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HATTIE ELIZABETH LEWIS MEMORIAL
ESSAYS ON APPLIED CHRISTIANITY

AN APPLICATION OF THE TEACHINGS OF
CHRIST TO THE AMERICAN JAP
ANESE PROBLEM
By HERBERT FLINT, of Gimrd, Kansas
Firit Prize. 1915

PUBLISHED BY THE UN1VBRS1TY OF KANSAS

PRESS OF THE
DEPABTHENT OF JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
LAWRENCE 1915

AN APPLICATION OF THE TEACHINGS OF
CHRIST TO THE AMERICAN JAPANESE
PROBLEM BY
Herbert Flint

PREFACE
This memorial was established in the University of Kansas in
1911, in memory of Hattie Elizabeth Lewis, a former student of
the University. It takes the form of an annual competition in
essay writing, open to all students of the University of Kansas.
The general theme of the essays submitted in this competition is
"The Application of the Teachings of Jesus to the Practical Affairs
and Relations of Life, Individual, Social, Industrial, Commercial,
or Political;" but each essay must deal with a single definite sub
ject, or a single phase of life. In the competition for the year
1914-15, the University committee in charge of the competition
itself prescribed the particular phase of the general theme to
which contestants were to be confined: "The Application of
the Teachings of Jesus to the Relations of States (Nations)."
Each essay is required to be not less than 5,000 nor more than
10,000 words in length.

CONTENTS
A. The Problem of Japanese Immigrants in the United
States
I. Japan's unique friendship for the United States  9
1. Christianization of Japan in the sixteenth
century  10
2. Isolation of Japan  10
3. "Opening" of Japan by Commodore Perry.. 11
4 . Rise of Japan within the last half century  11
II. Breaking of Japanese-American friendship  11
1. First note against the Japanese, 1900  12
2. Agitation in 1905  13
3. "School segregation," 1906  13
4. Legislative acts, 1907, 1909  14
5. Webb Bill, 1913  14
a. Provisions  15
b. Significance  15
III. Causes and circumstances back of the break  15
1. Contributory  15
a. The Chinaman 's legacy  15
b. "Jingoism"  16
1. Yellow newspapers  16
2. Politicians  16
3. The Asiatic Exclusion League.. 16
2. Fear of an Asiatic invasion  16
a. Economic considerations  16
1. The labor question  17
2. The land question  17
b. Racial considerations  19
1. Moral objections to Japanese.. 19
2. Racial objections to Japanese.. 21
B. Solution of the Problem by a Practical Application
of the Teachings of Christ : The Golden Rule
I. Teachings of Christ applicable to the problem  25
1. "The stranger within thy gates"  25
2. "The brotherhood of man"  25

II. Practical application of the teachings  25
1. To the economic question  25
a. Necessity of allowing some Japanese
immigration  26
b. Necessity of protecting our institutions 26
c. Measures necessary to do both  27
1. Admission of Japanese in lim
ited numbers  27
2. Admission of Japanese to
citizenship  28
d. Provisions of a new immigration law.. 28
1. Limitation of all immigration.. 29
2 . Discrimination against no nation 29
2. To the race question  29
a. Measures needed  29
1. Education of Japanese immi
grants  29
2. Education of Americans  29
b. Means of securing reforms  30
1. Registration of immigrants  30
2. Government aid for education
of immigrants  30
3. National commission on
assimilation  ,  31
4. Courses about Japan in our
public schools  32
III. Benefits to be derived from the application  33
1. Material  34
a. In the United States  34
b. In the Orient  34
2. Spiritual  35
a. Friendship of East and West  35
b. World Peace  35

AN APPLICATION OF THE TEACHINGS OF
CHRIST TO THE AMERICAN JAPANESE
PROBLEM
The United States has an international race problem to solve —
that of the Japanese immigrants on the Pacific coast. What are
we going to do about this problem, and when? How much longer
can we afford to play the game of recognizing Japan as a first-class
world power and still continue to refuse her citizens in this country
rights granted to immigrants from other world powers such as,
for example, Russia or Italy? Can we hope effectively to insist on
the "open door" and "fair play" in China, where Japan is more
and more making her influence felt, when we do not play a fair
game at home? Need we expect any one in the Orient to consider
us sincere in our professions of friendship and in our hopes for
world peace as long as we discriminate against Japanese now resid
ing in the United States, and practically exclude others from enter
ing? »
That such questions can be asked concerning the relations
between Japan and the United States shows that these two coun
tries are not on the terms they should be. The explanation of
why they are not includes, on the one hand, the story of an inter
national friendship as touching as it was unique and, on the other
hand, an account of the unnecessary breaking of that friendship
largely through national narrow-mindedness on the part of the
United States. That there should be some misunderstanding and
friction between the two nations is, everything considered, the
most natural thing in the world. The United States, the western
projection of Latin and Teutonic civilization, has met on the edges
of the Pacific the centuries-old East,— in this case, a part of the
East that until recently had been completely isolated for cen
turies, — a civilization based on exclusion of all foreign influences,
a national life that had turned in on itself. No wonder there were
complications when these two long divergent streams reunited. It
looks, however, as if the break was largely a needless one.
The first chapter in the story concerns the mushroom develop
ment of Japan into a world power: her unpleasant encounter with
1. Survey, 30:322.

10 Essays in Applied Christianity
the white race three centuries ago, the two and a half centuries of
isolation that followed, her "opening" by the United States, and
her subsequent growth, principally under the influence of Ameri
can stimuli. The admission of Japan into the ranks of the world
powers has attracted wide notice in the last twenty-five years
without much reference being made to the history back of that
entrance. Most of us today think of Japan only in connection
with her fleets and armies victorious over the Russians, or her
sinister relations to "Yellow Peril" talk, and, more recently, her
growing influence in the affairs of China. We remember more or
less vaguely that Commodore Perry of this country "opened"
Japan to the "civilized" world about sixty years ago; if we are
asked about Japan we murmur something about jinrikishas2 or
"Madame Butterfly," and agree that we don't want any "Japs"
in the United States : that their place is in Japan and that ours is
here. We forget for the moment her former experience with the
white race and the effects of the contact.
But the story of that experience is a significant one.3 About the
year 1553 Frances Xavier and some Roman Catholic missionaries
visited Japan.were welcomed heartily, and were given an opportuni
ty to preach. In the end thousands of Japanese became Christian
ized — perhaps a million. But the characteristic exploitation of the
Japanese by the whites that followed the introduction of Chris
tianity and firearms made things look different to the "heathen".
The result was that after sixty years Christianity was exterminated
via the sword and exclusion ; foreigners were barred from the coun
try, and the natives were not allowed to leave its shores; the
Japanese fleet was destroyed; commerce ceased; the nation was
completely isolated, trying to forget that it had ever met the white
race, the "White Peril" of the West.
In 1853 Japan awoke from her isolation and exclusion, the Rip
Van Winkle among nations. She had not had the stimulus of inter
national relations for two and a half centuries; her population,
hemmed in on an area too small to allow natural expansion, had
been kept down by merciless infanticide, disease, and famine.4
Her policy of isolation had been so successful that nothing but a
2. Century, 86:597. 4. Century, 86:600. 603.
3. Gullck: The American Jap
anese Problem, pp. 233-235.

The American Japanese Problem n
national making-over, convulsive in nature, could ever restore her
to a position of independence and power. She awoke to find
Perry's fleet in her waters, unwilling longer to listen to exclusion,
and powerful enough to enforce any demands. The result was the
"opening" of Japan by the United States.6
In spite of this virtually forced opening, Japan turned first of all
to the United States for guidance and help. Between 1869 and
1900 Japan imported, mostly from this country, more than 5,000
experts and assistants in every craft and profession, including
1,200 school teachers, to teach her the best in our civilization.6
She sent students abroad to learn what other nations had to show
her, and brought them back to head her schools and industries.
She revised her constitution, studied English, and translated the
best literature of the West into her oMgi tongue; in short, in a half
century she absorbed, after a fashion, the most immediate and
practical elements of Western civilization, including all the technic
of modern warfare. Then, in the dawn of a new national pride,
she prevailed over China, and after defeating Russia, stepped
unchallenged into the front ranks of modern world powers.
The nation that most influenced Japan in this half century was
undoubtedly the United States; and the grateful recognition of
what America did for them has long been the theme of the Jap
anese in discussing their relations with this country. Their esteem
is shown in many ways. For example, our great men are their
idols; there are six biographies of Lincoln in Japanese; anecdotes
of George Washington are inserted in the text-books of the ele
mentary schools in Japan; the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
is used in many schools as a text-book in English; and among the
boys of Japan, "Wagner, Cobb, McGraw, Mathewson have won
an admiration bordering on worship. "7 That the influence of the
United States has permeated every section of Japan seems certain,
and the statement that until recent years Japan looked up to the
United States as to an older brother seems no exaggeration.8
So much for the formation of the friendship; now for the break
ing of it. For beyond a doubt the friendship has been strained if
not actually broken; indeed, it may be said definitely that Japan's
5. Gulick: The American Jap- 7. Japan to America, pp. 219-
anese Problem, p. 235. 229.
6. Century, 86:597-605. 8. Outlook, 104:755-756.

12 Essays in Applied Christianity
feelings of good will and trust for the United States have changed
to resentment and distrust within the last ten years because of our
treatment of the Japanese immigrants in this country. The history
of the breaking of the friendship will first be traced by certain
events occurring between 1900 and 1913; the causes of the break
will then be set forth, weighed, and a remedy suggested.
The Japanese problem did not definitely exist prior to 1900. 9
The census figures for Japanese immigration show why :10 in 1890
there were but 2,039 Japanese in the United States; in 1900,
24,326. As a matter of fact, the Japanese question is an outgrowth
of the Chinese problem, and was at first an incidental issue in
connection with the matter of Chinese exclusion. "The first
strong note of opposition to the immigration of Japanese laborers
came from a mass meeting" called at San Francisco on May 7,
1900, "to consider the re-enactment of the Chinese exclusion law,
soon to expire, ' ' u — the same year that an unusually large number
of Japanese arrived.12 In addition to the anti-Chinese resolution
then passed, it was further resolved to "urge the adoption of an
act of Congress or such other measure as might be necessary for
the total exclusion of all classes of Japanese other than members
of the diplomatic staff. 'Such a law has become a necessity not
only on the grounds set forth in the policy of Chinese exclusion,
but because of additional reasons resting in the fact that the
assumed virtue of the Japanese — i. e., their partial adoption of
American customs — makes them the more dangerous as competi
tors. ' " u The following January, therefore, the governor of Cal
ifornia, in his message to the legislature calling attention to the
expiration of the Chinese exclusion act of 1892, said: "The peril
from Chinese labor finds a similar danger in the unrestricted
importation of Japanese laborers. The cheapness of such labor is
likewise a menace to American labor."14 As a result, a joint
resolution was adopted by the legislature and a memorial was
addressed to Congress praying for the restriction of Japanese
immigration. The legislature of Nevada did the same in that year.
The next date of any marked discussion of the Japanese question
9. Senate Document 633, pp. H. Survey. 30:333.
167-177, which is quoted 12. Senate Document 633, p. 5.
hereafter more or less nearly 13. Senate Document 633, p. 167.
,„ verbatim. 14. Senate Document 633, p. 168.
10. Senate Document 633, pp.
5-32.

The American Japanese Problem 13
was 1905. Immigration in the two preceding years had been
increasing in spite of discouragement offered by the Japanese
government. In 1905, therefore, the San Francisco "Chronicle"
began publishing articles on the Japanese question, calling atten
tion to the number of Japanese in the country, discussing the
supposed evils connected with their immigration, and emphasizing
the dangers of future immigration of that kind. In March of that
year, as a result, the legislature became deeply interested: — and
has been ever since — in the Japanese question, and adopted, as
did the legislature of Nevada, a resolution demanding that action
be taken without delay, by treaty or otherwise, to limit the further
immigration of Japanese laborers.16
So far the agitation had been hit and miss, and mainly concerned
the influx of a large amount of cheap .Japanese labor. But a bit
of friction more difficult to allay started May 6, 1905, when the
board of education in San Francisco by a resolution declared its
intention to establish separate schools for Chinese and Japanese.
Nothing was done, however, for more than a year. In the mean
time, the fire, in April after the 1906 earthquake, had destroyed
most of the school buildings of the city, including that attended by
most of the Japanese pupils. The difficulty of providing for pupils
of any race again brought up the Japanese question. In addition,
considerable feeling had been aroused against the Japanese in the
restaurant business. After the fire they had raised the price of
food and in the midst of the wholesale suffering had incurred the
hearty dislike of the "white" sufferers. In October of that
year the board of education passed a "separate school order"
transferring most of the Japanese pupils to the "Oriental school".
This was located in the center of the city, far from the homes of
most of the pupils transferred. The parents objected, the govern
ment at Tokio took a hand, and the Japanese question was at
once an international one. At the same time the anger against
the Japanese restaurant keepers took the form of a boycott con
ducted by the Cooks and Waiters1 Union against the Japanese
eating houses, a boycott which was accompanied by much violence
toward the Japanese of all classes. A Federal investigation fol
lowed, the school order was withdrawn, and the so-called "Gen-
15. Senate Document 633, pp.
167-171.

14 Essays in Applied Christianity
tleman's Agreement" was entered into between the United
States and Japan, whereby the Japanese government agreed "to
discontinue giving passports to laborers desiring to come directly
to the United States." An immigration act approved February
20, 1907, excluded from the continental United States Japanese or
Korean laborers, skilled or unskilled, who had received passports
to Mexico, Canada, or Hawaii. Hence the United States by agree
ment with Japan excluded laborers coming directly, and by law
excluded all coming indirectly. Then and there Japanese exclusion
practically went into effect — an exclusion in some ways "more
effective than that of Chinese under our drastic Chinese exclusion
law."16 In 1907 and 1909 anti-Japanese bills in the West took all manner
of forms and caused the Federal government on both occasions to
take a hand. Especially in 1909 was the sentiment against the
Japanese strong, seventeen more bills appearing in the California
legislature, the principal ones being an "alien land bill" and a
"school segregation" measure; but no anti- Japanese bill was
passed. Other scattering legislation in the West was similar in
tone during these years. It may be said, in general, that there was
much difference of opinion as to the advisability of some of the
measures directed against the Japanese, but that the prevailing
opinion seemed to be in favor of the restriction of the further
immigration of laborers. Only now and then, however, had the
"immigration of Japanese been considered aproblem of commanding
importance in other Western states than California," probably
owing to the greater number of Japanese in that State, the activity
of the Asiatic Exclusion League,17 and the previous agitation
against the Chinese, which undoubtedly had helped to develop
feeling against the Japanese.18
The climax of the Japanese question came in 1913, when the
California legislature succeeded in again making the issue an inter
national one. Its chief measure was the Webb Bill19 which, when
passed, provided that Japanese could not lease agricultural land
in the State for more than three years at a stretch and that they
10. Survey, 30:332; Senate Docu- 19. For the text see Gulick: The
ment 633, pp. 168-169. American Japanese Problem.
17 Survey, 30:336. pp. 333-335.
18. Senate Document 633, pp.
169-171.

The American Japanese Problem 15
could not purchase, permanently own or inherit agricultural land.20
As first introduced the bill was much more violent against the
Japanese, to such an extent that President Wilson sent Secretary
Bryan to appear before the California legislature. Together with
Governor Johnson, Mr. Bryan canvassed the situation, but
against his protest the bill was finally passed, the Californians
maintaining that it in no way conflicted with any treaty between
the United States and Japan.21 Without doubt it was the final act
that strained to the limit the ancient friendship which had existed
between the two countries. Moreover, it created a needless break,
since the bill has been characterized by an authority on the Japan
ese in California as being entirely "unnecessary, unjust, and
impolitic."22 The situation created by this bill has remained
practically unchanged since 1913.
These constitute the outward evidences of anti- Japanese feeling.
Let us now examine the real causes underlying the general senti
ment on the Pacific coast, and particularly in California, that the
Japanese must be excluded if not discriminated against contrary
to the spirit if not the letter of our treaty with Japan. Briefly,
there are two reasons: one concerns purely economic questions,
and is based in the main on the difference in the standard of living
between Americans and competing Japanese; the other narrows
itself down into a race problem — race friction, race prejudice.
That is, the residents of the Pacific coast fear an overwhelming
inroad of Asiatics, and they do not think that Japanese and
Americans ever can "get along well in the same neighborhood."
Complicating the real problems there have been, without question,
much exaggeration of the real peril and much misrepresentation
of the character and the conditions of the Japanese in the United
States, so that what may be justly said of some members of the
Japanese race has come to be generally accepted as applicable to
the whole. As a Japanese proverb puts it, "If one dog barks a
falsehood, ten thousand others spread it as truth. ' '23
To start at the beginning of the Japanese problem one must
reckon in the Chinaman.24 He was welcomed when he first entered
20 Gulick: The American Jap- 24. The Chinese inheritance is
anese Problem, p. 333. generally agreed upon. See
21. Outlook, 104:6-8. Coolidge: Chinese Immi-
22. Survey, 30:332-336. gration; Outlook, 61:61-65;
23. Japan to America, p. 44. Forum, 30:66-76.

16 Essays in Applied Christianity
this country, especially in the early days of California, when his
cheap and plentiful labor filled a real need. Later, he was perse
cuted in every possible way, when hard times threw native labor
out of work, and when his competition with American labor in
general was made doubly telling through his lower standards of
living. He suffered everything, from stoning to cold-blooded
murder; he worked long hours for a low wage, living for almost
nothing under conditions that white men could not survive and, in
strong contrast to the Japanese, submitted to his persecutors and
was finally barred by the Chinese exclusion acts. But the race
prejudice he aroused and endured during a half century has lived
after him; within the last fifteen years it has been transferred
almost unabated to the Japanese.
Another thing that must be reckoned with in considering the
Japanese problem is "jingoism,"26 which in its different forms
varies from the efforts of the Asiatic Exclusion League26and the
yellow newspaper seeking sensational news, to those of the politi
cian trying to get votes on an anti-Japanese platform, and those
of the armament manufacturer who needs war talk to sell his
wares. Without doubt there have been much misrepresentation
and exaggeration of the Japanese problem through these agents; and
very often the misrepresentation is bolder than one would think
possible. Lying headlines27 and false news are the commonest sort
of "jingoism. ' ' Again, all three poUtical parties in California have
had anti- Japanese planks in their platforms;28 the Asiatic Exclusion
League has juggled figures ;29 and as to the " Yellow Peril, ' ' any one
knows what a mine of sensational material that has been since its
promulgation by the German Emperor a few years ago, although no
one can estimate how much armament it has sold. The effect of all
this agitation has been, in general, to stimulate the feeling that the
Japanese are all wrong, and to lend color to the belief in California
and other Western States that exclusion and discrimination are the
only solutions for the Japanese problem.
The influence of this agitation, inherited prejudice, and misrepre
sentation, shows in the consideration of the purely economic side of
the Japanese question. Let us examine, first, the matter of Japanese
25. Sunset, 31:122-127. 27. Outlook, 104:635.
26. Senate Document 633, pp. 28. Senate Document 633, p. 173.
169-173. 29. Survey, 30:336.

The American Japanese Problem 17
labor the issue that probably concerns most intimately the question
of the difference in the standard of living between Japanese and
Americans. The facts are that, like the Chinese, the Japanese, in
their eagerness to obtain work, at first tended to underbid other
labor.30 This they could easily do because they could live much more
cheaply, were a very mobile body of labor, and for the most part
had no families with them. In the beginning they found it easy to
get over here through the aid of immigrant companies; Japanese
labor contractors secured work for them; they lived under conditions
that white labor could not endure, occupying in many cases the
deserted huts left by the Chinese whose place they took; and in the
agricultural regions where much labor is needed for a few weeks in
the year, their mobility gave them an advantage over other labor
almost amounting to a monopoly. Neverfheless, so far as the mere
presence of 100,000 Japanese in this country is concerned, the labor
problem could never be said to have been a vital one; only excessive
numbers could have made it so. Aside from the fact that the wages
of the Japanese have tended after a time to rise and approach those
of white labor, even more important is the fact that the agricultural
labor of the Japanese has gone largely into work that other classes
of labor shun. This is especially true of the beet industry, berry
picking, and other work where bending labor is needed.31 The Jap
anese have gained almost a monopoly there, but it can hardly be
said that they displace other labor; rather, they tend to develop
industries never before possible. Indeed, the decreasing Japanese
population of the last five years has in some cases threatened to
cripple industries largely dependent on Japanese labor, as agricul
turists have had occasion to complain.32 In general, then, it may
be said with reasonable certainty that within certain limits of immi
gration the Japanese labor question is not a grave one, but that with
unrestricted immigration it probably would be a serious problem.
The Japanese land question follows the labor situation in its main
features. The Japanese is an ambitious fellow, quite the opposite of
the stolid Chinaman, and just as soon as possible he tries to rise from
his position as day laborer to that of independent farmer or, at
least, of tenant, just as the Japanese in the cities have left their first
30 Survey 30-335 32. Japanese American Monthly
3l! Gulick: The American Jap- Review, July, 1913, p. 9.
anese Problem, pp. 325-327;
World's Work, 261:95-201.

18 Essays in Applied Christianity
positions as servants as soon as possible in order to go into business
for themselves. This tendency to become independent33 is a striking
characteristic of the Japanese immigrant, so much so that his thrift
and quick adoption of "Yankee" business methods have been used
as reasons for his exclusion.34 Then, too, since he knew little English
and was shunned by the Americans, he naturally kept to himself,
gathering others about him until in a neighborhood a Japanese
colony would spring up, just as other groups of Germans, Russians
and the like have gathered, with clannish tendencies, all over the
United States. In his eagerness to become independent the Japanese
has often paid unusually high prices to get what he wanted, 35although
some critics have said that he decreases the price of land in the neigh
borhood where he settles. The usual result was that communities
in which the Japanese gathered in dominant numbers raised a cry
of danger: the Japanese were about to monopolize the best land of
the state. But the real danger of their seizing the best agricultural
land of California, for example, was greatly exaggerated, as is shown
by the report of the Special State Investigation of 1909, of the Jap
anese in California: twenty sections would have covered the entire
ownership of land by Japanese in California in 1909.36 The amount
of leased land controlled by the Japanese was somewhat larger, but
the results were the same : an aggregate of all the land ever owned at
one time by the Japanese in the United States would have amounted
to such an infinitesimal fraction of the land of even one State that to
pass a law prohibiting them from owning land, or from leasing it for
more than three consecutive years, because of the fear that they
were about to monopolize the best land, seems hysterical, to say the
least.37 Only an overwhelming Japanese immigration could possibly
make their acquisition of land a serious menace to the opportunities
of Americans.38
The foregoing must suffice for the discussion of the purely economic
problem presented by the Japanese immigrants. Objections to
them economically on other scores because of their competition and
skilful adoption of "Yankee" business methods could be cited, but
to no different effect. Whether unlimited Japanese immigration
33. Survey, 30:334. 36. Gulick: The American Jap-
34. Japanese American Monthly anese Problem, pp. 316-323
Review, July, 1913, p. 5. 37. Survey, 30:333.
35. Survey, 30:336. 38. Survey, 30:332.

The American Japanese Problem 19
could be permitted by this country is, it seems to me, the only
important economic question involved in the Japanese problem.
The other cause of objection to the Japanese, and the main one,
is based on racial differences.39 This problem, more subtle and more
complex than the economic one, and harder to touch by figures or
reason, has also been exaggerated and misrepresented, partly through
"jingoism ' ' and the legacy left by the Chinaman, and partly through
ignorance and misunderstanding on the part of both Japanese and
Americans. Broadly speaking, it is a race problem involving political
and moral considerations (including social questions). The cry that
the Japanese are objectionable because they are not citizens may be
dismissed at once; there is every reason to believe that the Japanese
would embrace citizenship if they had a chance. On moral and
racial grounds, then, the Japanese seem so objectionable that the
feeling of race prejudice against them involves the great problem to
be overcome before the Japanese question is settled.
First, on moral grounds, many serious charges, some of them very
sweeping and generally accepted as applicable to the entire race, are
made against the Japanese. A good example40 is the allegation that
the Japanese are extremely immoral, that with them "prostitution is
a characteristic industry. ' '41 Toward refuting all charges of sexual
immorality I shall offer only one bit of evidence, and that is an
explanation of the "Picture Bride" movement.42 This is a means
by which Japanese men in this country can get brides from Japan.
The young man here sends his picture home and his parents or friends
pick out a wife for him. Pictures are exchanged, and presently the
bride-to-be arrives in America and becomes a wife. This may sound
like a clever means to import prostitutes, but the evidence is almost
all in favor of the Japanese. The custom of Japanese marriage
through having another select the bride is a common one, even when
both parties reside in Japan. Further good evidence is the very fact
that the young man sends back to Japan for a bride from his own
race. It seems rather to the credit of the Japanese that they should
desire to marry and settle down here through this long-distance
ao Tn/tenrniient 741419-1420; 41. Gulick: The American Jap-
39" Worlds Work , iellSlHMH i V^F^'^' QU°ting
n^eT^rilfzvTTfl" 42. ^ct^ThfAcanJap-
alatasfthe* Japanese*™ which is followed W

20 Essays in Applied Christianity
arrangement; that desire alone shows that they have in them the
making of good citizens, since good citizenship is so largely dependent
on the family relation, the settled status of the father, and his desire
to make a home for himself. In spite of the fact, then, that the
majority of the Japanese in this country come from the "lowest" or
agricultural classes in Japan,43 their desire to marry women of their
own race, and their desire for economic independence mentioned
previously, argue strongly against the probability of the truth of the
wholesale charges of Japanese immorality, and in favor of their
uprightness and the likelihood of their becoming good citizens.44
The sweeping nature of the charges of immorality, as well as the
misinterpretation of the "Picture Bride" movement by Americans
ignorant of Japanese customs and character, is characteristic like
wise of other serious charges against the morals of the Japanese.40
Space does not permit a detailed account of these, but a typical one
is that the Japanese do not keep their word; that they are unfaithful
to contract. Perhaps some explanation of the Japanese character
will help to make clear why charges of this type may be so widely
made, and help determine to what extent the faults attributed to
them in these charges are fixed characteristics of the whole race.46
There is no doubt that the Japanese do not always keep their word;
but what is the cause of this fault? Hopeless moral defectiveness?
Not necessarily. The fault probably goes back to the Japanese feudal
system maintained for a thousand years.47 Under this system cour
age, loyalty and politeness were stressed; to be courteous was above
being accurate.48 Courtesy even changed the grammatical structure
of the Japanese language, developing honorific particles in place of
personal pronouns.49 Saying the polite thing, even under unpleasant
circumstances, became the rule, so generally accepted that the Jap
anese always knew how to make allowance for the habit and were
not deceived by the polite answer; they knew by other signs what
the real answer was. Is it not conceivable that the Japanese could
hardly outgrow the influence of this training in a half century? No
wonder, then, that we think they deliberately lie when, politely
If %e,JlT„ D*r?%SSnJ°%33- p' 8- 47' G""<*: The American Jap-
44. Survey, 30:332-336. anese Problem, pp. 17 and ff.
45. Guhck: The American Jap- 48. Survey. 30335
dfi K?LPrr0n'l?Q-Pp-,i14~1,6- <• *9- Gulick: The American Jap-
46. Forum, 50:82-93; Annals of anese Problem, p 47
the American Academy, 34: v--*i.
223-243.

The American Japanese Problem 21
saying "yes," they may mean "no." (It should be remembered
that there is no Japanese word meaning exactly "yes. ' ' "Yes" to
them means "I am paying attention.")60 And in this connection,
the lack of time consciousness on the part of Japanese should also be
noted.61 Formerly, clocks were almost unknown in Japan; time was
of no importance.62 What is more natural, then, than that the Japanese
should be called unfaithful to contract,63 and untrustworthy, when
the ieal trouble is that what means one thing to them often means
another to us, or that we fail to remember their past training, just
as they fail to appreciate our standards of business morality? In
view of these facts, it seems very possible that in the light of accurate
knowledge of Japanese character and customs,54 many of the charges
against Japanese morality will in all probability assume something
of their just proportions.
So much for the moral objections to the Japanese. Others could
be cited, but they are all more or less alike — a combination of truth
and falsehood and misrepresentation and misunderstanding, and
often of a kind from which immigrants from other nations are not
free : the only difference is, the Japanese with these faults are singled
out to be discriminated against. Something of the same misrepre
sentation and misunderstanding and inconsistency will likewise be
found to color the racial objections which furnish so strong a basis
for the desire to banish the Japanese from the United States.65 These
objections are varied and often contradictory, but in general the
strongest ones run something like this : "The 'Jap ' insists on racial
equality;" "the 'Jap' is inferior to us;" (or he is not inferior,66
whichever you choose, for exclusionists do not always agree); "the
'Jap' is deceitful and inscrutable; you never know what's going on
behind his mask;" "racial differences between Americans and Jap
anese are too great to be bridged; they won't assimilate;" and,
climactically, " would you let your daughter marry a ' Jap ' ? "
These are characteristic objections, but are they valid ones? First,
the Japanese insist on equality. To my mind the fact that they do
so does them credit, especially since we recognize their nation as a
50. Gulick: The American Jap- 54. World's Work, 26:199; An-
anese Problem, p. 48. rials of the American Acad-
51 • 'Before 1860 Japanese time emy, 34:234 and ff.
was valueless, a drug on the 55. Gulick: The American Jap-
market. "—Century. 86:597. anese Problem, pp. 16-21.
52 Gulick: The American Jap- 56. The Japanese American
anese Problem, pp. 48-49. Monthly Review, July, 1913,
53. Survey. 30:336. P • "¦

22 Essays in Applied Christianity
world power and yet refuse to treat their citizens in this country on
a par with immigrants from other world powers. Indeed, the very
things in American life that make strongly for democracy are insist
ence on the man-to-man equality of different races and the admission
of all men into citizenship. Moreover, the Japanese has proved his
equality far more than the Mexican, for example; and he is a far
more desirable citizen than many that have come over from Europe.67
The Chinaman submitted and was barred; the Japanese is asserting
his rights68 and one of these days he will get them. His refusal to
submit or be rated as an inferior is a point in his favor; and is not
our insistence on his inferiority a point against our supposed super
iority ? Should we fear him if we were quite certain he was an inferior ?59
Similarly, let us examine the peculiarly interesting objection to
the Japanese based on his ' ' inscrutability, " his " impassive face, ' ' his
apparent deceitfulness, that racial something that makes people say
he is not frank and cannot be trusted. Possibly these things and
our aversion to the Japanese because of them, whether they be real
or fancied, may be explained in part from physiological and histori
cal standpoints. The immobile face, the absence of unconscious move
ments of the eyes, the mask-like inscrutability — all are probably an
outgrowth of social habit and tradition, the result of the practice
of stoicism. FeudaHsmin Japan made it "imperative that men should
not wear their hearts or minds on their sleeves. Stolid expression,
concealing whatever might be going on within, was more useful in
the struggle for existence than a coat of mail; and this became the
social custom . . . and long since a race character, ' ' apparently but
not necessarily congenital. For Japanese children, it is interesting
to note, when reared from infancy in this country, develop habits of
facial expression like those of American children; even native Jap
anese who come to America acquire enough mobility of face later to
appear different to comrades fresh from Japan.60
Another objection to the Japanese is frequently expressed as fol
lows: "Racial differences between Japanese and Americans are too
great; they aren't assimilable. The Japanese is a Mongolian; and
look at the negro problem; let us not add another race problem to
that. ' ' The answers to these objections depend more or less on the
57. Centery 88:108. 60. Discussion follows Gulick:
£o' Fortnightly Review, 101-.8&6. The American J a p a n e s e
59. North American Review, 197: Problem, pp. 132-134.

The American Japanese Problem 23
difference between facts and misconceptions, and on the definition
of assimilation and what makes for it. First of all, it is not necessarily
a fact that the Japanese is a Mongolian.61 "It will not be easy to
prove the Japanese a Mongolian, " says David Starr Jordan.62
Again, the plea that we do not want another race problem, suggests
that our objections to the Japanese are based on race prejudice and
a willingness to judge first and then fit the facts in, rather than to go
by facts and then judge. Our narrow conception of assimilation
proves this. What is assimilation? Is it necessarily blood amalga
mation through intermarriage, or is it a thorough adoption of our
customs, our standards of living, and the attainment of a respect for
our ideals, political and moral? Those who assert Japanese unassim-
ilability because there cannot safely be intermarriage between Jap
anese and Americans, as well as those who hold that there can be
assimilation only through intermarriage — which they will not toler
ate — are surely taking a narrow view of the assimilation question.
Intermarriage is not necessary.63 Assimilation is largely a matter
of being an American in America; of being identified "with the high
est and best American ideals, without any implication of identity in
racial physical phenomena. ' ' If that is true, then indeed the Jap
anese have made very definite progress toward assimilation, more
so than hundreds of clans of Russians, Poles, Germans and other
European immigrants who have successfully resisted assimilation
with our civilization. Dozens of instances point toward the assimi
lative ability of the Japanese; they are eager to learn English; they
read and take many Enghsh magazines and newspapers;64 they
insist on schooling for their children; and they adopt American dress
to a very great extent. Do not these facts indicate a capability of
assimilation that belies the charge that the Japanese are unassimi-
Iable?65 Indeed, Japanese American-born children have been known,
for example, to grow up American in every way, even to the extent
that they side with American children against Japan in the war talk
between these two nations.66
61- %rlh American Review, W. 64. %*&2i^^\«k
%%¦ y&jiliZi' 774^419-1420- 66 GuUck: The American Jap-
Negro, p. 423; Japanese pendent, 75.138-142.
American Monthly Review,
July, 1913, p. 2; Outlook,
104:739-740.

24 Essays in Applied Christianity
And finally, what about the matter of marriage? Does the possi
bility of intermarriage involve a valid objection to the presence of
the Japanese? If there is intermarriage, would resulting offspring
necessarily be more Japanese than American? Will there be danger
ous physiological effects from the intermixture of the two races ? The
facts are that intermarriage between Americans and Japanese has
been the exception, not the rule — except the marriage in the biological
sense which Americans apparently do not shrink from with any
colored race. The Japanese have themselves tended always to keep
their race pure and even under difficulties marry within the race, as
the "Picture Bride" movement shows. On the other hand, success
ful and happy marriages of Americans and Japanese are not unknown,
and the Americanization of children of mixed parentage reared in
this country among American children has been all that any one
could ask.67 It is true that evidence enough has not yet been gathered
to prove anything with finality one way or another; but examination
of the facts will show that there is as much evidence toward the
successful intermingling of Japanese and American blood as there is
to the contrary.
To summarize, then, the Japanese problem in the United States
has two aspects : economic and racial. On the one hand, California
and other Western States are justified in demanding freedom from
the fear of an overwhelming inroad of cheap laborers who have much
lower standards of living than Americans; and on the other hand, it
is a fact that Japanese immigrants, while they have proved as satis
factory in practically all ways as immigrants from other nations, are
denied ownership of land in the State where half of them live, and,
in general, contrary to the spirit of our treaty with Japan, are made
to feel the effects of race discrimination, which they deeply resent.
The second aspect of the problem involves the more vital matter
— race prejudice on the part of Americanstoward the Japanese, a feel
ing that has not sprung up in a day, yet which is perhaps as much
due to misunderstanding and ignorance on our part as to the faults
of the Japanese nation.
A solution of this problem may be found, it seems to me, in a
practical application of the teachings of Christ to the situation: in
67. Gulick: The American Jap
anese Problem, chapters 7
and 8, goes into considerable
detail on this point.

The American Japanese Problem 25
facing the facts, and then finding a remedy in harmony with the
Golden Rule.68
Let us first see how Christ would regard our problem. We know
m general that his view of immigration would harmonize with the
Golden Rule; but more specific ideas of what he would have us do
for immigrants are deducible from his teachings. From his remarks
about the "stranger within thy gates ' ' and the example he set every
time opportunity offered itself, we know that Christ would first of all
be practical. If he were on earth now and were living in California
there is no doubt that he would welcome the immigrant, not exclude
him; and then he would supply the stranger with material assis
tance if the alien happened to need it. More than that, he would
welcome the immigrant as a brother, which means that no stranger
would be discriminated against because of c^lor or race; all men alike
would be welcome. His teachings concerning the unity of mankind
the world over would be exemplified in his actions toward the Jap
anese immigrant. This we know from what he says in Matthew
VIII, 11 : "And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east
and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in
the kingdom of heaven. ' ' He says this because he had seen in his
own day the persecution of one so-called race by another. Indeed,
the doctrine of the brotherhood of man is without doubt one of the
doctrines that he teaches most strongly; and his teaching in it is in
direct opposition to our treatment of the Japanese.
These teachings of Christ and the principles of the Golden Rule in
general are certainly applicable in a practical way to the economic
problem presented by the Japanese in the United States. That
problem, involving on the one hand the just protection of our citizens
from an influx of immigrants of very different, and lower, standards
of living, and on the other. hand, the discrimination by the United
States against aliens who are as good immigrants as those from other
nations of the same rank, should be solved only on the basis of fair
and undiscriminathig treatment for the Japanese.69 That is, the
Japanese should be Accorded the same rights as immigrants from other
\ f
68. More thaii one person has 69. Treatment on a basis o
suggested Golden Rule treat- equality is constantly gain-
ment as the only solution for ing supporters. See Literary
the problem. See Living Digest, 49:263-264: Outlook,
Age, 282:387-392: Indepen- 104:755-757; Independent,
dent, 74:978; Gulick: The 74:975-978.
American Japanese Problem,
p. 111. 1

26 Essays in Applied Christianity
countries at the same time that the Pacific coast is protected. Prac
tical measures consistent with the teachings of Christ that will
satisfy both of these requirements, and the means of securing them,
will now be considered.
First we must decide whether we are to continue virtually to
exclude the Japanese as we now do.70 Is exclusion of this sort to
be dreamed of? Surely not. For several reasons it seems absurd and
even senseless to say that the Japanese are not at all wanted in this
country. First of all, if we keep the spirit of our treaty with Japan
we will relax our present laws. The treaty referred to is that made
in 1911, which stresses the idea of equality and treatment similar to
that accorded the "most-favored" nation, but which carefully omits
any reference to citizenship and the like.71 Again, the present policy
of exclusion means that we virtually isolate ourselves from the Jap
anese nation. That we could practice such a policy in these days of
international intercommunication seems ridiculous; did not Japan
herself relinquish a similar policy of exclusion — at our request? Surely
the benefits of over-sea acquaintanceship should not be scorned thus.
We need Japan, and Japan needs us; and no better way of complete
national understanding is open, it seems to me, than that of migra
tion from one country to another and the spread of friendly intelli
gence that always follows. This most natural means of really
acquainting the two peoples we are totally disregarding; instead, we
are permitting misunderstanding and ill feehng to be provoked.
And finally, besides the necessity of treaty keeping and the folly of
national isolation, we should allow Japanese immigration if we allow
other immigration, simply because the Japanese have proved them
selves as good citizens as other immigrants, even though laboring
under the handicaps of economic discrimination and race prejudice.
The objection is at once offered : we simply cannot have Japanese
immigration, or millions of Japanese will swarm in each year, as
other immigrants have done on the Atlantic coast. Here the interests
of the United States must be considered. We Americans have always
recognized the right of a people to emigrate, to seek better homes, to
improve their condition. We have, moreover, been so liberal that
70. Survey, 30:332. 71. Gulick: The American Jap
anese Problem, pp.328-330,
gives the text of the treaty
of 1911. See also Literary
Digest, 49:48-50.

The American Japanese Problem 27
until recently we have failed to exercise to the fullest degree our
rights concerning immigration: namely, the right of the country
entered by immigrants to say who shall and who shall not enter.72
Thousands of criminals, paupers, and diseased victims of the slums
of Europe have been dumped upon our shores in the last century;
only in the past few years have we been at all adequately protecting
ourselves by disqualifying prospective immigrants on such grounds
as lack of money, disease, and criminality. That we have a right to
do this and should exercise that right, no one can deny. We have
something to gain, but often more to lose through the entrance of
any immigrant. On the other hand, he can become a citizen almost
immediately, thereby participating at once in our political and
economic life; he has almost everything to gain and little to lose. In
one way he is an asset, but in another he is a great liability; so we
have a just right to consider carefully the effects of his entrance on
our institutions, and to exclude him if his presence here would tend
to endanger our national life.
We need, then, a way to meet the fear of an overwhelming influx
of Japanese, and yet a means that will not violate the Golden Rule :
we want to let Japanese enter, but we know that too many would
undoubtedly seriously endanger our political, social, and economic
life — probably to an unusual extent, because of the consequent race
friction, which is less important in the case of European immigrants.
But, according to the Golden Rule, we have a right first of all to
protect ourselves, if too many Japanese would injure us, just as
Japan would have a right to restrict excessive and injurious immigra
tion of Americans into Japan; yet we do not want complete isolation.
The solution, then, is neither complete exclusion nor unrestricted
Japanese immigration but, in a word, limited Japanese immigration.73
The means of securing this will be explained presently.
Let us assume for the moment that the Japanese are allowed to
enter this country in limited numbers. Even then they would still
be, under present circumstances, at a great disadvantage. Right
now they cannot, in California at least, where about half of them
have always lived, own any agricultural land permanently, or pur-
72" SSttS&W'o.1^ 73' ?C0s^°fn3Yf401imited
gratton will bear out this immigration has been made
SET °f the immIgrant & *£§&{&?%££&

28 Essays in Applied Christianity
chase any, or lease agricultural land for a period longer than three
years; and in other States they are favored little more. Neither may
they become citizens in any State. Since they would have no polit
ical rights and would have at best an unsteady economic standing,
the mere allowing of hmited immigration would help the Japanese
problem little. The Japanese would still have just reason to resent
being discriminated against — and they feel discrimination keenly.74
These and other considerations urge the final step that will solve
the economic problem afforded by the presence of the Japanese and
solve it with justice to all concerned: namely, the admission of the
Japanese to citizenship.
The admission of the Japanese to citizenship would automatically
solve practically all of our economic difficulties with the Japanese,
except that regarding the amount of immigration to be allowed.
Once they were citizens, they would have the right to vote; they
could own land; their feeling that they were being unjustly discrimi
nated against would cease; and the story of their just treatment here
would spread to their friends in Japan, convincing the great body of
Japanese people of our good will, better than any number of well
phrased diplomatic notes possibly could. Economically and politi
cally, then, the problem, so far as Japan's interests are concerned,
would be completely solved, and the racial problem would be far
nearer solution, simply through our allowing Japanese to become
citizens, and giving them a certain though not unrestricted right to
enter this country.
Limiting the immigration of the Japanese, however, is really a
corollary of a major proposition, that all immigrants, of whatever
race, should be treated alike. It follows, then, that to limit Japanese
immigration means to limit all immigration. This would seem, at
first glance, like upsetting our entire immigration regulations, just
to humor the Japanese. But aside from the mere matter of being
consistent and treating the Japanese equally with the immigrants
from other nations,76 it is a fact that a general law limiting the immi
gration from other nations as well as Japan is not an idle or untimely
suggestion. It is well known that the immigrants received on the
Atlantic coast in recent years have been in almost every way far
74. World's Work, 26:144-146; 75. Literary Digest, 49:263-264.
Ell wood: Sociology and Mod
ern Social Problems, p.207.

The American Japanese Problem 29
inferior to those received twenty or thirty years ago: in literacy,
standards of living, and capability of being readily assimilated into
our national life. We have been, more and more, getting " undesirable
citizens ' ' by letting in everybody.76
A law, then, not discriminating between races, but limiting the
number of immigrants of any one race or country to a certain number
each year, would not only solve the Japanese problem without dis
criminating against Japan, but would also protect us in more than
one way. Such a law has already been suggested to the Senate
Committee on Immigration and Naturalization.77 Briefly, it would
provide that immigration into this country be based upon the number
of members of any one race already here, and would allow, let us say,
five per cent, each year, the idea being that assimilation of new
immigrants depends largely on their finding friends or countrymen
here who "know the ropes." If, for example, there were 100,000
Austrians here, then in one year, at the five per cent, rate, no more
than 5,000 new Austrian immigrants might enter this country. In
the case of a nation that was unrepresented here, a maximum number
of, let us say, 5,000 might first be allowed to enter. The practica
bility of this plan is evident. There could not be an overwhelming
immigration from any one country in any one year; our standards of
living, our social and political institutions, could not be greatly
affected by this gradual seepage of immigrants. Only the arrival of
great numbers would be prevented by this law; assimilation would
not be prevented but, rather, facilitated.
Let us assume, then, that these provisions would solve the economic
problem; now for a solution of the racial issue. For even though the
Japanese were treated on a par with all other immigrants, the race
problem resulting from their rubbing against the none too enlightened
or sympathetic American would by no means be solved by the purely
economic reforms brought about through a new immigration law.
The more serious matter, therefore, is essentially that of overcoming
race prejudice. The only remedy that seems suitable — and it is one
that cannot accomphsh the desired result in a day— is education: of
the Japanese immigrant, and of us Americans.78 That is, the Jap-
76- fiSor' b°°k 0" 78- T^nZicafTap^e
77. S?e flmphiet 4. Such a Problem, chapter 17.
law was offered to the Com
mittee January 31, 1914.

30 Essays in Applied Christianity
anese immigrant should be educated in our customs and institutions
so that he will not needlessly provoke criticism through his ignorance
of our ways. He owes it to this country to fall in with what is desira
ble in our civilization, to uphold our institutions, to become an
American citizen, as far and as quickly as he possibly can. On the
other hand, we Americans need to know more about the Japanese in
order to do him justice. Without doubt, much of our feeling against
him is the result of our ignorance of his history, of the facts about
racial differences, of the truth about what is possible and desirable
when two such different races and civilizations as those of the United
States and Japan meet and try to exist side by side. We are ignorant,
woefully ignorant, of facts about the Japanese,79 and of the problems
of assimilation in connection with the immigrant. Without such
knowledge we can never treat the Japanese fairly; and the worst part
of it is, we are almost wholly indifferent as to whether we ever learn
anything about the problem or not.80
Not so with the Japanese. They have made decided efforts to
adapt themselves to our civilization, even though they lack the rights
of citizenship, and suffer general racial discrimination.81 Indeed,
they have seemed more than willing to do their part; now let us do
ours. First, let us take a hand in the education of the Japanese
immigrant and help make him a good citizen. This probably spells
more or less government direction of the immigrant from the moment
he arrives until he has become a naturalized citizen. The first thing
we should do is to register all aliens, and then see that steps are taken
toward their education in our language, our laws, and our history.
Not only should they be kept track of and educated, but they should
all the time be preparing, under our direction, to renounce all alleg
iance to Japan and as speedily as possible to become naturalized
citizens cognizant both of their rights and of their responsibilities as
American citizens. Especially should assistance be given to help
them acquire the English language. This could be done by govern
ment aid to States, cities, and towns providing facilities for the
education of aliens. To be sure, this would take time and money and
79. Outlook, 104:755-757. 81. This discussion follows
80. Not until Ave years ago did Gulick: The American Jap-
we have authoritative infor- anese Problem, chapter 6,
motion about the Japanese which gives a detailed ac-
In California. count of what the Japanese
in this country have done to
adapt themselves to our
civilization.

The American Japanese Problem 31
trouble; but if we honestly desire that the ahen become a good citizen,
we shall not shrink from our responsibility, once we allow him to
enter this country. We have long been indifferent, but the time for
indifference to the education of immigrants, to the continuation in
this country of clannish "Little Russias, ' ' is past. We must do our
part toward making the immigrant one of us.82
On the other hand, we, the American people, need to know more
about the Japanese: to understand why we fear his color, his strange
looks, why we shudder at intermarriage with him, and how we are
both inconsistent and unjust in our race prejudice. In considering
the purely racial side of the problem, we need light on such things as
this question of intermarriage, and on the much discussed matter of
assimilation. First, what about the intermarriage of Japanese and
Americans or, for that matter, of any two rfces so different? Does
it mean that the offspring is Japanese rather than American? Will
such intermarriage result in unfavorable physiological effects?83 It
is true that the tendency has been against any marked amount of
intermarriage between the Japanese and Americans; yet the facts
about the possibilities should be known, for one of the commonest
means of assimilating any new people is intermarriage with our
native stock.
The other phase of assimilation on which more hght is needed is
the sort of assimilation that goes on without intermarriage. It may
be called social assimilation.84 Its possibilities are suggested by
numerous examples that could be cited of the complete Americaniza
tion of Japanese children who have been reared and educated in
America. The idea is that one inherits biological but not social
characteristics : a Japanese child raised in America by Americans and
sent to our public schools becomes completely one of us. It is the
same transformation that occurs in the children of Jews, Italians,
Poles and others when they have grown up with American children,
learned our language, thought our thoughts and reverenced our ideals.
How can we learn the facts about the assimilability of different
peoples, either through intermarriage or social assimilation? A
82. Gulick: The American Jap- 84. Gulick: The American Jap
anese Problem, chapter 17, anese Probjem fhzpte rs 7
outlines a policy which this and 8. goes fullj' into the
pape? in the main follows. problems of assimilation.
83. It is often asserted that the
offspring will be sterile. See
Ellwood: Sociology and Mod
ern Social Problems, p. 207.

32 Essays in Applied Christianity
government commission to investigate seems a reasonable solution;86
indeed, the number of immigrants constantly entering this country
and the necessity, more and more, of meeting on equal terms such
different peoples as the Chinese, the Malays, even the Asiatic Indians,
and the Russians, alone would seem to justify the estabhshment of
such a commission. At least, it would help solve the problem, even
though it reported unfavorably, and would guide us in the direction
of a wise and humane policy toward the Japanese.
A second sort of education is needed for us to cope with the Jap
anese problem. What do we Americans know of Japanese civiliza
tion: of Japanese history, literature, heroes, development? We
know all about the rise of the RomanEmpire and the story of medie
valism in Europe, but we know practically nothing of Japan or China.
Yet one of these days we are undoubtedly going to have as broad
international dealings with both of these nations as we have had
with Europe; and in many ways we shall benefit by the Eastern
contact, just as we have by the European, if we try to understand
the East as it really is, not as the "Yellow Perilists ' ' picture it. The
simplest means to get more light on the Japanese would be to teach
more about Japan in our public schools. That education in Japanese
history and customs would go far toward breaking down, in the course
of a generation or two, this anti-Japanese feeling that is too often
unreasonable or based on misconceptions, no one can doubt who
believes in finding out the facts first, and judging afterwards.
In conclusion : the American Japanese problem has been analyzed
and found to involve questions dependent mainly on economic and
racial differences; questions which can be reasonably settled to the
satisfaction of both nations by a practical apphcation of the teachings
of Christ and the Golden Rule. True, only the outlines of a possible
solution have been given here; to prove beyond a doubt the absolute
feasibility of the remedies suggested is too much to demand in the
limits of this paper; indeed, the author will consider this discussion
successful if even the possibility of a solution based on the Golden
Rule is made to seem worthy of consideration. But it seems reason
able, if we look around us, to say that Golden Rule treatment will
succeed; and that is, after all, everything that any one could ask for
85. Gulick: The American Jap
anese Problem, chapter 17,
suggests this and other
remedies offered here.

The American Japanese Problem 33
in solving the Japanese question. Nor is the idea a new or imprac
ticable one; as a matter of fact, we Americans are ready for just this
sort of international relationship. Recent movements in the United
States seem to indicate a growing tendency to accept the idea that
right treatment pays. It may be seen internally in the desire of the
employer to treat the employee better, the results showing in better
feeling between employer and employee, and in better returns from
capital invested. It may be seen externally in the striking tendency
of our government recently to try the Golden Rule in international
relations, even though maintenance of that policy is by no means the
rule as yet. Witness our restraint as regards Mexico ; our expression
of our willingness to pay Colombia; our repeal of the "free tolls"
provision of the Panama Canal act; our pledge of no more territorial
conquest on the American continent. The tendency is, I repeat,
toward the square deal among nations, and probably foremost
among the nations that are going to forward that tendency is the
United States.
Let us consider, then, what would be the possible benefits to the
United States if we should treat the Japanese somewhat as outlined
in this paper, on the basis of Golden Rule considerations. And I
wish to emphasize at this point this idea: that practical or
material benefits should result from practical Christian treatment,
just as there should result benefits which may be called ethical or
spiritual. It is usually taken for granted that the latter sort of
rewards or benefits will come for all good deeds; but the material
sort should not be neglected. They are the visible fruits of good
conduct, and their very concreteness goes a long way, it is needless
to say, toward giving the essentially commercial spirit of the modern
world a respect for the Golden Rule in business as well as in church
on Sundays. Indeed, it is a question in my mind whether the move
ments in the United States for better hours, "safety first, ' ' and better
relations between employer and employee, are not initiated solely
for economic purposes, the spiritual benefits, like the inward glow
that one feels after doing a good deed, coming afterward to show that
there is also a spiritual reward for doing the right and the square
thing. There should be, then, both material and spiritual benefits to be
derived from a practical apphcation of the teachings of Christ to the

34 Essays in Applied Christianity
Japanese problem. Something of the immediate material benefits
that would come in the United States has already been hinted at in
the fact that the Japanese are good farmers : their presence tends to
increase the value of land, they develop new agricultural industries,
they furnish a supply of labor hard to obtain otherwise, and their
standards of living, tending to approach ours, will in time make them
as good customers of our captains of industry as any other people.
If the Japanese become good citizens and are given their rights, they
will undoubtedly add greatly to the material wealth of this country.86
But far greater possibilities in material benefits lie beyond the
Pacific, — possibilities that we are going to realize as much through
good will as any other thing. We know from experience what a
Chinese boycott can do to trade; yet we continue by our discrimi
nation against not only Japan but China, gradually to build up in
the Orient a feeling against ourselves — and that means, first of all,
against our goods. The boundless possibilities for commercial
exchange now developing in China have attracted all the great trading
nations of the world. This Oriental trade is going to be reached, I
repeat, as much through good will as anything else.87 But how can
good will exist in the Orient toward the United States when the
Japanese and the Chinese are discriminated against by the United
States? Restricting the discussion to Japan alone does not alter the
result. Japan is the interpreter of the East,88 and is probably going
to be more influential in China than any other nation. If we continue
to discriminate against the Japanese and exclude them, as at present,
the Chinese will share the feeling of the Japanese against us ; and when
the story of the outrages on Chinamen in this country between 1860
and 1900 becomes generally known in China, it is going to take more
than kind words on our part to keep the good will of China. The
point, then, is simply this : commercial reasons alone, if not the desire
to do the right thing, should show us that we should change our
tactics toward the Japanese immigrants in the United States and treat
them on a par with other immigrants. Let us by this means get
started right and first gain the good will of Japan, the most advanced
nation of the Orient; the good will of China will come in time if our
practical Christian policy is maintained.
For those of us, therefore, who must see financial returns before
86. Independent, 74:1019-1022. 88. Century, 8S10S.
87. Independent, 61:1425-1426.

The American Japanese Problem 35
we do the right thing, let the foregoing suffice. But there are, it
seems to me, still greater rewards in store for the United States in
treating the Japanese immigration problem on a Christian basis,
and with a brief indication of these I shall end. Here stands the
United States today in a unique and commanding position among
the world powers. She is the one great nation not at war at the
present time; and that she will have a prominent place at the confer
ence table when the treaty of peace is at last signed in Europe no one
doubts; the frantic desire of every one of the warring nations to win
our sympathy and to justify themselves in our eyes shows what a
remarkable position we now hold.
But this position is fully as striking as regards the Orient as it is
toward war-shaken Europe; for there in the far East is another ques
tion that we shall some day have a hand in solving: Is there anything
in this "Yellow Peril" talk? Will the "teeming millions" of China
and Asia, armed with modern inventions, some day become involved
in a war comparable to the present European struggle? Is the
modernization of Asia, too, going to proceed with the sword? If
there is any such danger, now is the time for us to use our opportunity.
We are at peace; we alone are able to carry on missionary work in
the Orient without entirely being hypocrites; we of all nations of the
world have at the present time some slight ethical standing; we alone
can with consistency sow the seeds of peace and international brother
hood in Asia.
To be able to solve the Japanese problem on a Christian basis,
thus setting an example of Christian relations between two nations
as far apart as two nations can possibly be — is this not our opportu
nity to do the world a great good? Not that our treating the Jap
anese fairly will at once make for eternal peace or Christian relations
with the Orient; not at all. But it will be a start, something which
we have not definitely made as yet, a step that will, at least, involve us
in no inconsistencies. Already we have been a great force in building
up both Japan and China; it is an interesting fact that practically all
the men at the head of the Revolutionists in China were Chinese
educated in American universities.89 But at the same time that we
have professed the greatest friendship toward them, there have always
been great inconsistencies in our treatment of Japan and China, and

89. North American Review, 197:
189-202.

36 Essays in Applied Christianity
there is a great one right now in our treatment of their immigrants in
this country. The inconsistency must be removed, the profession
must be backed up by concrete action, before we can hope to be
taken seriously. And the first step toward such a policy of inter
national Christian relationship between nations would, it seems to
me, be the solving of the American Japanese problem on the basis
of the Golden Rule. To have the honor of having taken the first
step toward promoting international good will between the East and
West is surely a reward worth working for. To take that step would
be to do something toward realizing the brotherhood of man, — some
thing that would carry increased significance and bear fruit endlessly
in the years, to come when the nations of the world will forget racial
differences and national selfishness and work together for the best
interests of all mankind.

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