The San Francisco call., 1909-02-14

it only needs numbers to make it seri-
Gus. And when it comes to the issue it
can not be settled in the only way in
which the white man knows how to
settle race questions. The white man 3
way is 70 determine for himself the
rights of both sides, and then TO en-
force his determination without askiA g
the consent Of the other race. That
works, after fashion. with the negro.
SO long as the negro submits.
Every Japanese in the United States,
however, must be accorded his rights.
not merely by the government. but
by every individual American. or the
national government is called to ac-
count Every outrage by American
hoodlums on Japanese becomes a diplo-
matte issue. And we know by expert
ence that we can not infallibly con
troll our own people when race feeling
IS aroused. The race riots of Atlanta
and Springfield are not the last that
are going to occur. If every lynch
ing meant the mobilization of fleet,
ana every Springfield riot meant for
eign war, the national government
would be compelled in self-preserva-
tlon, to invade the states and munich
pal1ties with national police strong
enough to prevent such things. This
is exactly what must happen If we
import large population of any race
is sensitive, jealous and powerful. 1t
almost did happen. when a school board
dispute and a petty restaurant row in
San Francisco compelled the president
of the United States to use all the
power of his office practically to coerce
sovereign state. Our federal sys-
tenn could not survive many such
issues.
Neither can our domestic institu-
tlons survive where caste reigns Re
publican institutions are now only a
form IN the south and there is no
present prospect of their becoming
anything else, except on the basis of
the complete and accepted subordina-
tion Of the negro. The japanese will
not exact subordination. He knows
that he is the equal of the white man,
and he is quite prepared to main
tain that equality. A large popula-
tion of native born japanese would
have the right to vote and would insist
on exercising it,
Up to the present time the Japanese
have refused to understand-and per-
haps we can not blame them, since we
mostly do not understand it ourselves
that insistence on race separation does
not mean the assertion of race in
feriority. Many of the Europeans
whom we welcome are our interiors.
The Japanese, to whom we object, are.
as race, our equals. But they are a
different race physically, and nature
will keep them different through all
the generations, unless there is ming
ling of blood.
We owe It to the posterity of both
races that this experiment be not
tried, in either America or Japan. 1t
will be tried in Hawaii and the fu-
ture can determine. in the light of
Hawaiian experience, whether the
mongrelization if races is safe. Hawaii
is none too great a stake for the
world to risk in finding that out. But
it is the one step which. once taken.
can never be retraced. There is, per-
haps unfortunately, no physical re-
pugnance between the white and yell
low races, and even if there We're the
mulatto population of America is a
tragic proof that the most powerful
racial repulsion, aided by a fiercely
guarded social line. is not sufficient to
prevent amalgamations.
This is the Japanese end of the
question, which is acute because Japan
is powerful and awake The Chinese
end will become equally acute when
ever China wakes up, and the Hindu
end may becomes acute whenever Eng
land chooses. The whole situation
challenges this generation in America
to answer the question: Where shall
be the frontier Of the white mans
world?
THE MEETING OF EAST AND WEST
~ INCE that far day when there first
awoke in the white mans breast
the germinal instinct to "go west. "
the whole history of half the world has
consisted in following that impulse.
The other half of the world was for
us, on different planet. Now at last
the long migration is ended and the
two have come together. The future
will turn on the new relation of these
hitherto unrelated halves. And the
nature of that relation will depend
very largely on what we do in the
immediate future in California, Oregon,
Washington and British Columbia.
Shall the frontier of the white mans
world be drawn at the Golden Gate
or right down the middle of our social
structure? Shall the line be geo
graphic or social? Or if we repeat in
California the Hawaiian experiment.
shall there be another geographic
frontier, with California forever on
the brown mans side of it?
This is not a plea for an immediate
exclusion law, or an exclusion treaty,
or any other specific measure. But it
is the cry of the unborn generations
of the west for the right to be born
of occidental blood and under Amer
lean institutions IT Is the call to the
warders of the western mark to be
true to the trust which hundred gen
erations of westward faring men have
bequeathed. to them. And it is a re-
minder of the high duty not to sur
render at the western border and at
the elimination of our civilization the
victory which the heroes of Their
mopylae won for us at the eastern
border in the beginning. 1t is the one
message, the only essential MESA ge.
which the Pacific coast has to utter to
the American people.