JAPANESE IN CANADA.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3457, 10 April 1920, Page 3

JAPANESE IN CANADA.

STRONG HOLD IN THE XVEST.

VANCOUVER, Feb. 13%

The Pacific littoral is once more rubbing its eyes with alarm at the extrao:-dina.r_V spread of Oriental settlement, fgoxn Southern California to the Alaskan boundffries. Every year the perple:'~;ing problem is thrust To the front in California, and the Legislature at Sacramento is always the scenes of exciting episodes on the part of “White—blooded Anlel-ic-ans” endeavouring to force through the House some measure to oust landgrabbing JzLpune's‘el ‘or to prevent a. further influx of the Orientals _'l‘lTE princzipal objection to the Japanese in California is that their standard of livillg‘ is far below that of white re-Si. clelltg- of the Pacific (feast, and {MS,object has been to undercut fair competition and place white people a.t a disaclvantage in consequence. The Japanese have overrun Califor~ nian fruit sections, and now a “corner” has been formed in potatoes by .S.hinla, the “potato king.” of Califoq-~

The subject came up in the British Coltlmbia Legisln,tul-e on Febi-ITiry 10, when Mr J. W. Jones.‘ Conservative member for South Okanagan, the fruit" region of Western Canada dwelt at length on the “Japanese menace” as it affected the Pacific Coast. He spoke of -the greatly incre?lse'('l wealth of the Japanese in 81-it-ish Cohunbia and their determined eff~o=r‘rs to acqui=.'<> property and control irrigation works. 1143 reviewed Japan's part in the war. and expressed his admiration for the Japanese people, -but he thought Canada should not admit citizens to whom she was not willing to extend in due time equal, priviv leges. There was great danger, he said, from the menace of ‘hte foreigner, and he thought the bars should be raised. e

Mr Jones said the ‘Japanese were! rapidly acquiring control of various? branches of the agricultural industry. In Seattle they owned 47 .per cent. of the hotels and 25 per cen‘,t,. olf fthef grocery stores-. They had 6800 acres in the Yakima Va.lley—zL celebrated fruit centre——-and were tying up large holdings in British Columbia. There ‘were 14,000 Japanese alone in British ‘Columbia, and tlrgs population ‘r3'a'd doubled in .10 years.