
the million. japanese, Chinese nor
Hindus can by any possibility be as
simulated into our body polite. They
viii always remain Stubbornly alien,
and it is best that they should be so,
because we do not want to assimilate
them. We have got all that we can do
to assimiiate the people of our own
kin and color who come to. us from
Europe, and also to settle the negro
question. When we think how this
country filed up from such compare
lively small countries as Ireland, Ger
many, Italy and Hungary. we have an
index of what the flood might be if
| eyer there was to start tide of i'm
migration from the hundreds of mil
lin,.S n Dapific INhila If iS
| true that there are not enough Japa-
ncse now on the Pacific coast to make
| a question of any magnitude, either in
the schools, ownership of land, or any
| other questions of public policy, yet it
ii high time 10, at least, narrow the
gates for admission before the freshet
really begins. We have no doubt that
the people of the whole United States
sympathize with those of the Pacific
coast in this matter. Probably Presi-
dent Roosevelt himself does. His hope
and expectation has been. as that of all
of us. that a way would be found by
treaty to strongly limit the migration
to this country by regulation at the
ports of departure and which would
give no offense to the sensitive Japa-
nese. The main trouble in the matter
is that We allow immigrants from Eu-
rope to come in almost without restric-
tion. and Japan claims that any spe-
cific exclusion of Japanese would be
violation of the treaties giving her all
the rights and privileges of the most
favored nation. This would be an
insult TO her national pride which she
could not brook, and it does not seem
possible to frame law against Asiatic
immigrants which will not raise the
race question. Undoubtedly Japan is
just as much interested in keeping her
people at home as we are, since she
needs them all to occupy Korea and
Manchuria. She must make these two
great territories strongly Japanese in
the near future, in order to make them
bulwark against the return war which
Russia will launch at her at the first
favorable moment. Therefore, we can
hope that she will cooperate with us
in restrictions that will have all the
effect of restraining the flood of immi-
grafton, while giving those japanese
who may visit us for other purposes all
the rights and privileges which Ameri-
cans travelling in Japan may enjoy
Japan would not have any right to
complain of the laws prohibiting alien
ownership of land if the laws were
made general. Such prohibition is
common in all civilized States, but the
Californians are troubled. since they
do not want the japanese to buy land,
while they do want the English and
Germans to invest their capital in Cali
fornia ranches. mines, and other enter
prises connected with real estate We
repeat, that we can hope with the
greatest confidence that some way viii
be found to preserve our own country
from being taken possession of by the
Asiatics, and yet which will not be a
violation of good faith and comfy to-
ward powerful yellow people with
whom we have every reason to wish
to be on the best terms
The statistics in France are strongly
against the opponents of capital pun
ishment. Since the abolition of the |
guii!otine crime has increased most |
startlingly, showing for the last year
an increase of $4,000 criminal cases. |