Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-12-27
ANE ERICAN URGES
UNDERSTANDING
Of j. s. AND JAPS
General Sheriff. Tells Of the
81 tSs d HeSSity for Keeping Pic
: p e Brides Out of the United
States.
Associated Press corr,.pordlerc., =,


IokIos Nov 20--The following ig
the fun text of the address of Gen.
Charles W. sheriff. of New York. ex-
minister to Argentine at the dinner of
the America-Japan society. last night.
when he urged the conclusion of ia
DIES agreement as a supplement TO
r The "gentlemen's agreement" regulat-
States. 80 oN44N
4 II doubt IL any other friend of Ia
pan pani VINO after reading of 1t for years.
) Iulaily visited your hospitable land,
! was ever so surprised by what he saw
as |! In many respec.s your country
shows the visitor an entirely different
race from its photographs. He who
IIas heard that modern Japan Is losing
interest N religion finds on every
mana y sincere devotion manifested
ana countless temples and shrines nv
an obviously devout people He who
believes that art has lost its hold upon
you, sees at flower exhibitions AT dis
plays of flower arrangements, in fhe
numerous gardens everywhere under
construction a few of many refuta-
Ions or that SANDER The foreigners
near that because of your climate you
are an irritable, uuarrelsome race but
never have | seen a land where child
! rem and elderly folk are made so hap
| py, nor where smile goes so far IN
deed, a smile is all the open sesame
q traveller here REQUIRES, providing al
I ways that the smile on the face is
| backed by q smile at the heart. You
Japanese differ. much more from us
/ than expected, but upon this very
! difference / base great hopes OF a bet
! Yer Understanding between us. and for
| this reason.
Praises Artistic Touch.
You lead the world in deft ar
| rangement of flowers You assemble
INTO one vase differing types Of flow
me tau and the short. the stiff
| ana the bending. or the brightly coll
ored with others Of duller hue, but SO
intelllgenty are they combined that
together they are more effective than
when seen separately Here lies a
pregnant thought for him who seeks
a way to closer sympathy between i
such contradicting peoples as you and {
ourselves. Let us frankly recognize the
inequalities between our civilizations
and then instead of critieizing each
other, strive to balance these inequal-
tiles as you do those OF flowers. Jap
anese friends tell me that Americans
VINO speak here so misunderstood your
psychology as to make of their speech
es mere oratorical sweet meats. dishes
of tasteless compliments. NV high
opinion of Japanese common sense SO
marked trait among you, emboldena
me, who occupy no official position
and speak only for myself an individ-
ual admirer of Japan, to comment
frankly on the unfortunate msunder-
standing now Obvious 10 any reader Of
your newspapers or ours. In 1905 the
sympathy OF all America was with ia
pan. and our pockets were open to
your loans In this connection may
remark that ours Is the first nation
in history to be at the same time the
greatest reservoir both of capital and
of raw materials.
Gentleman's Agreement Wise.
1t is great pity that today the
American sentiments OF 1905 are al
tered. and he who pretends otherwise
Is no true champion Of a better and
lasting friendship between us. | have
recently come from a three months
study of these misunderstandings In
California, and shall venture a sugges-
ton to ameliorate the situation. The
'Gentlmen's Agreement was a wise
Diplomatic device. which recognized
that japanese immigration to the
United States sets uD a competition be-
tween our labor and the japanese Ia
borers who accept less money and
longer hours than our men. It also
recognized that this economic UNDER
cutting of the American laborer was
arouslnE friction and YOU wisely un-
dertook to check IT, In YOUR millions
of frugal industrial laborers lies your
greatest power to conquer the markets
of the world. But every rose has
er and work loiiger than occldentals
is the thorn felt by American labor
when your rose is transpIanted to
Believe me, gentlemen, the
problem surrounding Japanese immi-
grafton into America Is an economic
and not racial one. Here Is proof
When / was in California some
years ago so bitter was the feeling
there against the cheaper living Chi
nese labor, that 1t was not safe for
Cinnamon to walk alone at night in
certain quarters of San Francisco.
They then called il racial antipathy
and not economic friction. but since
Chinese immigration has become sus-
pended, and therefore the economic
frlctton removed, Cinnamon have be-
come popular in California. Y--u meet
this Chinese immigration question
Just as we did for you do not allow
cheaper living Chinese or Korean la
bor to enter Japan to compete with
your people There is no province of
Japan where there are 10000 Chi
1ese to $4,000 Japanese as today there
are 10000 japanese to $4,000 Amer
cans in Hawaii, and you are quite
right thus, to protect your labor from
There Is no province of
Japan where. foreign labor is increas-
ng by birth or otherwise in far great
sr proportion than the Japanese. and
yet that Is true of Japanese foreign
abor in California. Your protection of
Korean competition leads me to my
promised suggestion. My investiga-
ions convince me bevoud doubt that
he Japanese government has Loyalty
lived up to both the spirit and the let
er of the 'Gentlmen's Agreement But
hat the agreement ought to be sup
Dlemented by q Ladies' Agreement,
because the loyal adherence of your
government to the 'Gentlemens
Agreement Is being offset by the nu-
nerous picture brides going from
Japan to Japanese laborers in Ameri-
IA. Their coming imperils cur rela
ions more than you realize and for
easons difficult for you to under-
tand.
The Picture Brides.
"All you see in this picture bride
ystem is a proper desire of your men
broad to get wives from home You
re accustomed 10 marriages being ar
anged by parents or friends and
therefore, cannot grasp how the pic
pom our people. IL isn't question of
Dng prevailing custom of our country.
rec matrimonial choice by both par
les themselves. as you are to your
eYerence for your ancestors. Neither
I us really understands how strongly
he other feels in these regards. Fur
hermore you do Nnot realize perhaps
hat since these picture brides are
by Japanese laborers. they
ssist their husbands. thus becoming
.bofers themselves and thus offsetting
ne loyalty of your government to the
ientlemen's Agreement And besides.
ney bear more children than do the
ives of their American neighbors.