Japan and the California Problem Part 5

The truth of this statement, which in other words means that the cause of anti-j.a.panese agitation in California is due to congestion in that one State, becomes almost indisputable. It is doubly apparent when we consider the reason why the Chinese no longer const.i.tute the objects of exclusion in California while the j.a.panese do. The Chinese have shown, ever since the launching of the agitation against them in the early '80's, a wise tendency to disperse into other States, thus avoiding conflict with the Californians. The j.a.panese, on the other hand, appear to cling tenaciously to California, and the more they are maltreated and slandered the more steadfastly they remain in that State. This is apparently due largely to the recognition of the desirability of California, even with its handicaps, over other States, but it is also due to their helplessness to extricate themselves from the situation in fear of a great financial loss involved in the change.

The Report of the State Board of Control of California uses the fact of the decreasing number of Chinese and the increasing number of j.a.panese in California as evidence of the success of the Chinese Exclusion Act in accomplis.h.i.+ng its purpose, and of the failure of the "Gentlemen's Agreement" in restricting j.a.panese immigration.[13] But, in so doing, it fails to take into consideration the very fact which it points out elsewhere, which we have just quoted; namely, that the number of j.a.panese has decreased in all of the other States combined while it has increased in California. It also fails to take into account the fact that the number of Chinese, contrary to the j.a.panese tendency, has shown a marked tendency to grow in eastern and middle western States and to decrease in California. Thus, for example, the number of Chinese in New England, the Middle Atlantic, and Eastern and North Central States increased from 401, 1227, and 390 respectively in 1880 to 3499, 8189, and 3415, respectively, in 1910, while it decreased in the Pacific division from 87,828 to 46,320 in the corresponding period.[14]

The foregoing examination establishes the fact that much of the anti-j.a.panese agitation in California is due to the congestion of j.a.panese in that one State, as pointed out by the authorities of California, and as confirmed by the extinction of anti-Chinese sentiment in California, consequent upon the exodus of large numbers of Chinese from that State.

We have seen that the j.a.panese population in California increased from 86 in 1880 to 70,196 in 1920 at the annual rate of 1403. We shall now see how each of the three factors--lawful entrance of j.a.panese into the United States, smuggling, and birth--has contributed to this increase.

Immigration.

Without question, the coming of the j.a.panese who are legally permitted to enter the United States has been the largest factor contributing to their increase in California. Of the total j.a.panese entering the continental United States since its beginning up to the end of 1920, estimated at 180,000,[15] California claims to have received about two thirds,[16] or approximately 125,000. Since California's present j.a.panese population is 70,196, of which about 25,000[17] are American-born children, it means that out of the total number of j.a.panese immigrants (125,000) who entered California, only 45,196 survive now in that State, the rest having either migrated to other States, or died out, or returned home.

One reason why the j.a.panese immigration is viewed with so much apprehension is because the facts of the situation are not rightly understood. The number of j.a.panese coming to the United States has decidedly increased in recent years, especially since the war, the annual number reaching the ten thousand mark. This would certainly be alarming were it not for the correspondingly large number of j.a.panese who returned every year. The following table shows the percentage of those who returned out of the total arrivals:

======================================= Year. Arrivals. Returned. Percentage of Returned Against Total Arrivals.

----- --------- --------- ------------- 1916 9,100 6,922 76% 1917 9,159 6,581 72% 1918 11,143 7,696 69% 1919 11,404 8,328 73% 1920 12,868 11,662 90% =======================================

The growing number of j.a.panese coming into America and the increasing high rate of their return, as shown in the above table, clearly indicate the fact that the character of the j.a.panese now entering the United States has decidedly changed. The explanation of the high rate of j.a.panese entrance is to be sought in the growing business, diplomatic, intellectual, and other relations between America and j.a.pan which the recent war brought about. In the field of business, the number of branch offices of j.a.panese firms employing j.a.panese clerks and managers rapidly increased in the large cities of the United States. Students who formerly went to Europe for study now flock to America and enter the large universities of this country. Many of the newly rich whom the unique opportunity of the World War has created, have taken it into their heads to see the post-war changes in America and Europe. But these j.a.panese visitors are not immigrants; they are not coolies; they do not come to America to work and settle. They will give America no trouble, for they stay in this country only a brief period of time. They are America's guests, as it were, and they should not be treated as immigrants. The rough handling of these visitors, as sometimes happens in the Western States, gives them a bad impression of the American people at large.

That most of the j.a.panese now coming to this country are temporary visitors is shown by the following table which distinguishes non-laborers from laborers:

=================================================== Year. Total. Laborers. Non-Laborers. Percentage of Non-Laborers Against All.

----- ------- --------- ------------- ------------- 1916 9,100 2,956 6,144 67.5% 1917 9,159 2,838 6,321 69 % 1918 11,143 2,604 8,539 77 % ===================================================

"Gentlemen's Agreement."

It is useful to remember the above fact when discussing the workings of the so-called "Gentlemen's Agreement." It is often alleged that j.a.pan has not been observing the agreement in good faith. Thus Governor Stephens states:

There can be no doubt that it was the intent of our Government by this agreement (the "Gentlemen's Agreement") to prevent the further immigration of j.a.panese laborers. Unfortunately, however, the hoped-for results have not been attained. Without imputing to the j.a.panese Government any direct knowledge on the subject, the statistics clearly show a decided increase in j.a.panese population since the execution of the so-called "Gentlemen's Agreement." Skillful evasions have been resorted to in various manners.

Such an accusation appears plausible when it is examined solely in the light of the high number of annual j.a.panese arrivals. The accusation, however, falls to the ground when we consider two other facts already pointed out; namely, the correspondingly high and ascending rate of departures, and the increasingly high percentage of non-immigrants against immigrants.

It is provided in the "Gentlemen's Agreement" that "the j.a.panese Government shall issue pa.s.sports to the continental United States only to such of its subjects as are non-laborers, or are laborers who in coming to the continent seek to resume a formerly-acquired domicile, to join a parent, wife, or children residing here, or to a.s.sume active control of an already possessed interest in a farming enterprise in this country."

Accordingly, the cla.s.ses of laborers ent.i.tled to receive pa.s.sports have come to be designated "former residents," "parents, wives, or children of residents," and "settled agriculturists." Of these, the last item, the "settled agriculturists," has practically no significance, because under that cla.s.s only four entered America since the conclusion of the agreement. According to the agreement, then, only two cla.s.ses of immigrants, former residents and the families of residents, are admitted.

This agreement leaves the question of the admittance of non-laborers entirely untouched, permitting the j.a.panese Government to decide as to who may be cla.s.sed laborers and who non-laborers. The lack of concrete understanding between j.a.pan and the United States in this respect is a grave defect in the agreement. True, the executive orders issued in connection with the "Gentlemen's Agreement" provide a definition of term "laborer," and state:

For practical administrative purposes, the term "laborer, skilled and unskilled," within the meaning of the executive order of February 24, 1913, shall be taken to refer primarily to persons whose work is essentially physical, or, at least, manual, as farm laborers, street laborers, factory hands, contractors' men, stablemen, freight handlers, stevedores, miners, and the like, and to persons whose work is less physical, but still manual, and who may be highly skilled as carpenters, stone masons, tile setters, painters, blacksmiths, mechanics, tailors, printers, and the like; but shall not be taken to refer to persons whose work is neither distinctively manual nor mechanical but rather professional, artistic, mercantile, or clerical--as pharmacists, draftsmen, photographers, designers, salesmen, bookkeepers, stenographers, copyists, and the like.[19]

The weakness of the provision, however, is in the difficulty it gives rise to in practical application and in the liability of wrong construction to be placed by the American public in the administration of the "Gentlemen's Agreement." The difficulty lies not at all in the lack of mutual understanding between the American and the j.a.panese Governments in respect to this question. The _modus operandi_ arrived at between these two Governments has worked satisfactorily. But because of the lack of a specified definition of "non-immigrants" and "immigrants," the distinction to be made between them, and, consequently, the granting of pa.s.sports, as already stated, is left in a large measure to the discretion of the authorities of the Foreign Office of the j.a.panese Government.

The foregoing defect and the confusion on the part of the American people suggest that the adoption of a specific definition of "immigrants" and "non-immigrants"--in other words, laborers and non-laborers--on the basis of whether a person is coming to America for work and settlement or for a temporary visit, seems quite essential.

The j.a.panese method of distinguis.h.i.+ng non-immigrants from immigrants, however, has not been altogether irrational or arbitrary. The established custom is that the Government issues two kinds of pa.s.sports, one with a lavender color design on the front page with the word "non-immigrant"

stamped on it, and the other with a green color design with the word "immigrant" printed on the front page. The former is given to those who desire to go to America for business, educational, or traveling purposes, expecting to return home after a brief stay, and who have strong financial a.s.surance. The latter pa.s.sports, namely, the immigrant's, are given to those who are ent.i.tled to enter America, according to the already specified provisions of the "Gentlemen's Agreement," viz. "former residents," "parents, wives, or children of residents," and "settled agriculturists." The pa.s.sports, however, are not granted even to these cla.s.ses unless they file a pet.i.tion to the Government with a certificate from a j.a.panese Consulate in America certifying the breadwinner in America to be an honest man, with a clean record, who is capable of comfortably supporting a family. In this way, although without a definite standard of regulation, the j.a.panese Government faithfully adheres to the provisions of the agreement, even to the point of being charged with an extreme rigidity. The following table given in the Report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration shows in detail how the agreement has been operating:

j.a.pANESE LABORERS ADMITTED TO CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES 1910 TO 1919.

_According to Annual Report of Commissioner-General of Immigration._

========================================================================= In possession of proper pa.s.sports. Fiscal Ent.i.tled to pa.s.sports under Year "Gentlemen's Agreement." Ending ------------------------------------------------------------------ June. Former Parents, Settled Not Without Total.

Residents. Wives, Agriculturists. Ent.i.tled Proper and to Pa.s.sports. Children Pa.s.sports. of Residents. ------ ---------- ---------- --------------- ---------- ---------- ------ 1910 245 373 1 47 39 705 1911 351 268 .. 88 25 732 1912 602 224 .. 60 27 913 1913 1,175 178 .. 41 13 1,407 1914 1,514 119 .. 84 51 1,768 1915 1,545 585 1 54 29 2,214 1916 1,695 1,199 2 39 78 3,013 1917 1,647 1,115 .. 36 87 2,885 1918 1,774 507 .. 88 235 2,604 1919 1,265 422 .. 48 241 1,976 ---------- ---------- --------------- ---------- ---------- ------ Total 11,813 4,990 4 585 825 18,217 =========================================================================

The table indicates that out of the total immigration of 18,217 from 1909 to 1920, 11,813 of this number were people who temporarily visited j.a.pan; 4990 belonged to the families of residents; 4 were "settled agriculturists," and 585 were persons not ent.i.tled, for reasons unexplained, to pa.s.sports. It also shows that 825 were persons without proper pa.s.sports. The latter category included immigrants bound for Canada, Mexico, and South America who were sidetracked on the way, those who lost their pa.s.sports, as well as deserting seamen and smugglers. For these cases of illicit endeavors to enter America, the j.a.panese Government can hardly be held responsible. It would be absurd to put forth the negligible number of 585 cases, that are recorded during the period of ten years as persons who are not ent.i.tled to pa.s.sports, as an evasion of the "Gentlemen's Agreement" on the part of the Tokyo Government. It is one thing to point out the defects of the agreement, but it is an entirely different matter to charge bad faith in its execution.

By way of summary, then, it may be stated that ever since the "Gentlemen's Agreement" was put into effect in 1907, the number of immigrants has gradually decreased, those admitted having been mostly former residents, although the total number of j.a.panese coming to the United States has increased, due to the growing number of tourists and business men. The agreement, as far as its execution is concerned, has been carried out with the utmost scruple, but it is defective in that it does not clearly distinguish immigrants from non-immigrants, and this leads to confounding visitors with immigrants, and hence to the unfounded claim that it is being ignored, evaded. Judging from the sentiment prevailing in California, and in other Western States, against the j.a.panese, it is desirable that the agreement be so amended as to forbid the advent of all j.a.panese, except well-defined non-immigrants and former residents temporarily visiting j.a.pan. This will prevent the further increase through immigration of j.a.panese settlers in California or elsewhere in the United States. This step is deemed advisable, not that a handful of immigrants as such is serious, but that the main question at issue--the treatment of j.a.panese already in America--becomes thereby liberated from further complication. It will go far to reduce the fear of Californians, and thereby alleviate the difficulty of the main issue.

Smuggling.

There is no room for doubt that smuggling is responsible for a part of the j.a.panese population in California. From the nature of the case, it is, however, impossible to estimate the number of j.a.panese who have entered the United States through this illegal method. During the visit to California last summer, of the House sub-Committee on Immigration and Naturalization for the investigation of j.a.panese conditions, a rumor was circulated and published in the princ.i.p.al papers of the country to the effect that the Committee had discovered amazing facts as to the systematic smuggling of j.a.panese into this country through Guaymas. Later, it was made clear that the rumor owed its source to the machinations of certain anti-j.a.panese agitators who willfully concocted the canard. While it is possible that from the Mexican and Canadian borders a few scores of j.a.panese may be smuggled in every year, it is absurd to imagine that any wholesale smuggling is being practiced through the connivance of j.a.panese officials and under the noses of competent officers who patrol the borders and coasts.

It may also be remembered that j.a.pan and Canada have an agreement restricting the number of j.a.panese entering Canada. This renders the northern borders of the United States comparatively free from the danger of smuggling. Except through desertion of seamen, which numbered 315 cases during the past ten years, it is almost impossible to enter secretly by way of the Pacific Coast. The only danger zone is the Mexican border. But here again there are good reasons for believing that smuggling from Mexico cannot be practiced on a large scale. In the first place, the number of j.a.panese in Mexico amounts only to 1169,[20] and no pa.s.sports have been granted by the j.a.panese Government since 1908 to laborers who wish to go to Mexico.[21] In the second place, the American Government would take care to see that its border-patrol is efficient enough to arrest smugglers. The Mikado's Government, too, has been sincere in cooperating with the American authorities to prevent the evasion of the law.

Birth Rate.

The cardinal question relating to the j.a.panese population in California is the question of birth rate. Immigration can be restricted, smuggling may be completely prevented, but the fact of the high birth rate is something which cannot be very easily combated without infringing upon traditionally sacred principles and personal freedom. It is quite true that the high birth rate among the j.a.panese in California would not have been a serious matter if the nationalism of America were as broad as that of Ancient Rome, or if the j.a.panese were a race which will readily and speedily lose its ident.i.ty in the great American melting pot. But the fact remains that the United States of America is not merely a mixture of different races and colors; she is a solid, unified, composite country, although she draws race material from all over the world. Nor are the j.a.panese a race likely to amalgamate completely with Americans in a few generations. Thus the question of j.a.panese birth rate in America becomes a vital matter, touching the fundamental questions of national and racial unity in the United States.

With the importance of the question clearly kept in mind, we shall see what are the facts as to births among the j.a.panese in California. The following table, prepared from the reports of the California State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, shows the number of annual births of j.a.panese from 1906 to 1919, and its percentage of the total number of births in California:

NUMBER OF BIRTHS.

======================================================== Year. Total Births j.a.panese Births j.a.panese in California. in California. Births--Percentage of Total.

------ -------------- --------------- ------------------ 1906 ...... 134 ....

1907 ...... 221 ....

1908 ...... 455 ....

1909 ...... 682 ....

1910 32,138 719 2.24% 1911 34,828 995 2.86% 1912 39,330 1,407 3.73% 1913 43,852 2,215 5.05% 1914 46,012 2,874 6.25% 1915 48,075 3,342 6.95% 1916 50,638 3,721 7.35% 1917 52,230 4,108 7.87% 1918 55,922 4,218 7.54% 1919 56,527 4,378 7.75% -------------- --------------- Totals 459,552 29,469 ========================================================

The table indicates in the first place that the birth rate of California as a whole is steadily growing, and in the second place that the birth rate of the j.a.panese was very low until 1906 or 1907, but since then it has been rapidly growing. The relative percentage of j.a.panese births in the total births of California, however, indicates the tendency to diminish, having reached the highest mark in 1917, when it was 7.87 per cent., but decreasing slightly in the last few years.

The exceedingly high birth rate of the j.a.panese in California becomes clearer when considered in terms of the rate of birth per thousand of population. In the year 1919, the number of births in California was 1.79 per thousand population. In j.a.pan, where the birth rate is high, it was 2.53 during the past decade. The birth rate of j.a.panese in California is more than three times as high as that for the total of California, and more than double that in j.a.pan.

There are several reasons for this abnormally high birth rate among the j.a.panese in California. In the first place, a large portion of these j.a.panese are in the prime of life, and moreover they are selected groups of vigorous and healthy individuals. Commenting on the age distribution of j.a.panese in this country, the report of the Bureau of Census states[22]:

The most noteworthy fact about the age distribution of the j.a.panese is their remarkable concentration on the age groups 25 to 44, nearly two-thirds of the j.a.panese being in this period of life. Only 4.5 per cent. of the j.a.panese are over 45 years of age, as compared with 44.7 per cent. of the Chinese. The explanation is, doubtless, to be found in the fact that the j.a.panese represent more recent immigration than the Chinese.

The truth of this statement was borne out by the recent investigation conducted by the j.a.panese a.s.sociation of San Francisco, which obtained the following result in thirty-six northern counties of California:

AGE DISTRIBUTION OF j.a.pANESE IN MIDDLE AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, 1920.

========================================== Age. Male. Female. Total. Percentage of Age Group.

-------- ------ ------- ------- ---------- Under 7 4,078 3,786 7,864 18.% 8 to 16 2,035 1,663 3,698 8.% 17 to 40 17,037 8,535 25,572 59.% Above 40 5,683 805 6,488 15.% -------- ------ ------- ------- ---------- Total 28,833 14,789 43,622 100.

Thus, out of the total number of 43,622 investigated, 25,572 or nearly 59 per cent. are between the ages of seventeen to forty, only 5 per cent. of females being those who pa.s.sed the age of fertility.