The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-19
JAPANESE PROBLEM WAS NOT SOLVED BY
 DECISION 0F COURT
Ca|ifornians Do Not Rejoice Greatly Over Victory Won in High United States
 Tribunal
By l.. C. RYAN Special Dispatch to The Age Herald (Copyright, 1922, by The Age -Herald)


 San Francisco, Cal, November 1S.- There are more than 10000 American born Japanese in California alone, who, despite the recent decision of the supreme court are bona fide citizens of the United States. Under the laws of this country they also will be legally qualified to own Cali fornia land now in dispute regard less of any tight provision of an anti-alien law.
 This figure is official. These Japanese have been born in this state since 1908 and while it is sug- gested that there may be some 10000 who were born here before that time when the state first began keeping it's records-there are no statistics available on which to base guess. There are at the present time total of 100000 Japanese in the state.
 It is pointed out by many who de- cline to wax enthusiastic over the recent decisions of the supreme court which however, upheld public opinion generally. that so soon as these 10000 Japanese become of le- gal age they also legally can step in as owners of s00,000 acres of the finest agricultural land in the state, land which their parents. relatives and Japanese corporations with American names now hold under va rious lease arrangements which seem just as effective as real ownership.
 Produces Less Reaction
 This is the reason why the supreme court naturalization decision pro- duced less reaction here. the foun- tafp of Ia n a lapric1Q a. ton in the west, than in the various states where the Japanese are not a problem and the effect of the de- cision upon the international rela- tions was more of a topic of discus sion.
 On the twenty seventh of this month the supreme court will hear arguments on the test case brought to determine the constitutionality of the California law--duplicated gen. erally in nine other western states directed against alien ownership of land. This comes in three cases. the first upholding that section of the law prohibiting leasing of lands to the Japanese for agricultural pur- poses and the second that prohibit ing leasing of land to corporations which are in reality owned and controlled by Nippones. Both these actions were won by the state in the lower courts The third, lost there in, involves the legal right of a Jap anese to till land on crop share contract.
 Decision Important
 It naturally is conceded that the recent supreme court decision hold ing that Japanese were not white persons, and consequently were in- al; ;erth h1a to If importance to California but only be- cause 1t had been to the contrary it automatically would have knocked out the other cases now waiting arguments.
 One result of the supreme court decision will be a concerted demand by the congressional representatives of the nine western states, in which the Japanese question is vital problem, for law doing away with the so-called gentleman's agreement whereby Japanese immigration is re- stricted by an understanding between the two governments.
 Naturally. there is a division in sentiment on whether this supreme court decision will be made the me- dium for representations between Tokio and Washington. There has been a dying down of the "Japanese war scare" talk since the Washington armament conference of year ago and the present diplomatic relations are more amiable than in many years. Former United States Senator James D. Phelan, whose efforts to se- cure national anti-Japanese legisla- tion were spectacular features of his senatorial career, said today that aside from having an important moral effect in upholding the Cali fornia land laws. the naturalizatiou