THE JAPANESE QUESTION.
It Is Now Squarely Before the National Government.

The position of the "Chronicle" that the increasing Japanese immigration is a social menace so grave as to require immediate steps looking to its prohibition has been sustained by a unanimous vote of both branches of our Legislature. This is not the result of popular excitement for there is no excitement and we sincerely trust there may be none. The Japanese now here are lawfully in this country and are entitled to the equal protection of our laws, but it is the deliberate judgment of the people of California that further immigration of Japanese must cease. The matter having been thus officially brought to the attention of the Federal authorities they will either act on our request, or they will not act. For the present we assume that our request will be given the serious consideration which it deserves. Should opposition develop the people of California feel confident of their ability to pursue the discussion with such directness and pungency as will make it impossible to evade the fundamental issues involved. The discussion should be kept wholly free from passion--or any other form of human emotion.

It is possible that it will be set up that prohibition of Japanese immigration will create enmities which will interfere with our influence in "world politics," which is but another name for world markets. That might be unfortunate. But our interest in the economic and social welfare of our own country is so immeasurably more important to us than any conceivable influence and advantage to be acquired elsewhere in the world that we may concede all that may be claimed as to trade injuries resulting from Japanese exclusion without in the least weakening our argument.

Such injury could only result from the enmity of the Japanese Government leading to retaliatory measures. Such things might occur. All that can be said is that we freely concede to Japan the same rights in regard to its territory and its domestic regulations which we possess over our territory and our domestic regulations. Whatever Japan may do as to these matters she will have the right to do and we must govern ourselves accordingly. Whatever Japan may do we insist that Japanese immigration shall stop. But while, for argument sake, we concede all these things we see not the least reason for so much as a ripple of international unfriendliness resulting from a Japanese exclusion act. Japan must recognize as we do that the two races do not get on well side by side. There is no more intelligent government on earth than the Japanese, nor is there any reason why it should not cordially enter into reciprocal arrangements with our own Government for avoiding friction by keeping the two races apart. America for the Americans and Japan for the Japanese is a most excellent motto which both countries might properly adopt. And we can trade with each other internationally as now, in mutual friendship and to mutual profit. But Japanese immigration must cease.