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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniire page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^> signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tabf!«aux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de r6duction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seui clich6, il est filmd A partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 I?3. 139 THE ANTI-JAPANESE PETITION. APPEAL IN PROTEST AGAINST A THREATENED PERSECUTION, BY K. T. TAKAHASHI. A Japanese-Canadian. • •• « . •■ . I • V ' • —IT — r- MOXl REAL : Gazktte Phintino Company. 1897. IP323. /7( ,, • • I -• . . •• • THE ANTI-JAPANESE PETITION. APPEAL IN PROTBST AOAINST A THREATENED PERSECUTION, nv K. T. TAKAMASHI. A Japanusu Canadian. Ill (Iciuorratic coiiiiti-ii'sjK'opk' uroapt to (hiiik lightly o[ invoking the aid of their logislatmvs. But in reality tliis is at all times a most weighty affair, and should the invo- eation he in furtherance of some unjust scheme, nothing eould he more eondemnahle than such an ahuse. And it hehooves all patriotic citizens to rise in solemn protest on sueii occasions. In duty hound, then, I as a loyal citizen of Canada appeal to you who are our representative men for your und)-'ided support to my representations, which I humhly subiiiit hcreinbelow. Some interested persons have for some months past been soliciting signatures to what they term an "Anti-Japanese petition " addressed to the House of Commons of Canada in Parliament assembled. It prays, in substance, that a 61864 new law 1h' ciiactt'd to alter the [(rcsriit stalut«»i-y jtrovi- niiMiH of (Canada for iiatiirali/iitioii as far us it coiictTiis tho Jaftanosc iniiiiii^raiits, iiisiiinatiugtliat tlio latter (tlu- Japan- cue) have l>een in tlie iialiit of reH()rtin«i: to fraudulent prae- tieoH in obtaining tlieir naturalization papers. Now, there ire to-anese Camidians, and also on my own account, declare most emphatically that we are lawfully and le_u;ally the citizens of Canada, and that we shall consider any law wiiii-'u imty bo passed to vitiate this our sacred status, as both nnjust, tvrannical and unconstitutional. Furthermore, T solemnly pn»tcst that our threat machinery of leujislation must not be trifled with to abet cons[>iracy ; and I appeal to yo>i, in wliose hands rests the jjood name of Canada, that, within hi-r mii^hty dominion, no law be framed or tolerated which threatens to perpetuate an in- justice and persecution upon a large number of her innocent and law-abiding peoi)le. I may anticipate a retort that the petitioners are not conspirators, and do not mean any persecution. It must be remend»ered, however, that, to the intelligent public of Canada, the Anti-Japanese agitation has always appeared ill-advised and uncalley the petitioners is uin ailed tor? In reply, I suhinit that Japan lias a very strin,L'"<'nt law in oj)eration, which provides that no suhjeet o\ tluit ein[>ire shall leavt' its hounilary without a written [lerniit, in the form of a })assport, the i^ranting of which depends totally up(Ui the cliaracter of the ai)i)licants. Now, the dapani'se are a very proud peo[)le, most intensely jealous of their national reputation, and they camiot hear the thouifht that their countrvmen mi<;ht hecome a cause of prejudice and disc-redit abroad. Ai^ain, as admitted hy all th(>se who know, Ja[)an\s police system and otlier administrative organi/,atile ettort. I 6 To all fair iniiidcd Canadians, tlierctoro, it can not bnt 1)0 plain that any Hpccial law to exclude tlio .Fapant'Ht' \h not only cMitiri'ly supi'pHnoiiH, but unjnstitiaKlc from an intorna- titmal point of viow. For own loss than ayoar ago, during tho last sossioii of tiio I'arliuniont nncU-r the (/onservativo (Jovornniont ot Cana(hi, niiiny prominent momltors, inohnl- uig Sir Charlos Tiippor, tho thon I'romior, and tho Hon. Mr. Lanrior, did not hositato to (h'lnmni'o a foroign bill, known as tho " Alion Bill," thon [)ondinjL? in tho Conj^ross of tho Unitod States of Anu-rioa, as nnjnst and nnoivilizotl. J'rooisoly for the reason that we Canadians arooivili/A'd and eidi<«;htened, thoy tln-n ai;rood not to onti'rtain any retalia- tory measures nntil it had bei-n ascertained that tin- Wash- inu;ton (ilovernment wonld not bo conoiliatod. X(»to, thon, that Japan has to-day beoomo a oo-i'([iial of tho most eivil- i/A'd mitions of Europe and America, by reason of their havinsjf conoeded to her donnnids in ratifying tho revised treaties of 1894. 1 [01100 Jajian, as a power, should reoeive, and is entitled to, all tbo international oourtesios as observed by tbe oivili/ed mitions of tlu' world. Is it possible, then, that Canada, whoso representative men had so recently declared even retaliation as iinwortliv of her national recti- fiide, tliongh in jiresonoo of an open affront, would not only ignore a most exom[>lary dis[iosition of a nation wbose wishes have boon respectfully heeded by all the groat powers, but would themselves assume the offoiisi>'o with not 80 much as an attempt at a friendly lonsultation ? I charac- terize such a proceeding as a pusillanimous inconsistency, and repeat that such a law as domamkul by the petitioners is both unnecessary and unjustitiable. It is true, the petitioners make various statements in justification ot their contention. I beg, therefore, to show how much truth and reason there are in their sii^nod depositions. Firstly, thoy say : " That, wbon-as the Japanese, 011 account of the low Htaml'm^ of living to which they havo been uccustoiiu'd in tlieir own country, are willing to take, and do accept, a much lowiT scale of wages than it \n pos- sible for Canadians to accept and maintain themselves and their families." This is botli misleading and faise. In .rapan, her brooks and rivers, ponds and lakes, whiirh are numerous and everywhere, and the scan which surround her islands, yield a great al>undan<'e of tish. Then the soil, which is generally rich and fertde, atfords in a more prolific measure much larger variety of vegetables than in Caiuula. Being plentiful and easily obtainable, both tish and vegetables are ex<'eedingly cheap there ; but being fresh from Nature's stores, they are always wholesome and nutritious, and the Japanese — high and low — delight in tliem and live upon them. The petitioners' evasive phrase, " the low standard of living," is, therefore, meaiungless except as an insinuation suggested by the fact that in Clnmi they have a large, floating pojiulation that have no home, no citizenship, but live, sim[)ly live, from day to day, upon the dregs ami refuse of the street, and are ever t)ining even for shivery abroad rather than continue their native life under the incessant pressure of hunger and inhumanity. With tliese people, frugality verging u[»on starvation is inevitable, and low living becomes a habit, .lapan, liow- ever, is not China, and is absolutely free from those exe- crable features so characteristic of the latter. Xot only that, but even what is commonly known in the great cities of Europe and America as the " pau[>er class" is an unknown (pumtity and [>ractii'ally has never existed in Jiapan. In other words, even the lowest class of people in Japan have no opportunity to become habituated to what may be termed a " low standard of living." To say the Ica.st, tlu'ii, it is most inislfiitlini:' to sjicnk nl' flic .liipiiiiosc standard (d'liviiii; as " low."' Ah for tlio nll('<^atioii that llu- .lapain'sc acct'pl, a much lower scale of \va<,';cs, etc., it is iiiHiualificdly false. Aceus- toine(l to a life (d plentiful and easy misteiiaiiee, direct from the hands of their own indulgent Xatiire, it iw a eoin- mon experience of ail the .Ia|>anese who venture ahroad that they cannot live as cheap as the natives of the place. This is esiieciaHv true in a countrv like onr Doniiniitn, where the edihle tloia iiud tislu's are coinparativt'ly limited ami I'epi-csent much expense, and the .lajtam'se lniv(! to <'hoose hi'tweon pavini"- more to satisfy theii' native tastes or adojtt tlie mode of lite of Canadian mitives. In eithei* case, it is therefore a [diysical imitossihility for them to lis'e in Canadi. and aci-ept u scale (A' waiires lower than that of th white workers. As a nmtter of fact, they tlo not. I have carefully ii'athered and learned from most reli- ahle sources the kiinl of jttirsuits that the .lai>anese ii'ener- ally take up in this country and the scale of wattes tin'V accept in so doinii;. These are hoat-huildinir. net-makin«f, saw-mill han«ls, rancliinu", farming;, collii'ry and salmon lishint;' : and tiie minimum waives they do accept in these trades and industries are not one whit helow what are C(.»mmoidy accepted by the whitt' people, and are much hiu^her than tliose prevalent in the eastern provinces. Furthermore, I ofier tliat if tlie jietitioners would submit wlwit they consider as an avcrai^i' scale of waj^es of the white workers, I shall also show that the same of the dapanese in Canada is not any way diii'erent therefrom. I may achl that in .Iai)an itsi'lt' wat?(\s have risen 100 per cent., and even 200 per cent, in some cases, in consefpience of ii;reat strides made tiiere in matters commercial and industrial duriiii;; the last iivc or six years. With tlie adoption of a gold standard, a measure wViich has lately passed both the houses of the Diet, there is every iiidica- 9 tioii tluit (H'oiiDiiiie iiotiitioiis in .liipaii aiiiu'rs' rttatcnu'ut?* a, " b(»tli iuislt'aion I have re- futeil ahove. Japaiu'se are not and will not be coming in in large hordes ; nor have they displaced any white lahorcrs in any industries of IJritish (\>lumhia. There is, therefore, absolutely no ground for pretending that the dapanese are going to monopolize the labor nnirket, a j)oint which I will make still clean-r in my refutation that follows the next complaint of the petitioners whicli is : " That whereas the influx of dapanese is continuing on a large scale, and thereby the rate of wages, and the op[)ortunities for em- ployment available for Camidian workmen are generally lessened, the result has been to seriously prejudice the reputation of British C^)hunbia as a desirable field for im- miifration from Eastern Canada and the Tnitcd Kiuifdom." This is again ii gross misi'cpresentation of facts. There is in the first place no influx of Japanese into liritish Columbia continuing on a large scale. Some who land there, from time to time, via the Camidian I'acific vessels, are mostly transient passengers destineut the uuniher ot" .Jaj>anese who eome with tlie intention of staying and do a<-tnally Htay in C^anada, is now-a-days exeeediugly small, as it has always hecn, and the petitioners' statement is in conse- (pienee a nndieious exaggeration. Not less wanton is tlieir attemj)t to pivot the cause of tlii' reduction in wages in British Columhia outo tlie intlux of Japanese. Whatever be the motive (jii the petitioners" part to forget, tlu'fact is, that tliis result has hei-n brought about by a mul- tiple of causes rovince like British Colund)ia, which has hut 00,000 whites and :{0,0()0 I-idijms against a vast area of 450,000 s(|uare miles, the presence of some eight or nine hundr('(l Jaitanese scattered here and there can not possibly make any difference to settlers' minds. And 1 cannot lieli> d()uhtinii:the petitioners' serious- ness wlien they feiij-n that the .lii[)anese have s[)oiled tiie oitportunities of British Columbia to induce the Canadians of eastern townsliips and Britishers to immi5i;i'ate. Why, nine-tenths of the people of eastern Canada as well as of the British Islands and European (-ontinent, know absolutelv nothins;: of British Columl)ia ; while with tfie remaining one-tenth the sentiment is entirely in favor of the .Japanese. The real key to the situation is simply this : Ontario and Manitoba are on this side ot the Rockies and (»fter all the inducements which htinn-fide settlers of white race look for, and the;/ (Id not care to extend thejournei/ to British (hlinnbio at increased cost and. trouble; and Japanese havi' nothing to do whatever in this matter. I tlierefore conclude that the pi'titioners wild assertions are an imposition upon the credulity of the Parliament and Canadian }»ublic. Fimdlv thev insinuate " That, whereas as the result of the extreme facility with which the .)iii»anese immigrants can become naturalized as ih'itisli subjt'cts, there is great danger in conse([Uence of the com[»ai'atively small adult male wbitc population of tlie Province of British Columl>ia becoming Orientalized to a very great extent, which, with the ignorance of the . Japanese of the EnglisU language and of British constitutional methods, involves a serious menace to the progress and institutions of the province, •^nd to its peace ananese are of a progressive and civilized race. 13 I have )i,)w sli„wn panio^rai.h by para.jirapli liow utterly uiiteiiablo are tlic coiitoDtioiis of the lu'titioiicrs. I shall desist from further i)roIoiiirii,,j.'- my representation lu'yond remarkiiiiT that the [.etitioiiers' tnie purpose can not he so much the shuttin^i^ out ot the Japanese as nionoiM)]i/i„ir to themselves the labor market of British Cohimhia, so that they nuiy be in position to dictate their own terms to the employers, .-ai.italists and political parties of that Province and Canachi. I should not, ho^ve^(■r, omit to re.-ord here in Justice to my fellow- Jaj.anesc C'anadian that the real and most serious enemy to the I>read-winners ot British Columbia are to day as it had always been, those predatory, aliens other than Jaj.anese who freely cross and recross the boundary Miu^ and carry iill their earniuiTs away into the American side. When prospects are In-tter and wa