Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-08-29
KindIng

Il FL w EEAN Japan ana InS OllIISN
ID States to-day lie two great un-
solved problems. They are the
problem of conflicting Pacific policies
and the problem of immigration.
we are too prone to regard these
questions as settled. as soon as they
drop out of sight for a few weeks or
rev months. They are as far from be-
ing settled to-day as they ever We're.
More than that, they are continually
adding to their vitality and impor-
tance with the passage of time.
Along with the many disadvantages
attaching to the centralizing of power
IN the hands of small group of men.
Japan has derived one compensating
benefit from the system. She has
gained a consistent foreign policy.
Her statesmen have. never lost sight
or the two great issues that face their
/ empire. They have withdrawn those
issues from notice at times, when cir
cumstances seemed unfavorable, but
they have never for a moment for
gotten them. They never relax their
eHorts to put Japan in the most favor
able position to meet them when the
time comes.
These issues will come to the front
again, beyond the shadow of a doubt
They are so real and fundamental
that they will arise of their own vital
lty sooner or later; and Japan stands
ready to raise them as soon as she
tnlnks the time has come to do so
with ADVANTAGE.
Japan has steadily pursued her two
told foreign policy. Her objects are
the opening of road for her people
TO emigrate to the Occident, and the
extension of her power in Asia, with
| a view to ultimate dominance of the
| orient. AT the time of the sudden
outbreak of the European war, she
the matter of emigration. With the
war came an Unexpectedly perfect op-
portunity to further her other aim,
the domination of China, and she
hastily turned to avail herself of it.
Under cover of the world-conflict
she eZtorted concessions from China
| that she might never have gained
otherWise. 1t is no wonder that she
let the emigration question lapse for
tne moment. To regard that question
therefore as settled, to ina gine that
she has let it lapse for good, would
De the height of short-sighted folly.
Every sign points to a renewal of the
dispute on the part of Japan in the
near future.
Inc immigration question has been
SO thoroughly discussed that it seems
unnecessary to review it, Yet the
very richness of the comment and
argument poured forth on the mat
ter has contributed largely toward
ourying the fundamental issue at
stake. The mass of the discussion has
concerned itself with superficial as
poets or the situation, until the real
conIIGt OF interest, policy and prin-
clPIe mas oeen almost lost to sight.
Japanese emigration to the Occi-
gent SO far is only the ripple before
the wave. With Japan's population
increasing at the rate of almost a mill
non a year, with the spreading of oc
cidental methods of sanitation and
occldental Ideas of the value of life
pro1itiSing pro91is, 70 augment that increase
sreatly as time passes, it is obvious
that the eighty thousand Japanese
now in the United States can have no
real effect on the problem one way
or the other. N'
In themselves they constitute an
separate and distinct. American
thought tends to regard the two is
sues as one. Japanese diplomacy has,
contributed to the error by focusing
attention on the case of the Japanese
IN America, but it is certain that
Japanese statesmen have never con-
FUSED the problem of what to do with
an increase of population of almost q
million year with the question of the
status of a few thousand Japanese in
California. 80
The case of the japanese in Cali
fornia is in itself a real issue in japan.
japanese national pride is a very real
and sensitive thing. The California
question itself will arise again. japan
dropped the negotiations over the
antialien land bills with the express
stipulation of resuming them when
she got ready. The gentlemen's agree
ment' by which Japan voluntarily ex-
cIudes her laborers from the Pacific
coast, and to which she has adhered
with exemplary faithfulness, is still
source Of continual irritation to rnanv
elements in Japan, as a study of the
japanese press will show. The time
and study devoted to the California
question, the mass of evidence and
argument printed concerning it, all
apply to an important international
deadlock. The bulk of it does not
apply to the great underlying prob
lem at all.
The question has been discussed
with view to finding a solution which
should meet the wishes of both
parties. Americans of the Pacific
coast have plainly stated their wishes.
Iney do not want a stream of jana
nese labor. The japanese have shown
Willingness to meet the American
viewpoint on this angle, at least tenn
porarily. They have voluntarily lin
tied their emigration. They demand
in return. however, that America
should respect their national pride.
Thus in looking for a solution of the
conflict, investigators have tried to
find a scheme which should at once
exclude the Japanese without insult
ing them.
a typical device to this end is the