Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1913-05-16


estate in that state, the ineffectua
protests of the executive heads OF
the United States and Japan, brings
before us the complex form of oul
government. We all know tina
there is a national government and {
state government. We have beer
told that the United States is su
preme-yet to just how far it is su
preme is a matter that is not alto
gether clear to most of us. How i
it that the State of California ma,
pass law denying to japanese tn
right to own land within the stat
when the national government ma,
have( though we have no evidenc'
that congress has) entirely differen
wishes about the matter?
The field of government is divided
Lbetween the United States and tn,
state. The United States has thu
powers given under the constitution
which we have read and re-read as il
appears in the back of the schoo
histories. The powers and capabili
ties given the United States under
that wonderful document are the
only powers it possesses. 1t has nc
others. 1t has no natural, inherent
powers. Congress may legislate only
concerning the matters of which the
constitution gives the government
control. The federal courts have
jurisdiction only of questions involv-
ing the United States constitution,
its laws, or treaties. The constitu-
ton gives to the United States the
entire treaty-making power and bars
the individual states from the realm
of international relations.
AS to alFmatters which the federal
government does not exclusively con-
troll under the constitution, the state
has complete and sovereign powers.
The state is possessed of all the pow
ers of government not denied it by
the federal constitution. Thus we
have two governments each supreme
within its sphere. When the two
authorities come into conflict the
state authority must yield, for the
federal power is supreme insofar as
it reaches. But in matters of which
the federal government is given no
control under the constitution, the
states power is complete. Gener-
ally the state has complete power to
regulate it's internal affairs. And so
it is that we find the state prescrib-
ing who may own real property with
in its borders. Every state by it's
laws prescribes who may hold land.
One restraint that is placed upon
the state is by the provision of the
constitution that the treaties of the
federal government stand upon the
same plane as the laws of congress
they are the supreme law of the
land, and if any provision in a state
constitution or law is inconsistent
with a federal enactment the meas
ure of the state must give way. The
state in making its laws must have
regard for the treaties which tn
United States has negotiated with
foreign countries. California was
free to enact any measure she saw fit
concerning the ownership of land so
long as no provision of treaty was
contravened.
CALIFORNIA; avowed purpose was
to discriminate against the Japanese
who had begun to settle in the state
in large numbers, acquiring the
ownership of farm lands. With the
Californians it is vital question, g
question of the kind of man who
is to be your neighbor, and the kind
of children who are to go to school
with your children. California did
not wish to bar all aliens from own.
ing land, for that would drive out
foreign capitalists who are assisting
in the material development of the
states vast natural resources, The
discrimination in the bill originally
proposed was found in the phrase
"aliens ineligible to citizenship
which aroused such strong protest
from President Wilson and the state
department as being offensive to q
friendly nation. This distinction is
the one which the United States has
itself enacted into it's laws govern
ing who may become citizens. The
right to become United States citi-
I'm by naturalization is limited to
! aliens. being free white persons.