Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1913-05-17

THE UNITED STATES CALIFORNIA AND JAPAN

Ill BY Waiter X. Towers, A. I
The wide publicity given to tn,
proposal Of the commonwealth O
California to bar the japanese from
ownership of real estate In tina
state, the ineffo ctual protests OF thu
executive heads Of the United States
and Japan, brings before us the com
pick form of our government. We al
know that there is a national govern
ment and a state government. We
have been told that the United States
Is supreme-yet as to just how faI
1t is supreme is a matter that Is moi
altogether clear to most of us. How
IS 1t that the state Of California may
pass law denying to Japanese the
right to own land within the state
when the national government may
have Though we have no evidence
chat congress has) entirely different
wishes about the matter?
The field of government is divided
between the United States and the
state. The United States has the
powers given under the constitution
which we have read and re-read as
1t appears In the back Of school his
ories. The powers and capabilities
given the United States under that
wonderful document are the only pow
ars 1t possesses. It has no others.
1t has no natural, inherent powers.
Congress may legislate only concern
Ing the matters of which the con-
stitution gives the national govern
lnent control. The federal courts
awe Jurisdiction only of questions in
volving the United States constitu-
ton Its laws or treaties. The c0nsti-
tuition gives to the United States the
entire treaty making power and bars
the individual states from the realm
u international relations.
AS to all matters which the federal
government does not exclusively con-
troll under the constitution, the
state has complete and sovereign
powers. The state Is possessed Of
Ill the powers of government not de-
aled 1t by the federal constitution.
aas we have two governments, each
supreme within its sphere. When tie
two authorities come into conflict the
state authority must yield, for the
federal power Ia supreme insofar as
1t reaches. But In matters Of which
the federal government is given no
control under the constitution, the
states power is complete Generally
the state has complete power to re-
gulate Its internal affairs. And so
1t Is that we find the state prescrib-
ing who may own realproperty with
In its borders. Every state by its
avs prescribes who may hold land.
One restraint that is placed upon
he st ate Is by the provision Of the
that the treaties OF the
federal government stand upon the|
same plane as the laws of congress-
hey are the supreme law ofthe land,
and If any provision in a state con-
or law IL inconsistent with
/ federal enactment the measure of
he state must give away. The
state In making Its laws must have
'egard for the treaties which the
United States has negotiated with for
,ign countries. California was free
o enact any measure she saw lit
the ownership Of land 90
ong as no provision Of q treaty was
'ontravened.
CALIFORNIA; avowed purpose was to
against the Japanese, who
lad begun to settle in that state in
arge numbers. acquiring the owner
hip Of farm lands. With the Cali
ornians 1t Is q vital question OF the
ind Of man who IL to be your
eighbor, and the kind of children
rho are to 80 to school with Your
California did not wish to
ar all aliens from owning land. for
hat would drive out foreign capital
its who are assisting in the material
evelopment OF the states vast ma
lral resources. The discrimination
/ the bill originally proposed was
,und in the phrase aliens ineligiblel
!, citizenship" which aroused 3uchl
Lrong protest from President Wilson
nd the state department as being
to q friendly nation. This
is the one which the Unit
1 States has itself enacted into Its
Tvs governing who may become citi-
ans. The right to become . UCited
tatas citizen by naturalization Ia I'm
ed to aliens, being free white per-
pms, and to aliens Of African nativ-
v and IN norrOna ri African do