The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1919-10-09
SUGGESTION FOR A REAL CURE

East is East and West is West"
The racial differences between Jap
anese and Americans, wherever con-
tact reaches certain point are bound
to result in friction. AS an evidence
please note any one of more than a
score Of Pacific coast communities where
Japanese aggression has aroused white
citizens. We have experienced it here
in the Hood River valley.
While it will not give us much imme
diate comfort, we are repeating below
an editorial from the Oregonan of last
Thursday because, we believe, it offers
more hope for ultimate solution of the
Yellow Peril than anything we have
recently seen. We have headed this
comment with Suggestion for Real
Cure. would perhaps be better. if
we said real prevention.
There is one clause in the editorial
that especially strikes us as significant
friction shall be avoided by mini
mum of contact.
The editorial in full follows
Pleas for more rigid laws against
Japanese immigration give force to the
definition Of the broad problem in which
the japanese question is included as
given by Prof. ". f. Ritter, of the
University of California. in an address
in England. This definition is thus
summarized by the London Times
MIR. Ritter maintains that the North
Pacific ocean, its islands and bordering
continents uD to their watershed and
their inhabitants form unit-area both
Of physical geography and of the distri-
button of population. In this area some
five hundred million Asiatics are being
brought into ever closer contact with
more than 5000, 600 Americans. ASH
atcs are so placed geographically that
scores Of millions of them have about
the lowest per capita allotment of any
peoples on the earth of some of the
primary material necessities of human
life. The Americans are so placed as
to give them about the highest of such
allotment. Economic equilibrium, he
contends. will establish itself between
these two peoples as certainly as phys
ical equilibrium tends to establish it.
self when two bodies of salt water of
different densities are brought in con.
tact -
That statement of the case makes it
more than mere question of immgra-
ton. Unless we do something far more
effective, Immigration laws to prevent
half a billion Asiatics from overwhelm-
ing six million Caucasians will be no
better than the broom with which the
old woman tried to sweep back the sea.
We might try to equalize the forces by
IN every way stimulating growth of
white population in the Pacific states,
but the movement on the part of Ash
ates to establish equilibrium would be
too fast to admit of success by that
means alone. Physical equilibrium
would be accompanied by economic
equilibrium. That means that the
American standard of living would be
lowered toward the Asiatic standard.
An alternative is, while excluding
Asiatics from this country, so to direct
our policy as to raise the standard of
living in Asia. If American engineers,
mining men. manufacturers, backed by
American capital. were to go to China.
develop the country and improve trans
portation, conditions would be i'm.
proved, wages would rise, the standard
OF living would rise and progress would
be made toward economic equilibrium.
The chief incentive to emigration IS
desire to better ones condition. That
incentive would be removed or at least
weakened, Mongolian and eastern 81.
IBERIA have vast areas needing develop.
ment- where the surplus japanese pop
ulation could be employed Progress
IN Japan has been accompanied by a
rising scale of wages and standard of
living. If the surplus population over
flowed to the mainland, that tendency
would be strengthened and the desire
TO emigrate to white mans country
would die down
The solution of the problem of Asi.
attic immigration is to be worked out
IN Asia rather than in America. 1t re-
quires recognition by both Americans
an Japanese of inherent racial differ.
ences and cooperation in development
of both races in such a manner that
friction shall be avoided by the mini.
mum of contact. Prof. Ritter fears
that present friction may grow from a
cloud to tornado. We can best avert
the storm by helping to lift the Asitics
IN Asia toward the American standard