Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

Page 20 text:

18 THE BRANKSOMK SLOGAN In the main, it was coolie la1:»our, and the hfe of a cooHe was not highly valued in the 80 ' s. By premature explosions in the tunnels and cuttings, hy scourge and accident, many died, but finally the great highway connecting East and West was com])leted by Chinese labour. The Japanese came later, only some thirty years ago, but, since their coming, the whole salmon industry, on that most famous of salmon rivers, the Fraser, has passed into Oriental control. Not only there, but all along the coast, where there are good fishing- waters, the yellow tide is creeping in. The story of Steveston will illustrate the fate of many other fishing towns. Here, where former- ly hardy white and red fishermen harvested their profitable crop from the sea, now every fishing boat for miles along the coast is owned and manned by Orientals. In this connection it should be remembered that Canada has only a few hundred miles of sea-coast on the Pacific, that it is almost entirely in British Columbia, and that it is to the fishing poi)ulation there, as in the Eastern Maritime Provinces, that she will turn to find men for her navy, when the time comes that she needs one. With the rapidly growing importance of the Pacific in world afifairs, it is tragic to realize that the maritime population in British Colum- bia is almost entirely from across the Pacific. What may this not lead to in the event o f complications with the Orient ? The encroachments of the yellow man are not restricted to the fishing industry. To the traveller in British Columbia, the most vivid impression that he carries away w ith him is that of the number of extensive fruit farms that he passes as he travels westward. And here, in the fairest and most beautiful of all Canadian vales, the yellow man will be found in possession. As all instance of this, con- sider the Okanagan Valley. It is still a land of lovely homes, of people of culture and means, and above all of loyalty, often most difficult to secure in settlers, and most indispensable to any country. From this valley, more than one-sixth of the population went to the war. In their absence the labour problem became very serious, whole farms were left vacant, crops unharvested. In many cases the financial strain proved too heavy, and lands had to be sold. Then a danger which had long menaced became acute. The only available purchasers and labourers for hire, w ere Japanese and Chinese. A few years later the soldiers, who had given up all to fight for Canada, returned to find thousands of Orientals on the land. Their labourers, their neighbors, and, in many cases, their employers were yellow. And now we see the original settlers, who have so splendidly shown their loyalty to the country, quietly moving away, and leaving the land to the Orientals, settlers who w ork only to send their money out of the country, who live in hovels, who contribute nothing to the beauty, culture or strength of the country, and who will never be assimilated with the white people.

Page 19 text:

THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN 17 THE MENACE OF THE ORIENT IN CANADA. Much has been written in the past few years on this question, but we feel that Canadians do not yet reahze the menace to their country, which is found in the influx of Orientals into our most Western Province. The question is not the less of great national importance, because for the moment it obtrudes itself mainly in British Columbia. It is rather the graver because of that, for British Columbia is far from the populous centres of Canada, and its representation is so small at Ottawa, that protests seem of little avail. When in the West a short time ago. Lord Northcliffe was- not only startled by the facts, but astonished at the lack of interest shown in them by Eastern statesmen and publicists. Historically, the immigration of the Orientals difl: ers greatly from that of our European immigrants. The Canadian Government frankly paid Europeans to settle in the country, gave them grants of land, and has cared for them, when, leaving the farms for work in the cities, they became the victims of industrial s tress. In contrast with this money expended on these settlers, Canada has derived an enormous sum every year from the head-tax imposed on Orientals. Does part of the lack of Federal interest in the danger of these immigrants arise from the fact that they bring in annually such a substantial revenue ? The circumstances under which the Chinese first came to Canada are of interest. Although now they present a great and pressing problem, at the time of their first coming they filled a great need, and performed a service to our country. The great influx of Chinamen came with the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This company ' s contract stipulated that the line be built across British Columbia in five years, at a time when there w ere no labourers to be had. The wages were good, but only bartenders, and riff-raff from the mining camps of California, who knew nothing of the work, and were worse than useless, were procurable. Then in April, 1882, two thousand Chinese labourers were brought across the Pacific in sailing-ships. No sooner had they landed than scurvy broke out, and hundreds of the poor wretches perished, lliose who remained were employed in building the railway.

Page 21 text:

THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN 19 This is not true of the Okanagan alone. In all the most fruitful districts in British Columbia you will find the quiet but rapid invasion of the Oriental going on, and the silent withdrawal of the wdiites. In California, in 1919, there was great consternation when it was discovered that every thirteenth person was a Japanese, and yet in British Columbia, one person in every eight is an Oriental ; but birth records show that the proportions betw een white and yellow are changing with alarming rapidity. Last June, in the municipality of Richmond, Vancouver, out of twelve births registered in one day, only one was that of a white child, — all the rest were yellow. It is a part of the Oriental religion to have large families. A Canadian family of five children is exceptional. This is an average Japanese family. The entire population of British Columbia is five hundred thous- and. In the year 1920, nine hundred and seventeen Oriental chil- dren were born there, and twelve hundred and seventy-five Oriental immigrants admitted. That is, over two thousand were added to the already large yellow population in one year. These Orientals can never be assimilated. The purity of our race, and the purity of their own, forbids intermarriage. Hence we are admitting in increasing numbers an alien race, which must ever remain alien, in thought, morals, religion, patriotism, and standards of living. They will soon dominate us by sheer weight of numbers, they will dictate to us, shoulder us aside, and we will i)ass from this fair land as surely as did the Indians before us. And yet Canadians continue to calmly ignore or quietly dismiss this question as of secondary importance. It is vital to the country. Every year is adding to the num1)er of these immigrants, and they are fast becoming a political, as well as an economic prol)lem. British Columbia is the gateway to the Orient. Let once that province become swamped with the yellow people, yearly pouring in, and the gates of the Dominion are opened to Oriental invasion. On the far side of the Pacific lies Japan, with the third largest navy in the world, with an army that is increasing daily, Japan, greedy for expansion for her teeming population; and on the other. British Columbia. Canada ' s w estern bulwark, with one-eighth of her population already composed of a people who still regard JaDan as their mother-land. Is not this food for earnest thought on the part of every serious- minded Canadian? MARJORIE SHERLOCK, Form V,