Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

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THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. 23 With such conditions existing it was apparent to students of such matters that exclusion of Asiatic immigrants had to come sooner or later and that the only sure and effective method of checking the invasion was by a stringent act of Congress which was adopted May 26, 1924, prohibiting further admission to this country as permanent residents of any Japanese laborers, male or female, or of any professional men seeking to locate here, and the provisions of the law to be enforced by our own government. In regard to the Exclusion Act President Coolidge, who throughout the con¬ troversy has shown great friendship for Japan, correctly described the situation when he said, “The Exclusion Act is not an offensive but a purely defensive action. It is not adopted in criticism of others but solely for the purpose of pro¬ tecting ourselves. We cast no aspersions on any race or creed, but we must re¬ member that every object of our institutions of society, and government will fail unless America be kept American.” There are some w ho think that the Exclusion clause of the immigration act will so offend the Japanese that it will create a breech that will lead to war; not immediate war perhaps, but that friendly relations will be lacking, that prepara¬ tions for war must be made, and that vigilance will have to be maintained. On the contrary, clear headed, far seeing statesmen of the United States and Japan believe that the Exclusion Act instead of causing war will serve as an actual preventative of war. For years there has been a growing friction between the white and the Japanese which was fast developing into a class hatred that would inevitably bring on a clash between the two nations. It is to the interest of both nations that this clash shall not come. We have close commercial interests with the Orient, especially Japan. We want their commerce, they want ours, but this cannot be continued where there is friction between the two nations. The way to prevent this trouble is to remove the cause, and the one cause that was hasten¬ ing the trouble, and which has been removed, was the unwelcome hordes of Japan¬ ese flooding the Pacific Coast. No affront to the Japanese honor has been intended in the new law, and none has been given. It is far better that any differences of opinion should develop now over the provisions of the law than to have other and far more serious differences arise later from the development of an aggra¬ vated race situation on the Pacific Coast. A dispute over the justice and wisdom of a law may be adjusted amicably when both sides wish to be reasonable, but it would not be so easy to meet the crisis which would be created in time by the extensive Japanese colonization of American territory. Another reason why exclusion will ensure future peace with Japan is that by its passage the United States will be able to maintain control of the Hawaiian Islands which were fast becoming Orientalized, and coming under Japanese in¬ fluence. These Islands, strategically the key to the Pacific Coast, were annexed by the United States in 1898 as an outpost to preserve the peace of the Pacific. In Hawaii to-day the Japanese comprise forty-three per cent of the population, and furnish more than fifty per cent of the school children. They control trades and industries, warn white workmen to keep away, and even use their influence to defeat candidates for Congress who are unpopular with them. In a few years, if exclusion was not adopted, these islands would be lost to the white race, and by passing the act we have prevented this, and assured peace between the two countries for generations. While sensational newspapers and excitable statesmen in both countries pre¬ tend to see “grave consequences” arising from the Exclusion Act, in reality Japan has no legitimate cause to be aggrieved at the passing of this measure. Her animosity towards the United States is due solely to a lack of knowledge of the

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22 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. the facts, decided that the Japanese should no longer be allowed to come here as laborers, agricultural workers or small tradesmen, and that further mass set¬ tlement or colonization should be prohibited. This decision resulted in the ad¬ ministration negotiating with Japan the so-called Gentlemen’s Agreement, by the terms of which all Japanese laborers excepting those who had already become domiciled here, their parents, wives and children, were thereafter excluded from the United States, the enforcment of the measure to be carried out by Japan her¬ self, instead of by our government. Japan of her own accord agreed, to issue no passports to Japanese laborers desiring to enter this country or adjoining ter¬ ritories and to issue passports to the United States only to business men, travel¬ lers, and students, hoping through this class of people to promote friendship, and to encourage trade between the two countries. People on the Pacific Coast were skeptical of the success of the Gentlemen’s Agreement from the beginning, and the results as time passed proved that their suspicions were well founded, as this act never produced the results expected. Like the Prohibition Law the agreement was broad, and easily evaded by the individual. Japanese laborers continued to arrive by devious routes, usually crossing the Canadian and Mexican Borders, thus proving the ineffectiveness of the Agreement, and the necessity of a more stringent statute. Although President Roosevelt who conducted the negotiations with Japan believed that the Gentlemen’s Agreement would settle the problem, the result of fifteen years of operation proved the diplomatic defeat of his efforts, and the futility of this act to restrict the entry of Japanese to our shores. In 1907 when this law was passed the number of Japanese in this country including Hawaii were 152,000. In 1922 there were 275,000, an increase of 123,000, and to this num¬ ber was being added 13,000 yearly by births alone. To find so many here already with the number steadily increasing caused justifiable concern on the part of those who realized what troubles may be caused by a large alien element whose lower standards of living gave them superior advantages in industrial competition. From the economic and social angle, the Jap is as different from the American as land is from sea. Neither can he be made to fit into our modern ways or customs. With his long hours of labor and Oriental standards of living, he is an unconquerable competitor of our people in whatever industry he selects, and wherever Oriental help was employed, it meant that Americans were idle. The women and men work side by side in the fields and the children are taught to work from the hour they can pull a weed or wield a hoe. The husband is the head one of the family and the profits of all hands are his, Japanese women having no property rights whatever. By the united efforts of a Japanese family, their competition with the white farmers is fatal to the latter and in small farm¬ ing and truck gardening they have driven white men out of production and now absolutely control the industry. In some of the country schools on the Pacific Coast the Japanese children outnumber the whites to such a degree that the white children are brought up in a Japanese atmosphere, a condition unsatisfactory to the white people who are compelled to send their children to private schools or move out of the neighborhood. Although some of the Pacific Coast states passed laws prohibiting the alien ownership of land, this act proved no barrier to the resourceful and unscrupulous Jap, who at once proceeded to evade the law by devising ingenious methods of procuring legal title to the land. To see our laws evaded, and contempt manifested by a wily foreigner who cares nothing for our institutions was an additional cause of discontent and protest from the wh ite people, and where is there an American who can blame them?

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24 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. conditions and reasons which induced this action of Congress, and to a belief that it was inspired by a dislike for Japan, and a desire to insult and discrimi¬ nate against her. These beliefs are groundless, for the immigration act applies to half the globe, of which Japan constitutes only about seven per cent. If con¬ sistent, Japan should offer no opposition to the United States, as Japan her¬ self to protect the economic welfare of her people has excluded the Chinese, people of the same color, also the people of Malay, Java and Hindustan. Why then should Japan feel offended with the United States for adopting a policy towards her, which she herself had already put into effect against other nations? What just grounds has she for protesting this action of the United States when no other English speaking country has permitted them to gain such a foothold in its territory? South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand have always exclud¬ ed Japanese immigration, and Canada, having had unsatisfactory results from a Gentlemen’s Agreement allowing a small number to enter each year, is preparing an act to exclude them absolutely. As no serious complications ever arose with those countries over exclusion, is it not reasonable to suppose that the controversy between the United States and Japan will be settled amicably and without grave consequences ? Another circumstance which has been lost sight of by those who fear that exclusion may lead to war is the fact that Japan at the present time and for many years to come will be physically and financially unfit to consider war. It is but a little more than a year and a half since she was visited by an earth¬ quake, the most terrible and destructive on record, and from the effect of this awful disaster Japan is devoting her every energy to recover. In her great dis¬ tress American aid was prompt and generous and Japan was deeply touched and appreciative of our quick response to her need. Under those conditions is it not inconceivable to suppose that she has any warlike intentions towards the United States, her greatest benefactor and the most powerful nation in the world? The recent passage of the Manhood Suffrage Bill by the Japanese Parlia¬ ment is another hopeful sign of peaceful relations between that country and the United States, and shows that Japan is fast developing into a political democ¬ racy. This act raises the electorate from three million to fourteen million voters, gives the middle class control of national policy and has already forced the re¬ actionary element to give up their belligerent military plans. This policy is already evident in their attitude toward China, where the bullying and boycotting of years has been discontinued and trade and commercial relations encouraged. With those conditions now existing in Japan we can look forward hopefully to the future, with the assurance that a friendship established by Commodore Perry over seventy years ago and maintained continuously since will not be broken by a misunderstanding over the Exclusion Act. Although there are Jingoes over there as well as in this country, there are also shrewd, clever busi¬ ness men, who realize that it is for their interest as well as ours that there shall be no break in our relations. With the aid of such men, Japan in her own interest and in the interest of her people will accept the Exclusion Act in a proper spirit and will join with the people of the United States in a manly, courteous and final understanding. Wallace Larkin, 1925.