Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1916.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3570, 3 October 1916, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1916.

JAPAN AND AMERICA.

It seems likely that as soon us a decision has been reached in the great war now raging", the diplomats of some of the leading' Powers will have to face another international problem. The Japanese Government has intimated to the United States that when the war in over .she purposes reopening the controversy regarding the right of her people to] emigrate to and own land in; America. Until recent years, the: / statesmen and . economises of 1 Japan did not contemplate with satisfaction the emigration of their people to . non-Japanese countries, preferring that the outflow should be\direeted to regions that are, .or are likely some day to be, under the Japanese flag. These include Formosa and Korea, both capable of absorbing large numbers of artisans and agriculturists; and they may also include Manchuria and other parts of China, and possibly some' of the East Indian and Pacific islands which now belong to other Powers. The population of Japan grows with exceptional rapidity, and presses ever more closely upon the means of subsistence which the islands afford. It has thereforel been recognised that emigration is inevitable, and restrictions upon it have been removed. But though the Japanese Government is willing to allow its subjects to .find now homes in foreign countries, the Governments of those countries are not' ' exhibiting any enthusiasm at the prospect of an inundation by the so-called "yellow peril." .So far as British countries are concerned, the war will probably result in ' some easing of the present restrictions against the admission 'of Japanese. Japan has earned ' the; right to be classed as "one of the leading Powers of the world, and her services to Britain in the shape' of providing convoys for overseas troopships, and* to Russia by supplying great quantities of munitions,, must of necessity be taken into account when international relations are being readjusted after the war.'. These considerations do not of course aii'ect the United States, but they may tend to clothe the post-war negotiations between Japan and America 'with interesting ' possibilities. The United States is apparently determined to • insist upon the exclusion of Japanese immigrants, of whom there are 95,000 in California alone. It uil] be remembered that serious complications were threatened inlOltf because of an Anti-alien Bill: iiiiroduced into the Californian State Assembly, and trouble was ojilv averted because of a qxicstiou having ariseu as to the right, under the United States Constitution, of one oi the States of the Union to pass a law affecting the foreign policy of , the nation. Under what is known as the ''Burnett Bill," all Hindus arc specifically excluded from tlio Pacific Coast, and Japanese exclusion also becomes implied through the »ehniH(; in -the- Bill which bars aliens ineligible lo citizenship. If* the c'Burneti Bill " becomes law, the discrimination against the, Japanese will continue indefinitely, and il is against this measure that Ihe .Japanese (iovernmont has entered it-, "pvoiest. The United Stales is (heiv-fore placed in a (|iia''mlary. The "Hill must be j-stiifiecl by Congress before it- can become effective, ff it is passed, it will constitute a challenge to Japan- if il is vetoed, the result will most likely he serious riots in California. Also, the concession to Japan's demands will .carry with' it the implication that America recognises that it is not a wise policy to antagonise a nation with such a powerful navy as Japan has, and which is alre:uly reputed to have domiciled in tho Hawaiian Islands n preponderating force of quasicivilian soldiers. The question i." one> which will repay careful :-»l\idv by stutants oi' international politics.