The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-04
lNTI-JAP ANESE
BILL DEFEATED
California Assembly Fails to
See the Point Urged by
Drew of Fresno.
GROVE JOHNSON'S CLIMAX
ACTON or LOWER HOUSE OF
1HE NEVADA LEGISLATURE.

e..r,meuto. Cal. Feb. after a de
hste extending from IL o'clock this
corning until .. m. the assembly re
,..+sd the bill drawn by A NJ Drew,
barring aliens from ownership Of land
T.. csBfornis. by vote Of IS to 2S. The
hill had been amended at the request of
t,r.sident Roosevelt ana Secretary Root
=, tbat the clause applying ii tc Jap
80 only was eliminated, making IL
.,.,l- IN all aliens, but the measure
sr51,sed such storm Of opposition that
- before the debate was closed by
Jr Drew it was apparent that the
Measure would be defeated
In substance. the objection t0 4 was
that il would drive at least Si,0OO,oOOOVo
n foreign capital out Of the state, and
might iecpaTdize the present friendly
commercial relations with Japan.
Tbe. proponents of the bill contended
that the state was being Overrun by
thrifty Japanese who were sraouaiiy
gaining an impregnable position as
land owners, and whose government
MAS irving tc dictate to California re-
gardiug legislation.
Grove Johrson's Speech.
Two sensational speeches were made,
one for and one against the measure.
kssemblyman Grove L. johnson OF
Sacramento, ex-congressman ana au-
thor of four bills segregating japanese
IN schools and residential districts, and
preventing aliens being members OF
corporations, made an impsssioned ap-
peal for the enactment Of the Drew bill
At his climax he walked backward
from his seat TO the lobby rail, and
selling in his arms a gOlden-haired cir
of 3. held her aloft and declared thai
he was 'in favor OF this" as opposed 4
the japanese menace to our institu
tons"
Nathan c. Coghlan of San Francisco
who was elected with the endorsement
of the Union Labor party, opposed tn
Drew bill on the ground that it was il
conflict with the state constitution
that it was iHimicsl to union labor ang
that il was not favored by the nationa
administration. which. he said, wa
dealing with delicate problem ant
should be supported by the people o
California
Dramatically confronting Assembly
man Drew, ne said:
If President Roosevelt should sud
denly throw open the doors of this as
sembiy chamber and. laying his nan,
ON your shoulder, should request 70
reasons Of state. that you Withdraw
this bin. you. Mir. Drew. as a patriot
citizen of the United states, would &C
Cedc without a murmur."
This sally was received with graa
applause.
Drew's Argument
In ron1,- ~. r.,-. ~ ~1,-irer hi s,~r,,
ment for the bill, declared that he hat
received letter from the president il
which he stated that he was not op
posed to the bill as il had been amend
sd at his request.
In his opening remarks this forenoon
Drew made the statement that alread-
there were in California 10000 japanese
most Of whom belonged to the Japanes
army, who could be modified at mo
ments notice IN case of hostilities.
Richard Melrose of Anaheim, who hai
gathered statistics in opposition to tn
hili. declared there were not more thai
1000 japanese in California. He quot
cd from statistics compiled by the Asi
attic Exclusion League to the effect tina
lnere were not mere than seventy-fiv
japanese property owners in the state
Mr. Melrose, who spoke for Governo
Giliett, Speaker Station and leaders il
Ootn branches Of the legislature, coun
SEIZED delay to enable the state 1abo
commissioner to take "A census of tn
japanese Mr.. Stanton introduced re
Gently, at the request Of the governor
oil apprOpriating $4,000 for such
canvass. and as soon as the other anti
japanese measures are disposed of thi
, p.1 VIII De rushed to passage and tn
itoor bureau viii begin its task. Tn
u1ject IS TO obtain all the statistics nos
~loie' to be submitted in the form Of
report at the next session.
before adjournment tonight Assem-
oiyman Johnson asked that his bills b
ldhen up the first thing in the morn
Hs- limiting the debate to thirty min
lleS on each side. This was granted b
the house.
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