The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-20
A CLOSED INCIDENT


 to the Japanese government, setting forth our diplomatic position with re- spect to the exclusion act, comes at a time very opportunely to supplement the Japanese official efforts to allay pop ular resentment in Japan. The note also is made public day or two after the Tokio chamber of commerce went on record as opposing any sort of boycott on American goods or trade. Thus the situation is rapidly being clarified and the Japanese themselves are discovering that much of their anger and sense of humiliation is based upon false premises.
 That the act of congress excluding Japanese laborers by law is not in vio- lation of the gentlemen's understanding is proved by Secretary Hughes from the official documents of agreement be- tween the two countries. Article II of the commercial treaty of 1894 specific ally stipulates the right of the American government to regulate Japanese immi- grafton by law. When the new treaty of 1911 was under negotiation the Jap anese government asked that this stip- ulation be stricken out. Our government agreed to it's elimination from the formal document, but in it's memorandum of January 23, 1911, declared that "the government of the United States does so with all necessary reserves and without prejudice to the inherent sovereign right of either country to limit and control immigration to its own domains or pos sessions" On February Japan replied that the Imperial government concurs in the understanding of the proposal re- lating to the question of immigration set forth in the above mentioned note of January 23, last"
 Thus there is of record the explicit recognition by Japan of our full right and privilege of enacting statutes limit ing Japanese immigration whenever with in our discretion it seemed right and proper to do so. But if there were needed further assurance that the United States is violating no pledge or under standing by it's exclusion act, MT. Hughes goes on to say that the right to restrict immigration "the Japanese government has not failed to exercise in it's own dis cretion with respect to the admission of aliens and the conditions and locations of their settlement within its borders" In other words, the Japanese govern ment has enacted laws restrictive of inn migration into Japan, and properly views such laws as, not racial, but eco- homie and designed to further Japan's internal welfare. On exactly the same economic grounds the American govern ment enacts it's own laws restrictive of immigration, and bases it's approval of Americas internal welfare. Thus the Japanese who protest our exclusion act find themselves in the anomalous posi- tion of denying us a sovereign right which they themselves freely exercise. The Japanese government early per- ceived the absurdity of such position, and therefore never occupied it. Their protest was formal, but the "grave con sequences" of Hanihara's note will not be precipitated by any official Japanese act.
 It is very fine of MT. Hughes, while declaring the president and the state de- partment preferred that the gentlemen's agreement stand, to defend to the ulti- mate argument the right of our con- gress and of our government to take the contrary action. It is also encour- aging to perceive that the sober second thought of the Japanese has been to philosophy and to make the best of it, recognizing that, in the final analysis, the act is not based on racial but on sound economic basis. Instead of in- viting racial complications by our act, we are in reality avoiding them for all future time as far as the Japanese are concerned. The overcrowding of Japan does not logically mean that the over flow shall find it's way into the open areas of the United States, however de- sirable such 8 course might be from the Japanese point of view.
 It is believed that the exclusion ques- tion is now "closed incident" diplo- matically speaking, and that the Japa- nese themselves perceive that it would be to the detriment of their national prestige to continue to protest against what is clearly within the sovereign dis erection of any independent government. -
 OPTIMISM AN ASSET