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Cornell University Library JV 7285.C5A5 1902 Report of the Royal Commission on Chines 3 1924 023 463 965 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023463965 REPOHT OF THK EO^^isi^L (3OMMISSI0N" cm CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRAT!©* ■'^QE8SIO^im;.^li02 PRINTED BY ORDER OF PARLIAMENT OTTAWA PBINTBy BY 8. E, DAWSON, PEINTBR TO THB KING'S'MOST i? ,B:^LIiBNT MAJESTY 2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 i A. IQO? REPORT ROYAL COMMISSION ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION SESSION' 1902 PRINTED BY ORDER OF PARLIAMENT OTTAWA PRWTED BY S. E. DAWSON, PRINTER TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY 1902 [No. .54—1902.] <|, ^a76S'/3 2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 A. 1902 PREFACE. The Commissioners desired to examine separately the questions of Chinese and Japanese immigration, and this method was pursued as far as practicable. In many industries, however, both Chinese and Japanese are employed, and in most cases the witnesses treg^ted them alike ; so that while Part I has relation chiefly to Chinese immigration, much that is said there applies with equal force to the Japanese in Part II. There are certain questions, however, and certain industries peculiarly affected by Japanese labour that require special treatment. This applies especially to the fisheries and to the lumber induiStry. 54-A^ 2 EDWARD Vll. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 A. 1902 PAET I. CHINESE IMMIGRA.TTON PART I.— CONTENTS. PAGE Letter Transmitting Report to the Secretary of State xi. The Commissions Chapter I. — Introductory : — Representations by British Columbia — Action taken by the Provincial Government — Acts passed by the Legislative Assembly — Informa- tion obtained at Washington — Dates and places of sittings of the Commission in British Columbia — Number of witnesses examined at each place — Plan of investigation adopted — Visit to the Pacific Coast States — Reference to the Commission of 1884 Chapter II. — The Chinese Immigrant : — Early immigration — Rate of increase — Number now in Canada — Where they come from — Cost of living and wages of skilled and unskilled labour in China — Chinese characteristics — Statements of Chinese boards of trade in British Columbia as to numbers and occupations of Chinese in the province Chapter III. — Their Unsanitary Condition : — Evidence of the sanitary inspectors of Victoria and Vancouver — A visit to 'Chinatown' — Dwellings of Chinese labourers— Are they a menace to health 1 — Evidence of health officers and medical men — • Summary Chapter IV. — Crime Statistics : — Convictions in Victoria and Vancouver— Returns favourable to Chinese Offences largely breaches of city by-laws — Statement of the warden of the British Columbia Penitentiary— Difficulty of secur- ing convictions— Evidence of Police Magistrate Hall of Victoria as to the value of Chinese evidence— The case of Regina vs. Gm Wing — Form of trial by Chinese boards of trade U ■20 Vi TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Chapter V. — The Moeal and Religious Aspect of the Case : — page Unsatisfactory result of missionary work among the Chinese in British Columbia — Different standards of morality among Chinese and whites — Evidence of clergymen and missionaries- — Statement of Tom Chue Thom, Chinese missionary at New Westminster— Chinese Girls' Home in Victoria — Statement of the matron — Evidence of Lee Mon Kow, Chinese interpreter at customs house, Victoria — Summary 22 Chapter VI. — Peopoetion or Taxes Paid by Chinese : — Evidence of the tax collectors of the coast cities — Returns made by Provincial Government and municipal officials in other parts of the province — Summary 41 Chapter VII. — Land Clearing and Ageiculture : — Cost of clearing heavily timbered land — Chinese part in this work — Evidence of land owners, farmers, secretaries of farmers' associa- tions, and others — American opinion — Summary 44 Chaptee VIII. — Maeket Gaedening : — Extent to which Chinese have monopolized this industry — Numbers employed in and around the coast cities — Statement of Lee Dye, the principal employing market gardener in British Columbia — Evidence of Chinese and white market gardeners — Medical testi- mony as to Chinese methods of cultivation — American opinion — Summary 65 Chapter IX. — Coal Mining Industry : — Output for the year 1900 — Growth of the industry — Vancouver Island coal mines divided into two groups, the ' New Vancouver ' and the ' I)unsmuir ' — Number of Chinese employed — Evidence of the general manager of the ' Dunsmuir ' mines, and of the superintend- ent of the ' New Vancouver ' mines — Miners' views — Communica- tion re cost of oil as fuel — Summary 71 Chapter X. — Placee Mining : — Production up to and including the year 1900 — Evidence of the government agent at Atlin — No Chinese employed there — Evidence Major Dupont, Senator Reid and others as to employment of Chinese in Cariboo — Summary 90 Chaptee XI. — Lode Mining : — Increase since 1887 — Chinese not employed — Evidence of mine managers and others interested — Summary 93 Chaptee XII. — The Lumber Industey (Export Trade) : — Output for 1900 — Statement of shipments of lumber from British Columbia and Puget Sound — Very few Chinese employed in export mills — Evidence of managers of principal export mills — Opinion of an employee — American evidence — Summary 97 TABLE OF CONTENTS vii SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 C.iAPTER XIII. — The Lumber Industry (Local and Eastern Trade) : — page List of the principal mills engaged in this branch — Number 'of em- ployees — Evidence of leading mill owners and managers — Statement r? rates of wages in the lumber mills of Washington — Summary. . 119 Chapter XIV. — Shingle Business : — List of principal shingle mills — Number of employees — Evidence of owners, managers and others — Summary 127 tDHAPTER XV. — The Canning Industry : — Total pack of the Pacific coast for 1901 — Importance of this industry in British Columbia — Number of licenses issued — Number engaged and value of plant — Other statistics — Chinese largely engaged — The contract system explained — Evidence of canners, fishermen and others — American evidence — Summary 134 Chapter XVI. — Domestic Servants : — Difficulty of obtaining white servants — Extent to which Chinese are employed — Evidence — Summary 167 Chapter XVII. — The Laundry Business : — Chinese largely control this business — Numbers engaged in the principal cities — Evidence of proprietors of steam laundries — Resolution of Nelson Laundry Workers' Union — Other witnesses — Summary. .. 175 Chapter XVIII. — Part I. Merchant Tailors : — Where Chinese encroach upon .skilled occupations — Whites driven out of the business in Victoria — Evidence 177 Part II. Wholesale Manufacture op Clothing : Chinese displacing whites in some branches — Evidence — Summary. . 181 Chapter XIX. — Other Trades and Callings : — (1) The manufacture of boots and shoes— (2) Cigarmaking— (3) Brickmaking— (4) Lime burning— (5) Fruit canning— (6) Sugar refining — (7) Cordwood cutting — (8) Railways — (9) The Canadian Pacific Steamship Company — (10) Railway construction — (11) Electric railways — (12) Freighting 185 Chapter XX. — I. Unskilled Labour : — Avenues of unskilled labour filled by Chinese — Evidence 204 II. The Youth of the Country : Serious situation created by lack of employment for boys and girls- Evidence — Summary 210 Chapter XXI. — Merchants and Traders : — Statements of Chinese boards of trade of Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver and New Westminster— Evidence of white merchants— Summary . 211 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Chapter XXII. — Is Fdether Resteiction oe Exclusion Desieed? — page Consensus of opinion of witnesses — Letter from Rev. Dr. Thonjpson of Montreal — Strength of militia in British Columbia — Chinese opinion — Summary :il7 Chapter XXIII. — Trade With China : — Statistics — Evidence of business men — Experience of the United States — Summary 240 Chapter XXIV. — Anti-Chinese Legislation Elsewhere : — In the United States — Extract from the report of the Philippine Commission — In Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania — Corre- spondence with the Home Government — Summary 245 Chapter XXV. — Effect of Exclusion in the United States : — Chinese population of the Western States — Evidence of prominent citizens of Seattle, Fairhaven, Portland and San Frar-cisco — Summary ... 256 Chapter XXVI. — Resume 263 The Census — A comparison 271 Table of Chinese immigration from 1885 to 1901 . . . . 271 Table of Chinese in transitu from 1887 to 1901 272 Chapter XXVII. — Conclusion 272 Appendix : — Addresses of Counsel — Mr. C. Wilson, K.C., for the Province of British Columbia, and Mr. A. D. Taylor, for the Chinese Board of Trade. 281 Extracts from the report of the Philippine Commission 305 Hon. Oliver P. Morton's minority report. United States Commission, 1876 310 ,2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 A. 1902 PAET II JAPAN" ESE IMMIGRATION PART II.— CONTENTS. Chapter I. — Japanese Immigration : — page Statement of number of Japanese landed at Victoria and Vancouver — Immigration to Puget Sound — Japanese in the United States — Cause of large influx — How this immigration is promoted — Wages paid in Japan — The immigrant at home — Upon arrival in British Columbia 327 Chapter II. — Part I. — The Fisheries : — Number of licenses issued to whites and Japanese — Are there too many fishermen on the Fraser River ? — Opinions of canners, fisher- men, Indians and ofiicials — ^Naturalization frauds — Export of fish to Japan — Summary S40 Part II. — Boat Building : — Japanese gaining control of this industry — Evidence of white boat- builders — Summary 357 Chapter III. — The Lumber Industry : — Part I. — Sawmills : — Table showing proportion of whites, Chinese and Japanese employed in principal mills — Evidence of mill owners — Statements of American mill owners — Comparison of wages on the Canadian and American side — Summary 360 Part II. — Shingle-bolts, Mining, Timber and Cohdwood: — Japanese crowding out whites and Chinese — Evidence — Injurious effect upon settlers — Summarj^ Chapter IV. — Other Occupations : — (1) The mining industry — (2) Railways — (3) Sealing — (4) Domestic servants — (5) Farming, land clearing and market gardening — (6) Tailors, &c S71 ix TABLE OP CONTESTS 2 EOWAFIO VII., A. 1902 Chapter V. — How Japanese are Regarded : — Consensus of opinion of witnesses— American statements— Trade with Japan Chapter VI.— Part I— Resdm^ Part II. — Conclusion Appendix : — Address of Mr. R. Cassidy, K.C., on behalf of the Japanese Report of the United States Commissioner appointed to inquire into Japanese immigration Wages in Japan, 1897 The Natal Act > PAGE 374 389 397 401 412 427 428 2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 A. 1902 Toronto, February 18, 1902. The Honourable Richard W. Scott, Secfetary of State, Ottawa. I have the honour to transmit herewith the Report of the Commission appointed to inquire into the question of Chinese and Japanese Immigration, in so far as it relates to the immigration of Chinese. Every interest and industry has been considered, and with each chapter is quoted so much of the evidence relating thereto as was considered necessary to convey the purport of the whole. In the head note and summary of each chapter will be found a concise statement of the facts and findings relating to each subject matter dealt with. The evidence of course had to be all reviewed before reaching a decision in each case, and it was thought conducive to a full exposition of each subject matter, that a condensed statement of the evidence upon which the findings were based should be quoted. In the last chapters will be found a resume of the whole and the conclusion at which the Commissioners have arrived. The head note and summary of each chapter and the concluding chapter fully set forth the views of the Commissioners. In quoting the evidence especial care was taken to give the views of all parties who employ Chinese labour, or whose interests might possibly be afiected by its exclusion. I am pleased to say that the Commissioners were unanimous in the conclusion arrived at, as to the necessity of excluding further immigration of Chinese labourers. That portion of the report relating to Japanese Immigration is well advanced, and will be completed at an early date. R. C. CLUTE, Chairman. COMMISSIONS. N. E. Tascheeeau, Deputy Governor General, Canada. Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c., &c., &c. To all to whom these presents shall come, or whom the same may in anywise concern. Greeting : Whereas it appears from a report from Oiur Secretary of State that representations and statements have been made by the legislature and people of the province of British Columbia on the subject of Chinese and Japanese immigration into that province, as more fully set out in the Order of His Excellency the Governor General in Council, bearing date the twenty-first day of September, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred, a copy of which is hereunto annexed ; And whereas We deem it expedient that inquiry under oath should be made with respect to the said statements and representations referred to in the said Order in Council hereunto annexed. Now know ye that We, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council for Canada, do by these presents nominate, constitute and appoint Roger Conger Clute, of the city of Toronto, in the province of Ontario, one of our counsel learned in the law for the pro- vince of Ontario, Ralph Smith, of the city of Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia, Esquire, and Daniel James Munn, of the city of New Westminster, in said xii RMPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION' 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 province of British Columbia, Esquire, to be Our Commissioners for the purpose of investigating the said statements and representations so made as indicated m the Order of Our Governor General in Council hereunto annexed. , . - And We do hereby, under the authority of the Revised Statutes of Canada, chapter 114 intituled : "An Act respecting Inquiries Concerning Public Matters," confer upon you, Our said Commissioners, the power of summoning before you any witnesses and ot requiring them to give evidence on oath, orally or in writing or on solemn afhrmation, it they are persons entitled, to affim in civil matters, and to produce such document;s and things as you. Our said Commissioners, shall deem requisite to the full investigation ot the matters into which you are hereby appointed to examine, inquire into and investigate. To have, hold, exercise and enjoy the said office, place and trust unto you, the said Koger Conger Clute, you the said Ralph Smith and you the said Daniel James Munn, together with the rights, powers, privileges and emoluments unto the .said office, place and trust of right and by law appertaining during pleasure. And We do hereby require and direct you to report to Our Secretary ot State the result of your investigation, together with the evidence taken before you and any opinion you may see fit to express thereon. In testimony whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent and the Great Seal of Canada to be hereunto affixed. Witness, the Honourable Henri Elzear Taschei-eau, Deputy of Our Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Cousin The Right Honourable Sir Gilbert John Elhot, Earl of Minto and Viscount Melgund of Melgund. County of Forfar, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, Baron Minto of Minto, County of Roxburgh, in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baronet of Nova Scotia, Knight Grand Cross of Our Most Distin- guished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, etc., &c.. Governor General of Canada. At Our Government House, in our City of Ottawa, this Twenty-first day of Septem- ber, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred, and in the sixty-fourth year of Our Reign. By Command. JOSEPH POPE, Under Secretary of State. Extract from a report of the Committee of the Honourable the Privy Council, aiJproved by His Excellency on September 31, 1900. On a memorandum dated September 3, 1900, from the Secretary of State, sub- mittino- that he has had under consideration the many representations made by the leo-islature and people of British Columbia on the subject of Chinese and Japanese immi- gration into that province to some of which he desires to call particular attention. The minister observes that at a recent sitting of the Legislative Assembly -of the province, a resolution was adopted declaring that the Chinese Immigration Act passed at the last session of the parliament of Canada, increasing the capitation tax from §50 to $100 is ineffective and inadequate to prevent Chinese immigration into Canada, and expressing the opinion that the only effective mode of dealing with the question of restricting Mongolian immigration into Canada would be by either increasing the amount of per capita tax to the swn of |500, or by the passing of an Act based on the lines of the Natal Act, known as the 'Immigration Restriction Act of 1897.' That in the month of May last (1900) two numerously signed petitions from the residents of British Columbia, to His Excellency the Governor General in Council, were received, representing that between January 1 and April 1 of the jaresent year (1900) 4,669 Japanese landed in Victoria and ^^ancouver, and that during the same period 1,325 Chinese landed in Victoria, making a total of nearly 6,000 within the short space of four months, and alleging that the result is ' that the pro^^[Ilee is ON CHINBSE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION xiii SESSIONAL. PAPER No. 54 flooded with an undesirable class of people non-assimilative and most detrimental to the v/age-earning classes of the people of the province, and that this extensive immigration cf orientals is also a menace to the health of the community.' That the petitioners assert that. they are not unmindful of Imperial interests, and while expressing feelings of the greatest loyalty to those interests, they respectfully call attention to what they term a serious inroad upon the welfare of the people of the province and they ask that an Act may be passed inhibiting the immigration of the above mentioned classes of people to Canada. That it has also been alleged in other communications on the subject that there was probability of a great disturbance to the economic eonditwns existing in the prov- ince and of grave injury being caused to the working classes by the large influx of labourers from China and Japan, as the standards of hving of the masses of the people in those countries differ so widely from the standards prevailing in the province, thus en- abling them to work foj a much less wage. ' That it is also urged that it is in the interest of the Empire that the Pacific Prov- ince of the Dominion should be occupied by a large and thoroughly British population rather than by one in which the number of aliens would form a large proportion. The Minister also desires to call attention to the many acts passed by the Legisla- tive Assembly of the Province declaring that Chinese or Japanese persons shall not be allowed to find employment on works, the construction of which has .been authorized or made possible of accomplishment iDy certain privileges or franchises granted by the Lieg- islature, which Acts have been disallowed ' by reason of the discrimination including Japanese. , . , , ,, .^ . . The Minister submits that o-jving to these representations made by the Legislature and people of British Columbia, the Right Honourable the Premier during the last ses- sion of the Parliaiment of Canada, when introducing the Bill authorizing the ingrease in the capitation tax on Chinese coming intp the Dominion from $50 to $100, announced that the government had come tq the conclusion that it would be wipe at the ^present time to follow the course adopted by the Government of Canada in the year 1884, and have the complaints and statements referred to, investigated, the inquiry' to include the question as to whether the Japanese should be treated as the Chinese were, and whether or not they present the same objectionable; characteristics as were alleged against the Chinese and that a royal commission v/ould be appointeid to investigate and examine into the whole question, making a full report so that the views of the people of British Columbia might be placed before the Imperial authorities. The. Minister therefore recommends that a thorough and full investigation be made, under a lloyal Commission, into the foregoing statements and representations, and that Roger C. Clute, of Toronto, Ralph Smith, of Vancouver, and Daniel J. Munn, of ,New Westminster, be appointed Commissioners for the purpose of such investigation, and that pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 1 14, Revised Statutes of Canada,^ entitled " An act respecting inquiries concerning public matters," they as such Cominissione'rs be given the full power of summoning witnesses and requiring them to give evidence on oath or on solemn afiirmation, and to produce such documents and papers as they may deem requisite. ' The Minister further recommends that reasonable advance be made to the Commis- sioners to cover living and travelling expenses, that J?. J. Dean, of Kamloops, be ap- pointed secretary to the Commission, and that for the purpose of taking such, evidence they be authorized to employ a stenographer to take down the evidence, whose remuner- ation shall be fixed by the Commissioners. The committee submit the foregoing for Your Excellency's approval. , . , - JOHN J McGEB, Clerk of the Privy Codhcil Xiv REPORT. OF'ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 MiNTO. , CANADA. Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c., (fee, for burglary, 1 attempted shop-breaking, 1 for theft, etc. ' A large proportion of the convictions are for breach of city by-laws, especially those having relation to sanitation, and although the returns for the penitentiary are'not so favourable to the Chinese, yet your Commissioners think this may be accounted for by the fact that the larger number were sent up during the building of the Onderdonk section of the Canadian Pacific Railway, when there werij large numbers in that section of the country. O^r CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 21 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 From the return of the warden of the British Columbia penitentiary since 1878, it appears that out of a total number of 737 inmates, 151 were Chinese, or about 20iL per cent of the whole, as follows : — Shooting with intent 1 Keeping a disorderly house . • • • • 1 Receiving stolen goods 15 Rape 1 Larceny 30 Accessory before the fact of robbery 3 Wounding with intent 19 Kidnapping 2 Housebreaking 19 Assault ' ,s Assault with intent 3 Obtaining goods under false pretences 1 Stabbing 1 Unlawful wounding ... 4 Robbery with violence 2 Perjury 2 Assault with intent to carnally know 1 iMurder 1 Indecent assault 1 Buggery . . 1 Maining cattle 2 In possession of housebreaking tools 1 Stealing , 15 Burglary 10 Manslaughter 4 Setting fire to dwelling 1 Aiding and abetting 2 Upon the whole, after careful consideration of all the evidence bearing upon this question, your Commissioners are of the opinion that the Chinese compare favourably with other portions of the population in respect to crime. This judgment is formed partly from the returns of committals and convictions, and is probably rather too favourable than otherwise to the Chinese owing to the fact that where a Chinese is charged with an offence it is very difficult to procure a conviction. This arises from the almost utter disregard by the Chinese of the sanctity and obligation imposed by an oath. Their evidence is declared to be almost without exception unre- liable, except in the case of merchants and business men. It was stated by the police magistrate at Victoria, that on more than one occasion, he was satisfied that an organized effort was made and succeeded in defeating the ends of justice. Hezekiah George Hall, police magistrate for the citv of Victoria, since November, 189ti, says : Q. Do you think that from our way of administering the oath, it is looked upon as a sacred thing by the Chinese ? — A. In a great many cases it is not ; in fact I have come to the conclusion that the oath has no binding effect on them whatever ; there was one question I might perhaps be allowed to refer to here, in reading the reports of the evidence given here, I notice there was a reference made to Chinese having a court and having law administered among themsehes. That has on more occasions been exempli- fied in the police court. Q. To what extent ? — A. There is one case that might' be interesting if the Com- mission saw fit to get from the Clerk of the Peace u, ciipy of the evidence taken in that — the case of the Queen vs. Gin Wing, on the 24th February, 1900. On that day Gin Wing was committed for trial on a charge of forger}'. There is one feature in the case that possibly it might be worth while to refer to ; it appeared in that case that the party was summoned or called before what the}' call the Chinese Board of Trade ; and there 22 BEPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 had practically been a trial before the Chinese Board of Trade ; at that meeting there was a very full attendance of the members of the Chinese Board of Trade and Gin Wing was asked numerous questions referring to the case which was to be tried in the christian court ; in other words, it was made very clear that they were endeavouring to manufacture evidence before the Chinese Board of Trade ; almost immediately after the meeting of the Chinese Board of Trade, or about the date of that meeting, the information was laid against Gin Wing for perjury, j^fter the evidence referring t(j the County Court case had been given, we found it was difficiilt to arrive at any conclusion ; refer- ence was made to admissions said to have been made by Gin Wing at this meeting of the Chinese Board of Trade ; three witnesses were called to give e\idence as to the ad- missions made at the same time ; it was only by putting together a lot of circumstances surrounding the whole transaction, that I was enabled to arrive at any kind of conclusion as to what had actually occurred at that meeting of the Board of Trade ; and par- ticularly was it made difficult when five witnesses as to this were tendered on behalf of the prosecution ; and after a time, after hearing their statements, I declined to hear any further evidence. The counsel for the defendants did not object to the evidence at all ; but putting together the circumstances which I was enabled to gather together, after the evidence of the five, it was quiet clear to my mind that the evidence was absolutely inadmissible, because this man had practieallj' been forced to attend that meeting of the Board of Trade, which was supposed to be attended by all the leading merchants in Chinatown, and the evidence disclosed that any merchant receiving a summons was bound to attend and adjudicate upon the matter. ii- The defendant was under duress in fact ? — A. He was ; it was not until the e\idence of the fi\e witnesses was tendered and partly given, which I afterwards ruled out entiiely, that we found out that there were threats of violence towards Gin Wing at the Board of Trade ; that such threats were made ; that an actual assault was only prcA'ented by one of the members going to the re.scue of Gin Wing ; then immediately, iir almost immediately, after forcing him to make statements at that meeting they tendered the e^•idence of those statements in the police court against him. I would have dismissed the case there and then had it not been that outside altogether of the admissions given at the Board of Trade there was a jjrinui facii' case against him, and no evidence was gi\en for the defence ; I tlierefore ccammitted him for trial. Q. Was he afterwards acquitted '. — A. Yes. Q,. You committed him for trial, and he was afterwards acquitted ] — A. Yes ; that was to my mind such a clear case of trial, or attempted trial, by the Chinese Board of Trade that I thousht it right to mention it. CHAPTER v.— THE ilORAL AND EELIGIOrS ASPECT OF THE CASE. An interesting fact established beyond all doubt by the evidence is that missionary work among the Chinese on the coast has met with \evv little success, if one is to judc'e by the number of converts, and the ministers and clergy so far as we could ascertain with very few exceptions, were opposed to further immigration of Chinese or Japanese labourers. Curiously enough where a witness was found in favour of further immicrra- tion it was put, not upon the ground of equality- or of affording an opportunity for the Chinese to rise by reason of new conditions, but upon the ground that they were a ser- vile class and a servile class was necessary for the higher development of the Ancdo- Saxon race. It is difficult to make a comparison between the morality of the Chinese and that of the white men. Their standards are different. They have their peculiar virtues and vices. They are sober but addicted to opium, thrifty but inveterate gamblers. It is a remarkable fact that there was only one case of assault with intent to commit rape and one of indecent assault. In Victoria there are said to be four Chinese prostitutes and one hundred and fifty whites — and in Vancouver and other places the proportion was about the same. ON GHINEUE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 23 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 The Commission were careful to invite a full expression of opinion upon this point, and believe that they obtained what may be regarded as a consensus of opinion upon this question, and it is overwhelmingly against any further immigration of this class. The Rev. W. Leslie Clay, minister of the Presbyterian church at Victoria, says : I have resided here seven years. We have been carrying on mission work for ten years. There are three white and two Chinese missionaries in the province. The Rev. Mr. Winchester, the superintendent of Chinese mis.sions, has resigned. He reported in 1899, thirty-six Chinese as members of the church. They are rather averse to Christianity. This arises from their satisfaction with their own social life and a contempt of every- thing of western social life. The converts are principally of the labouring classes, domestics and laundrymen. Q. Do you know how they are regarded by their fellow Chinese ? A. With a great deal of antipathy. I know of some who have been cast off by their friends and looked down upon by their neighbours, because of their having adopted christian modes of thought and living. I don't know of any of the educated classes of Chinese accepting Christianity. The presence of any large numbers is not desirable. I object to more Chinese. I think that Canada should have a strong robust nation. The vast resources ought to afford scope for our own people. They show no signs of assimilation with us. They can never be assimilated, and if they could it would not be desirable. Q. Upon what ground would you exclude any part of God's creatures from any part of the world 1 A. Well, I have not spoken of excluding them either by head tax oi' by prohibitory law, but self-preservation as we all know is said to be the first law of nature. I would not exclude the Chinese or any other nationality on any other ground than that of self- preservation. The wisest suggestion that I have seen yet, and one that commends itself to my mind, i^ suggested by Mr. Ellis in the Colonist this morning. Instead of passing aiiy further restrictive legislation, that the Province and the Dominion Government should petition the Imperial authorities to enter into a treaty with China and Japan, by which the number of immigrants from either country passing into the other should be limited to say one hundred in a year. Their presence here has a tendency to retard the incoming of our own people. I have had people tell me their places were taken by Chinese or Japanese. I am inclined to put them in the same category. Their competition is more intense and more general. There would be the tendency of forming a servile class. Morally they have a difterent standard. They are addicted to certain vices which they do not regard as vices. Of their virtues, they are plodding, patient, sober, thrifty people. Gambling and opium seem their great vices as we see it here. I don't know in regard to the social evil that they are any more immoral than whites. I am told they are not. In the past the Chinese have brought into the city here in a state of slavery a great many women who were to be used by them for immoral purposes. I know that because it was brought to my attention by Mr. Winchester (the Reverend Mr. Win- chester, superintendent of missions). Mr. Winchester was on more than one occasion required to go to the customs authorities here when such women were coming. He had intimation of such women being likely to come, and had to go to the Customs authorities on several occasions in an endeavour to have such women sent back to China. There have been charges of the kind made against Chinamen that they were bringing in Chinese women here in a state of slavery for immoral purposes. At one time there were three women brought in here whose landing Mr. Winchester sought to prevent. I think he was unsuccessful. I would not be sure though I think that they were unable to prove at that time that they were being brought here for immoral purposes. I had no personal connection with the matter at all. I am simply giving you what I learnt from Mr. Winchester. I do not know of any other case, The worship of ancestors is a great part of their religion. I don't believe in giving them the franchise. If we naturalized them I think the franchise ought to be given them. 24 REPORT OP ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 We should keep Canada for ourselves and such as will assimilate with ourselves in making Canada a great country. So far as I know the Christian converts are sincere. There are thirteen converts in Victoria. Last year forty-seven attended the week school. 'There are several missions in Victoria. I would not consider even Chinese Christians in large numbers desirable. The ground I take is that they seem impossible of assimil- ation with us. I have no doubt that vice abounds in all our large cities, but it is very apparent here. , Q. Would not the whole race be much better off if the Chinese were left alone and kept within their own walls in China «— A. I do not see how we could keep them within their own walls and seek to enter within those walls ourselves. I say their presence here in any large numbers is detrimental to the existence of our own people, and as a matter of self-preservation some steps ought to be taken immediately to hmit their com- ing or to prohibit them altogether, but it is a question involving some other matters, but I see no reason why we should not be able to prevent any more coming here. Q. Would they not be justified in asking us to leave them alone when we exclude them ? — A. I think they would. . Q. Would it be desirable in the interests of the white race to have the Chinese remain within their own walls and have no intercourse with the white people in any shape or form ?— A. No, I do not think that would be desirable. I do not think we would be working for the best interests of the world at large in adopting that course. Q. I should like to know how 3'ou can reconcile the one thing with the other ; that is how you can expect to go into Cliina unless in justice you should allow them to come into your country.— A. Certainly. I say we cannot stop them coming in when we wish to go into their country. I have suggested that the whole matter might be arranged by a treaty between the two Empires ; that the number of labourers passing from one country to the other should be limited to a certain number in each year. Q. Taking all these things into account what do you think the Founder of the Christian religion would advise under the circumstances ? — A. I do not know just what Christ would advise in the matter, but in what I have said here I have endeavoured to give an interpretation of Christ's mind in the matter. I do not. say I am correct in this at all, but I have given you my conviction after careful study of the whole question. I have no doubt Christ would approve of self -protection. . The Reverend Elliot Sproule Rowe, Methodist Minister of Victoria, formerly of Toronto, has resided ten months in the Province. Q. Have you been sufficiently long here to form an opinion in regard to the Chinese question and the necessity for further restriction or prohibition, or for the further admission of the Chinese 1 — A. Well, I have formed some opinion, but my opinions have a tendency to shift. The problem is a complicated one. I think their presence here has a detrimental effect. Perhaps the better way would be to say that the Chinese have an injurious effect upon white labour here and, of course, the Chinese have an injurious effect upon the markets here, because they are not purchasers to a large extent of manu- factures, and they affect different lines of business in which they become actual com- petitors with the white people. Their presence here is a decided injury to economic conditions ; and a large number of them coming here would be a decided disadvantage to the community ; it will be far better for the community and for the province that employment in the different trades and callings should be given to white men who will come here and settle and raise families here than to give it to the Oriental, who by his competition, by his being able to work for low wages because of his mode of living, is gradually driving white man out of the country. Q. In regard to the question of citizenship ? — A. Of course any importation into a province or into a countiy should have reference to citizenship ; we want people here who will take an interest in our laws and institutions and ultimately become citizens, an integral part of our community ; such people as those who are in, not taking any interest in our laws and institutions become a menace to the community. Q. Do you think the Chinese as a class take any interest in our institutions one way or another % — A. I do not think so. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIOBATION 25 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Q. Do you think they are likely to do sol — A. I cannot answer that positively ; but my opinion is they are not likely to ; it seems to me the matters affecting the Chinese people and nation are in such a state of transition, that they will not be settled for some years ; but I would judge that they have no interest whatever in our institutions. Q. The strength of a people I suppose must largely lie in the class of people who occupy the various callings of life? — A. Yes, to have a progressive nation there must be an intelligent moral lower class, those who do what might be called manual or menial work ; a class who, frugal in their habits and pure in their lives will build up a com- munity rapidly and who will reside with us permanently, improving themselves as opportunity offers * * * I think it is very injurious to the country to have any class of people in the community who will not assimilate, who have no aspirations, who are not fit to live in social and political relations with our people ; it is certainly a dis- a,dvantage to the country at large to have such a class of people filling up every avenue of labour as they are doing to-day. Their presence here has been very detrimental in the past, and I ha-\e no doubt will continue to be detrimental as long as we have Chinese here. Q. What effect do you think must the continued encroachment in the various trades and callings have upon the strength of the country as a nation, or as Canadians ? — A. In a very large measure I should think it would be very detrimental ; the presence of five or six thousand Chinese in British Columbia has had a very detrimental effect ; and it has had a detrimental effect but to a very slight extent on the Dominion of Canada as a whole. Spread o\'er the Dominion, their numbers appeared small in comparison to the population, but when the majority of the Chinese are to be found in British Colum- bia, then the injurious effect is much more apparent here and becomes much more serious. Were the conditions, such as they exist here, better understood in the east, I have no doubt that action would be taken immediately to remove the unjust and unfair competition. I think that their presence here in large numbers has a tendency to degrade certain trades and callings, and white people do not care to engage even if it were possible for them to find emplopment in certain work, because it has been done by Chinese ; white people think it degrades them to go into employments that have been commonly assigned to Chinese for some years. I think it is very. injurious in any com- munitv to be driven to think that any work that is necessary and fair is beneath them. Q. Your observations with regard to the Chinese question have, up until now, been confined to their effect on the various trades and callings. Now, looking at the question from a national standpoint, would you favour further restriction or exclusion of the lower or coolie labouring class of Chinese 1 — A. Well, it seems to me that restriction can only be temporary in its effects ; I think that in the meantime there should be pro- hibition ; speaking from a national standpoint, I think the general sentiment of the people of Canada would be in favour of the exclusion of the Chinese ; I think Canada would be stronger by the exclusion of individuals of the Chinese race of the coolie class. Q. Do you think having regard to the same amount of labour expended that you are any more likely to get concerts "here than in China 1— A. Apparently they are closer in spite of Christianity. That is my candid opinion about it. Q. That answer would indicate that you are likely to be as successful in China as here ? A. Yes. I think there is as much chance of converting the Chinese in China as there is for converting them in Victoria. Q. Do you advocate their exclusion from the country ; advocate that there should be no further immigration here ?— A. Well, I cannot answer that in a word. I believe the reason they are a menace is that our economic system is wrong and you cannot hope to remedy that at short notice, and their presence here will be a menace all along. Until our methods are saner we cannot hope to have any change in the present condi- tions. I think it is humiliating to have to say that our system of civilization is such that we cannot stand the competition of an inferior race, but we have to take conditions as they exist and to work to ameliorate or improve those conditions. Q. What would you suggest as a remedy 1 — A. I confess that is hard to do. For instance I think that legislation should be had towards promoting production and 26 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 the de\-elopment of the mineral and other wealth of the country ; when we speak aVjout developing the country we should have in view the developing of the humanity 'A the country as well as of the a,i,'ricultural and mineral wealth. The wealth of a counti-y is more largely composed of its people than most of us would think. We might develop our fields and mines, and the country could not be much the better, if the results of that development were not directed towards increasing human happiness. While there might be difficulty in enforcing it, it seems to me if there was a minimum wage ; by a minimum wage law, and enforcint;- proper sanitary regulations, and regulations of the methods of living and regulations of the class of habitations, there would be a more effective method then in force than the exclusion of any one race ; it seems to me that would be more eti'ecti\-e than the passage of a law saying to those men, you cannot come in. y. There are different degrees of labour ; one man can do much more work m a day than another — why should a man who does not labour well be paid as much as the man who does ? — A. If there was a minimum wage, it is not necessary that all men should be compelled to accept that ; but no employers should be allowed to pay less than the minimum « age, that would be the wage of the poorest class of labour ; the poorest class would get that minimum wage, and in competition the better man would get more. Q. You prefer not to have the Chinese get the benefit of that plan 1 — A. I do not put it forward as a plan ; if I were competent to suggest a plan that would solve the present problem there would be no Commission. I have an objection to the idea of the exclusion of any class of people ; perhaps it is not a well-grounded objection. I would smuggest as wellas a minimum wage, that there should be some regulation as to the sanitary conditions affecting the living of the persons concerned ; and I would be per- fectly willing to have all races of men put under these conditions. I would say Canada would be strengthened by exclusion of the Cihinese race. It has a tendency to deter white immigration. They depress wages, which tends to lower the standard of living. They reduce the ability of others to purchase. They ignore our religious services. They create a laxity of sentiment and feeling and the social evil is likely to increase. I think they are injurious in present numbers. If their place was taken by white people the country would be much benefitted by the change. I think legislation should have for its development men ; development of fields and mines only will not do. It is dangeitius to have a community within a community. If they conform to the conditions of citizenship I would admit them. They should be admitted, if at all, onlv in such numbers as would prevent them being a menace to the labouring class. Of course I could not object to mutuality. This refers to labourers only. Judging bv majority of opinions they are good domestic servants. It is more important to develop a people than material resources. The more wealth an immoral community has the worse it is. High wages alone will not improve morals. Morality and wealth do not alwavs go together. Low wages kill aspirations, destroy hope and ambition and lead to \"ice as relaxation from toil. Poverty produces drunkenness. I would say there is less poverty here than in other places I have been. The youth compares favourably with the youth of other places for intelligence and the making of good citizens. I have thought the iiegiect of Sabbath observance here was greater than in any other place I have been in. Bishop Perrin (Anglican), of Victoria, says : I have only come into personal con- tact with two Chinese as domestics. I have found the two faithful and industrious to a degree. AVe have had a missionary from China. We try to shnw them that Christianity is a higher truth. We have not admitted one single member to baptism. Several have applied. The class is of the very poorest class from China. They come without a cent and are under obligation to those who bring them here. 'My opinion is that when the Chinese awaken they will be found all over the world. I don't think things ought to be allowed to go on as in the past. They are allowed to come in and arrive with nothing. I don't think China is advanced enough in civilization to admit them. I think we have a distinct mission to go to China because our religion is the universal religion. If they are here we have a duty to perform. The majoritv of white people are higher in morality than the Chinese. The Chinese have a good inany virtues. Those who come here are \ery poor and the inference is, that is paid for by ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIORA TION 27 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 others. If the higher and better class of Chinese come here, if they are, as I believe them to be, they would remain and become good citizens. My own thought would be, the Chinese ought not to interfere with the dignity of labour' in the mind of a true ideal workman. I think the present immigration is not a desirable one for the country, because they are not the best representatives of the race. The presence of a transient popula- tion is inimical to the best interests of the country. The encroachment of these people on the ordinary occupations of the people of the country is also a dangerous and objectionable condition. Hence labour should be respected and is always respectable. * * * I do not think it has a tendency to degrade the better class of white labour at all events. * * * They take the place of our people. If you can get white labour you should get white labour. * * * I may state while in England I was unwilling to recommend labouring people to come to British Columbia. I am not willing now to recommend any of that class to come to British Columbia. As it is at present the English labourer here is in a very good position. I think the white labourer could still come here and hold his own against the Chinaman. There is not a large number under present conditions. If he got the wage here of a white man, he would be better off than he is in England. I think there is a great future for British Columbia when the population increases. The Reverend Canon Beanlands of Victoria says : I have resided here for sixteen years. Am a clergyman of the Church -of England. I have had Chinese domestic servants. They are honest, sober, industrious and cleanly in the house. They remain about three years. I had one young man who had sent $180 to his father by the time he was 18, simply as an act of filial duty. They are obedient to one master or one mistress. You can get Chinamen from $5 to $35, — fairly good about $1.5 a month. They have no wife here as a rule. We have had two Christian Chinamen. I think it it very doubtful if any considerable work has been done towards their conversion. I should think it very remote ground to expect to convert Chinese here. They might better try to convert them there. We had a clergyman here and his work was quite valueless. We then got a clergyman who knew Chinese and his work was more effective. Q. How do you compare the standard of living of white people in the same calling as regards clothing and food ? — A. That is an economic question. They have cases in England. I do not know whether my opinion is worth taking. The Chinese who come here do not compare with the white men in the shops or in the various trades and callings. The Chinese who come here are a servile class. They are a class far below the lowest mechanic or white labourer. I do not think that they compete with the white men at all. I think the white mechanic who comes here comes to occupy a different position. He does not come into competition with the Chinese. If you take the Chinaman into your domestic service he has to live on the same scale as the house, with a difference of temperament, but outside the house of his white employer the Chinese as a race are totally different from white men. The white man cannot compete with them at all. Q. Could a white man bring up a family at all respectably under the conditions in which the Chinese live ? — A. I do not think sufficient stress is laid upon their being a different class. The Chinese here are a servile class. The white man here does not live ; he would not live ; he could not live as a Chinaman does. They are a .special class. Q. Why do you say that ? — A. For instance a professional man would not wish to live in the same way as a labouring man. The Chinese I have seen occupy a subordi- nate position, a position of servility, subordinate to white employees. For instance, you never see a Chinaman acting as a master carpenter or a master bricklayer. I have never seen a Chinaman employ a white man or come into competition with him. In bricklaying, bricklayers employ Chinese help and they would not employ white help. The white help would not do for that kind of work here. Q. Why do you say that ? — A. Because they prefer to get better paying work if they can get it. 'We have got bricklayers here and have not got bricklayers' assistants. Q. Did the bricklayers ever have white assistants ; was it not usual at one-time ? — A. Not in my time. 28 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Q. Didn't some white contractors employ white labour exclusively in their buildings ? — A. They might attempt to do so. The man who wants to come to British Columbia, the M'liite man, does not usuallj' look for the lowest kind of labour such as the Chiuese do. He may be compelled to engage in that temporarily, but he wishes to get better. Q. Labour, if wages are good '. — A. I do not think a bricklayer would give wages enough to an assistant to compare with what white labour requires in British Columbia. (J. What does a bricklayer get here ? — A. I am told from i??> to .$.5 a day. Other countries have got dense populations and a certain element falls into the lowest class. Wliether we ha^•e no lowest class here it is difficult to say. The Chinese who are here, a*. I say, are a servile class. Q. Do you think building could not go on without the aid of the Chinese ? — A. It would be according to what people could afford to pay. There is no doubt if labour is cheap that more building would go on. There would be more brick houses. You could make it cheap bv importing labour from other countries, but it might not be politic to do that. Q. Is there any deficiency in the supply of Chinese labour as here now 1 — A. I am afraid I must leave that to employers to answer. I cannot say whether there is a defi- ciency or not ; I must leave that to the employers. I think the labour market here is very restrictive. It is almost a common remark that there is not very keen competi- tion. That is the condition that exists where there is a sufficient amount of labour to supply the demand, but I cannot reasonably be expected to answer whether there is or is not sufficient labour here to supply the demand. I do not think there is an over- supply of labour in British Columbia. Q. Do you think if the Chinese continue to come of that class, the servile class, that they will remain a servile class I — A. It will alwa3's remain a servile class. Q. Do vou think it is in the interests of a countvv to have a servile class ; that the workiny- class should be divided into two races '. — A. Whether it is in the interests of a country it is difficult to say, but take the case of the individual emplovee. Q. Is it in the interest of the country to have a servile class ? — A. It has been found in the interest of e^'erj' country nearly at some period or another to have a servile class emploj'ed in its development. It was chiefly servile owing to the prevalence of what might almost be called absolute slavery, and the nearest approach to slavery in our country is the servile Chinese — the coolie class of Chinese we have here. (^>. As Compared with our civilization would you like to see slavery here now? — A. A\'ell, I am not sure that I should not. i-i. Then 3-ou think the Chinese would occupy a position next to that, the position of a servile class I — A. I think the position of a free man is almost emphasized by the existence alongside of him of a servile class like the Chinese. I think white labour is more free by the existence of a servile class alongside of them. (^1. Do you think a servile class has a tendency to degrade ? — A. No, I think it has H tendency to elevate those who are servile. Q. Do you think the existence of slavery in the Houth had a tendency to raise the whites there 1 — A. Negro slavery is a question I would not like to discuss! I think all through Europe the existence of a servile class at one time in its life, had a strong ten- dency to elevate the non-servile. In Greece a very large proportion of the people were always slaves, who did all the menial work in Greece ; and the free men, their position was emphasized by having their menial \\ork done by slaves. Q. Do you think that is Christian, that Christianity teaches that J— A. It is certain that it has been so. It has been natural in the development of all countries. Q. Do you think we are in a condition now that although we cannot have sla\-ery we may have the next best thing, servile class ?— A. I think at the present time that the white man's position as a free man is certainly emphasized by the existence of a ser- vile class, such as the Chinese. Q. Do you think the Chinese take any part in our laws and institutions I A. No, I do not think they do at all. Q. Do you think they will ever assimilate with our pe JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 33 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 July. From my experience in the east, if fishermen's families (as a rule they are lar^e) .„1 ^' \ \^^''^ *° ^''i^ ^o^.*^''* ''^ "^ ^*^Se cannery the total work of the Chinamen only equalled nine men for 300 days, what would you say LA. If the fishermen were on the river then this small work could be done by boys. It would help them. I have known boys work till 2 o'clock in the morning in a rush. The river last year was practically occupied by Japanese. With the large number ot Japanese on the river it would not be wise to advise fishermen to settle on the river shore "^ ^ fisheries have become defunct, the fish do not come to the Under present conditions they have to pay a larger price for fish than they did pay before the influx of Orientals. I am not convinced the industry would suffer by a limita- tion of the fishermen. If it did injure it I might, if interested, kill the goose that lay the golden egg. I should say there would be 100,000 men, women and children engaged m the fisheries m Newfoundland. -I think cod can be cured here. I think the climatic conditions are more favourable here. The present system makes against the family I think It ought to be treated as a national question. It is a legitimate matter for leo-is- iation. i make a distinction between Chinese and Japanese. The Japs' superiority makes them a greater menace to labour. The Chinese as a rule are industrious and sober. 1 have thought the fact that Chinese cultivated land that would not otherwise be cultivated, is beneficial from an economic point of view. I don't think there is enough labour at present to replace the Chinese on inside work In isolated cases they may be sincere in adopting Christianity, but for the most part it 18 to learn our language to enable them to secure work. A farmer must have some employment away from the land to enable him to Uve, especially if he has a family. Lands are held by capitalists or locked up in some way. The normal condition would be for fishermen to occupy lands which would not fully support them, and they would gradually clear up the land and be enabled to support their families partly by fishing. It IS where such conditions prevail in Newfoundland that the condition of fishermen is the best. Tom Chue Thom, Chinese missionary of New Westminster, says : I came to Canada nineteen years ago like the rest of my fellow-countrymen ; came quite youno- with my uncle. I travelled through Eastern Canada and four or five States of America twice. I have visited a good many Chinatowns for the last fourteen years. I have a practical knowledge of our Chinese condition of life in many cities of the Pacific Coast. I was converted over sixteen years ago. I have been engaged as a missionary of British Columbia for the last nine years. Most all Chinamen in Canada to-day have come from Canton province. Many of us come directly from villages of different districts about a hundred miles from Canton City. Here we have four distinct dialects amongst the Chinese inthe province, but generally use two dialects between four districts, or three districts' dialect. Yes, most of them came to this country quite young ; they follow their elders and mothers or relatives and friends. Yes, most come here without profession. Most of us have a few years' school in China, more or less. If their parents are well to do, they give their son a liberal education, but the Chinese study cannot compare with English system. Most Chinamen here are farmers' sons. Regardincr the cheap labour concern, the Chinese have been useful to every new country, especiafly to capitalists and landowners. They have reaped their benefit in the past. ' I think you Canadians ought to thank God to have the Chinamen here to do the manual work for you. Chinamen have been opening up many agricultural lands in the province. Some of them get pay for their labour ; most cases not. If they do get pay for it, it won't be much, but the improvement is left here to you forever. Chinamen are born agricul- turists. They are accustomed to make the very best of the soil. They are industrious people, honest, frugal and persevering. Whatever undertaking agreement of contracts always kept faithful in their promise. They keep up their reputation of the time of honesty. They are very filial to their parents. Many of them deny themselves pleasure 54 — 3 34 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 to enable them to send money home to support their family and aged parents. Yes, there are good qualities in Chinamen, but this is not perfect in us. The chief sin of our race in this country is to set up a monument of Chinatown wherever they go, bad example, gambling and opium smoking. Set up the different tongues to quarrelling and fighting amongst themselves. Import slave girls to sell for prostitution. Love their dead friends more than their live ones. They worship the graveyard three times a year, educated or uneducated, young or old, rich or poor, enlightened or not enlightened. Ride steam engines and locomotive cars every day in this country, but most of them believe mountain, winds and water gods, their dead friends preventing and opposing railways aud steam locomotives in China. By observation they ought to know better. In God's view nothing good in us. I don't mean in New Westminster here at present. Chinamen here are much better people than in any other Chinatown, but I am speaking from experience during the last ten or fifteen years. By nature all Chinamen desire high wages, but in actual skilled labour they are not worth much in the market. It is true that the Chinese physically are not strong as Europeans, but just true as a Pole, Chinamen are able to bear the hardships and suffering more than the Europeans. Yes, there is good quality in them. They are always willing to work. They prefer light work, such as laundry and housework, because it suits their strength. The health of our race don't look as strong as they ought to be, because they eat too much pork and those old dry Chinese foods. Most indigestion food's are used that gives no colour in their face. Those who live on European food are much more healthy than the others. They do this through ignorance. In the matter of trade, they prefer their own people. My opinion is, if the Chinese, when they first come here, adopt the custom and laws of the country, living, dealing, socially like Europeans, there would be no more anti-Chinese questiou to-day. If my fellow-countrymen only knew what they are living in this earth for, the world would have nothing against us to-day. If they knew, the condition of life would be much better to-day. I am sorry to say we are not living up to the time of civilization. We are a hundred miles away from other nations. If they were less anti-Christian and obeyed the laws and customs of the country, I am sure Chinamen would stand just as good as other nationalities to-day. The trouble is they are not. I wish they had thirty or forty years ago. The missionaries have done a great deal of good amongst the Chinese on the Pacific coast here. Not only chief sinner converted to God, but also broke down the lively tongs of Highbinderism, and stopped the importation of Chinese slave girls for immoral purposes. Missionaries have a good prospect of future work among Chinese on the Coast cities here. The Methodists have a Chinese mission church here. We have fifteen members ; two of them are merchants. We also have about forty to fifty Chinamen attending our night schools through the winter. We have a pretty good attendance at Sunday services. There are about fifteen Chinese boys attending public school in the city here — sixteen Chinese families. The greatest influence amongst Chinese is the Middle Kingdom Association, supposed to belong to all classes of Chinamen in the province. This is mostly composed of merchants as a board of trustees and president. The headquarter is in Victoria. The second is Chee Kung Tong, known to the Europeans and called Chinese Secret Society. Their head- quarters are in Victoria, too, but they have branches in every Chinatown. I think more than one-half of the Chinamen in Canada are members. Then the Chinese Empire Reform Society, their intention being to learn the western methods and laws of govern- ment, but all of them are idolatrous and ancestral worshippers, followers of Confucius. Most of the good standing members have no interest to inquire into Christianity. Now we have a handful of Chinese Christians here and there in the province, belonging to all denominations. Some have proved faithful to their new religion, but some have received little English education from Chinese mission, school. They may have a false profession of Christianity to deceive the white. I believe the more converted Chinese we have, the better citizens you will have. I know the unconverted men, and the money-maker out of Chinatown, they don't want to see Chinamen get converted, because they are ashamed of themselves, or they can't cheat them as easily as the unconverted ones. I believe there are Chinese ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 35 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 enough to fill the demand of labour in the country at present. I favour restriction and regulation, but not taxation. I think it a great sin to any government to put a head tax on any nationality coming into the country. It is not righteous in the law. A Christian nation broke the treaty of a heathen nation. It is a disgrace for the British empire. It is all right for a government seeking power, but there was no righteousness. Oh, I wish the government say, you Chinamen cannot come to Canada, then stop the Chinese at once. If the government allow us to come under taxation, they ought to permit us to do the public work. I think it is very cruel the way the government treat the Chinamen, but after all on account the heathen Chinese they deserve it. They bear it well, but the Christian is not willing to bear it. This proves in one sense the converted Chinese are worse than those unconverted ones. Well, I wish the government would make some little change in method of collecting revenues from our Chinese. It will do the Chinaman good and benefit the country. That is, put a heavy tax on the Chinese food, instead of head tax. History shows that China- men are bound to live on Chinese food and use Chinese goods. The government will not lose any revenue from head tax, but in the long run will derive more tax from the Chinese. If our Chinamen were willing to abandon their habits and customs they would be good citizens to the country, but I do not think the Chinese will ever assimilate with the Canadians — cannot under present situation. I wish the government would allow those naturalized Chinese, having educational qualification, the privilege of the franchise — treat them as men, as British subjects. They ought not to issue naturalization papers to applicants, while the government do not consider them citizens. I hope the govern- ment will have more conscience to make righteous laws. Reverend Alexander Brown Winchester, now residing in Toronto, pastor of Knox Presbyterian Church, formerly resided in British Columbia, from April, 1892, to Dec- ember, 1900, said : I was superintendent of Chinese missions in British Columbia in connection with the Presbyterian Church, with headquarters at Victoria. Organized Chinese mission work in British Columbia and established three permanent stations, at Victoria, Vancouver and Union Mines ; also three sub-stations, at Westminster, Ross- land (for the Kootenay district), and at Extension Mines, Vancouver Island. In addition to these mission stations a number of schools were conducted by the church throughout the province, at which adult Chinese attended. These schools were in some instances night schools for secular instruction, and in others Sunday schools for religious instruction. Approximately the number of Chinese who joined the church during the period of my ministration was not less than thirty, and possibly as high as thirty-six. When I left Victoria there were fourteen Chinese adherents of the church and five or six more had returned to China. In Vancouver at this time the number of Chinese adherents was eleven or twelve. Mr. Clay was doubtless correct in stating that I had placed the number of Chinese converts in British Columbia in 1899 at thirty-six. I was for two years a missionary in North China. Church work in China cannot be compared with the work in Canada. The difference of country, of people with cen- turies of different religion from our own ingrained in them, the difference of language, added to the difficulty of getting the common people interested, owing to the lack of a public press as we understand it, and of anything like public opinion, were chief among the hindrances to church work. .A.t every point the differentiation was wide and bridgeless and made comparison impossible. From some points of view the conversion of Chinese at home was immeasurably more hopeful of accomplishment than in this country. A missionary in China was likely to gather around him as a result- of his efforts tenfold more adherents than here. On the other hand, quality of materials conditions the work, and it may be that one convert in this country who had imbibed the spirit of our institutions would be worth more than the larger number in China. Such a convert who returns to his own country, and in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred, so far as Presbyterian Church converts are concerned, becomes a propagator of the truths of Christianity. Of course many more Chinese could have been accepted into the church in British Columbia during my ministration, but I would only 9onsent to the baptism of those I was con- vinced were thoroughly sincere in their conversion. 54-3J 36 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD Vll., A. 1902 Of those who became members of the Presbyterian Church in British Columbia two were of the merchant class ; the others were principally domestic servants and laundry- men. From a moral standpoint it is diflacult to draw a comparison between Chinese and white men. Their standard differs from ours. Much that we consider moral shocks them, and vice versa. This difficulty is accentuated by the conditions under which the Chinese Hve in British Columbia, their isolation and social ostracism. Of those person- ally known to me, converts and attendants at the mission, I believe their moral fibre to be of as good quality as that of whites of the same class, allowing of course for the dif- ferent standards. In all that goes to make commercial honesty the Chinese, I know, were the equal of those of the same strata of society among ourselves. As to personal purity, I know of Chinese of clean lives, and also of another class, but they were not any more impure than men of certain sections of white society. The presence of Chinese in British Columbia- in some cases affects the white wage- earners favourably, in others, prejudicially. If Chinese were coming into the country in large numbers I would favour restriction. I would not favour restricion of Chinese alone, but would restrict a large influx of foreigners from any quarter. I would base terms of restriction upon character and education. A foreign emigrant should be able to read some European language ; should come into the country for some stated purpose, and should show some reasonable prospect of becoming a permanent citizen. I do not approve of differentiation between one person and another in the matter of per- mancy of residence. I would like some form of declaration from all foreign immigrants. I would not consider a residence of five years a satisfactory term of settlement. As a rule Chinese who have been in the country fifteen or twenty years remain all their lives. A few may return in their old age to be buried there. As a missionary, I considered it my duty to deal with the fact of their presence in the country and did not question whether or not there was an advantage in having them here. The simple fact was, here are souls to be cared for. Neither missionaries nor the Church have moved a finger to bring Chinese into British Columbia. I have known of cases where converts have been made to suffer for their conversion. ^Yhilst they have not been subjected to as severe treatment as in China, owing to the deterrent effects of our laws, their sufferings here have been of a vexatious, though petty nature, save in two instances where relatives at home implored friends here to secure their recantation, and as a result they were socially ostracized, their custom cut off, property stolen, and one of them threatened with assault, from which I was happily able to save him. From inquiries made of Chinese I fancied not many came with the intention of remaining. Their idea was to make a competency and return to China. I have met Chinese who had expressed a desire to become citizens, but who claimed they could not do so and maintain their self-respect. In explanation they said they could not bring themselves to belong to a nation that treated another nation so unfairly, instancing the unwarrantable attacks made upon Chinese in the press. Some Chinese who had become naturalized, hoping to obtain relief from this treatment, had been disappointed. There is hope of Chinese becoming permanent settlers if treated the same as other nationalities. At present Chinese allege that they are afraid to bring their wives and children to this country. I speak the Chinese language. I do not think fear of whites influences Chinese conduct here. They are naturally law-abiding and in China are even better behaved than here. The question of assimilation is wholly conjectural. I have known of happy instances of intermarriage. The number of Chinese in this country who have intermarried with whites is greater than the number of Jews who have intermarried with Gentiles. It is possible that the coming here of Chinese in large numbers might result in bringing about conditions similar to those now prevalent in the Southern States. There are worse elements among sections of the European races who are admitted to this country than among any class of Chinese, who are always amenable to our laws and never foment trouble. I do not think Chinese would ever come to Canada in such numbers as to present a serious problem. In my opinion the feeling now prevalent against Chinese in British Columbia was due to a variety of ox CHINESE AXD JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 37 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 causes : — 1. Clash of two civilizations ; 2. Alleged unfair competition with white wage- earners ; 3. Political. A certain class of politicians make use of the Chinese question to inflame the minds of ignorant voters, and thus influence their votes. I would not say that the white labouring classes have no grievance against Chinese. If it could be established that white workingmen were prevented from raising their fajnilies decently because of Chinese competition, there should be no further debate of the question. So far as my experience goes it is not true that the Chinese work under any form of contract. They are free to work as they wish. The statement that they come to this country as serfs is not correct, so far as I could learn. It is probable that if Chinese in British Columbia affected the earnings of the professional classes in the same manner and to the same extent as they affected the white wage-earners, the professional classes would be as hostile to them as are the wage-earners. In the matter of restriction, I would prevent persons of any nationality coming into Canada under certain conditions. Immigrants should be able to present a clean bill from their own country and undergo a reasonable educational test. If persons of certain nationalities presented a greater or more serious objection as immigrants than others, that might justify special treatment. Where Chinese have come under healthful influ- ences in Canada they have rendered good account of themselves. Was not the conclu- sion warranted therefore that under proper conditions Chinese might become good citi- zens. Chinese who come to Canada are from the province of Kwang-tung. The term ' coolie ' is of Indian derivation, and applies to a certain class of labourers, a certain class or caste, and in my interpretation of the word, there are no coolies in China. Most of the Chinese in Canada come from small crofter farms or farm villages. Many belong to farming villages without being farmers. Many of them are sons of farmers and farm labourers. This class is not indigent as a rule, the average of them belonging to the poor farm working class, not the lowest class generally speaking. The poorer houses of this class are built of adobe with thatched roofs, and the better houses of burnt brick with tile roofs. A poor Chinese labourer can live in China for $1 a month, Mexican. Clothing would not be included in this estimate. Students at Canton college were known to live at the rate of $1, Mexican, per month. I have been in Japan. I do not wish to express personal views concerning the Japanese. I desire that Canada should be filled from shore to shore with our own kith and kin. At the same time I believe that the land should be free to all, irrespective of race, creed or colour, provided they became amenable to our laws and institutions. I estimate there are about three hundred Chinese in Toronto, seven or eight hundred in Montreal, about one hundred in Ottawa, and smaller numbers scattered throughout other towns and villages of Eastern Canada. The Chinese in Toronto are chiefly engaged in laundry work. There are some few house servants. The average Chinaman in Toronto was superior to the average on the Pacific coast. I do not think this is due to the fact that only the brightest Chinese came east, as any Chinaman could get travelling expenses advanced if he could show reasonable prospect of repaying same and would give the necessary bond. I think the superiority of the Chinese in the east is due to better treatment. I do not approve of the suggestion that Chinese should be admitted to the country to enable employers to cope with the alleged tyranny of labour. As a matter of fact I do not concede that there is such a thing as the tyranny of labour. Both sides, employers and employees, made mistakes ; but to say that labour was tyrannical was wrong. There was some call in Toronto for Chinese as domestic servants. The supply of female help is scarce. The reason for girls preferring employment in offices, stores and factories rather than in domestic service is due more to higher social aspirations than to any consideration of pay; possibly, too, the treatment many girls met with in domestic service infiuenced their choice. I have heard of the proposed importation of negresses from the Barbadoes for domestic servants. I believe it to be the duty of employers to give preference to white servants ; but if the supply is not adequate, it is i0: 38 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 justifiable to seek other sources. Chinese as servants are all right, but where there are children a female servant is best. RESCUE FOR CHINESE GIRLS. The commissioners desire to place special emphasis upon the work done by Miss Morgan and her assistants in rescuing Chinese and Japanese girls brought over really as slaves and held for purposes of prostitution. The law prohibits this traffic, but the difficulty is to enforce the law and rescue the victims. The officials have been greatly helped in this by Miss Morgan and her staff of workers. It is, we think, largely owing to her efforts that this infamous barter in humanity has been checked, if not almost stamped out. Her method of work is best described in her own language : I am teacher and evangelist in the Chinese Girls' Home, Victoria. The home has existed about fourteen years. We rescue Chinese and Japanese girls from houses of ill- fame. There have been reached forty Chinese and eight Japanese from a life of shame. •Of these Chinese rescued twenty-two have been married. There are now four in the home. Some have returned to China. Three have gone back to their former life. Their ages were as follows : 24, 23, 23, 22, 24, 19, 14, 13, 10, 26, 13, 13, 21, 9, 45, 19, 15, 10, 7, 14, 14, 7, 24, 20, 20, 24, 21, 16, 24, 5, 18, 15, 16, 20, 28, 16, 36, 19, 18, 13. Those all married Christians except two. I don't think any of them were wives in China before they came out. Three were sold as slave girls, being kidnapped in China, according to the girls' statement. I have no papers showing those sales. All have shown a desire to become Christians. They have been baptized. The only women who attend the meetings are those who have gone through the mission homes. The progress is very slow in christianizing the Chinese. When I first came here it is five years ago — I am well received noV, when then I was hardly tolerated. I don't think immigration unrestricted is advisable. It is not so to the Chinese, and I know it is bad for the country. From what I know of Oriental character, I think better Christian teachers can be made in China than here. A Chinaman will profess to become a Christian to get a wife. Many or all who attend the night schools do so from self-interest. .Studying the question all around it may seem a harsh thing, but I think restriction the very best thing. Among the lower classes they look up to the wealthy classes ; they are influenced by what they say, so that we have not much chance. Take any of the men who profess to be Christians, they are not brave enough to go opposite to their superiors. I think there are more than four Chinese of ill-repute in town. A woman now in the home says 24, and this is the number I made out without reference to her. The home has expended since I came, in Elsie's case .$270.00 and in Dorothy's case $120.00 for law costs. I have had some terrible experience with the Japanese similar in kind to the Chinese. Only one case of sale I have heard of. Sometimes it takes some time to find them. One was helped from the window and ran away with her lover. Unless they want us to help them we can't help them. The home is supported by the Women's Missionary Society of the ilethodist Church. I think the women of Japan are superior. There is no slavery in Japan. I see no signs of the Chinese adopting our mode of life. I think they are a menace to the public from their way of living, the way they herd together.. In Japan they have individual homes. The Japanese practise polygamy ; they call them concubines. The children of the concubines are thought as much of as the children of the wife. I had difficulty in rescuing the woman now here. She is now about 38. She was crying and I got a policeman to assist me. She seemed like a demented creature. We o-ot her trunk and followed by Chinamen we got her into the Home. She was an opium smoker and used tobacco, and she was a prostitute. In case of the youngest one in home she was 13 years old. She came to the home on June 30 last. We found she had run away. It was contested in the court and cost us 8120.00 to get her. I do not trust one of them for truthfulness. >f ON CHINESE AND JAPANEiSE IMMIGRA TION 39 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Our married Christian girls are establishing a home life vastly superior to that of Chinatown. I would not trust a young brother or sister in the custody of a Chinese or Japanese. The Japanese license prostitution, and the quarter of the city set apart for that class of women is not looked at as we look at such places here. The girls of ten go voluntarily. It is not looked on as a disgrace. The Chinese here treat me \'ery courteously. I have never had an impolite word said to me. I have been in lanes and alleys night and day. I believe there is some restriction in Japan now. In this connection we would also quote the evidence of Lee Mon Kow; Chinese interpreter at the Customs house, Victoria, a resident in British Columbia since 1882 : — Q. Speaking about the Chinese women coming here of their own free will, do you know it to be a fact that Chinese instead of coming of their own free will have come here under contract, in fact that they have come here as slaves ? — A. Since about ten years ago several cases have been brought up as to Chinese women coming here who might be called slaves by the white people, but in China we do not call them slaves, because it is simply this, that women make arrangemehts with men to come to this country ; the women cannot afford to pay the head tax or the passage money, and the men supply them with their expenses and the men pay the fare in China and make arrangements for them to come out to this country, and the women undertake to pay a certain sum at a certain time, to repay the passage money and the head tax and seven per cent interest. Q. Is that a Certificate (See Exhibit 17) of a case of the kind, you see the name there, a well known name, and the photograph and the figures? — A. Well, that is simply a statement of a money transaction between two parties. Q. That has relation to a girl, the name of the girl is on the right hand side, is the amount of money paid for the girl there ? — A. There is a statement here from May 29, the balance, $309.06, there appears to be cash advanced on the property, a piece of property, $28.25 and money loaned, $20.00, also money loaned from Kang Shong $30.00, the total amount of money represented is $397.31. Paid for Woon Ho, $302.00, June 7 paid for clothing, $S.00, also paid for a leather trunk, $4.00. Woon Ho is the name of the girl. Q. Do you make out that that was a case of sale of the girl ? — A. Yes, the tran- saction was a sale ; I was trying to describe that. Q. And the amount paid for the girl ? — A. The amount paid for the girl was $302. Q. Can you make out from that how long she required to serve to get freed from that amount 1 — A. It does not state here at all. Q. Can you tell what that implies ? — A. It is a case like this, generally they pay back all this money; in this case it is one where she would have to pay back $373.50 with interest, and then she would be free. Q. Until age did that, until she paid back that money with interest the contractor would consider he had a right to her body service ; that is the business ; prostitution 1 — A. That is the business. Q. He practically buys her for the time until he is fully repaid 1 — A. Yes. Q. To that extent she is his slave until the money is repaid 1 — A. Yes. Q. How many cases of that character have you known of here ? — A. Since I have been in the country here I have not heard of more than three cases. Q. Do you recognize the name there as the name of a firm that is in business here 1 — A. I do not remember the name now ; the statement is made out by Kum Kee in that case. Q. Do you think that business is pretty well stopped now ? — A. It was well stopped several years ago. Q. There is a case being tried in court at Victoria now, isn't there ? — A. That is the case of a woman who came out by herself of her own free will. Exhibit 17 is the contract. In the case of the woman being tried at Victoria, they stopped that woman under the new Act, that she was a prostitute and living as a prostitute, that is not for slavery. *U REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Q. On the charge of being a prostitute, the proceedings were taken under the Act? — A. Yes. SUMMARY. The religious and moral aspect of the question was carefully inquired into, and evidence has been quoted here somewhat extensively in order to show clearly and unmistakably the trend of opinion on the subject -of many leading ministers of various denominations in British Columbia. The opinion is practically unanimous that the work of christianizing the Chinamen in this country is not attended with as satisfactory results as similiar work in their own country. The chief reason adduced for this state of affairs is that converts become marked men among their compatriots and are subjected to all manner of petty persecu- tion. How effectively this penalty of ostracism hinders all efforts to Christianize Chinese in this country will be readily understood when the following well-established facts are taken into consideration. The Chinese in this country are almost exclusively from one section of China, that of the six counties within the province of Kwang-tung. While there is no conclusive evidence of their having been brought here under any form of servile contract, it has been shown to our satisfaction that their resident merchant class exercise a strong influ- ence over the immigrants of the labouring class, and largely control the numbers com- ing into the country. There are, too, Chinese Boards of Trade in the several cities of the province, whose objects are not confined solely to the advancement of trade, but enter very largely into all the affairs of the immigrant after his landing in this country. Then there is the far-reaching influence of the Chinese Benevolent Association, the object of which is to care for the sick, indigent and aged, and it may be stated here that there are but few cases on record where Chinamen have been known to have to depend upon the bounty or charity of a white community. It follows, therefore, that with a Chinaman to adopt Christianity in this country means to cut himself off from any hope of participation in the advantages which these associations and conditions provide, in addition to incurring the enmity of his fellow countrymen and without gaining favour to any appreciable extent with the white population, for, from a social point of view, a converted Chinaman's position in a white community is no better than that of the un- converted. Although in one or two cases it was made clear by the witnesses that they did not wish to measure the success of missionary work by the numbers converted either in Canada or China, there was no dissenting voice as to the relative futility of attempt- ing the conversion of the Chinese nation by permitting theni to come into this countr)-. Where individuals will adopt and profess the Christian Faith, here there was hope for whole communities in China, and less likelihood of indignities and persecution being inflicted upon them there. The standard of moral character of the Chinese, differing as it does from our standard, renders it impossible to draw any fair comparison between them. For instance, their laws and customs recognize plurality of wives, and four such cases were found among the Chinese in Victoria. Certain it is they have many noble virtues and cbaracteristics. There are customs amongst us which they from a moral point con- demn as much as we do many of theirs. Generally speaking, they compare favourably with others in their observance of law and order. There is little doubt but that to the frugality of their habits can be attributed the comparative absence of sensuality. The consensus of opinion is, that they will not assimilate with our people and it would not be desirable if they did. In one instance, it is true, a reverend gentleman declared that they were desirable in the country only as a servile class, and that such a class would tend to elevate the condition of the white people in the province ; but the great majority of the witnesses were positively opposed to a servile class, or to their introduction in any way that would tend to degrade or effect the welfare of the white labouring class. Under this heading, therefore, your Commissioners are bound to state that in no appreciable measure will the missionary work with the Chinese as a nation be affected, and that the well-being of the poorer class of white people will be the better maintained, by an Ex- clusion Act. ON- CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 41 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Having regard to the eificient work and practical assistance in carrj'ing out the law rendered by Miss Morgan and her assistants, and believing that the law has been made effective chieily through this instrumentality, the Commissioners feel justified in recom- mending that some recognition of this work should be made from the revenue derived from the Chinese .head tax, to assist in enforcing the law through this means as long as it may be found necessary. CHAPTER VI.— PROPORTION OF TAXES PAID BY CHINESE. It is difficult to ascertain the proportion of taxes paid by the Chinese and Japanese m British Columbia, nor did we fully succeed in doing so. We obtained, however, a large amount of information at different points, from which the plain inference seems to be that, except the merchant class, they do not pay anything lilje a fair proportion of taxation. MUNICIPAL TAXATION. — VICTORIA. W. P. Winsby, tax collector for the city of Victoria, said : I collect the revenue, road, and dog taxes. The revenue tax is the tax which principally affects the Chinese. They (the Chinese) try to evade the tax in every possible way. It is an utter impos- sibility to trace them. I don't get as fair a proportion of taxes from them as from the whites. At the present (March, 1901) I have collected from Chinese I suppose to the number of one thousand. That is for last year. That is about one-fourth of the number in Victoria. There are numerous difficulties in the way of collecting the tax from the Chinese. No one can understand the difficulty except those who have had a little ex- perience in it. A great majority of the Chinese are in such straightened circumstances that they are unable to pay the tax, and another reason is that it is almost impossible to trace the Chinese with their mode of living and so forth. You cannot trace them. You cannot bring them to justice. I believe the law says they should call at the office. It has become the practice that we go after them. Very few people come to pay in the office. I have to round them up. They do all they can to evade the payment of taxes and succeed to a large extent. The Chinese come to town in the winter and as soon as weather permits they go to work on farms around the city, and then in the summer they go to work to the canneries. These men are very hard to trace and they often succeed in evading payment of the tax. When a Chinaman is working in the city I can generally trace him and get his tax, but you go into one of the hovels they live in, it is utterly impossible to find out who are living there or who the goods there belong to. It is no use asking them. I have never found a Chinaman truthful as to that. You can go through and ask the Chinaman there where they live and you cannot get an answer from one of them. Q. Do I understand you to mean that they systematically deceive you to evade paying the tax 1 — A. Yes. ' Q. Is that true of them as a class ? — A. Yes. Q. Is the difficulty with the Chinese because you do not understand them, or is it that they try to evade paying the tax ? — A. They try to evade paying the tax, and their mode of living is a difficulty in the way. You come across a Chinaman and you want to get his tax. You have got to give him twenty-four hours notice. You have to have a summons served on him. When you come back to serve the summons you can- not find him. I ' have had policeman and others to assist me, but you cannot find the 42 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 EdwiT] Charles Smith, assistant treasurer and collector of taxes for Victoria, stated that the revenue received from Chinese in Victoria for the year 1900 was as follows :— Trade licenses ^ 2,882 50 Fedlars • „„ „ „„ Market fees from market gardeners, at 5 cents a day each 9UU uu Water rents from Chinese 4.4b0 W Sewer rents "x A^'l JAXAIMO. According to thfe evidence of Edward B. Irving, assessor and collector of the city of Nanaimo, the amount of property assessed to the whites amounted to bM85,925. Nothing was assessed to Japanese or Chinese. The Chinese own no realty m the town. It was laid there was not a single Chinese taxpayer. For 1900 the taxes paid by whites amounted to .^27, 223. The assessed value of the property m ' Chinatown owned by the New Vancouver Coal Company was $2,000. They are described as mere huts. Trade licenses of whites were $2,602, and Chinese $280. Revenue tax paid by whites $3 969 and by Chinese .§624. Of the road tax .>$1,546 was paid by whites and $416 by Chinese. The collector declared there was great difficulty in collecting the road and revenue tax. -^ir-i-aiQ- ti. In Vancouver the total assessment of real property amounts to !5lb,.Dld,13o. Ihe total assessed value of real property in ' Chinatown ' is $260,22-5 ; of this amount fcl92,9.50 is assessed to whites and $67,2.5-5 to Chinese. ^ The total licenses, including liquor licenses, in Vancouver is b32,Uo5.8o ; ot tnis amount $29,832.85 is paid by whites, and $1,310 by Chinese. Vancouver has a popu- lation of 26,133, of which 2,053 are Chinese. »,,„,„ j^ In New Westminster, of a total assessment of $3,299,920, $36,950 was assessed to Chinese. The whites pay in taxes -149,234.01 and the Chinese .?699.80 on the above assessment. The amount of property in ' Chinatown ' assessed to whites ^amounte to $95 370 ■ to Chinese -'532,680, and upon this sum is paid by whites $1,907.40 and by Chinese $653.60, making a total of $2,561 paid directly and indirectly by Chinese ^on property in 'Chinatown.' The population of New Westminster is 6,499, of which (48 are Chinese. C'XTMBEELAND AND UNION. Lawrence W. Nunns, collector of taxes for the Town of Cumberland which adjoins the Union Coal Mines, stated : Cumberland has a population of about 1,000. There are about 800 miners employed at the Union Mines, of whom about 400 are Chinese and Japanese. Cumberland is incorporated ; Union is not. Both Japanese and Chinese live outside of the town. The assessed value of real property for 1900 was .?175,000. The total revenue col- lected was S3,334. The tax on real property amounted to $1,054. Of the real estate tax there was $3.30 paid by one Chinaman. One Japanese resided within the town. The Chinese contributed absolutely nothing. They deal with their own Chinese merchants almost exclusively. They contribute nothing towards the support of schools, churches and creneral taxation, although they represent a large proportion of the adult male pop- ulation — nearly one-half that work in the mines. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 43; SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 KAMLOOPS. Kamloops has a population of 1,594, of which 195 are Chinese. The total assessed value ot the town is ip650,000, for land and improvements, of which .|1.5,000 is owned by Chinese merchants. Land. Improvements. Total assessed value of Chinatown $ 9,08-5 ;? 29 200 Owned by Whites 5,410 ' 15,'225 Owned by Chinese 3,675 13,975 -., -7^''^'^^'^® licenses issued to whites, .$815 ; to Chinese, including opium license of $100, !S>170. Road tax, whites, .?22-l: ; Chinese, •'$5-1. ROSSLAND. According to a Chinese witness, there are about 350 Chinese in Rossland. Accord- ing to the assessor it is 400. The census gives, 241. William Harp, City Assessor of Rossland, says : The poll tax collected from Chinese at $2 per head amounted to $250. The assessed value of the city is $2,274,900,, of which $6,600 is assessed to Chinese. The rate is two cents on a dollar. Liquour licenses, whites ;$ 20 535 Trade licenses, whites 2,193 Trade licenses, Chinese ... 125 Total poll tax, whites 3 868 Total poll tax, Chinese 250 The total taxes collected by the city for 1900 was $24,417, of which the Chinese paid $112. Rossland has a population of 6,159. It will be seen from the above that the proportion of adult Chinese males to adult white males is about one in four or five. The proportion of taxes paid by Chinese is less than one in a hundred. REVELSTOKE. John D. Graham, of Atlin, says : It is hard to get the tax out of them. I was agent at Revelstoke. I refer to the miner's certificate and poll tax. I speak from my own experience. There would be fifteen or twenty of them working together and I never could catch hold of them to get their tax. I went up the river often enough, but found that most of them had flown when I got there. They were not on hand when I got there. They never- come to my office. SUiniARY. The tax collector of Victoria declared that the Chinese tried to evade the tax in every possible way. ' It is impossible to trace them. I do not get as fair a proportion of taxes from them as from the whites.' The other officials confirmed this statement and we find it to be the fact. Victoria has a population of 20,816, of which 3,283 are Chinese. The total tax paid by Chinese, as appears by the evidence of the assistant treasurer and collector of taxes for Victoria, for the year 1900 was $15,496. The statement 'handed in by the Chinese Board of Trade, which includes revenue and road tax, is $17,257, and inclusive of the head tax on labourers may amount to $18,000 ; but this amount it must be borne in mind is chiefly paid by the Chinese merchants, who, according to their own statement, 44 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARB VII., A. 1902 number 288, representing 109 firms. Deducting this number from the total number of Chinese in Victoria, exclusive of women and children, leaves in round numbers 2,700 labourers and others who are not engaged in trade. The total tax of Victoria, including land tax, water rates, licenses, &c., collected [for the year 1900 amounted to about .$400,000. This includes the school rate but not the Government grant. The collector stated that in March, 1901, he had collected the poll tax from about one thousand Chinese for the year 1900. That is with a population of about one to eight they pay in the proportion of one to twenty-two, but if you eliminate the proportion of taxes paid by the Chinese mer- chants, the remaining 2,700 Chinese do not pay a municipal tax of more than $1 in $100, but in this comparison 2,700 adult males are compared with a total population of men, women and children. Eliminating the women and children, you would probably have a population of not more than 6,000 white adult males as against 3,000 Chinese adult males, including merchants. That is, approximately, 6,000. whites pay .?382,000 ; 3,000 Chinese pay $18,000. If you exclude the merchant class, the tax paid by Chinese I is insignificant. The above comparison is approximate only, but we believe the dispro- 1 portion is even greater. ' Assuming that 800 of the Chinese residing in Victoria, who work on the Eraser pay their taxes there, it does not seriously affect the relative disproportion. Approximately the same disproportion obtains in other places. In this connection it may be pointed out that if their mode of living was normal, occupying separate houses with their families, they should represent a population of three or four times as many as at present. They would require ten times the house room. Their taxes would be more, and if their habits of life were similar to the white population, it would require more to support their families, and the contribution to the Dominion revenue would also be very much greater. It is certain, having regard to all the facts, that the Chinese bear no fair proportion of the burden of taxation. CHAPTER VII.— LAND CLEARING AND AGRICULTURE. The clearing of wood land in British Columbia is a very difficult problem, owing to the enormous growth of the timber. It is said to cost from $.50 to §150 an acre, and in extreme cases as high as $300 ; probably the average would be from $70 to $80 per acre. The Chinese have contributed to the clearing of land, and some take the view that they are necessary for that purpose, but the prevailing, and we think the better opinion, is, that if lai'ge areas of timber land are ever to be cleared rapidly for agricultural pur- poses it must be done by machinery and explosives, handled by white men. In small holdings the clearing will be done by degrees, the owner working, from time to time, at other employments to assist him in supporting his family. It will not at present pay even the large land holders to hire Chinamen to do the work of clearing, owing to the enormous cost, and although machinery has been applied to a limited extent, yet very few have attempted on a large scale to clear and cultivate timber lands. From the nature of the case, this must be done gradually, and how ? Your Commissioners do not believe that increased numbers of Chinese will greatly facilitate this work ; it will rather be accomplished by the adoption of a liberal policy, which will induce white men with their families to settle upon small holdings, and if a portion of the unskilled labour of the country is open to them they will in this way be enabled to keep their families during the long and slow process of clearing the land. The competition with the North-west and Pacific Coast States has also a material bearing upon the question of the time when the timber lands of British Columbia will be largely cleared for agricultural purposes. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGBATION 45 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Farmers owning 160 acres and under were practically unanimous in their opposi- tion to the Chinese, for any purposes whatever. Some of the large land holder.s favoured them as farm labourers and for clearing the land, and those who lease lands to Chinese ' for market gardens, — the lessee clearing the land as part consideration for its use, — also favour the presence of the Chinese. The smaller owners pointed out that conditions were such in British Columbia that the presence of the Chinese was a serious injury tcv their business, and to their making a living ; that the avenues of unskilled labour were largely filled by Chinese, and that the farmer struggling to pay for his holding and to make a living, was greatly hindered by being prevented from taking advantage of those avenues of labour for a part of the year, which, but for the Chinese, woukl be open to him. Your Commissioners fully concur in this view. Quotations from the evidence will perhaps more clearly set forth the views as pre- sented from both sides : — Alexander Philip ,says : I am secretary of the Richmond Farmers' Institute. It includes the whole of the Richmond riding, that is Richmond, Burnaby, South Van- couver, North Vancouver, and northwards on the coast. We have different sections, and each of these sections have meetings. I come with a resolution from Central Park section. The resolution is as follows : — At a meeting of the Richmond Farmers' Institute held in Smith's Hall, Central Park, on Tuesday, May 14, 1901, Mr. John Green, Vice-President, in the chair. Interalia. On motion of Mr. W. G. Alcock, seconded by Mr. John Connon, it was resolved. That we hereby declare it to be a serious prejudice to the successful prosecution of farm work to have so many Chinamen engaged in the business. It is especially hard on the settlers in this district who have only small holdings and are dependent on them for a living. The mode of life among the Chinese makes it easy for them to undersell in the markets and yet have considerable sums of money as profit. We think there is no comparison between the best of the Chinese as rural settlers and the humblest of the white men who, with their families, are living on and cultivating their holdings. Be- sides, the uncleanly habits of the Chinese, as cultivators, have endangered the health of the consumers of the products of their lands, and as these products reach the market in so many different ways, the consumers do not always know when they are supplied to them. We believe that, although the Japanese are not yet so largely engaged in farming, they will likely soon take it up, and become even keener competitors. We believe that there should be a tax of not less than $500 on each person of either race on entry to the country, and also a rigid educational test. Resolved further, that this expression of our views be laid before the Royal Com- mission now assembled to receive evidence in connection with the immigration of Chinese and Japanese. IJxtracted by Alex. Philip, Secretary. This is my second year as secretary of the institute. That resolution expresses the general view. There is a strong consensus of opinion among them regarding this matter. It expresses my own views as well. One man stated, there were twenty-two Chinese wagons with vegetables pass his door. The Chinese compete with all the farmers. Henry Thomas Thrift, a farmer residing at Hazelmore, gave evidence which, from his position, we regard as very important. He says : I am secretary of the Settlers' Association of British Columbia to assist in re-settling vacant lands. It has branches as far east as Enderby. Seventeen branches, with a membership of seven or eight hun- dred, presumably all settlers on land. There was a general annual meeting this year on March 11. The majority of members are decidedly against Oriental immigration. The Japanese are more to be feared than the Chinese on account of their superior intelli- gence. First, the presence of Japs and Chinese hinder a better class of people coming in and settling up these lands. The evidence is this : We have here one of the best markets in America for agricultural produce. Our own lands are vacant and unpro- ductive. We lack that class of immigration here that the presence of the Chinese 46 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 supply. They would develop our lands and make them productive. I know many people have been deterred from coming here through the presence of Chinese. At many of •our meetings resolutions have been passed addressed to the Dominion and Provincial Governments asking to restrict this and promote the class which we most desire. Many of our members are Old Country people and from Eastern Canada, — not of a low class. We feel persuaded it would be immensely in the interest of the country to offer this desirable class inducements to come, either from Eastern Canada or from the Old Country. There is an immense amount of money sent out for agricultural products. _ A person going on some of our lands cannot make a living, and they find the outside callings filled with Oriental labour, and they cannot get work to help them out till they get started. Market gardening would be the first thing to be taken up, and the Chinese practically control that business. Second, if we got this class here it would give a larger revenue. Third, the Chinese don't become settlers and it would not be desirable if they did. Their system of living is altogether repugnant to people who desire to live as human beings ought to live. The Dominion lands, through the efforts of our society, are free to actual settlers. The Japs may come in and prevent the class coming in for whom we are so anxious. If all lands in British Columbia were like the delta you might employ Chinese and Japanese, but on wooded land the people have not got funds to pay them and these small holders themselves require wages to help to support themselves. In this I voice the view of our association. Their interests are adverse to any further immigration of that class of labour. I call small holding anything from ten to forty acres. The easily cleared lands are not available, because they are held by wealthy far- mers. There is clearing after they are drained. There is not one-twentieth of these -delta lands under cultivation. It could be brought under cultivation at from .^lO to .820 an acre. In mj' own case the alder bottom lands would pay the first crop for clearing. Other parts I could not clear up for less than $250 an acre. I say there are $3,500,000 a year of imports of agricultural produce that we can raise here. If we raise that here anyone can see the advantage to the country. I made a careful estimate of the amount of stuff raised in Surrey. In that district, of a total acreage of 76,000 acres, there were 6,000 acres under cultivation ; that included all lands. I estimated there were 18,000 acres of low flat land, principally delta land. The total product was less than $250,000. I think the interests of the country should be considered before these large industries. The North-west Territories compete with us in oats, hogs, butter, eggs, poultry, ttc. Those who have land here, of course, have to produce as cheaply as they can in order to compete with the North-west, where there is very little expense in bringing the land under cultivation ; and those who have to pay too much for the land here cannot compete with the North-west. I may say I have charge of a number of quarter sections at the present time, both high lands and low lands, and as far as I am aware there is nothing against those lands, providing .the cost of clearing was not so high to prevent competition with the North-west ; but the competitor we fear just now is the Canadian Pacific Railway, our national railway — they have immense tracts of lands in the North-west that they are anxious to get settled, -and they are mo e inclined to offer inducements to settlers to go on to lands belonging to the railway than they a,re to induce settlers to come to British Columbia ; they are offering great inducements for settlers to the North West. The first question is that of a market ; there is a good market in British Columbia, and that gives the Canadian Pacific Railway an immense advantage. They discriminate in rates against the agricultural interests of British Columbia ; they are giving settlers great inducements as far west as Calgary. A settler coming to Calgary has every inducement held out to him ; a settler coming to Calgary can get there for $35.00, whereas if he wants to come to British Columbia, he has to pay $54.00. There is a decided di crimination by the railway against settlers coming to British Columbia. Thus the railway is preventing people coming in here who would ■develop our lands. The Chinese prevent people coming in. We want these settlers for social life, for churches and schools, and not have to tramp several miles for one of our own kind. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 47 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 The early settlers did sacrifice all advantages. I came here in 1879, settled at Hazel- more in 1884, two miles north of the boundary, thirteen or fourteen miles from New Westminster. After the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway a great many men were looking for a home, and, as mentioned here this morning, a great many men were brought out as an experiment from Quebec, and went out in the wild land to settle. Practically the bulk of the lands south of the river (Eraser river) was taken up, and the land back of that these people went on to try and makes homes for themselves. They had to reside on the land for three years and there were other regulations which rendered it impos- sible for those people to make a living. Access to market was not so easy as now, and after a hard time endeavouring to clear land enough to support themselves, those people had to clear out. A great many of those people mortgaged their land and have since had to abandon the land to the mortgage company. Q. Is the unimproved land held at such a figure as would prevent fishermen settling on it ? — A. Well, as far as fishermen are concerned I know places surveyed in what they call the fishermen's lots ; these lots are in big locations, and are from ten to fifteen acres in extent, and they are held at from $15 to $30 an acre. Q. Is there any class of white people in this province who would be prepared to hire themselves out to clear land at such prices as a farmer could pay 1 — A. I do not say there are men here now, but there are openings for men to come here and start in building up homes for themselves. The greater proportion of the farm lands in this province are heavily timbered, which require to be cleared to be productive, but you will find a great deal of land close to the liver, good agricultural land, that can easily be cleared up. Q. Who is going to do it now 1 — A. We have to do it ourselves. Q. Then you require to have cheap labour 1 — A. The farmers are too poor to employ cheap labour. Ten years ago I paid $1.50 to $1.75 a day for clearing land. Q. Take the ordinary settler who has come in and gone on a farm, say twenty miles from town ; how is he prejudicially affected by the presence of Orientals in the country 1, A. If that man cannot make some little by working outside he will be in a bad position to have his land cleared, and his interests would be prejudicially affected. Q. Where would such a man go for work 1 — A. There would be work for such men all over the country, but for the presence of the Japanese and Chinese. Q. How is he prejudicially affected by their presence? — A. He is prejudicially affected if he wants to go to town for work. Q. Do you mean to say that a farmer will go to town in that way ? — A. The best settlers we have to-day are those who had in the past gone to to"wn and earned money to help them along. It helps the small holder to get along. It helps him to live, and at the same time to devote his spare time in clearing the land and making a home for himself. Q. You told my learned friend, these men are too poor to pay for the clearing of their land ?— A. Yes. Q. Is that the result of the unhealthy competition they have to engage in ? — A. To some extent. I would not say it is due to that entirely. These people have to make a livino- somewhere. At first they cannot make it on their land and they have to take municipal work if they can get it. There is so much competition that the prices are so much reduced that a man cannot help himself much, and holders of small farms are obliged to come to town and get work, or go into the logging camps. Q. What happens when he finds the avenue of employment filled by Chinese or Japanese? A. Then he cannot get work, and he has either to starve or enter into an unhealthy competition with these people. Q. You have spoken of little holdings being taken up and afterwards abandoned. Do you know whether the Orientals being in the province had anything to do with the abandonment of the land ?— A. I do not think it had anything to do with the abandon- ment of that land. 48 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Q. Is there any difficulty in getting the best land settled ?— A. Yes, because there is no demand. I do not think it is because those lands are held too high. Q. You spoke of Pitt Meadows. Do you know how many acres there are there ? — A. I cannot say. It is a large tract of land, good land and capable of being cultivated. Q. The presence of the Chinese does not prevent that land from being settled ?— A. I don't know, but some of the land has been overflowed. Q. Doesn't it strike you as a somewhat strange circumstance that we have^a demand for such produce as the land you speak of could raise, and yet we send out .-$3,500,000 for produce ?— A. Yes. These lands are not available except to parties who can pay for them. We cannot get money to come in here and invest in the high lands, that is, men of large means and men of small means would come in here if they could make a living here ; but they cannot get the lands under the same favourable conditions as settlers can in the North-west. Q. The Chinese would not prevent men of means coming in here I — A. I do not know that ; but there would be a great inducement to white settlers to come in here if they could get work outside when they wanted it. Q. The high land is heavily timbered ?— A. Yes. Q. What is it held at per kcre ?— A. From 81 . 50 to .850 an acre. Q. The land that would be sold for 81 . 50 an acre would require a considerable expenditure to bring it under cultivation ? — A. Yes. Q. And it is because a person coming in cannot at once obtain a living or depend on. getting a Uving out of the land, and finds the other avenues blocked that settlers do not come in here ? — A. Yes, that is my view. In some measure the Orientals keep a better class of citizens out. I have employed Japs but I would not employ them again to clear land because they don't understand it. William, .lames Brandrith, Secretary of the Fruit Growers' Association for the Province, says : The association are in favour of total prohibition, — no further immi- gration to be allowed. It applies to both Chinese and Japanese. That expresses my own view also. We are not suffering as yet from this cause, but the thin edge of the wedge has entered. I know one Chinese with fifteen acres, who has strawberries, and another of ten acres of orchard. The property is leased. Another property of seventy acres leased to Chinamen ; two and a half acres are orchard and a half acre strawberries ; and other cases. I have a list of Chinese within my knowledge engaged in fruit growing and market gardening. There are twenty Chinese bosses I know of, and a total of 643 acres, a market garden and orchard. On ten acres there were twelve Chinamen. It is impossible for a white man to compete, because the Chinese live at a cost of about ten cents a day. I have this from three Chinese, — Lee Wan, Charles Hees, and another commonly known as the ■* Pirate,' I have seen them selecting food from the swill barrel. The difference in the cost of living would be the profit or loss. They are a menace to health. The membership of our association is about eighty. There are two hundred and fifty on the roll. Eighty have paid their annual fees and are in good standing. There were twenty-three or four at the annual meeting. I think almost every one has expressed his views to me. It has been suggested that Chinese labour was necessary in dyking and clearing the delta lands and lands along the Fraser. It was therefore opportune to obtain the evidence of a gentleman who has a large interest in this question and whose evidence commended itself as worthy of the most careful consideration. Alexander Cruickshanks said : I have a contract to settle a large tract of land on the Fraser vrith whom I please, but I am getting it settled by white people at Matsqui Prairie. It is a good farming section. There are 10,600 acres already reclaimed with dyke, of which I have 6,000 acres, all reclaimed land. That was reclaimed with dvke seven miles long on the Fraser front. The dyke was made by white labour and machi- nery. No Chinese labour was used. The work is completed. There are several thousand acres more. The machinery managed by white men is the cheaper method. Pitt Meadows was reclaimed in the same way, — by machinery and white labour, con- taining about fifteen thousand acres, and there are about thirty thousand acres at Chilliwack, which is being reclaimed and ditched, by machinery and white labour in OM CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIORATION 49 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 the same way. The work is going on at present. There is another tract of land lying between Matsqui and Chilliwaok, containing about thirty thousand acres, not yet reclaimed, but could be ; and several large islands, containing many thousand acres of land that it is possible to reclaim, and this land is all of the very finest. There is no better dairy land in America than that. From the nature of the work Chinese labour could not be profitably employed. Part of it is open prairie ; part is open scrub willow, crab apple, hazel, and such like. I don't think there would be any advantage to have Chinese for that part of the work. Chinese have been used in making smaller dykes towards the mouth of the Fraser. Some have been used last year. The Chinese are not required up the river, and I see no reason why they should he required for dyking land down the river. My terms are as follows : The price at which I sell the land averages |20 an acre. I get $3 cash, or its equivalent, and the balance is distributed over a period of six years, in equal payments at six per cent. Six of the settlers are fishermen whose main business is fishing. I think it would be to the advantage of both fishing and farming to carry them on together. When they stop the fishing at the end of the week at close season on Sunday night the run of Saturday have got that far and the fishermen have a greater catch than the men at the mouth of the river, and on Monday and Monday night he catches also better, and the fishermen there lay oif the rest of the week. One fisherman was most successful on the whole run, fishing only two nights and days, and the rest of the week he put up his hay, and he had a home of his own when the fishing season was over. The fishermen of the city and those in scow houses are looking for land at the present time. There is good land on the Fraser, capable of furnishing three thousand families in small allotments, being land not occupied at the present time, not Crown land, held by various parties who invested in them when it was thought to be a good speculation. I know many of the present holders who are anxious to sell those lands on reasonable terms within the means of working men. This would be a great source of supply for all industries — men with a stake in the country and families. I was in Manitoba, and until four years ago, in Minneapolis, and with a large logging company in Wisconsin. The capable men around our saw mills here were trained east. The proof is these men are selected as foremen. I came here twelve years ago. Have been out of the country six and a-half years. Am a British subject, born in Ontario. I would be in favour of any measure in the direction of exclusion. I have got men clearing land at Matsqui, of brush and scrub, and I am paying them in land and let them pay and work for land. They are white men. If Chinese oflfer to do the work for half the amount I would not accept the offer because I would not consider it •good business to do so. If I did I would not get as good a price for the land which was left. It depreciates the price of the adjoining land to sell land on these terms to China- men. At the Court of Revision in this city, men appear to have their assessment lowered because Chinamen are on adjoining lots. In settling a tract of land, until I get a certain number of settlers in, I find it difficult to get people to go in a district where there are no neighbours. There is the question of schools and churches. Where I succeed in getting a white man with his family I have made it easier to sell the rest. It then becomes a more desirable place to live in. I look on the exclusion of the Chinese from the whole country as in the interest of the country, and on the same grounds I exclude them from my land ; no matter how cheap I got their labour, it would be a bad business to employ them there. I think the country will be cleared by white men, and gradually, — a little at a time. If you got your Chinamen at twenty cents a day the cost of clearing timber land would be more than the price of good land that never had such growth of timber on it. I don't consider it a business proposition to clear heavy timbered land. Moody Square, in this city (New Westminster), cost over $300 an acre to clear it of stumps. I don't agree with the suggestion that Chinese labour is necessary to clear the land. Men are offering to come and work for me clear- ing lands as a cash payment on lots they are willing to buy from me. I draw no dis- tinction with respect to Chinese and Japanese. All I have said applies equally to both . I own the lands I refer to. The land between this city and Vancouver has a peculiar value for small holdings, but not for farming. There are choice places in every district .54—4 so RKPOUT OF ROYAL COMMISSIOX 2 EDWARD Vlt^ A. 1902 and in Burnaby there are many low-lying lands. I think it was a mistake so many settlers were placed on these hill lands. They have had less pay for their work than any other class. Hill lands cannot compete with low land if labour was five cents a day. Dyking at Pitt Meadows was a first experiment in dyking and experiments co.st money. There is a large block of land on Lulu Island. It is already dyked and could be made a garden. Ten acre lots would support a family ; a good place for fishermen. They fish all around it. One real estate man sold eleven lots this week for this purpose. On Lulu Island ten years ago they asked S200 an acre. It went down again. This Ls a good country. It has got the soil and climate and resources to support a white popu- lation. It would be very unprofitable to build that dyke by hand labour. Boys are prevented from learning. How can mills expect to get an efficient staff if they employ Chinese ? I have communications from England from workingmen, and when they do come here they are disappointed in seeing so many Chinese. Chinese would be worse than no neighbours. They would make the lands unsaleable. I want to get the country settled up. I can't see how this class is necessary. I know there are conditions brought about because this labour was here. Certain industries are dependent on cheap labour for their profit. I think if the country was settled up the white settlers would give them a substitute for this cheap labour that would be better every way. In dyking no kind of labour can compete with a machine that can draw up two thousand yards a day at a cost of 826 a day ; that would be under favourable circiunstances. There are lands where they use the tramway and railroad as the only practical way of dyking. Chiaese would be impracticable there because they bring the material from a distance. Steam-made dykes are better than those built by hand labour. When the stuff is dumped ten feet the impact is very great. I worked in the business. The cost of reclaiming land on the Fraser would be less than in any place I know of. I think if a capitalist, he had better buy cleared land, and if a labouring man, he had better exclude the Chinese so that when he goes out to work he won't meet with competition. The most of the farmers I know have to go out and work and are met by the Chinese. When men come here from the United States and pay money out for land, I have had them call my attention over and over again to the number of orientals here, and this prevents the immigration of whites. The farmer does not go into market gardening, but the settler does at the outset and he has to work at anything he can do. Q. Wouldn't you say it is a great advantage to the farmers to get a class of men who are ready to do that rough work (clearing timber lands) at a lower cost than could possibly be done by white men ? — A. Men in that case would be making money out of the necessities of the Chinese, but they would find it a great disadvantage if the Chinese were working at something else. Farmers would get other work outside to help them.* if there was no Chinese labour in competition with them, in building roads, and dykes and ditches. Q. We have had evidence that they find it a great advantage to have oriental labour in clearing land 1 — A. Chinese labour can be done without by using machinery run by white men, and the advantage gained by the country would far more than counterbalance this cheap labour of the Chinese. Q. Take a farmer who is personally occupied in the cultivation of the land he has cleared and he wants to clear a little more land. He says, I cannot afford to pay S2 a day to men to do such rough work, and he says it is to his advantage to have orientals do the work ? — A. I disagree with him. He would meet the competition of the China- men when he went to sell his produce, and therefore any advantage he would gain in the first place by employing the Chinamen to clear the land would be counterbalanced and more by the corjipetition he would have from the Chinamen in the sale of his produce. I have never seen one hundred acres of bush land cleared yet by a farmer. I have seen men gradually clearing land, but at a very slow rate. If he was asking my advice as to clearing heavily timbered land for farming, from a business standpoint I would advise him not to do it. . . . At the present time it would be better to get on the low lands. There are over one hundred thousand acres of that kind of land that can be put in small holdings. 0]V CHINESE A WD JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 51 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Q. These people seem to have been blind to their own interests. They have settled on heavily timbered farms and have started to clear them ? ^ A. The most of them are forced now to go out and do work outside to get a little cash, and when they go out to do work they find themselves in competition with the Chinese and can get very little cash. If there was no competition from the Chinese cheap labour, these men would have a chance of making a little outside and helping themselves m developing their small holdings ; but that is a case I have not come across of farmers employing oriental labour to clear land in the way you put it. Their presence here has certainly a deterrent effect on white people coming in and setthng up the country. He finds that he will have to come into competition with the Chinese and he at once seeks other fields in which to employ his capital and his labour. I was in Manitoba seven years and the workers on railroads and farm labourers became settlers. If you lower the wage class you reduce " the standard. I think the canners are entitled to consideration, but I think they could get white labour. I think it is regrettable that white labour avoids coming here. The wages are as high, but there is a disadvantage. It is the last job I would look for. I would not like to be one in a gang of ten Chinamen. The white labourers are beginning to feel what they ought not to feel— that any job is beneath them. I think one of the nicest jobs there is, is piling lumber. Piling lumber is not low. It is a good decent job. I know lots of college students east that will be piling lumber. I have a contract to settle a lot of land and I sell how I please, so long as I get the net amount for the vendors. They are all speculators. An exceptionally clear statement showing how the presence of Chinese and Jap- anese militates against the settlement and permanent development of the country was given by Mr. N. C. Schow. We commend this statement as coming from a witness un- prejudiced and without pecuniary interest, and from his personal knowledge, close observation and keen vision, clearly indicates the permanent injury the province suffers from this class of labour. N. C. Schow says : I reside in the city of Vancouver. Have been reeve of Burnaby for nine years, an out district partly residential, partly agricultural, and affording a limited amount of lumbering opportunities. I have a home in Burnaby. I am assistant editor of the News- Advertiser. Am an Englishman by birth. Have resided here ten years. We have a by-law in bur municipality which prohibits the use of Japanese and Chinese labour on municipal work. We found that very beneficial in encouraging small holders ; and by dividing contracts into small sections we dispense with a middle man. Two or three white workers will take up road improvement in partnership and compete so keenly, but good-humouredly,that we believe the municipality loses little by dis- pensing with Mongolian labour. The rates just now often bring them no more than $1.25 a day, but they take up our contracts between intervals of work on their own holdings, where they live cheaply and independently, raising their own vegetables, fowls, &c., so that they don't complain. The labour is free, not servile, and our contracts enable many of these men to improve their holdings and remain in the district, and bring up assessment values and improve the district generally. We have enforced the by-law in two instances — the only two in which any attempt was made to break it, by declinino- to allow the contractor for the Chinese labour employed. That was the punishment for breach. As a matter of fact the by-laws are willingly submitted to by all the people. We take care to include Japanese as well in the exclusion, because we consider the Japanese even more dangerous than the Chinese. Some of our residents before Japs came on the Fraser used to put in a month or six weeks in fishing, but this source of eking out their income is now practically at an end. At one time, too, there were many white workers engaged in the woods in Burnaby, in cutting shingle bolts, but these have nearly all been displaced by Japanese worker's ; as a result of which the white settlement has undoubtedly been prevented to a considerable extent in some parts of our municipality. We have a lumber mill at Barnet and there, as the owner says, of necessity, by reason of competing with other mills, a very large proportion of emploveen consist of Chinese and Japanese. We should have a good deal of market gardening in the district. It is well adapted for it, but for Chinese competition ; but as things are 54-4| 52 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 we have only two or three specially skilled men engaged in that industry. Some of the settlers make fair livings to a large extent by small fruit growing. This industry for some reason, which I have not been able to discover, the Mongolians have not yet entered. If they should enter it those engaged in small fruit growing in Burnaby would not be able to compete and get a reasonably good living. They are in constant dread of an invasion of their occupation by the Japanese, as they are more inclined to go in for more skilled work. There are some cases of Japanese on hire for as low as f5 a month with the meagrest of board, and although they undoubtedly help to clear land cheaply, most of us feel that in the end the farmers will pay dearly for the temporary gain, both socially and economically. As to Chinese, I would favour almost total exclusion. I believe, judging from my experience in England and here, that if there was an exclusion of the Chinese and Japanese a large amount of cheap white labour would flow in gradually, sufficient to meet all requirements. I believe the immigration of white labourers has been almost absolutely prevented from entering by the presence here of Japanese and Chinese. I have been trying for two days to get employment for an English labourer, temperate and willing to work, who has been in Canada for some years and knows the country and its ways, and I find it impossible to obtain him a position, either on farms near here or in the city itself. I have applied to leading farmers and I find Japanese working on farms and superceding white labour. I correspond with some leading English papers on Canadian matters and I find it impossible to recommend ordinary British labourers to emigrate under existing circum- stances. The only class I could conscientiously recommend as a rule is mining labour, as to which I have been able to say that there is a moderate opportunity for a limited number of really skilled and temperate men. In the absence of Chinese and Japanese, I am persuaded thay there are districts around here, and islands, and gulf islands, which will affiard admirable opportunity for a hardy stock of British and other European set- tlers. I allude particularly to men who gain part of their living on homesteads by gardening and agriculture, and part of their living on the adjacent sea or river. There are many such men who, under ordinary conditions, would emigrate to the Province from seaboard districts in Scotland, in Ireland, the Isle of Man, and points on the north coast of England, and in some of these locations the population is congested — to a dis- trict like this where the climate is like the British Isles — and they would not have to change very greatly their mode of life. I object to the Chinese. First, because they exclude white settlement, which we need in this country ; and, secondly, they spend little, so that the wage fund is a drain, as it does not freely circulate like others. I have no prejudice as to colour or race but socially and economically I look upon their presence as a detriment to a British Province. I think the Japanese will settle the Chinese question because they will drive out the Chinese. The Japanese are infinitely more adapted to cut out white labour. The limi- tation I would suggest would be based on our population — say three per thousand of our population, of Japanese. As to the Chinese, an increased poll tax to $.500 and a treaty, if obtainable. Q. Do you think oriental immigration amounts to anything in comparison with the interests underlying the different industries here ? A. I think the country would have been better off with from twenty to twenty-five thousand white settlers here in place of the Chinese and Japanese. Undoubtedly they have developed a large number of sub- sidiary industries, but I say they are not desirable, and that the more desirable class would be settlers having little holdings of their own, and gaining a little help by the fishin". I think the larger industries have been a little handicapped here. They have not been sufficiently independent. They have been so largely in the hands of the financial corporations and depended on them for assistance that their operations have been cramped. That has had something to do with the cramping of the large industries. The resident capital of British Columbia is very small indeed. I doubt if we have three mU- lionaires in the country. I take it that it is important that we should have resident capital here. Two-thirds of the capital is from the East or from Britain, and interest has to be paid on that. OJSf CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 53 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Q. Are the conditions improving ?— A. I do not think the general conditions are developing very steadily. Mining is developing, but the struggle for life is keener than it was in many places ten years ago. Q. How many white men have been displaced in your municipality by Chinese or Japanese 1 — A. I think probably fifty or sixty. Q. Are those Chinese or Japanese taxpayers?— A. Only one or two, if any. Q. Has the presence of the Chinese a tendency to discourage them from clearing the land ? — A. It certainly does discourage them, and it cripples them finacially as well. . . . . Several of them have to employ Chinese because of financial difiiculties. ■_••_• You have to consider all the conditions. A labourer receiving $2 a day here is not in as good a position as a labourer who receives five shillings a day in England, but an English labourer could get along nicely here on $2 a day. . . . Q. How long is it since those conditions were introduced as to small holdings ? — A. Possibly four or five years. Q. Was there some wild land tax to large holders ? — A. Yes, we have an extra tax on wild lands. It approaches twenty mills on the dollar. The purpose of that is to break up the large holdings or to induce the owners to sell. We had large quantities of land allowed to remain unused for years, for which we were obtaining practically no revenue, land mainly owned by absentees, and we tax that now so as to induce the absentee owners to sell, so that small holdings can be had for all our people. Q. Was that by municipal taxation or Government taxation ? — A. Ours is muni- cipal taxation. It has been in efifect ever since we have been in the municipality, ten years. I think a difference was brought about by legislation some years before that ; I think, speaking from memory, that one has been in force twelve years. Q. That would interfere to a certain extent with those who have invested large' sums of money in lands ? — A. It might press hard on investors, but it is forced on us. ' There is no market for wild land now. Q. You acted on the principle, if capital was not willing to open up any of the large holdings, then the capitalists would be willing to slump the land on the market 1 — A. After paying taxes for so many years they come to the conclusion that the growth of the country was not sufficient to make them a return for the money invested. The trouble is we have so few buyers ; it is a diificult problem indeed to know what to do with the wild land around us. Q. Those people who invested are not interested in inducing more capital to come in 1 — A. It is a very awkward position, and many outside investors no doubt suffer from such a state of things. In England, if land is vacant there is no tax ; but when they found vacant land here and found that it was taxed they were willing to dispose of it at a reasonable figure, so that it might be divided up in small holdings. A good deal has been said about unearned increment, but I think there is very little unearned increment outside of the city. I rather think it is the other way. Practically I think our system is a proper one, and leads to the development of the country and of the settlement of the country by good settlers on small holdings of from five to twenty acres. That I look forward to as the ultimate solution of this question, but it will take some time because the oriental will not help a great deal in that way. Q. 'When you speak of the effect of taxation being that capital does not come in any more, what do you mean ? — A. Well, I think Mr. Foley was asking whether capital would come in to develop wild lands. Q. When capitalists purchase wild lands the capital was simply left there ? — A. They had to leave it there. The only good effect of it was that the capital got into the hands of the people of the country The revenue of the country was certainly less because of those large holdings. The interest of the country was practically a sacrifice in the giving away of such large tracts of land to large holders. . . Q. Do you think it would be a great advantage to have small holdings in the neighbourhood of the fisheries 1 — A. Yes, I think it would be a great advantage to have small holdings, especially in the neighborhood of the towns and cities. Q. Would you restrict it to less than eighty acres ? — A. The Government policy should be directed in every way to encourage the occupation of small holdings near 54 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 the cities. There are places where larger areas would be necessary, such as in the Okanagan Territory and others. Near the city I should say the holdings should vary in size from five to twenty acres. I know that in Burnaby holdings of two and a half acres do very well. The owner is near town and has work in town. Burnaby is better for truck raising and market gardening. At very little expense and with very little expenditure of labour at odd times the holder of two and a half acres in Burnaby who can secure labour in the city gets along very well. I think that you may fairly say that there are twenty-five piggeries in Burnaby, that there are twenty-five people engaged in that industry. These men are not market gardeners, but hog raisers and they do very well. James Thomas Smith says : I am a farmer, six miles from Vancouver^; farming all my life. Came from New Brunswick. Here fourteen years. Have 170 acres — Ninety cleared. We have cleared another farm — some heavy and some light. It cost from $5 to flOO an acre to clear. The Chinese are doing us out of our market. Their method differs from ours. They have started in the dairy business now. It has been getting worse every year. We can get white labour as cheap. It would be a long way cheaper by hiring white men because they can do more work. I am speaking from experience. The Chinese don't buy our produce. They live on rice from China, eggs from China rolled up in clay, China oil, etc. A beast died in the prairie, and they got her and ate her. I had a sick cow. The calf died and we killed the cow. A Chinaman wanted the cow to eat. I buried her. I considered the cow unfit for hogs or chickens. They live in small houses and overcrowd. I have counted 55 Chinamen in a small shanty, 15 by 30 feet, and the upstairs not high enough for them to stand up. They never ha.ve the doors or windows open. They use the house for a store, a gambling house, liquour and opium. This was within a few hundred yards of my own house. We did some ditching, partly by Chinese and partly white men. Ditching is let at 10 cents a rod to Chinese. I would rather pay 15 cents to white men. We employ white men this year. Sometimes the white men are not around, A white man can do more than Chinese. He will do three times as much. I have been all over the country, and wherever I have been are Chinese gardeners, not many Chinese yet raising hay, but they are going into it. Our taxes amount to $200 a year. Other farmers' views are the same as my own. There is a Farmers' Institute. We build levees. Formerly we employed Chinese; now we find whites just as cheap. Chinese offered me $20 an acre for a year for sixty acres, but I would not let them have it. I would have to pay the taxes. I think the land was worth in the market $200 an acre. Except it is suitable for selling off in small lots it would not bring so much. If it is on the river in a good situation, near to Vancouver, it would sell well, but my land is not worth $200 an acre. I paid for the first seventy $70 an acre. The land adjoining that is not cleared yet. I was offered $45 an acre for it. The situation makes a great deal of difference. For instance, my brother-in-law bought 160 acres last fall from Judge Crease's land ; it was not wild, but uncultivated. It was out in the centre of the island. Part of it runs into the bog ; it is not good land. Land under cultivation runs all the way from $40. Good land is worth as much now as it was three years ago, but not unless suitable for selling off in small lots. I bought my farm, 170 acres, three or four years ago. I paid about $75 for apiece of it, 120 acres, and the balance, wich buildings on, $200 an acre. I grow principally hay, oats, wheat and turnips. Last year I took off about one hundred tons of hay. Sold some for $10 a ton and some for $12 a ton, delivered in town. Sold about thirty-five tons. Sold about twenty tons of oats at $24 or $25 a ton, deliv- ered in town. Sold no barley. Sold two tons of wheat at .'$30 a ton. Sold three thousand pounds of butter at 30 cents, and a little sold for 35 cents. Made about $50 out of eggs. In a fair year we have to sell at lower prices. We did not have enough to pay our debts in town. I know we would get better prices if the Chinese and Japanese were not here. On an average they pay $8, $12, and $15 an acre for extra good land. They may pay $20 an acre. The Chinese took a lease for ninety-nine years. He is paying $10 an acre. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 55 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 They encroach upon the farmer in wood cutting. About four years ago we had about twenty acres of heavy wood cut and we employed a white man to cut out the wood. We got it out at a very small figure. We always took out at least one hundred cords of wood in a year, and sometimes more ; but now, owing to Chinese and Japanese supplying the market with wood, we have a lot of it on our hands yet, because we cannot sell it to clear ourselves. We cannot compete with them in selHng wood, even when the wood is cut off our own lands. The consensus of opinion among the farmers is against granting them the franchise. Q. Do you think if those here secured the franchise it is likely to lead to trouble ? — A. It is likely to lead to rebellion. If we had white labour in the canneries they could help on the farm as well. None of the Chinese have their families except one on Lulu Island and one on the mainland. A Chinaman told me he had four hundred tons of potatoes. William Daniels, a farmer, said : Have lived twenty-five years in South Vancouver. I own sixty-seven and a half acres. There were twenty acres cleared. I raised hay, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and sold in Vancouver. I rent forty acres to a Chinaman now, and get $415 cash for it, annually. He raises everything in the shape of vegetables. I could not compete. Most of the land where I am has been cleared by the Chinese. I think they are very good to clear land. They have a good deal leased around there. It costs $150 an acre to clear land. I think I paid, in addition, $700 to ditch twenty- eight chains and put in flood-boxes ; that is all on the main dyke. I don't know if it would cost more if no Chinamen were here. The number of Chinese farmers is increasing lately. There are more leases. Farms are now rented. This Chinaman lives in my house, 16 by 22 feet ; sometimes he has six, twelve or fifteen Chinamen with him. They eat rice, potatoes, meat. The Chinese are good tenants. They cultivate the land well. They can get more oflf the lands than I do. I could get my son-in-law to work the place if there were no Chinese. I cleared twenty acres and they cleared twenty acres. Japs are not as good as Chinese. I had them offer to work at $5 a month. I believe the Jap is more dangerous than the Chinese. There were no Chinamen here when I cleared my twenty acres. I could not afford to pay a white man to clear land. It is dirty work arid you could not get a white man to do it unless you pay him an outrageous wage. The last twenty-eight acres cost me about one-half the ranch to do the clearing of it. My wife and I did the clearing. I had to sell half the ranch to keep us going. According to the way Chinese live, they live better than I do. They have got plenty of everything in the way of living, as a Chinaman does. The evidence of Edward Musgrave probably gives the clearest statement of the views of those who do not believe in restriction. A summary of his evidence as taken down by the chairman is therefore given at length. He says : I reside in the Cowichan district. I am farming at present, and have been for sixteen years, there and on Salt Spring Island. I employ Chinese the whole time ; one domestic and one or two outside, and one white man. I pay the Chinese domestic $25 a month and the outside men $20 to $25, and by the day at $1 a day. They board themselves. I pay the white man from $30 to $40 a month and he boards himself. I find the Chinese good servants. The white man is physically stronger. It is not difficult to get white labour at that price. The Chinese are not largely employed by farmers. I don't think the numbers employed are increasing. They live as a distinct race. I should not think it desirable if they did assimilate. I should be sorry to see them settle here and bring their families here. I should much prefer to see our own people. The reason is very obvious. I have no desire to see them fill positions of unskilled labour. I am not making a living out of farming. If I had to make a living I could not pay white labour, and it is doubtful if I could pay Chinese. I should have to fall back on Japanese. The profits of farming are not sufficiently high to pay the ordinary rate of wages. The farmers who are doing well do the work themselves. I think it beneficial for further immigration of the coolie class. Wages are and have been abnormally high. Very many industries have been helped by coolie immigration. They don't compete with the mechanical class and they supply cheaper labour. Under present circumstances I would have no restrictions at all. If I did restrict I would do it in a different way. I consider the present restriction 56 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 is a bad and dishonest system. It does not reach the object aimed at. It merely makes the expense of Chinamen entering the country greater. It merely becomes a question of whether it will pay him. It keeps some out. The ordinary Chinese can not afford to pay. He borrows from some company and has to repay with exorbitant interest. I think it dishonest to tax a man to come in and tax him when here and then refuse to allow him to be employed on Government work. I think it quite wrong. If admissible it ought to be total exclusion. It would be a more honest system, I should say by treaty with China. In the present state of affairs it is entirely against our treaty obligations. I have very little experience with the Japanese. A large and growing number of Japanese are employed in our district. They have been of immense benefit to the province, I think. The common wage of a Japanese at present is small ; $10 a month and a ration of rice and potatoes, but after they have been here they begin to increase their demand and will work very little under a Chinaman. I see no necessity for restriction, as far as we have gone. If many came then I would press the Home Government to limit the number. It is a very difficult question to decide upon. I may say that the Chinese are only employed in certain work. They are not good hands with animals, ploughing, etc. I have been eight years sheep farming on the Salt Springs Island. I think it necessary to have cheap labour to clear the lands. In regulating the price of our products, the imports are of the greatest importance. Very little agricultural produce is raised in the province. The expense of clearing is enormous. It won't pay to do it. I doubt if a man could clear the land and support himself unless he got outside work. Very few can afford to employ even Japs. The average bush lands cost to clear, emplojring partly Chinese and white labour, from $100 to S200 an acre. The man who clears and sells never gets his money out of it. No doubt it could be cleared in a scientific way much cheaper, but those who go into the business cannot afford to employ up-to-date machinery and tools. I had knowledge of farming in Scotland, New Zealand, South Australia and South America. In New Zealand I was in sheep farming. I pay my white man by the year. No trouble to find white labour at that price. I consider .$1.50 a day all the year round is a higher price than !52 for ordinary job. I should think about $2 is the ordinary wages. I don't think an increased white population here would increase land values ; it might. Can't say how much. A larger population would increase the demand for my farm produce. I don't think farming will ever become a large industry on this Island. I doubt even if you can clear land with Japanese labour at a profit. It is a question whether you have labour at a reasonable rate, or at an abnormal rate. I think a municipality should get their labour done as cheaply as possible, without considering any of these labour ques- tions. I think a government ought in every fair way to foster their own people. In my opinion this outcry about Chinese is a hollow mockery. I don't quarrel with white labour. I have had in my employment almost every European nationality. There is a certain amount of humbug. A white man will refuse to work with a Chinaman, but he will take a contract and hire Chinaman and work with them, the labourers doing what is quite natural. New Zealand has developed much more rapidly, but you cannot com- pare the two ; the one was covered with forests ; the other was open land ; and a different climate as well. I don't think farmers could get on without Chinese. I am sorry to say that the farms about here, most of them, are mortgaged, for the purpose of raising money to clear them, and the farmers literally cannot afford to pay for Chinese, Japanese, or white labour. I have had forty years' experience out of England. The Chinese compare favourably with Certain classes of labour. Of all the different nationalities I have employed, I have always found our countrymen the most difficult to deal with, owing to their independence of character, and should not like to see them have less. The Chinese are docile, but they won't stand abuse and Ul- treatrrient, and stay with you. You can trust them to work and they are very grateful for good treatment. I have found them very honest. We don't lock up against them. The Chinese seem very clean in their persons, but they have no idea of sanitary ar- rangement. Mj' Chinese is as clean in his room as I am in my own, and so is the out- side Chinaman, but they will throw everything outside. They are unsanitary. I don't want servile people to deal with. I don't think Chinese are servile. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 57 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Captain Edward Berkley says : I reside in Westholm on the E. 00 Piiivisiiiiis Horse feed Repairing; wagcms, itc Seed 20 00 112 00 100 00 Wa..es" 1'600 00 Repairing' ^.. * 300 00 liiiuse Total e3,60:^ 00 Total sales 3,012 00 Loss for last year I 591 "0 Let us follow the e\'i(lence a little further. Andrew Strachan, who is engaged in horticulture, says : I had to give up market ^ardenincr. I could not sell my produce. The reason was the people buy from the Chinese who peddle their stuff in baskets. I at present cultivate about ten acres, principally fruit. I think there are sixty or seventy basket peddlers in Victoria. The majority of private families l)uy from basket peddlers. I came here in It! 71. There were a o-reat many more white people raising vegetables than now. Ten years ago market oardening ' \\as in the hands of the Chinese ; it has remained so ever since. Market hardening is entirelv in the hands of the Chinese. T\\enty Chinese can live a* cheaply as a man and his family of five or sijf. I think twenty Chinamen can live on S40 a month. I engaged a Chinaman for six months. I paid him -Slf^ a month. A bag of rice at §1.75 and 25 cents worth of sugar was his food for a month. I paid" a Japanese last year for picking fruit iJlS a month. I employed him because I could not get anyone else. I do not usually employ Japanese. If I could ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 67 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 get white men I would rather pay them $2 a day than pay a Japanese 50 cents a day. White labour is scarce, and the reason that white labour is scarce is that white men cannot compete with the Chinese and Japanese. They cannot exist or live alongside of them. So many people employ what they call cheap labour, they drive the white man out and they have to leave the country. Joseph Shaw said : I was a market gardener in England. I came here six years ago. I came here with the intention of going into that business, but was advised that I could not compete with the Chinese. For that reason I did not engage in the "business. A white gardener cannot possibly compete with them ; you cannot employ labour and compete with them ; and then if you do produce vegetables and get around to the houses in an endeavour to sell them, when you go to the door the first to answer you would be a Chinese and he at once says, 'not want any.' They make it impossible for a man like myself with a wife and seven children to compete with them at all. They make it impossible for me to carry on a market garden and earn an honest living from that. I cannot compete with them at all. I cannot make a reasonable living and clothe my seven children. The class of stuff they raise would be only classed as second class in the English market. They sell at a low price. I have never seen but very few beds of first class lettuce grown by the Chinese. I remember seeing one good bed of lettuce grown by Chinese at Darce}- Island, and I certainly could not have used that myself because o'f the offensive odour from it. I had to go to the windward side of it. Dr. Duncan was there with me. He was the Medical Health Officer, and he had to go round to the other side to get rid of the smell of the excrement that had been used very largely to force the growth of lettuce. I have a little bit of ground and have gone into hay-making and anything that turns up, and now I am farming in a small way on about twenty acres of land. I do not try to raise vegetables for the market, but I am hoping the time will soon come that I will be able to do so. They do not go into general farming. So far they are not competitors in general farming. I never employed but one Chinaman ; that was to cut wood. If I could buy machinery cheaper I could sell cheaper. If I lived in the United States I could buy the agriculture machinery at one-half what it costs me here. The manufacturer here is protected by the farm labourers. Henry Atkinson, landscape and market gardener, who has resided in Victoria ten years, says : Market gardening is entirely under their control now in the city. I came here fi'om the Old Country ten years ago with the intention of starting a market garden. I brought my family out here. I was a market gardener in the Old Country, and I was led to believe that I could get a good business in market gardening here. I was very much disappointed. The difficulties were that the Chinese had practically the monopoly of the business of raising vegetables, and their peddling those vegetables about from door to door was another great difficulty. There were no stores here which you could supply and get cash for your vegetables. It was all truck business, but the great difficulty in the business, which has continued up to the present time, is the Chinese and their peddling vegetables from door to door. We have a white elephant in the shape of a market building here. I know gardeners striving at the present time to sell their pro- duce, going around to the places trying to get customers, and they do not want it. When a white gardener goes to a house with vegetables he finds a Chinese cook there, and the Chinese cook does not want vegetables raised by the white man. I know the Chinese cook militates against their being able to dp business. Vegetables only come from California when vegetables are scarce. In England a great many of the early vegetables come from France and Spain. They come in two or three weeks before the vegetables in England are ready. The Chinese can live on so little that white gardeners cannot possibly compete with them. There is a small commission paid between the Chinese cook and the Chinese peddler. I know from Chinamen who have told me. In Eno-land a man may have twenty workmen (landscape gardeners) and may have work for them all the year round, but here you cannot employ one white man because 54—51 68 REPORT OF ROYAL C0MMISSI02il 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 you cannot keep him at work for a greater part of the year. I have advised all my friends not to come here, because there are no openings here for white men. The lowest wages of labourers in England that I know of in towns is four shillings a day. Wages here $■2 to $2.50 per day. The purchasing power of $2 a day here is better than the pur- chasing power of four shillings a day there, provided the wages were steady, but the trouble is I cannot get beyond six months' work in my business here. There is no market house in Victoria. Vegetables are peddled from house to house in baskets by Chinamen, and as nearly all the cooks and domestics are Chinamen, it may readily be seen why white men have practically yielded this field to Chinamen. If a white man applies to a Chinese cook to sell vegetables the answer as : 'none are wanted ; ' if a Chinaman applies he sells. James Thomas Smith, who has a farm of 160 acres about six miles from Vancouver, says : The Chinese are doing us out of our market here, in the vegetable line prm- cipally. We have brought a few vegetables to the market, but we cannot compete with the Chinese. We cannot raise vegetables and sell them at the price the Chinese sell. The Chinese have control of the market. I have a knowledge of their methods of raising vegetables from personal observation. Our methods differ. We do not use the same stuff. They use their own water. They save it all winter in jars. They take it out and pour it on the vegetables, celery, lettuce, turnips and carrots. They do not use it on potatoes, but they use it on most of the other kinds of vegetables that they grow during the season. The stuff is poured on the top of the leaves of those vegetables. I have seen it done, and dozens of other farmers have seen the same. Sam Hop, Chinese market gardener, stated : I know Mr. J. T. Smith. :My hold- ing is near his. I use nothing but horse manure on my garden. I sold the produce, a load of turnips, to Mr. Smith. He used them for his house purposes and to feed the horses and cattle that he had. He told me that he was going to use them for the house. William Daniels, a farmer. South Vancouver, saj^s ; The Chinese can grow vege- tables as K'Jod as myself. I cannot compete with them because they work more hours than I do, and they get their countrymen to work cheaper for them than I can get work done for. They have no families to keep like I have. The Chinese are good tenants and pay their rent promptly. I have observed their methods of cultivation during ten years, and I think they are very good market gardeners. I have heard state- ments about the objectionable methods adopted by Chinese market gardeners, but I have never seen any of those practices. I eat vegetables grown by Chinese and am not afraid to do so. They are all right. William .James Brandrith, secretary of Fruit Growers' Association for the Province, says ; The Chinese are a menace to health from the way they use human excrement in their market gardens. I have seen them using it. Joseph D. Palmer, of Vancouver, landscape gardener, says : They (householders) get their ideas from me and get Chinese to carry them out. They affect me in looking after I'round, and they drive away numbers of men, useful men in a garden but not practical "ardeners. They have largely got control of that work. I can't say how many white men have been superseded. Many gardeners, six or eight, have told me that they had given up their work. I consider Chinese a curse to the country. I had to stop writing to our people to come here. In my ten years of landscape gardening in Seattle I never met a Chinese. There are no Chinese employed in gardening in Seattle. Mah Jo, Chinese, restaurant keeper of Rossland, stated that there were from one hundred to one hundred and fifty Chinamen in llossland who worked in gardens in summer and out wood and cleared places in winter. Gordon W. Thomas, Cedar Cottage District, near Vancouver, says : There are Chinese market gardeners near me. We cannot compete with them in the market. Their mode of living is so much cheaper than ours and their labour is also cheaper. I have never known anyone who could hire them at market gardening. Only one has a family that I know of and he lives on Lulu Island. The rest live together, from five to fifteen men, according to the amount of land. They cook for themselves. They have no home life and no families. They are law abiding. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 69 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 I know for a fact that those labourers working for Chinese market gardeners stayed tor three years, or until they pay the expenses of the man who brought them out Ihen the market gardeners send for a fresh supply again, and those that have served their time are turned loose on the country. When they become proficient in the work . they demand more wages. •> . . Twenty years ago at Cedar Hill near Victoria I was on a ranch when they were irrigating. They had a large pit five or six feet deep and ten feet square, and this was tailed with human filth, and they had large iron ladles on the end of poles, and they digged this filth out into buckets and irrigated green vegetables with it, cauhflowers and cabbages and radishes, and several other things. I saw it done two years ago near where I lived. They had barrels instead of pits. It was put on spinach, cabbage and cauli- flower. I would not like to swear it is done generally, but it is my firm belief that it IS so. Dr. O. Meredith Jones, of Victoria, says : I think there are other things far more dangerous than leprosy, such as the improper use of manures in the raising of vegetables. I think that is far more dangerous to the community at large. Leprosy i.s a very slow thing. I ha\e no personal knowledge of such conditions having engendered disease, but there is no doubt they are a very dirty people. Their vegetables are very dangerous. Dr. Robert McKechnie, Health Officer of Nanaimo, says : As to filthy practices, I would like to mention that one commonly finds in some dark corner a coal oil tin for the accommodation of urine. I took the trouble to trace what became of the urine contained in these tins. I visited the Chinese ranch. This is a rather extensive market ' garden. Going through the buildings I found a small shed opening on to a large store room. In this shed were some twelve barrels holding from fifteen to twenty gallons each. Two were half full of urine and the rest showed they had been used in the same way. In an empty stable I discovered a dozen more presenting the same appearance, and from the fact of the urine being saved in ' Chinatown ' and a stock of it found on a vegetable farm, I concluded that ]?opular report was true and that this liquid was used. If typhoid fever existed in ' Chinatown ' it is a fact that baccilla is excreted by the kidneys, and using it on green vegetables wottld carry the disease ; even if it were used on the soil it might be dangerous. I don't know of a case of typhoid amongst them. They do not report their cases. Many other witnesses confirmed this practice of Chinese gardeners, but it was as distinctively and positively denied by them. Your Commissioners think this practice was and still is followed, though not to the same extent now as formerly, and more secretly ; and by some of the better market gardeners perhaps not at all at the present time. The medical witnesses who were called undoubtedly regard this practice as a constant menace to health. AMERICAN OPIXIO.X. A. H. Grout, Labour Commissioner, Seattle, says : Market gardening by Chinese in the city and neighbourhood has been almost entirely superceded bv white labour, Italians principally. It is hard to say or to find out what is the reason for the change. It may have had relation to the methods of the Chinese in market gardening, but I cannot say positively. At one time, fifteen years ago, the Chinese were extensively engaged in market gardening, but I do not know of any Chinese market gardeners now. I do not know the reason of the change. It was after the Chinese were expelled from Seattle. I came here two or three years after that. They were not really excluded. There was an attempt to exclude them, but the citizens representing law and order prevented any harsh measures. In Tacoma they \xew excluded and have continued excluded. Henry Fortman, president of the Alaska Packers' Association, San Francisco, says : The Chinese now are the principal raisers of vegetables here. They do a great deal of market gardening, and we have vegetable canneries here. I think the asparagus business is entirely in the hands of the Chinese. The land is owned by the whites and 70 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 the canneries are owned and operated by whites. The vegetable exported from California to British Columbia is largely grown by the Chinese. F. V. Meyers, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labour Statistics, San Francisco, says : The Chinese engage a great deal in market gardening. It is fallen into their hands to a considerable extent. I would say from my observation and from the informa- tion at my command, that from forty to fifty per cent of the market gardening here is done by the Chinese. I do not know that the question has ever arisen as to whether or not there was any menace to health from the Chinese by reason of the methods employed in market gardening. It is a matter of course of scientific knowledge that certain manures are good for use in the raising of vegetables, but the manner of their use is of great importance. I do not think that human excrement is used here. You will find a great deal of market gardening done by Italians here. About fifty per cent of the market gardening here is done by Italians, Portuguese and other nationalities. SUMMARY. Many instructive facts are to be obtained from this industry, the natural adjunct of farming. The Chinese have this business almost entirely in their own hands. They rent the land and pay a very high rent. Frequently they take land uncleared. They lease land uncleared for ten or fifteen years. For the first three j-ears without rent ; after that for •'j.S to .$12 an acre, an average of •'j^8 an acre rent. In one case it cost to clear the land over .§100 an acre. In another case .3400 was paid for one hundred acres, with only thirty cleared ; and in another case .STOO rental for one hundred acres In another case !j320 annual rental was paid for thirty-two acres. The above rentals were sworn to Ijy Chinese gardeners. ]Much higher rentals were mentioned by other witnesses. The effect of those high rentals is to keep up the price of land suitable for market gardening beyond the reach of white settlers who cannot compete for obvious reasons. The Chinese live in shacks and board themselves, or if boarded by the ' boss ' he has his profits on the pro\-isions. From five to fifteen men live in one shack. They can be hired for .^.S and .S4 and as high as •'$12 a month and board. For old and skilled hands the wages are higher, ranging from $12 to $25 a month. Of this class the average would be from $17 to §18 a month, and board. They are either unmarried or their families are in China. There are probably from six to eight hundred Chinamen engaged in this business. We only heard of one who had his family here. Under normal conditions this number of workingmen should represent a population of at least three thousand, contributing to the schcjols, churches, social life, and general well-being of the community. In the one case they are citizens in the proper sense of the term ; in the other they cannot in any sense be called citizens, nor are they likely to become so. They prevent social life wherever they come. The white man with a family will not settle in their neighbourhood if he can avoid it. They are separate from the commu- nity and take as little part in the interests that go to make up a desirable neighbour- hood as the dumb animal, and we found no place, either in Canada or the United States, where there has been a change in this regard among that class. Over three millions of agricultural products are imported into British Columbia yearly, including large quantities of market truck. At San Francisco we were informed that forty or fifty per cent of the market gardening of that State is still in the hands of the Chinese, and, further, that of the vegetables exported to British Columbia from there, nearljr all are grown bv Chinese. In Washington State fifteen years ago the Chinese were largely engaged in this indus- try, but to-day they are entirely displaced by whites. We believe that agriculture and market gardening would have been much further advanced if there were no Chinese to keep out those who would otherwise o-o into the business. It is our firm conviction that this great interest never will be developed to its true proportions so long as it is blighted by the presence of these people. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 71 CHAPTER IX.— COAL MINING INDUSTRY. Coal mining is one of the chief industries of British Columbia. The total output for the year 1900 amounted to 1,590,179 tons, of which 914,188 tons of coal and .31,7.57 tonsof coke were exported. The Crow's Nest Pass colliery output was 206,80.3 tons, leaving 1,383,376 tons as the output of the Vancouver Island collieries. There are no Chinese «mployed in the Crow's Nest Pass colliery. The aggregate output for all Vancouver Island coal mines for 1900 exceeds that of 1899 by 180,175 tons. The report of the Minister of Mines says :— ' There has been a steady demand both in the home and foreign markets for the hard bituminous coal produced by Vancouver Island mines, and work has been constant at all the collierie.s.' These mines may bo divided into two groups : — Those operated by the New Van- couver Coal Mining and Land Company under the management, for the last eighteen years, of Samuel M. Robins ; and the Wellington colliery in Douglas district, known as Extension Mine, operated by the Wellington Colliery Company, Limited, the Union colliery, operated by the Union Colliery Company, and the Alexandra colliery, operated by the Wellington Colliery Company, Limited, of which Mr. F. D. Little is general manager. For convenience tlie former will be referred to as the New Vancouver Coal Mines, and the latter as the Dunsmuir Mines. It is stated in the annual report of the Minister of Mines for the year ending December 31, 1900, that the total number of men employed in and about the Vancouver Island collieries is 3,701 ; of these 568 are Chinese, 51 Japanese, and the rest whites. Assuming this to be an accurate statement for that year, the number of Chinese and Japanese employed in the coal mines has considerably increased during the early part of the year 1901, for, from the evidence of the managers of the Island Coal Mines, it appears that the Vancouver Coal Company employs 1,336 men, of whom 1,161 are white men and 175 are Chinese. No Japanese are employed by this company. At the Dunsmuir Union Mine 877 men are employed, of whom 412 are white, 363 Chinese and 102 Japanese. Chinese and Japanese are largely employed underground in the Union Mine, and are engaged in every kind of work, as will appear from the following statement fui-nished by the general manager : — Mex employed at the Union Mine, Cumberland. Underground. Miners Helpers Runners Drivers . . Track Brattice. . . Labourer."! .... Timbering Underground — Other work. Super vision Topmen. Carpenters. . . Blacksmiths. , Machinists. . , Engineers Supervision . . Stokers Railwaymen . Labourers. . . . Other work . . Pithead Total— 877. AVhites. 203 15 30 16 17 301 22 11 5 11 "8 17 25 12 111 301 412 Chinese. 16 157 37 12 12 4 14 7 261 15 8 51 4 24 102 261 363 .Japanese. 6 40 16 7 77 24 25 77 102 72 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 At the Wellington Extension Mine 1,060 men are employed, including 164 Chinese and 1 Japanese. No Chinese or Japanese are employed under ground. Formerly about 100 Chinese were employed in this mine below ground, but were taken out (according to Manager Bryden's statement) owing to a promise made by Mr. Dunsmuir. As this industry is second to none in the Province, your Commissioners deem it of great importance to ascertain its exact position in regard to^ Chinese labour, and how far increased restriction or exclusion may affect it, and how 'the parties most interested would regard any change in that direction. Samuel M. Robins, Superintendent of the New Vancouver Coal Company for eighteen years, says : The Company employs 1,3.36 men, of whom 1,09-3 are whites and 243 Chinese, including special hands. No Chinese are employed below ground. 918 white men are employed below ground and 175 above ground. Of the Chinese m connection witft the mines, there are 37 stokers, 48 banksmen,— these are under the supervision of a responsible white man ; 19 timbermen, 39 wharf men, 17 cutting timber, and l.S for general purposes ; besides these there are 57 clearing land and 8 farm hands proper, — making a total of 243. At present we have no Chinese at less than $1.12^ per day, and the highest §^1.25 per day. Miners earn from 83 to §5 per day ; labourers below ground have a daily wa.^e of from .?2.60 to *3 a day ; very few get less than 82.60 a day. The origin of the removal of the Chinese followed a sad accident we had here m 1S87 and was brought about by pressure from the white miners upon the two companies, who simultaneously removed them from the mines. For myself I may say with great satisfaction, the principal reason outside the pressure was on account of the greater safety of the mines. I certainly consider Chinese under ground who can't speak and understand English an element of additional danger. I don't say they are not undesir- able on other accounts, but that is a special cause of danger. They are undesirable on other grounds ; for one reason in time of accident, they become panic-stricken and can render' no help whatever, whereas a white miner has always the reserve of courage to meet a calamity. I am speaking now as a coal mine superintendent. I certainly regard it in the interest of the company to have them excluded from the mines. I don^t think a single Chinaman has e-^er set foot below ground in any of our mines since 1887. The ^Yellington mine also continued to exclude them while it worked, as far as I know. I believe it is quite closed now. I employ Chinese above ground, finaocial grounds forcing it upon the company. It would have been posssble to carry on the mines without the aid of the Chinese if all the mines removed the Chinese from their service. That would have been possible until the end of last year ; it would have been possible then, but hardly possible now, for the reason that we are face to face now with entirelj^ new conditions in the coal market, that may greatly reduce the output of British Columbia collieries, namely, the introduction of coal oil largely in California ; as a corollary to that the conditions, as far as I can foresee them, might force upon the Company the reduction of wages of whites employed, if the Chinese were to be removed from the surface. Q. I suppose your own residence here has enabled you to reach a conclusion in reward to the Chinese question as to the policy of further immigration 1 — A. Yes, I have formed an opinion of my own. Q. Will you state your opinion fully to the Commission ? — A. There are certain problems in connection with the thing which I need not go into at the present time, but upon the broad question of the immigration of Chinese into this province, I think it should be entirely stopped, either by prohibition or b)^ a prohibitive head tax. Q. Why ; upon what, grounds would you say so ; what are j'our reasons '? — A. Now, I am not speaking so much from my position as an officer of a coal mining com- pany, as from m)"^ own views and feelings as a British Columbian. Another reason is that manual labour — that is labour that is not usually regarded as skilled — is looked upon as humiliating by the white population, because of the presence of the Chinese and their engaging in manual labour here, and the 3'(iung generation are more desirous than in any other country I know of, to escape from manual employment. The younger gen- eration here seems to be ashamed to do the work that the Chinese do. ON OHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIUEA TION 73 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 at lart ?-l;u£btedr/S7" "^""■' '^'^^""''^^ "^ *'^ ''^*""'^*'^ °^ ^^^--^^-^^'^ Q From your own observation, do you think the Chinese show any tendency at present to hve up to our standard ?-A. None whatever. There is no change whatever m their practices as far as I have observed. _Q If they would assimilate with our people do you think it would be desirable in the interests of the country ?-A. I should say not. Assimilation covers not only the habits of life but would imply intermarriage with the people, which would not be desir- able here. It would be very undesirable for any foreign nationality to be largely im- posed upon us. The standard of living and the mode of living of the Chinese are laroely removed from that of a white worker in the same calling. A white man might livetnd support a family on the wages paid a Chinaman, but certainly it would be little better than starvation. It would be ruinous for any country to ha^•e such a nation as the Chinese intermarry with them. I have never seen in the district more than two or three Chinese women, and they are the wives of merchants and not of the labouring class. I have no cause of complaint as to their want of obedience, diligence and thrift I have no means of knowing of their thrift or morality from an Englishman's standpoint i understand there is a Chinese mission, but I am sorry to confess that I have not paid much attention to that, possibly because I doubt whether the Christian practices and Ctiristian theories would not baffle the intelligence of the ordinary Chinamen we find here. I apprehend no inconvenience will be suffered by the supply of Chinese labour bein<^ cut off In forming this conclusion I know there is a large surplus of Chinese labou? available at this moment. If there was a large emigration of Chinese we might suffer. There is no danger of that unless they were called home by the Chinese Government. Q. Do you know of any industry here which has been called into existence by reason of the presence of the Chinese ?— A. No, I am not aware of any, but that might not mean that no other industries were maintained by the presence of the Chinese ; but looking nearer home, land clearing so far as my company is concerned, would cease at once if there were no Chinese here. I could not always refuse to employ white labour even when tendered at Chinamen's rate of pay. I prefer to pay white men wages upon which they can live comfortably. I have never engaged Japanese in clearing land. When I speak of the one I speak of the other. If there were no available Chinese or Japanese the land clearing must cease. The company have cleared about seven hundred acres by Chinese labour, whilst the leaseholders under the company have also cleared mostly by Chinese labour, six or seven hundred acres more. I say mostly, because a good many have done their own clearino- or employed whites to clear, even if it cost three times what it would cost with Chinese. The sale of lands have been about nil for the last foui- years. The lands have cost us more than we hope to get back, but we cleared first for safety on account of fires, and to improve the surroundings of Nanaimo. It is not my experience that most of the timber lands are useless. I am of opinion that none of the existing industries in the province would suffer by forbidding of further Chinese immigration. That is the way I wish to put it. I do not think there would ever come a better time to do that than the present ; in fact, if I am allowed to express an opinion without your giving me a question to answer, the sooner Mongolian immigration is stopped the better, before it grows to unmanageable proportions. I may state here that a large proportion of the miners here own their own homes, but owing to the presence of Chinese which makes the children adverse to manual labour, and there being no other employment for them, the parents do not know what to do with their children. The result of farming would not at present permit of the employment of white laboui-, although scientific farming might do. If white men could obtain blasting powder at a reduced cost it would materially aid them in the clearing of land. 74 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 The company leases to miners with the option of purchase, so they can do what they plerase Most of the miners who have arrived at marriageable age are married. A great many own their own homes. Large numbers may be considered permanent residents. That raises the question I have already referred to, the aversion on the part of children of white people to manual labour. Children are growing up here, their parents or heads of the house working in the mines, and those children are not able to secure any employment, and it has become a serious question with parents what to do with their children. The presence of the Chinese deters children from seeking employ- ment because of the Chinese being employed at certain work, and as I say the parents do not know what to do with their children, with young boys and girls who are growing up in the community. Q. How long is it since coal oil encroached upon the coal market 1 — A. It began to be felt last November. We heard about it before that, but it did not aflfeot us much ; but now we are beginning to feel the effect of coal oil competition. San Francisco is our largest market. The price of domestic coal is governed largely by the consumption of railway and steamship owners, but there is very little fluctuation in the price of coal. The British Columbia coal is about one-third of the coal consumed in San Francisco. We have found in years gone by that coal had come in from England and from Australia when there was no home demand for it. Sometimes coal has been brought here, colonial and English coal would come in here and been sold at a price which would hardly pay for getting it out of the ships, but that has not occurred recently. It is quite within the range of possibility that it will be impossible to mine and ship coal to San Francisco. Coal oil may be used in some industries and in other industries it cannot be used on account of danger ; and then the question comes in as to domestic use. Coal oil can only possibly supersede coal for domestic use ; but the use of coal in San Francisco may result in a large reduction in the demand for coal from here, and the orders from San Francisco would be of such small amounts, that it would not pay for us to keep our mines open. We are watching that very carefully but we cannot decide as to how far it will interfere with our mining here. It may be that the oil people will be able to secure new inventions, whereby oil could be more generally used in a great many industries, but at present they have more than they can handle and they have to get rid of it, and therefore the market is more affected at the present time. The competition from coal oil has increased rapidly of late, because when one man sunk a well his neighbour had to do the same to prevent his land being drained. If the companies could place their oil elsewhere they would rather get Jjl . 2.5 a barrel for their oil than 6-5 cents as they are getting to-day because of over-production. Q. Would that follow irrespective of whether the Chinese were here or not ! — A. It is perfectly independent. I entirely disagree with the idea of servile labour. It might create a few large individual fortunes, but it would be utterly detrimental to the white labour class. Q. Would you consider the Chinese and Japanese as at present here servile labour I — A. Largely so ; not, perhaps, speaking in a legal sense. They are a little too servile to please me. The Chinese have never put any pres- sure on to get more than half the wages of white labour." I can't remember of a strike ; none in our mines. Q. On the other hand if the margin was very close it would mean a reduction in the price of labour ; it would mean the emplojrment of cheap labour, or there would be no exportation of coal ? — A. You wish to get an expression of my views whether it would bring Chinese labour into the mine ? For myself and my company I say that under no circumstances would that introduce Chinese into the mines. We would rather suffer ruin first. We are employing Chinese in all available departments above ground now. A Chinaman can do pretty well as much as a white man at the work we have them employ- ed at now. In some I should say, yes, unhesitatingly, such as stoking, and as a banks- man they do nearly as well as white men. The true banksman, the responsible banks- man is a white man, but he has subordinates, and the subordinates toay be Chinamen. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 75 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 There have been times when we should have been glad of five cents' a ton. Q. You told us the presence of the Chinese prevented white men getting employ- ment on the farms 1 — A. That statement was made in regard to children and in regard to boys being employed in clearing land. I have tried young men or boys of from four- teen to sixteen years of age. They are not strong enough to do farm work, but there are certain things that these lads when they reach the age of sixteen or seventeen might do about the place, where we now employ Chinese. Q. Why don't you employ them ? — A. Because you will understand, ^ lad about sixteen or seventeen, a growing lad, is not so physically able as a full grown Chinaman for certain work. Q. If you hadn't the Chinamen to employ you would't get such work done ? — A. We would get it done in some way, but we are obliged to employ the Chinamen who are able-bodied, but if they were not here at all we should employ white men, although we might have to suffer a little in pocket. Q. Isn't it a fact of the present generation and particularly of the present day that owing to the high standard of education the children get here they are inclined to climb more into skilled labour ?- -A. That is a feeling that is largely produced by the presence of the Chinese. Young people like to rise higher, and they cannot be blamed for that, but the shame they feel at doing manual labour as far as I can see is produced by the Chinese being here, and the young people do not care to go at work which the Chinese are generally employed in doing. * * * I have never met one Chinaman without a pig-tail. If Chinese immigration were prohibited, Chinese labour would gradually disappear and perhaps it would increase the price. I don't think the scarcity of Chinese would be such as that their wages would approximate to that paid for white labour. I think Chinese immigration ought to be stopped entirely. I believe there are questions of imperial importance in regard to the Japanese. We own the land on which ' Chinatown ' is built ; the Chinese erected the buildings, such as they are, themselves. It was considered temporary. I wanted to get them outside of the town. I removed them. We get $50 or $60 a month for the whole of ' Chinatown.' It is unsatisfactory to me. They have been>^there sixteen or seventeen years. They tried to bu)' lots in the city. They offered very good prices on it. I refused. I refused to sell to them anywhere. As the Chinese gradually dedrease the white labour would increase. I would try and maintain a standard of wages. If today you removed all our Chinese we would either have to reduce our wages or shut down. I always deprecated labour being brought in to reduce wages. I set my face against bringing the scale of wages down. We don't want to take every cent there is in the business. I have no doubt the miners' unions would do all they could to prevent wages coming down. Q. Referring to the condition of the labour market in a large business like yours, don't you think the industrial conditions in regard to the rate of wages should be left to settle themselves without any interference from the Legislature in the way of re- striction of any kind ? — A. That, I presume, points to the question of the minimum wages. Speaking as a superintendent of a company I say that a wage be paid to a man upon which he can live respectably and support a family respectably. The wages should be governed on what a family can be brought up on respectably. Employers and men have to meet as far as possible each other's views. An employer may reduce wages by small degrees now and again until you are ashamed to look a workman in the face ; until the workman cannot tell where his bread is to come from for the next day. That is the effect of the importation and employment of cheap alien labour. I may say that it is my earnest hope that such a time may never come in this country, and in order to prevent that, I would rather that no such labour should come in. Q. Do you think it is proper a distinction should be made between one class and another ? — A. That has been attempted but it has been brought about by agreement. There has been no legislation in England that I know of to prevent immigration. Q. Do you know of any country where that idea is seriously entertained — the question of prohibition of immigration and the minimum wage ? — A. I have not gone into the question of legislation and the minimum wage. I take the general ginund. 76 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 from my point of view it is more satisfactov}- to the people to have such a thing as a minimum wage and then employees are adequately paid. j r •<.!, Q. Would vou prefer to deal with organized labour in preference to dealing with unorganized labour?— A. Yes, most emphatically I prefer to deal with organized labour. I have a copy of the Company's apeement with the union which I have pleasure in handing you. This agreement, Exhibit 2-5, follows : — i Tv/r- • :Memorandum of agreement entered into between the New Vancouver Coal Minmg and Land Company, Limited, and the Miners and Mine Labourers' Protective Associa- tion of Vancouver Island, this 24th day of July, 1«91. 1st. The Company agrees to emplov miners and mine labourers only who are already members of the Miners and Aline Labourers' Protective Association, or who, within a reasonable period after employment, become members of the Association. 2nd. The Company agrees to dismiss no employee who is a member of the Associa- tion without reasonable cause. 3rd. The association agree that under no consideration will they stop work by strike without exhausting all other means of conciliation available. 4th. The Association agree that they will not interfere with the Company m employ- ing or discharging emplovees. 5th. The Association shall comprise all men employed underground, exceptmg officials and engine drivers, and above ground all day labourers, not officials, engine drivers or mechanics. 6th. This agreement can be terminated by 30 days' notice on either side. For the Xew Vancouver Coal ISIining and Land Company, Limited. Francis Deans Little savs : I am General Manager of the Wellington ColUery Company. The mines are at Extension or South Wellington, Alexandra and Union. The Alexandra is not working now, it ceased last December. At the time it stepped working we did not employ Chinese underground. We employed above ground about twenty, and ninety miners, all whites. In all, about one hundred and fifty white men, ^Ve paid Chinese" abo^e ground for tenhours i?l, and for firemen for twelve hours, .sl.iJO, and dumpers, .SI. 50 for eight hours. We never employed Chinese underground at Alexandra, ^^'e employed them underground at one time in all other mines. We employed them in the Extension till last year. It was an experiment on Mr. Dunsmuir's part. " He appeared to think he could run as cheaply without them as with them ; not a \'ery good result financially. The expense was increased. It cost nearly double in track^laying pushing and that class of labour generally. I have failed to find a single white man that will do the work of t^\■o Chinamen at this class of work, and some Chinamen will do at that work as much as white men. I do not agree with Andrew Bryden when he says a good white pusher is equal to two Chinamen, or when he says ' It would not be advisable for the management to go back to Chinese underground.' We have worked a mine, Ko. 2, with all Chinese, and never a man killed in it. It ran for eight years. The Chinese did all the work in connection with the mining, except one overnian and two firemen to examine for gas. There were about one hundred and fifty Chinese working there and only required the three white men. We found it quite satisfactory in every "way. I do not consider the Chinese any more dangerous than whites. I think they are a little more careful. They won't take risks. In case of accident they are not a bit more subject to panic. We employ here nine hundred men, of whom one-half are Chinese and .Japanese ; namely, about one hundred Japanese and the rest Chinese. We do not employ them all. We employ the labourers ; of these 450 Japanese and Chinese, we employ 30 Japanese and 135 Chinese. For section men we use one white man to five or eight Chinamen. None of the helpers in the mines are employed by us. They are paid by the miners. The price varies from i?1.25 to 81.50, We C(Jntract by the ton. We pay 75 cents per ton of 2,500 pounds. The miners a\era"e from S3 to -83.50 and some as high as 85 a day. We pay mule drivers (whites) 82. 50" and Chinamen 81.50. The Chinamen do not manage quite so well. The intention was to exclude the Chinese here. It is better the way it is financially. I ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION Tl SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 would not change. Mr. Dunsmuir wants to change. I do not agree with this new idea of his. We brought out two hundred Scotch miners, and they were no good. We have twenty left. I do not know where they went to and I do not care. I do not think one-third of them ever dug coal in their life. Very few paid their passage. They were supposed to pay $70 each for the passage, but never did. Many of them went to Seattle at once. They never came here at all. Mr. Dunsmuir spent $15,000 on them. I do not think he got $3,000 back. I paid $3 a day for a $1 day's work to some of them. I was longing for the Chinamen. The Chinese and Japanese are about alike. The Chinaman is a little stronger ; the Japanese smarter and quick. The Chinese are good and faithful. I never saw one druHk. Very few of the Chinese have their families here, only three or four of them have. I don't think they send very much to China ; they save for a while and make a trip home and most of them come back, and when they go home they take their savings with them. I don't think they will everTjecome assimilated. They are wanted in this country for a while yet to get the country ahead. There are lots of industries here that would drop at once if they were driven out for several years yet ; I think it is necessary for them to be in the country for ten years yet ; then it would be time enough to take steps. I don't see any object in keeping them out, only the labour trouble. I think there should be no restriction whatever, and speaking for myself, I do not think the time will ever come when there should be restriction. Q. Then, do you think the country would be better off supplied with that class of people than with white people ? — A . Altogether, no. Q. What do you mean 1 — A. I mean to prepare the country for labour, and the country wants that class of labour to develop it. Q. Why cannot white men do the labour of developing I — A. A white man won't do it, so why not employ them as well as anybody 1 Q. Do you think there is no object in trying to get a permanent class of white labourers here 1 — A. I think so. Under restriction they will never come together with the whites. They will be always as they are now, labourers clearing land, and getting things into shape to help the whites. Q. They make good miners 1 — A. Yes ; we never get a Chinaman in a mine unless we cannot get a white man, except as a helper. We have worked a mine altogether with Chinese to our satisfaction. They are quite competent to do that class of work. If there is any scarcity of white men we take the Chinese, to do the same work as white miners. There are only sixteen Chinese who do mining in the whole mine. We have had 150 actually mining. It worked all right. Q. So, if the Chinese came in in sufficient numbers it would be best, I suppose you will say, to supersede the white miner ? — A. It would. Q. What would be the object ? — A. We would pay them just the same. Q. Do you think that would be desirable ? — A. No. Q. Why not ? — A. I would rather have the whites than the others. Q. If they do the work as good why not let tliem do it ? — A. I do not know it would make much difierence. Q. You think as long as you get out the coal or the ore it would be as much in the interests of the country to get it out by common Chinese labour as by common white labour ^ A. I do not see it would make much difference myself ; they spend nearly as much money as the whites. As long as we pay the same money for it it makes no difference. Q. They make good outside labourers ! — A. Yes, first class. Q. So all the outside labour except overseeing could be done by Chinese ?— A. It is done now all over. Q. So, really, if there were enough of the Chinese here in the country you could run your whole mining as you did No. 2 ?— A. You would have to have your machinists and blacksmiths white men. 78 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Q. That would be, as far as the country is concerned, as good and profitable ?— A. Yes, just the same ; the only difference is in the labour part. We would only have so much done. Q. Are there enough here now 1 — A. I think there are enough. Q. Have you had any difficulty in getting all you wanf! — A. No, sir. Q. Suppose no more were allowed "to come in, would you have any inconvenience ] — A. Not unless I wanted to extend the work. Q. So, although you would not suffer any inconvenience if no more came into the country, you are still in favour of more coming 1 — A. I say, make it free to everybody. Let them come and let them go ; that is my view. That's the view I always held and see no reason to change my opinion. I have been connected with coal mines since '64, and manager for thirteen years. The white man can take on as helper whom he pleases. We had plenty of Scotch miners here before ; they came here about ten years ago and are here yet. It would take the Scotch miner six months to become a skilled miner here. We guarantee to make their wages "^Z a day on dead work. We pay so much a yard for deficient work. It runs all the way from $1 to §10 a yard, besides the tonnage, the rate on which is equivalent to the rate on a ton of coal. Q. Is your white labour steady l — A. Well, we have had it quite steady for quite a while. In five hundred men you have some moving now and again. We have had it steady for quite a while. Q. Where do the white labourers go to 1 — A. To Washington and Extension. Q. Do they go fishing ? — A. No. Q. Do they go mining ? — A. Yes, the Yukon took quite a number from here. Q. Could you afford to pay white labour and still have reasonable profit in the business'^ — A. If we paid $2.-50 a day instead of $1 there would not be any profit left. Q. Do you know what class of labour they employ on the American side 1 — A. They work ten hours a day and they get lots of men to work that time. The mule driv'ei' there will get •'^1.75 a day for ten hours ; so we are paying the Chinese here more than they pay the white labour over there for that class of labour. That is in Washing- ton State. I cannot tell what Washington miners get per ton. The labour only I talk about. Different mines will have different tonnage. There is one instance they pay 81.7.J a day for mule drivers for ten hours' work, and we pay §2.50 a day for eight hours' work. There is one example ; and the other things are about the same proportion. (.J. Does that ten hours represent the time from the surface until the miner gets back to the surface 1 — A. I do not know, but that is what it is here, eight hours from the surface and back, for all classes underground, and on the top ten hours. There is not much profit now. Down at San Francisco the oil makes a difference. The output of our mines and the mines of Washington State does not affect the market but little. Australian coal affects it a little ; not much. Very little coal comes from Scotland. There is still coal coming from Wales. Q. If the other coal mining companies in this country excluded the Chinese, do you think it would be better all round, and that they will be enabled to continue to mine with white labour at a profit 1 — A. They ai-e not in the market at all. They are simply sending coal to two parties under contract. It would not make any difference to them. We have not the regulating of prices there. Washington State and others have the regulating of that. We cannot do it. I have never heard a single objection to working with Chinese or Japanese. I never heard any complaints. Q. Have men never made any request to 3'iju for the emplojmient of white men exclusively under ground ? — A. No, sir, only the Miners' Union in Nanaimo ; that body they have now. Q. Do your miners belong to the union 1 — A. T do not kno\\-, I am sure. They might be union men and they might not. Q. Have they ever asked you to employ white men only? — A. Who? Q. The Miners' Unifm? — A. Oh, we hear from them regularly. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 79 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Q. You have no reason to doubt that their demands aie in the public interest"? — A. They are in their own interests. Q. If it were possible to bring in a lot of white labour to the coast — the Chinese labour because it is cheaper — you would prefer it ? — A. I suppose I would prefer the cheap labour. I do not care what labour it is so long as it is good labour. Q. I suppose you would not go in for any more assisted immigration 1 — A. No, I have had two spells of that. I do not know which was the worst, the niggers or the Scotch miners. We brought sixty-five niggers from Pittsburgh and Ohio, and they were as bad as the others. Q. What was the trouble with them ? — A. Too much money. We had to pay their passage here and they gradually drifted away from us. I think there are some of them here yet. There is no law for the eight hour day here in coal mines. I think eight hours is quite enough in a mine. I never approved of ten hours. I can't say if a miner with a white helper can do more than a miner with a Chinese helper. If the Chinese were not here we would hear from the unions ; they do not know where to stop. I would certainly have recourse to Chinamen if we require them. Why shouldn't 11 1 fail to see that Chinese are forcing anybody out. The young people growing up in this country do not want to do that class of labour ; they won't do it. In 1898 an arrangement was made to put the Chinese out of the mines. There had been explosions in 1887 and 1888 in Wellington mine and in the New Vancouver Coal Company's mine. Mr. Robins said if Mr. Dunsmuir would do it he would do it. I don't think it was because it was thought the Chinese dangerous. They don't have helpers at the New Vancouver Coal Company ; they work partners. If Chinese and Japs were not available we would have to get more for our coal or have to stop mining. The margin is close. Cumberland is incorporated. The miners acquire the land from the company on which their houses are built ; the majority of them own their own houses. The Jap- anese pay ground rent and build their own houses. It is the same with the Chinese. John Matthews, local manager of the Union mine, said : I think the Chinese are as safe as ordinary miners if they understand English ; that is the test, and they are not permitted to have charge of a place unless they do understand English orders. They are careful, faithful and obedient. In ordinary labouring work they are about equal t■ °oa mine below ground, and has not been for mkny years. ^ !>, w^? 'r n *^« Wellington mines in 1887 the New Vancouver Coal Company and the Welhngton Coal Company at the urgent solicitation of the miners, agre J not to employ Chinese underground (they never had employed Japanese underg -ound). The reason for their exclusion was the alleged increased danger to the miners ' ' Both Chinese and Japanese are, however, employed underground at the Dunsmuir mines at Union, and on the surface at all the principal coal mines on Vancouver Island Naine of Mine. New Vancouver Coal Company. Dunsmuir Union Mines Dunsmuir Extension Mine Whites. 1,161 412 895 2,468 Chinese. 175 above ground 363 above and below ground 164 mostly above ground. . . 702 102 1 103 Total. 1,336 877 1,060 3,273 Mr Samuel Robins, for eighteen years the general superintendent of the New Van- couver Coal Company, that produced 600,000 tons out of a total production from the Vancouver Island mines of nearly 1,400,000 tons, favours exclusion at once. Mr. J^ rancis Little, the general manager of the Wellington Colliery Company, thinks there should be no restriction whatever. r j^ Mr Andrew Brydon, manager of the Dunsmuir Extension mines under Mr. Little says : ihere is no difficulty in getting the number of Chinese we require. If no more Chinese came m it would not affect us. There are sufficient here now for any purpose we require. I do not care to express an opinion upon further restriction, further than 1 have gone. Mr. John Matthews, local manager of the Union mines, under Mr. Little, says • bpeakmg as a citizen, if there were more whites to take their place it might be better It would not affect us much if the Chinese were shut out. It might indirectly affect us through the miners. It would be sure to raise the price of wages. I think there are enough here at present for my purposes. I do not think restriction would have any disastrous effect. . The Commission were not favoured with the views of Mr. Dunsmuir, although requested. In an official utterance, dated October 9, 1900, as premier of the province, he favours ' an increase of the per capita tax in such measure as to surely limit the number of immigrants, and by enactment of legislation similar to the " Natal Act," to regulate their employment while in the country.' It should be noted in this connection that the management favourable to exclusion are the largest exporters and have to compete in the foreign market. This appears from the following statement :— Of the total output of 579,351 tons of the New Vancouver Coal Company for the year 1900, 428,578 tons were exported to the United States, 11,888 tons to other countries, and only 55,802 tons sold for consumption in Canada, the balance being used at the mines. In the Dunsmuir Mines, of a total output of 804,021 tons 389,049 tons were ex- ported to the United States, 76,708 tons to other countries, and 221,064 tons sold for consumption in Canada, the balance being used by the company, made into coke or on hand. The result is that of the output of the Vancouver coal mines over 75 per cent is exported, and of the Dunsmuir Mines about 58 per cent. The point to be observed here is that the management favourable to the exclusion of Chinese relies almost entirely upon the foreign market for the sale of its product. It may be here stated that Chinese are nowhere employed in or about the coal mines of Washington State which enter into competition with the British Columbia coal mines. 90 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 The recent discovery of coal oil in California introduced a factor which has to be taken into account in its bearing upon the output of coal in British Columbia. By an Act of the Local Legislature their employment in underground coal workings was prohibited, but the Act in that respect was declared to be ultra vires of the Pro- vincial Legislature. (See the Colliery Company of British Columbia vs. Brydon. Appeal Cases 1899, page 580.) The weight of evidence points to the conclusion that their employment under- ground is an additional element of danger to miners. Their employment on the surface and in the mines to that extent excludes white labour and distinctly promotes idleness among the youth and young men of the villages and towns adjacent to the mines. The present supply of Chinese labour is sufficient to meet the demand for the pre- sent and for years to come. The evidence of those principally concerned justifies the conclusion that further restriction, or even exclusion, of Chinese labour will not cause any appreciable incon- venience or loss to this industry. CHAPTER X.— PLACER MINING. The total production of the placer gold fields for all years up to and including 1900 amounts to over sixty-two and a half million dollars ; the largest yield, nearly four millions, was for the year 1863. In 1900 the yield amounted to $1,278,000, of which the Cariboo District contributed $684,000, and Atlin Lake Division $406,000. The principal placer mines now being worked are in these two districts. Atlin is reached by steamer to Skagway, railway to Bennett and then by steamer. It is distant from Victoria about one thousand miles. There are about 3,500 in this district engaged in mining ; all are whites. In Cariboo district during the season of 1900 there were about 150 companies working, large and small, employing about twelve hundred men, about one-half of whom are Chinese ; this does not include the claims worked by Chiijese on royalty and under lease, which would probably increase the number of Chinese engaged in placer mining to over one thousand. John D. Graham, a resident of Atlin, gave evidence at Victoria. He said : I reside at Atlin, one thousand miles from Victoria. It is reached by water by steamer to Skagway, railway to Bennett and then by steamer. It is a mining district, placer and quartz mining. There were last year engaged in mining 3,500, roughly speaking. During the summer the population is large ; in winter it is reduced. The population is all white. No Chinese or Japanese are there. There were Japanese last year, mostly engaged in the restaurant business. They were mostly frozen out and got out. We got married women to do the work. We do it ourselves if we cannot get white women to do it. I am opposed to the Chinese in the mining district because he works at reduced wages. He works for less and lives on less. I have lived in the Province since 1887. I think it would be better for the white man if the immigration of Chinese into the country were prohibited. There would be more openings for the white man. It seems to be human nature to go to the cheapest market. I know myself when I came here first I could get nothing to do for the simple reason that the market was filled with Chinese. They work for less than I could work and live. Q. Would it be for the benefit of the industry of placer mining to have cheap labour 1 — A. I think it would be better to have our mines worked by white labour. The Chinese take all they can out of the placer mines and it is almost impossible to get any money out of them. It might be a benefit for those engaged in hydraulic mining to have cheap labour, but the question is, what is cheap labour 1 Last year there were from eight hundred to a thousand men engaged in the installation and working of hydraulic plant, and the rest of the men were engaged in ordinary placer mining. Q. What distinction do you draw between the Chinese and the Japanese ? — A. I would rather deal with the Japanese. They are a more manly class of people. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 91 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Q. In your opinion are there any mining claims not being worked by reason of the cost of labour ■? — A. No, sir. In some cases capital has been lacking, but I believe it has been provided for. In 1899 we were overstocked with men. The placer mines of Cariboo (except hydraulic mining on a large scale) are worked by Chinese ; sometimes on royalty and in some cases under leases. Major Charles F. J. Dupont, who owns some placer claims that are worked by Chinese, said : I know that hundreds, perhaps thousands, at least a considerable per- centage of the Chinese in British Columbia, are engaged in work that not only does not interfere with white men, but produces wealth within the province. In placer mining the Chinese are content if they make from $1 to $1.50 a day ; white men will not look at that. Then the Chinese are consumers of table goods, purchase their supplies at the stores of white men. They purchase rubber boots, carpenters' tools and nails. They are large purchasers of provisions. They travel largely by our railways and steamers. I have some Chinese working on royalty for me. I had sixty in my own employ last year. They did not make a dollar a day, yet they are quite content to do the work this spring. I never could have worked without the Chinese. I have a white man in charge of each gang of Chinamen, and he checks the produce each night. He checks what each man produces. Two per cent has to go to the government, and the balance goes to the benefit of the country. I know these men are anxious to go to work this spring and contracts have been made with some of them. They do not interfere certainly with the white men. I was Managing Director of a company engaged in a large work, expending about $400,000 on the South Fork of the Quesnel River. We paid white men $2.75 a day ; that was for shovel work ; skilled men we paid more. The ordinary pick and shovel workmen were paid that. The pick and shovel men struck for $3 a day. They were under the impression that we were at their mercy, and that we could not get any other men to perform the work, but we employed Chinese for a while, until the white men came to reasdn and were content to resume work at $2.75 a day ; then we dispensed with Chinese labour. The Honourable James Reid, senator, who has resided in Cariboo for 38 years, stated that placer mining is the chief industry. The ConsoHdated Cariboo is in that district. There are from five to six hundred Chinese in that district. More than one- half of these work their own claims. The others are cooks, gardeners, and farm labourers. The Chinese were employed in the Cariboo Consolidated. They gave place to Japanese who worked for less and were more available at that time. The Chinese have been there as long as I have been there. The Chinese have been useful. We could hardly have got along without them. I think we could do with a few more of them, for the present. Q. In what way is the Province benefitted by the Chinese working at placer min- ing ? — A. lam up and down all the time and I come in touch with a great many Chinese. Hundreds of dollars are taken out of the ground and put in circulation by the Chinese. A Chinese will work as long as he earns his board. He will keep along with the expectation of doing better. Sometimes they make from $8 to $10 a day, working hard all the time. Often they will not make more than their board, and they will still work on ; but a white man will not do that. As soon as it goes below the ordinary wages of the country a white man quits.* Q. How does the Chinese money get into circulation 1 — A. I find when the Chinese do well they live' well. They buy chickens and eggs and beef and pork. Q. Do they travel much from one place to another •?— A. They do in search of mining grounds. They are continually hunting up abandoned places and working them. All the valuable ground is worked out in placer mining. The upper part has all been worked out. It now requires capital to go to work and develop the deeper grounds. The Chinese only go down a very Uttle distance, and it will only require mining to go down two or three feet to come to pay dirt. Notably has that proved to be the case m the Cariboo Consolidated Company. Chinese excel in pick and shovel work and m run- ning cars. 92 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Dennis Murphy, of Ashcroft, M.L. A., says : I was born in the Cariboo country and lived there till I was sixteen, and am up there every summer. I am pretty familiar with the conditions there. The placer mines are carried on by both whites and Chinese ; the largest concerns by whites. The largest company there is the Cariboo Consolidated. They employ over a hundred all told ; no Chinese, except cooks, but from thirty to forty Japs. I think there are about 1,500 or 2,000 Chinese in the Cariboo, and about 1,000 engaged in the placer mining. They generally work for themselves. I don't think the whites employ them except for placer mining. The Chinamen are employed in the old worked out placers and they pr.ospect just as whites do, and take up claims as whites do. Leicester Bonnar, of Barkerville, in the Cariboo District, said : There are no Japanese around Barkerville. There are from 200 to 300 Chinese according to the sea^ son. About half work for themselves and half for wages. A Chinaman gets $2 and $2.25 a day and boards himself. They are not particular how long they work ; I should think a twelve hour shift. Whites are paid $3 and $3.50 and board themselves. He would pay $30 a month for board. I was speaking of twenty mile radius from Barker- ville. The British white labourer — that is the permanent miner — is not interfered with by the Chinese. I was manager of the Cariboo Gold Fields Company. They employed from 60 to 180 men ; of these about 100 out of 180 were whites. That was during construction. Afterwards we employed about 30 whites and 15 or 20 Chinamen. The proportion in other mines would be about the same. It is sixty miles from Barkerville to the Consolidated Cariboo. They employ 200 men all told ; of these about 100 are whites and 100 Japanese. Barkerville is 286 miles by road from the Canadian Pacific Railway. Our company operated since 1895, open hydraulic, and the largest, after the Cariboo Consolidated. The company expended there $500,000. It is putting in plant now. There are four or five companies adjoining. They have expended about $100,000 apiece. Chinese labour is an absolute necessity. The length of the mining season in hydraulic mining is about 90 days. The men have to pay their way up. ' It takes four days each way and costs $64 from Ashcroft to Barkerville and return. I am an Englishman. I don't consider Chinese good citizens. My feelings are against Chinese. I would clear the lot out. If they are allowed they will take the field from us. They can live cheaper than whites. From a business standpoint I favour Chinese. From a citizen's standpoint I oppose them. I think there are plenty of Chinese there now. Thev avp. trained to the business. They have been there a long time. I should say there are plenty in the country now. They have cleaned out the placer mines. They live on nothing. I think it would be a good scheme to stop Chinese taking up lands, and keep Canada for Canadians. Cariboo is fairly prosperous. If there was a permanent class of settlers it would be better for all, employers and employees. It is the permanent settlers we want. If they were all whites it would be far better for the country. Edmund B. Kerby, general manager of the War Eagle and Centre Star, says : My experience has extended through the Western States and Mexico, in connection with mines and mining work, for the last fifteen years. As to placer mines, so far as I have been able to learn, they seem to have gone into placer mines that white men thought were worked out, or would languish until finally they would accept the offer of Chinese gangs to work them for them, and work them in their own way. They lease the property and pay a lump sum as" a royalty. I have generally understood that a running royalty was unsuccessful because no one could get at the exact amount that the Chinese took out of the placers. All the bargaiijing is done by one Chinaman, and he deals for the gang. It has been considered an advantage to the owners, but I do not know that it has been any advantage to the district. I do not think myself it would be well to have placer mining carried out by Chinese all over the country. The Chinese are working placers and taking a large amount of money, hundreds of thousands of dollars, out of the country, and that undoubtedly has an effect on the whole community. Perhaps it will be well to leave the placers unworked until white labour could be got to work them. The Chinese get most of their supplies from their own people, and deal very little with white men. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 93 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 SUMMARY. In the early history of placer mining, after the richer claims were worked out, the white miners left the placer diggings in great numbers, leaving large numbers of Chinese, who continued to work the abandoned surface claims. In future the industry will depend upon the deep placer mines, which will be worked largely by machinery. A large part of the earnings of the Chinese in this industry have in the past been sent to China, and it is a question whether it would not have been better to have left these abandoned claims to have been worked at a later stage by machinery and white labour. There are no Chinese engaged in placer mining in the Atlin country, or the Yukon Territory. In Cariboo, Chinese have been engaged in placer mining from the commencement of this industry. The richer placers were worked out and the Chinese now work over the old claims and take up new claims, sometimes working on royalty, but mostly on their own account. They are largely employed in the open hydraulic mines, except in the Cariboo Consolidated, where Japanese and whites are employed. These mines are situated, many of them, 150 to 300 miles north of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the difficulty of obtaining good white labour is very great. The mining season lasts only about ninety days. It takes from four to six days each way from Ashcroft to get in ; and for a return ticket costs $64 from Ashcroft to Barkerville. Under the present conditions of the labour market there, the Chinese are a necessity. Those there are trained to the business, and are sufficient in numbers to meet the demand. Exclusion of further immigration of Chinese will not affect this industry. CHAPTER XI.— LODE MINING. This industry has steadily increased since 1887. In that year the output was $26,547 ; in 1892 it had reached $100,000 ; in 1893 nearly $300,000 ; in 1894 nearly $800,000; in 1895 over $2,000,000; 1896 over $4,000,000; 1897, $7,000,000; 1898, $6,500,000 ; 1899, $6,750,000 ; and in 1900 over $10,000,000. There are probably between 7,000 and 8,000 men engaged in that industry. No Chinese or Japanese are employed in the interior, and very few on the coast. Edmund B. Kerby, manager of the War Eagle and Centre Star, says : There are no Chinese or Japanese employed in those mines, nor have they ever been employed under my management. We have a large hotel up there in which at one time some Chinese were employed. They were employed in the laundry, and perhaps a couple of Chinese around cleaning up the bunk houses ; that was not in the mining company, or anything to do with the mining company. When we operated the hotel or boarding house we had two ; the parties to whom we leased it have one as a cook. Outside of that they are not used, except for domestic service among the members of the staff. I have had a large experience in mines on the other side. I have never known the employment of any Chinese except in pla-cer mines ; that holds good all over the coast. My headquarters were in Colorado, but I had worked pretty much all through the Western States in connection with mines and mining work. I do not see that any inconvenience would result at present if no more Chinese came in. I do not think myself that it is for the best interests of the community to have an unlimited supply of Chinese or Japanese labour coming into the country. My impression is that the plan we have adopted in the United States has worked out fairly well. As to their being employed in rock or quartz mines, I have never seen the question raised. In the first place, their ability as miners would be rather deficient, and physically they are not nearly as strong as white men. Then, for another reason, their limited knowledge of English would make them a little harder to train as miners ; and I suppose were mine superintendents to think of employing Chinese underground, they would consider the fact that it would lead to more or less trouble with the men, who 9i REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 would object to their being used underground. I have never seen the question raised, however, of employing them underground, so far as metaliferous mines are concerned. Bernard McDonald, manager of the British America Corporation, the LeRoy, ifec, &c., says : "We employ between 800 and 900 men. I employ one Chinamen as a janitor in the office. The boarding house is leased and the cooks there employed are whites. There is just one Chinaman in the employ of the Company. It would make no difference to us if no more Chinese came in. I do not regard the Chinese as a class of people desirable to form the basis of the citizenship of the country. I draw a distinc- tion ; I think the Japanese would be preferable, because they are more progressive, and therefore more profitable, but my knowledge of them is not extensive. , In the United States Chinese have not been employed to any considerable extent in the mines or in the industries connected with the mines. There are no Chinese employed in them that I know of. The mining industries have developed very fast in the United States. I do not think it advisable. Where these people are not employed there has not been any retarding of the development. The development in the Cceur d'Alene has been rapid and has gone on without this class of labour, and the development has gone on rapidly in other parts without the presence of the Chinese. Although the railways were built by the Chinese, I do not see why we cannot get along without these people. I think it would help to get white labour here if the Chinese were not here, and then we would have white girls — plenty of them. James Devine, secretary of the Miners Union, Rossland, says : Chinese are not employed in or about the mines in this vicinity. I have had experience in Colorado, New Mexico and portions of Arizona. They are not employed in any of the mines I ever worked in. I should certainly say the Government should prohibit this class of people from coming into the Province. They are of no benefit to the country and it would be a benefit to encourage the immigration of white labour. They affect all trades and callings, both directly and indirectly, wherever they are. They drive out white labour and force it to seek employment elsewhere. It drives white labour from the coast cities and to seek employment in the mines. Labour when driven out by the Chinese has to seek employment where it is most likely to find it. There is more labour in the city at the present time than there is a demand for. There is an overabundance of labour here. The supply of miners has always been equal to the demand since I came to the country. They make it more difficult for white men to get employment, and their presence also has a depressing effect on the coast cities from which we could get white labour. The wages here compare with the wages on the other side very favourably. In some portions of Montana the wages are .$3.50 a day ; in Washington State for skilled miners jSS.SO a day. In portions of Montana, in the great copper mines of Butte, skilled and unskilled labour are .§.3.50 a day ; in this camp unskilled labour is $2.50 a day. All o\er the Kootenay country unskilled labour is paid Sf.3 a day in the mine. There is always more labour in the country than there is a demand for. J. B. McArthur, K.C., of Rossland, says : I have resided in Rossland since January 1895, when it had a population of 75. I am interested in mining here and in the Slocan dis rict, the boundary district, Similkameen, Lardo and Duncan. No Chinese or Japanese are employed in mining in any of these districts. Where they are engaged at mines as cooks they are generally paid from •'JSO to $60 a month and board ; the .second cook gets .i?40 a month. The general feeling in these districts is universal, that the Chinese shall not be engaged in mining or in mines at all. The view is universal that they should be further restricted. Mj^ opinion is that a $300 tax would practically bar out all the undesirable Chinese ; that is the Chinese that come into competition with white labour. I think what they really desire, as far as the boundary country is concerned, is practical prohi- bition of further Chinese immigration. Of course there are exceptions to that rule. That would apply to the whole of the country I have referred to, as far as I can judge. As to the development of mining centres, I do not think it would have affected us at all if there had been no Chinese. I think as the new conditions arose we would have met them in some way or other, but the Chinese followed the white men into all these ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION % SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 camps. I have seen three or four camps started, and the Chinese always followed the white men into the camps very quickly. I have about seventy men all told employed in the mining industry. Grand Forks, with a population of fifteen hundred, has 78 Chinese and 2 Japanese, — 17 laundrymen, 26 cooks, 5 gardeners, 4 merchants, 26 labourers and hangers on, and two prostitutes, — the largest Chinese population of any other place in the boundary. I think the production of the mines justifies the mine owners in paying the rate of wages paid. The grade of ore is more in the boundary. They pay slightly higher wages to muckers there than here, and have no trouble about labour questions there. There is no reason why our mining resources cannot be developed here as they are in Montana and other places. I certainly think it in the interest of the country to exclude the Chinese. The Honourable Smith Curtis, of Rossland, says : I am a barrister by profession, but for the last two years have been engaged in mining, and not followed my pro- fession. I am pretty familiar with the conditions now existing here. I am strongly in favour of the exclusion of all oriental labour. My reasons are : the orientals are physically and mentally an inferior race, and if allowed to come into the country without restriction they will drive out the white population, outside of the capitalistic class, or they will force white people to live on the same plane as the orientals ; in other words, the white race would be driven out, or be degenerated and degraded. I hold that a servile race, or class, is not beneficial to a white race, and that has been proved by the experience of having the negro in the Southern States. And the inferiority of the orientals to the white race in British Columbia is shown by the refusal of the white race to assimilate in any degree whatever with the oriental. The opinion throughout the country, I believe, is practically unanimous. It is almost the unanimous opinion of all classes that there should be no more immigration of this class of orientals into British Columbia. In so far as industry is concerned, I do not think they are at all essential or necessary. I know of no industry that would seriously suffer from the exclusion of the Chinese. Its tendency is to keep white labour out of the country. If they were not here we would have the country populated by a very desir- able class of white people,' who would settle and develop the country. We are a new country ; what we want above all things is good white labour. I may say in this coun- try they can afford to pay the standard wages. We do not shut down because we cannot pay the standard wages, but because we have not sufficient capital to-day to develop pro- perty which can afford to pay white labour, so we do not require to have low-priced oriental labour. We have plenty of propositions — paying propositions ; the country is full of them, simply waiting capital intelligently applied. George Allan Kirk, wholesale merchant, of Victoria, and interested in mining, .says : Take the case of mines. A number of mines with low grade are tied up because of the price of labour ; there are a number of low grade mines which cannot be worked because of the cost of mucking and pushing. There is a mine up near Silverton with a very narrow vein ; consequently we cannot pay so much to get the ore out ; we cannot afford to pay f 3 a day for doing it. The consequence is the mine is closed down and a number of people — one party of Scotch people — have been thrown out of emplojrment, because the mine owners could not afford to pay the price demanded for labour. If the work was done by Chinese and Japanese it could be done for much less. The mining itself could be done by white miners, but the common labour, such as mucking, should be done by cheap labour such as the Chinese or Japanese. The machines could be worked by the white miners. I do not think that the effect of that would be that Chinese and Japanese would gradually encroach upon the white man's work, and get to working the machine. In South America the common work is done by natives and there is plenty of work for white men. Q. What do the white men there do ? — A. They oversee the natives. Q. There are comparatively few white men employed ? — A. There is a white man to oversee each gang. "b REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Q. Do you think it would be in the interests of the country and white labour to allow Chinese to come in without restriction — to allow them to come in in large numbers — a coolie class as you say ? — A. Certainly. Q. Do you think a coolie class is desirable in any country 1 — A. Well if you want to get into manufacturing I do not see what else you can do. Q. I mean in the interests of the country, do you think a coolie class is desirable ? — A. I was speaking from the standpoint of an employer. Q. What is the eflfect on white labour 1 — A. I think it has a tendency to keep white labour down in the trades where the Chinese compete. Q. Do you think that is desirable ? — A. From an employer's point of view it is. Henry Croft, of Victoria, says : I am engaged in mining at Mount Sicker, forty- five miles from Victoria ; employ both white and Japanese labour at the mines. We employ only white labour in the mines, and Japanese in the sorting of ore. We employ from thirty to thirty-five Japanese. The boys from the town would come up and work for three or four weeks and then leave us suddenly. Either we had to get other labour or shut down. I thought about securing Japanese from sixteen to twenty-one years of age. We secured the Japanese for that labour. We found them perfectly satisfactory in every way. We pay them 90 cents a day. We cannot employ white labour for the simple reason that trade prices will not allow it. If we were to pay labour at $2.75 a day, which is what I understand to be paid in the Kootenays, it would make a difference to us in profit of over $1,900 a year. We employ only three or four Chinese, cutting wood. I am averse to Chinese and Japanese immigration, but I consider that in new countries like South Africa and Australia you must have cheap labour. I think there is a sufficient number of Chinese here now. I do not think it necessary to permit any more Chinese to come into the country ; there are enough of Chinese and Japanese here at present. I believe it is now like a tap ; when you want water you turn it on, and when you have got enough you turn it off. All you have got to do is to put a per capita tax on the Chinese high enough to exclude them. I think the miners to be introduced should be men likely to become permanent residents of the country. Exclusion would certainly increase the immigration to this Province, but I do not think for some time. It will tend to make the different industries in a flourishing con- dition, as there would be more demand for goods of all kinds. I should advise the .stoppage of immigration from the Orient in the future ; we have enough Oriental labour in the Province now. White labour will not come in while the Chinese and Japanese are occupying the place in cheap labour that they are doing at present, but with a restriction on immigra- tion, white labour will gradually come in here, and the Japanese will leave the country. Henry Crosdaile, of Nelson, says : I have been up to October last, manager of the Hall Mines. I was manager for seven years. When we were working full we had two hundred men. Neither Chinese nor Japanese were engaged in or about the mines. The head cook was not a Chinaman ; he had an assistant at times, and one or two Chinamen for washing up. In my opinion the country is not fit for further restriction. I am speaking of this district. There is a large minority of people here who are dependent on the Chinese, and the Chinese in rendering them the ordinary service connected with gardening, washing and domestic service, do not come into contact in any way with the labouring classes. I am quite willing to admit that the majority of the people here ai-e opposed to any further immigration of Chinese, but I think the majority is made up of people who do not employ Chinese, nor get any benefit from their service. If you take the opinion of people who have been the employers of Chinese, I think you will find a number of them in favour of keeping the restriction as it is, and not increasing it ; but the main point I should like to make is this : I do not see how this district the existence of the Chinese that are here — in any way affects the mines or the labouring men in the country. They certainly do not keep down wages or come into conflict with them in any way whatever. They do not even get employment on the railways in this district. I do not regard them as a desirable race, — that is to have the full rights of citizens, — certainly not the right to vote, because they do not have the power of under- standing the form of government under which we live. They do not take any interest ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 97 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 in it. I simply look upon them as a class of citizens that we have to make use of, — only fitted for the service they render. They are good, servants, and law-abiding. I do not think they are taking the place of citizens. Q. Do you consider them a factor of any importance in the development of this section of the country 1 — A. No, I cannot say I do. They are not mining, and as I say, in this district, any work they do does not tend to develop the district. It is naturally dependent on mining, and in a secondary degree the prosperity is dependent on the railway. Q. Is there an abundance of ordinary labour in this country — white labour? — A. Yes. Their wages are from $2.50 to $3.50 a day at the mines ; that is on skilled labour. To Mr. Wilson : Q. As a British subject you feel it is desirable that the Chinese and Japanese should be gradually excluded, but all you desire is that it should not be rapidly con- summated ? — A. Yes. SUMMARY. The metalliferous mines yield the largest amount annually of any natural industry of the province. Out of a total yield of all minerals, including coal and coke, of over $16,000,000 for the year 1900, the lode mines alone yielded over $10,000,000. The industry has steadily increased since 1887, when the output was only $26,547, and this magnificent showing has been done almost exclusively by white labour. The Chinese are not employed in the Kootenay or in the boundary district in connection with the mines, except in some instances in getting out cordwood, and as cooks. We heard of one mine near Yale where Chinese are said to be employed as miners, and a few are employed for development work in the interior, but only to a very limited extent, and their employment in this industry has not appreciably affected its development, nor can it be said that it is dependent to any considerable extent upon this class of labour. They are not an important factor. The evidence of the large employers was to the effect that if there was no further immigration of this class of labour it would not retard the development of this industry. The opinion of those interested is almost, if not quite, unanimous in favour of excluding further Chinese immigration. CHAPTER XII.— THE LUMBER INDUSTRY (EXPORT TRADE.) TOTAL OUTPUT. By the report of the Provincial Timber Inspector of British Columbia, for the year ending December 31, 1900, it appears ; There has been cut upon Crown Lands in timber 152,486,199 ft. " " cordwood. . 19,202,900 " " leaseholds in timber 61,140,883 " 232,831,982 There has been cut upon private property in timber. 9,745,641 ' " " E. & N. Ry. land (so far as reported) 27,272,770' Imported timber 6,386,077 ' 43,404,488 54—7 98 EEPOMT OF ROYAL COMMISSION' 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 The cut for the year 1899 amounted to only 217,000,000, showing an increase in the total output of 59,000,000 feet. The above does not include timber cut on IJominion lands, and only a portion of that cut on the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway land. TOTAL EXPORT. The total shipments of lumber of the British Columbia mills for export for the year 1900 amounted to 84,210,553 feet. Of this large amount the Cheinamus mi Is con- tributed 38,365,833 feet, the Hastings mills 23,873,782 feet, Moodyville mills, 19,.,12,- 482 feet, the Royal City mills. New Westminster, which are under the same manage- ment as the Hastings Mills, 1,312,100 feet, the Canadian Pacific mills Port Moody 687 353 feet- and the Northern Pacific Lumber Company, Barnet,6o9,003 teet. it will' be seen that three mills contributed about 97 per cent of the total export. EXPORT FROM PUOET SOUND. There was a total export from Puget Sound mills of 156,857,489 feet. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 99 o o 05 a o m a O o a 3 J3 02 b-OOi-lOfNCiOI^'*-* (M -M(rocOrpt>-Q0iX>7-(rHt-in) -Tf (MCOOO»COaD=J:OODCOiO o i>.as.-iOTH-^eDcDcocoi>. CO ^ 1— (■^■*ooot>.'a5c;T— itrac: CD c €© iOiOO.-i'^-fOt--^CO(M o H cot--.ir;aooiO'*OirH(MCTi COOl rHrHC->:;= ij . -o ^-S &'5 j-4 ^1^^ -w -co ■ • CO ^ fc. • to in S o . CO • ■ • - CO .SP-I !>> ; tC ! ; : ; t~ T3 .'S 00 • . CO C3 CJ O ^ .CO . . ■-0 ate ° 61^ p. o . CO • ... CO rth Pncifi imber Co. Barnet. -O ■ - . o ■ ■ Os" O P fe^ CO O • • -* (M -co (M © i-H 35 1— 1 OS • t— 00 CO rfi ■ ■ i-H o -co •^^ '> oTo" ! co"— ^ " b^ c4" O CO . .C<] CO .CO P»M 6© 00 ^'^''" i-T eo" a: lO :rs . Tt* CO OS CN CO CO t-- be «:- 00 o V^ 00 o) CO o_ o 00 oT-jp" M ■*" r-T co" += CM a; ^2 a day. A white man with a family of three would be able to Ine respectably on 81.75 a "day. I rent cottages at 84 a month ^t Spring Padge ; one at 82. .50 a month, that is a four roomed house. I should think from sS to slO a month a fair thing for a workingman's house. I think there are sufficient Swedes and >or- wegians on the American side now to come in and take these positions. I think French Canadians would come here and w( Ilk at si. 7.5 a day. WiUiam Munsie, of Victoria, lumberman, and engaged in the sealing business, says : I employ fourteen Chinese in the mill at from 81.25 to 81.75 a day, and three m the yard at from 81 to 81.25 a day. The cook .i;ets 830 or 835 a month. I employ 10 white men in the mill and 25 in the camp. I pay the white men in camp from .830 to 8125 a month \\ith board ; 830 a month for ordinary labourers, and sl25 a month for foremen ; intermediate wages 840, 850 and 865 a month. If no further Chinese were permitted to come in I do not think it would make any difference in our mill ; I think it would naturally find its own level. It might be a temporary inconvenience. I prefer to exclude any further immigration. I do not like our country to be invaded with foreigners of the type of Chinese and Japanese. The white man with the present ci:)Kt of living here could not li-se on the same wages that a Chinaman can. I would not like to see white men brought down to that level. There are different classes of labour we could get if no more Chinese came in, — Swedes, ^ or- wegians and French Canadians. It would take some little time to get that class of labour ; it would gradually find its level. I do not think there would be any difficulty. The change would take place gradually and matters would settle themselves, — equalise themselves. The class of white labour we have now is skilled. I would be willing at any time to exclude the Chinese and take our chances of getting white labour ; it would right itself in time. It might inconvenience us a little temporarily, but in time it would regulate itself. Q. Has there been a scarcit}' of labour in general for the last three or four years ? — A. I do not think so. We have always been able to find labour. We should first of all protect our own people, gi^e the labour to our own people, and when it comes to a time that there are not sufficient of our own people to meet the de- mands, then it is time to bring in foreign labour. I wish to restrict further immigra- tion. As the country goes along and progresses there will be sufficient coming in here of our own people to meet all demands. I would consider the French Canadians coming here with then- families much more desirable than the Japanese. Andrew Haslam, lumberman, of Xanaimo, says : I employ 26 white men in my mill at an average rate of wages of from ■Sl.t>5 to .84 per day, and 13 boys ranging from 62|c. to 81.45 a day, averaging 81 ; 13 Chinese from 81 to 81.25 a day, averaging 81.04 ; 9 Japanese from 81 to 81.15, average 81.02 ; that is at the mill and factory. In the logging camp I employ 125 men at from 82.25 to .84 a day, average -82.78 ; one wliite boy at 81.85 per day, and a Chinese cook and Chinese helper at 81.75 and 81.40 a day. The total wages per month 83,845 for white men, 8363 to Chinese and 8140 to Japanese. The men pay for board at the camp 85 a week. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 121 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 I do not employ Chinese in the woods, they do not understand the work. I pay the white men more because they are worth more. I thinli the difference in wages indicates the difference in value ; that is of course altogether depending on the work they are at. I ran my mill for seventeen years with white labour exclusively, until nearly two years ago. The profits got so small we could not afford to pay white men on this outside work, that is work outside the machines. There is an increased expense in getting timber out of the woods, and an increased expense in everything that enters into the production of lumber. The price is somewhat less than four years ago. Every- thing entering into the production of lumber, machinery, food supplies, tools, everything that has entered into the production of the lumber ha? raised in price. Owing to the fact that American lumber comes in here free of duty, we can only raise our lumber to such a price as they cannot sell at. Our principal market Ls local, Nanaimo and the immediate vicinity. The Americans do not bring lumber into this town. They com- pete with other mills and those mills drop into a trade I would probably get if they were not here. If we were allowed an open market to purchase our supplies it would be even more effective than the duty on lumber. I have a list here showing the difference between us and Puget Sound. Horses 20 per cent higher in British Colum- bia than Puget Sound, wire rope 25 per cent higher, logging engines without additional freight 25 per cent, axes 25 per cent, saws 30 per cent, mattox 50 per cent, shovels -35 per cent, cant-dogs 50 per cent, steel rails 30 per cent, additional freight $2 a ton, locomotives 25 per cent, potatoes 30 per cent, butter 25 per cent, beef 35 per cent, pork, 35 per cent, flour 13 per cent, eggs 25 per cent, mill saws 32 per cent, planers with the duty and freight costs 30 per cent more, saws with freight and duty added costs 32 per cent more, these are mill saws. The first saws I mentioned were the saws for the woods. Then the general machinery used in the mill on an average I would say costs about 30 per cent over the price on Puget Sound. There is only one article we have as cheap here as there, that is the bull chain with which we haul the logs into the mill. We buy that in England ; it is a heavy shop chain and it comes in here at 5 per cent duty. Q. Is it the duty that makes the difference ? — A. Well, I think there is the freight ; of course that goes in the same direction. In the first place the wants of British Columbia are not large enough to justify the Canadian manufacturer building machinery especially for the timber that grows here. The general class of machinery that they make is not suited for the timber here. Q. What is the remedy you propose 1 — A. Admitting those articles free of duty, or putting it on the lumber, but I think it would be the better remedy — the mills would be better satisfied — to have the articles come in free. If there was duty on American lumber it would not act so effectively I think as letting the articles I mentioned in free. There is as much profit to the mill owner on Puget Sound at $7 per thousand feet as we have here at f 10. The cost to the manufacturer of lumber over there, according to my own exact figures, is 27 per cent less than the manufacture here. Q. Would that enable you to employ white men ? — A. Yes ; if they allowed me to have the articles in free of duty I will guarantee to employ nobody but white men about my mills or in my camp. I am certainly in favour of employing white men. My own idea leads me to that. I do not wish to employ either Chinese or Japanese if I can do without them. There is this in favour of the Chinese and Japanese, they are very reliable and they have done their work well ; but on the other hand, when I employ white men the money they earn — the money I pay them — is spent in the country, and my business would be benefitted by more white people being here ; the more white people, the more demand for labour ; more money would be kept in circulation in the country as well. From a higher standpoint I certainly consider it is in the interests of the country that it should be peopled with white people. The Orientals do not assume our customs or habits, nor the rights of citizenship, nor anything ^of that nature that I know of, not to any extent. If no more Chinese or Japanese of the coolie class were permitted to 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 come in, I do not think it would cause any injury to my own business individually. As I understand it now, it would not cause me any injury I think. I think there ought to be a restriction placed on them. Confining my opinion exclusively to my own trade, I think we have enough Chinese here now. • j- -j Q. What is your view as to any more coming in ?— A. From my own individual requirements there are enough of the Chinese here now, and as far as my kno^yledge goes as to other industries in the province, I think they could get all the labour they required for any length of time, but they will be better able to .speak for themselves ; but the largest exporter of lumber I find is not in favour of allowing any more of the Chinese to come in. I say there is enough here now. I should say thirty per cent of the lumber I manufacture is dressed lumber. Henry Depencier, manager of the North Pacific Lumber Company, near Port 'Moody, says : We employ 91 men at present ; of these 45 are white and 46 Japanese. We have only been started a few months. We do not employ Chinese. We never employed them at all. I am a Canadian, born in Ontario. As to restriction, I prefer not to answer. The French Canadians who come here are much better men than the Japanese. We could afford to pay them fifty per cent more. They are not worth fifty per cent more at machine work, but at the ordinary work around the mill they are worth that much more than the Japanese. James W. Hackett, of the firm of Robertson to .820 i month. I never lock a door in my house. I never knew a Chinaman who took m^ wines or hquours. I have been gone eighteen months at a time, and I would te mos ungrateful if I did not bear testimony to their honesty, zeal and capacity as servants I have had one for 24 years and one for ten years. Samuel M. Robins, general manager of the Xew Vancouver Coal Company ^"anaimo, said : I never employ Chinese as domestic servants. I have heard there is i difficulty to get white girls, but I have not experienced any. There is difficulty by certain persons and no difficulty whatever by others. It is a difficulty with th( mistresses. I think the employment of Chinese as domestics more injurious than then employment in any other calling. Clive Phillipps-Wolley, of Victoria, who lived in China for many years, says : Yoi cannot get the same deference from a Chinese servant to a white woman that a whiti servant will jiive, but a Chinese is always deferential to men. Q. You know from observation of cases where the ladies of the house would nol part with a Chinese on any account I— A. I believe there are cases of the kind. Q. They bear a character for honesty ? — A. I do not know of them bearing thai character. I know of a Chinese servant who was in one employment for many years and was trusted by his employers, and was found to have been a persistent thief durint all the years he was in the sei-vice. He was so clever a thief it was hard to discover He could cover up his tracks better by far than any white man I ever heard of, or reac of. You want me to say whether Chinese rema n a long time in one employment ; th( Chinese I know of the longest in one emplojTnent was one of the bigge.st thieves . have ever known or heard of in my life. ■ » George Allen Kirk, Manufacturer, of Victoria, who came to the Province in 1885 said : Q. Would it be possible if there were no Chinese cooks here to get co(3king done ii the private houses of the city '. — A. Certainly not at present. Q. Is the Chinese a good or bad servant ? — A. I think he is a good servant, have found if you cii\ e them decent rooms to sleep in they are cleanly. If I could ge white people as good I would take them. Daniel !MeFadyen, of Vancouver, contractor and carpenter, said : In connectioi with househol i help, we kept a lodging house in this town and we kept Chinese hel; from time to time. In regard to their being a desirable help, they are not. They mus be taught first, and then they get so independent they will not do the work. I found ther "unsatisfactory. Ve gave from 8.5 to §10 a month. Then they want more and try t run things. I have seen some good servants. >Sei ^ant girls are rather scarce, but I thin, more could be employed than at present. I say if servant girls had been encouraged t come to the country there would be a great many more of them than there are. A 81 Chinaman is not equal to a white girl. There are yirls who would come from Xov Scotia. I am from there. Tim Kee, Chinese Tailor and employment agent, of Victoria, said : Q. Do you think white people could get along here in business without the Chinese how would white men get along without any Chinese in Victoria 1 — A. They woul get along all right. Q. How would they cook I — A. They would get other cooks, white cooks. Suppos there were no Chinese here, white people would do all the cooking and washing. Lee Cheeog, Chinese merchant, president of the Chinese Board of Trade of Victorii says : Q. Do you think we would have no servants at all if there were no Chinese imm gration ? — A. Certainly. If you had no Chinese here you would have white servants. Q. How do our people in eastern Canada, in Manitoba and other places, get aloi where there are no Chinese ? — A. Your people would have servants to look after tl houses. Some few years ago our people were not here and you had servants then an you could have the same now. John W. Taylor, barrister-at-law, of Victoria, accounts for the difficulty of gettir cooks by the presence of Chinese. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION ' J69 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Henry Croft, of Victoria, engaged in the lumber and mining industries, said : Q. H&ve you had any experience with Chinese as cooks ? — A. I have had them in the house. Q. Are they good or poor cooks ?— A. It depends on their training. Some of them I know are very bad cooks. I have, had three Chinese cooks in one day and discharged the whole of them. Q. Haxe you had other Chinese cooks that were more satisfactory 1 — A. Yes, some stayed a little while. I would sooner have a white cook in a house myself because I have been used to a white cook. Q. Can you get women in this country for domestic service 1 — A. You can get them but they are not at all plentiful. Q. Then you have to pay them a very high wage ? — A. Oh, not at all. You pay • them a reasonable wage and a white girl will stay with you for a long time and give you no trouble. It is hard to get a good white servant at certain times. Edward Musgrave of Cowichan, Vancouver Island, said : I don't see where the supply of domestic servants is to come from except the Chinese. I have never found a servant equal to the Chinese. They will do as much as three English servants. Dr. O. Meredith Jones, of Victoria, says : I have heard it said people could not get on without Chinese domestics. I suppose people would be put to a little inconvenience at first. In the course of time you could get the same comfort from white servants as Chinese give. It would be difficult at first. There has been no organized effort of get- ting white girls. I think if there was an organized effort to bring girls out there would be very little difficulty, for they could be got from eastern Canada. I should say England would be the best place. There are lots of women willing to go into domestic service. The girls here are not inclined to go into service. They prefer other positions for half the wages. They could get employment if they wished. The majority of white girls here are employed as nurse maids, and people have difficulty in getting girls as nurse maids. People won't have Chinese attend to children. Where they have no nurse maids the Chinamen does the housework and the lady of the house looks after the children. Q. Is that conducive at all to home life 1 — A. No, I think not, but the fault in many cases lies with the employers. If they were to take the same interest in white girls as they do in the Chinese, and put the girls through a course of training in cook- ing, matters would be improved greatly, or girls could go to some cooking school, and it would be a very good thing for them if they did know how to cook. If they were good - cooks it would tend to make a good many homes happier. A good cook is very much sought after. They don't like to go into any kind of work the Chinese do. They think it degrading. The Rev. Elliot S. Rowe, Methodist Minister of Victoria, said : The problem of domestic service is not confined to this province, but the presence of the Chinese may aggravate the conditions here ; I think better wages are paid here for domestic service than in places with which I am familiar ; but those people who have Chinese servants have various opinions as to their work and desirability. I cannot say whether the majority of opinion is that they are very desirable as domestic servants. I have had no experience in that line here ; but the domestic servant problem will exist as long as the conditions affecting domestic, labour are retained. I heard two medical gentlemeii discussing the question this afternoon, and the views they expressed were entirely in accord with my own views. There was a time when medical nursing was looked upon as menial ; but schools were established in connection with our various hospitals for the training of nurses, and now the ranks of the medical nurSing are filled with the finest of our young women. The question of work done in the kitchen and of work done in a hospital has a more intimate connection than many would suppose ; it is just as honour- able to keep a man out of the doctor's hands by cooking food properly, as it is to care for him after he has got sick. Probably there would be less trouble in domestic service if such methods' were adopted in domestic economy as have been adopted in the study of medical nursing. It would be well if there were established some institutions, as I believe have been established in some parts of the United States, where degrees or 170 • REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 certificates of efficiency would be granted to students, when the degrees of mistress of domestic science will be looked upon with as much pride as a degree from'our schools where sick nurses are trained. Then girls will readily enter into domestic service in place of looking aft^r situations in shops and offices ; there will be institutions estabUshed for instruction in cookery and other domestic work, and the degree of mistress of domestic science will be as much prized as that certifying to efficiency in sick nursing. To my view that will be the solution of the domestic service question ; then the rush for positions in shops and offices will be less than it is now, and the home and home life will be vastly improved. The presence of the Chinese domestic creates difficulty. My experience in reference to getting employment here for people anxious and willing to work is very different from other places 1 have been in. I have not been called upon to seek employment for a girl here. I used to conduct a small employment bureau in some of the places I was in. Under the Utopian conditions I have suggested I think work " could be obtained in the near future, but I think it might be difficult to obtain employ- ment now. Alexander G. McCandless, of Victoria, clothier, said : In regard to domestic ser- vants, I think we can get along first rate even if there wasn't a single Chinaman in the country. It is a mere fact of the Chinese being here that pre^'ents white girls wanting to occupy those positions. I believe I could go east and could get good white girls to come here and work for .$15 and iJiO a month in domestic service were there no Chinese here ; and with no Chinese here, were white girls offered the same wages as they now pay to Chinamen, there would not be the least difficulty in getting all the domestic servants we may require. I hold strong viewa on this question, as I have had reason to consider it, but I do not wish to weary the Commission by presenting them at length. A. R. ^lilne, C.B., Collector of Customs at Victoria, said : I think the supply of Chinese domestics is equal to the demand. Domestic servants are always certain of employment. Good mistresses are always able to get good domestic servants, white gir}s I mean. With a little thoughtf ulness on the part of employers there would be enough of white domestic servants to fill all the demands. I think some ladies prefer to have Chinese as domestic servants, I suppose because they have got into their ways and have learned to do the work. They all come from the coolie class. Many of them I find are fairly intelligent, and they adhere strictly to their contracts. Mistresses are not at all considerate of the feelings, either physically or otherwise, of girls who go into domestic service. The girla are driven to take other work because of the long hours and ineon- siderations on the part of their employers. Dr. Robert E. McKechnie, of Nanaimo, said : I have two Chinamen in the house. One is moderately good and the other is poor. They demand fairly high wages. I employ them because of the impossibility of getting suitable white help. I think it is more difficult in Xanaimo than in Victoria, because you may say we are quite a distance from the centre. We have to obtain white domestics from Victoria, Vancouver and New Westminster, and some efforts have been made to obtain that help as far east as Montreal. Servants did not like to leave large cities to come to a coal mining town. The men of this town earn fairly good wages, and as soon as thev are able to give their children a good education they do not care for their girls going out to "domestic service. A large proportion of the girls undevr eighteen and nineteen are fitting themselves for better positions than domestic service, because of the Chinese being employed in that service. Very few girls are available from tlie white population heret It IS very difficult to get white girls as domestic servants. I think there is a reason for it ; very few white families coine to the country, and girls do not care to go far from home or from the centres in the cities, and between the two we fall. There is a diffi- culty. The Chinese fill the gap to a certain extent, but we would be" better with white people, and have the Chinese out of service altogether. John Mathews, mine manager, Cumberland, said . We have Chinese as domestic servants here. There are no girls to get a supply from. There are few, if any, girls in domestic service here. The miners are quite able to keep their daughters without o-oing out to domestic service. Hotels have Chinese and Japanese, principally Chinese I ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 171 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 know of only one girl employed here. Wages for a girl from fourteen to sixteen years of age IS 112 to $15 a month usually. ^ Benjamin T. Rogers, manager of the Sugar Refinery, Vancouver, says: I think Chinese domestic servants are a perfect godsend to the country. I have had women cooks, much to my sorrow. I have two Chinese servants, and two white servants I would not have white girls to take the place of Chinese, if they worked for nothing, if they wanted to work. The Chinese does not waste anything and the white cook will waste more than his salary is worth in a month. I would not favour exclusion because we need them as cooks. I pay one Chinese cook $37 a month. I think there are enough Chinese m the province to-day for domestic purposes. Richard Marpole, superintendent of the Western Division of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Vancouver, says : I find Chinese far ahead ' of any servants I have had. I pay $20^a month for girls as cooks. I am trying to get them now at that rate. I am satisfied with what I have. Naturally you would prefer to have a white girl cook when you have to pay a Chmaman from $25 to $35 a month, but you cannot get white girls who will stay long with you. I tried to get girls from the east, but they turned out to be very much like some of the white labourers coming out here ; they took advantage of us. We employ Chinese cooks on the Kootenay boats, for a good reason, we cannot get white cooks. These are the only places where we employ them. I failed to get servants from the east, and there are others who have failed in the same way. I will never close the door against getting good servants here. If they are scarce in Toronto how can we get them here ? I think probably the distance they have to come and the cost of coming here, three thousand miles, has something to do with the difficulty of getting white girls for domestic service. Johannus Buntzen, manager of the British Columbia Electric Railway Co., Van- couver, says : As to Chinese domestic servants I found one or two very good. Bernard McDonald, manager of the British America Corporation and the LeRoy group, Rossland, says : We employ one Chinese as janitor in Rossland. We have a boarding house. The cooks employed there are whites, both cooks and waiters. I think Chinese necessary as domestic servants. My own personal experience is, they are more reliable as domestics and the consensus of opinion here among my acquaintances is that they are almost indispensible. It would appear white girls cannot be got. I know of Chinese being sent to Ontario to take domestic service there. In some cases it would keep families out, afid other cases where families would come in, they would do their own service. There is a sufficient number of Chinese to give all the servants that are required. $20 to $30 a month are paid to Chinese. Very few girls are employed here. Chinese are more desirable here than Japanese. Edmund B. Kirby, manager of the War Eagle and Centre Star Mines, Rossland, says : There are enough Chinamen throughout the west to provide domestic service and do laundry work, and, in short, work of the class that white labour is reluctant to undertake, and up to that point I don't think they do any harm and are a benefit, and I find in private conversation that is the opinion of men all through the west. The reason being that there is a gap there for which there is no supply of white labour. The caste prejudice against domestic service is each year becoming stronger, and white girls seem to be more reluctant to undertake that class of work. Smith Curtis, M.L.A., Rossland, barrister, for the last two years engaged in min- ing, says : Take the case of domestic servants. Were there no Chinese available I have no doubt that there would be a fair supply of white domestic servants, were they paid the necessary wages. Give servant girls here the same wages given to Chinese and exclude Chinese from this service altogether, so that it will not be looked upon as a menial employment, as it is at present, from them being engaged in it, and a fair supply of girls would I believe come into the country. I lived fourteen years in Manitoba and we had more or less difficulty in getting servants, yet we pulled through, and British Columbia could do the same if Chinese were out of it. If I were in the British Colum- bia government and the Chinese were shut out, I would undertake to get servant girls in the country. Girls don't look forward to domestic service where orientals do that 172 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 service. They look upon it as a more menial work than they otherwise would. If more servant girls here were married off it would greatly benefit the country. Henry E. Creasdale, of Nelson, former manager of the Hall Mines and Smelter, says : In domestic service the Chinese do not come in conflict in any way with the labouring classes here. I am quite willing to admit the majority of people here are opposed to employing Chinese, but I think they are made up of those who never employ Chinese, and never found any benefit from their service. If you took the employers I think you would find the majority in favour of keeping the restriction as at present. There is no doubt to anyone who knows the country and the scale of wages paid if you had to depend on white women to do the drudgery, they would not do it all, or only for very high remuneration, and if immigration was completely stopped, it follows that with an increasing population the number of Chinese servants must become less than the demand. I should say their presence has indirectly assisted development in a way : that is to say, people have pome into the country and have become interested in it, who would not come if they had not Chinese servants, and the ordinary domestic comfort has been favoured by the Chinese. They contribute to the comfort of the whites who are here. It is not because of the Chinese being here that girls cannot get employment ; girls are not avilable., Fong Wing Chong says : Have resided in Nelson six years ; twenty-one years in British Columbia ; am a merchant, married, wife in China. I went home and married and left her there seven years ago ; one child ; not been back since. There are about .S2.5 Chinamen in Nelson, — 50 cooks and servants, 20 in laundries, 40 working for white men, 50 gardeners. The rest have nothing to do, — 150 ; half I know have nothing to do. Gustave A. Carlson, Mayor of Kaslo, says : I believe if we did not have the Chinese here a\ e could have white servant girls, which would be much better. There is no encouragement now for them to come to this section. As it is there are only a few here and they ^et lonesome. AMERICAN EVIDENCE. A. H. Grout, Labour commissioner, Seattle, said : There are probably fifty Chinese cooks in Seattle in private families. Japanese have been getting into places as substitutes for Chinese. The Japanese help in that line is I think more sati.^actory on the whole than the Chinese. They get in where employers cannot secure white women. Employers here prefer white help, but white help has been a little scarce for some time ; $15 to S30 a month for general domestic help ; Chinese and white girls are about the same. Occasionally a good Chinaman may get a little more, but generally the white girl gets as good wages as the Chinaman. You cannot get a good Chinaman to take a position in a family for less than $20 or $25 a month. He knows he can get it ; that is an experienced Chinaman. I advertised in Chicago and New York for white girls for domestic service. Some girls came here and got good positions, but were very soon picked up by the young men here, — got married and became good citizens. I think good white girls could be easily got for domestic service were they paid the same wages as the Chinese are paid. Most of the domestic service in this city is performed by white girls, and the service has been very satisfactory. The demand has always been in excess of the supply. We could fill fifty places if the girls were available to^iay. There has not been a time within the last few years that we could not place twenty girls at a time. The' American girls perfer other callings where the work is lighter and perhaps where the hours are shorter. Q. Does that dearth of domestic help cause many families to go boarding ? — A. It has quite an effect in that direction ; I know of sexeral instances where families have been obliged to do without help for several weeks, and finally they have had to close up their homes and go boarding. Se\eral cases I know of. Q. You furnish white and Chinese and Japanese, no distinction 1 — A. In domestic service the girls are scarce, and so people are glad to get Chinese or Japanese, but that is the only department affected in that way. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIQRA TION I73 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Do you think the presence of large numbers of Chinese and Japanese here would have a tendency to keep white labour from coming in LA. Yes, I think so. It wou d have a tendency to keep out domestic servants also. If there were large numbers of t^J^h^tTf/oIhl^r^'^'"^ ^^'^^^' ^^'^^^^^ -^'^^^^^ an inducement to people Where the white labourer goes he takes his family with him and from that source the greater part of our white domestic help is drawn. If the families were withdrawn from this market then their places would be filled with Chinese and Japanese We would rather have white men and their families and do without the Chinese and Japanese altogether. Miss Nina Kooklowski, assistant to the last witness in the labour bureau of Seattle fuA tT ^pphcations for domestic service come before me. Most all the places are filled by whites. Very few families have coloured help. A great many families do not care to take coloured girls m, although those whom they have taken into domestic ser vice make good house servants. There are some Japanese employed in households in the city. I he Japanese prefer to go to service where they can work part of the dav and get away to go to school m the afternoon. Most of our people prefer to o-et white eirls as domestic servants. The Chinese as a rule. want too high wages; they want to get from !?.30 to $35 a month, whereas a white girl will be paid from $20 to $25 a month ihe Chinese I speak of is a first class cook. Six Chinese have come in since I have been in the office, that is since November, 1899 ; 5.34 white girls have applied to me for domestic service this month ; 534 was just for one month. These are what I sent out That was the number of orders for girls. I am sure there were 500 places filled anyway' Sometimes there is a scarcity and at other times the supply is equal to the demand Friday and Saturday I find that girls are scarce. I can get whatever number of girls I want. I think I could get two hundred girls all right. I have about fifty orders now ihe proportion of Chinese and Japanese to whites is very small indeed There are other employment agencies in the city. Many families go to the Chinese and Japanese boarding houses. The figures I have given only apply to our own office. Very few famihes care to take Japanese help, and as to the Chinese, they want very high wages, and families do not care about taking them and paying such high wages. Last month we supplied in the neighbourhood of four hundred girls with places Quite a number apply for places to do washing, scrubbing and the like. The wao-e paid IS $1.50 a day and the hours of labour are from eight until five o'clock. Quite^a number of girls come from the east, from Minnesota and around there. Quite a number of girls came from Victoria in January last, but lately not so many. They wanted to get housework. Q. We have been told that girls are scarce in Victoria, that they cannot get them at all ? — A. I do not doubt it, because the girls come over here and get better pay. From what I hear from the girls coming here, they are not well paid in Victoria. Not long ago a girl came and told me that she wanted to get domestic service here. I asked her where she came from, as she appeared to be a very good girl ; she told me she came from Victoria, that she had been working there for $8 a month in Victoria, and work- ing for a family of six. It is no surprise to me that girls should come here and prefer to live here working hard for a little pay in Victoria. The girl secured a good place here at good wages, and the family are well satisfied with her. In January there were six girls from Canada applied for work ; they came from Victoria to Seattle. The wages are from $20 to $25 a month ; the going wages are $20 a month. Note. — The city of Seattle established in 1894 a free labour bureau and employ- • ment office, and has maintained it ever since. Last year this office found places for 27,605 workmen and from 400 to 500 domestic servants per month. (See 7th Annual Report of the Labour Commissioner of the City of Seattle for the year 1900, at page 222 of American evidence taken under this Commission.) James D. Phelan, Mayor of San Francisco, said : The Chinese are engaged largely in domestic service. People who cannot get white domestics go down to Chinatown and get Chinamen. I think this is very undesirable. The Chinaman engages in domes 174 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD Vil., A. 1902 tic service through the day and at night he returns to Chinatown and engages in gam- bling and opium smoking, and in the morning returns to the domestic circle, and what the effect of his associating with gamblers and opinm smokers in Chinatown has upon the domestic circle, I leave it for yourselves -to picture. Some people have an aversion to Chinese in their homes. Those who have them, I must say, consider them very valu- able as domestic servants. The Chinese have been so long in domestic service that they have crowded out the white girls. It is one of the problems of the day to find places for our young women. I have helped myself within the last three months to establish a place, from which families could get white women to work. We got a number of sewing machines and got white girls to make up women's work, but we had to give it up. The Chinese would bring their wares to the stores and sell them cheaper than we could produce them. The Chinese have crept into a great many places and people hardly realize what they are doing. SUMMARY. The above fairly indicates the different views expressed on this subject. A number of witnesses stated that girls refused to take service where Chinese are employed, and doubtless there is some force in this. Many complain that after obtaining white servants at great expense and with diffi- culty, sometimes from the eastern provinces, and sometimes from the Old Country, they marry within a very short time, and after trying to supply their places with white servants are compelled to engage the Chinamen. The fact that Chinese servants are always to be had when wanted, and that white servants are difficult to obtain, accounts partly for the fact that Chinese are chiefly employed, although white servants would be preferred by many. While opinions differ, it may at once be conceded that under present conditions it is exceedingly difficult to obtain white servants, and a large proportion of those who employ domestic servants are dependent upon the Chinese for a supply. The cause of this abnormal scarcity of white domestic servants is not far to seek. The callings requiring unskilled labour are largely filled by Chinese and Japanese, who have thus taken the places of fathers of families from which, under normal conditions, domestic servants would be drawn. In Victoria for instance there are 3,000 Chinese engaged in various callings, or unemployed : 198 market gardeners, 48 sawmill hands, 886 cannerymen, 197 laundry- men, and over 800 labourers employed and unemployed. Can it be doubted that if these positions were filled with white men, a large proportion of whom might be expected to have families, the difficulty of obtaining white servants would be greatly minimized ? If callings usually filled by white men, with families from which domestic servants are usually supplied, are occupied by Chinese, is it surprising that there is a great scarcity of domestic servants, and how can it be expected to be otherwise until these conditions are changed ? This applies with greater or less force throughout the province. In Nanaimo for instance, with a Chinese population of over 500, only 42 are employed as domestic servants and cooks. In New Westminster, with a Chinese popu- lation of over 700, 65 only are cooks and domestic servants ; and in Vancouver, where the Chinese number over 2,000," only 262 are so employed. The Chinese both create and fill the want. While on the Canadian side the greater number of the domestic servants and cooks are either Chinese or Japanese on the American side, in Washington and Oretfon, •comparatively few appear to be so employed. In Seattle it was stated that there were about fifty Chinese cooks, and that only six had been sent out through the City Labour Bureau since November, 1899, while 534 white domestic servants had been placed within a month. In Portland there are said to be about 200 Chinese employed as domestic servants. There is the usual scarcity of domestic servants in Seattle, but at the time we visited that city the supply was said to equal the demand. It is not suggested here that if there were no Chinese or Japanese in British Columbia there would be no difficulty in obtaining domestic servants, but it is believed that if the positions now occupied by ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION I75 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Chinese were filled with white men, the conditions would be much the same as in the east. At present there seems to be a surplus of both Chinese and Japanese, some of whom doubtless will take to domestic service, and should no more Chinese come into the country, with the present .supply already there, this question like others will adjust itself to the new conditions. CHAPTER XVII.— THE LAUNDRY BUSINESS. The laundry business in British Columbia is largely in the hands of the Chinese. In Victoria there are 40 Chinese wash houses, giving employment to 197 Chinamen, in Vancouver 35, employing 192; in New Westminster 9, employing 38; in Rossland'20, employing 60 Chinamen, and other towns and villages in proportion. These wash houses occupied by Chinese are in different parts of the city, and a tenement that is not fit for anything else is usually rented for that purpose. They are regarded as a nuisance and a menace by those who live in the vicinity, and great difficulty has been had to enforce sanitary regulations in regard to them by the city authorities. The average wages paid are from $8 to $18 per month, and board. Steam laundries are also used in the principal cities and towns. As to how far they are able to compete will appear in the evidence quoted ; but it is quite clear that "white labour, having regard to the cost of living, cannot compete with the Chinese. A. F. McCrimmon has carried on a steam laundry business in Victoria for eight years. He employs seven men and twenty-three women and girls. His charges are higher than the Chinese. He pays his men from $10 to $15 a week, and his girls and women from $4 to $7.50 a week. He has capacity for eight or ten more hands. There was another steam laundry started in Victoria, but quit the business as it could not get work enough. There is sufficient work in Victoria to keep four steam laundries busy if there' were no Chinese. It would take three or four times the number of Chinese to do the work as well without steam. He favoured a tax of $500, or exclusion. It will be seen from the above that if this business was entirely done by steam laundries, there would be employed 28 men and 91 women and girls. Donald M. Stewart has a steam laundry in Vancouver. There are four there, including the C. P. R. hotel. Mr. Stewart employs from 70 to 75 hands. He says the Chiaese do nearly three-fourths of the work. All the steam laundries employ white people. Alfred Larcen has a steam laundry in Nelson and employs fourteen hands. He pays out wages amounting from $840 to $900 per month. He has no difficulty in getting help. He pays three hands $18 a week each, one $15 a week, girls $10 a week, overtime extra. He has capacity for three times the work he does. He employs white labour exclusively. He says he cannot do the laundry work as low as the Chinese. He has expended in the laundry business $28,000 in two years. At Grand Forks the steam laundry had to close down on account of the Chinese competition. At Greenwood the laundry is still in business. Before it started the Chinese charged 75 cents per dozen, afterwards they dropped to 25 cents per dozen. Mrs. Walsh, a widow, residing at Nelson, complained that she could not compete with the Chinese and lost her means of livelihood. Mrs. Josephine Marshall, the vice-president of the laundry workers' union of Nel- son, pointed out that many white women who had to earn their own living, could not get enough work to do, on account of the competition of the Chinese. This witness declared that there were plenty of girls that could not get work. jyg REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 EXHIBIT 67 B. RESOLUTION TO EOYAL COMMISSION FROM NELSON LAUNDRY WORKERS' UNION. Nelson, B.C., February 14, 1901. Confronted bv direct Mongolian competition, we the undersigned members on behalf of the Xelson Laundry AYorkers' Tnion do condemn and declare the same to be fnTurious to our business to the extent that about se^enty-hve per cent of the laundry in this city, and all in the outlying towns and camps, is done by Chmamen, thereby c^rSng the pay roll of our countrymen by eighty per cent and the number employed *° ^ In^heTundry work in Nelson alone there are at the lowest estimate two hundred Chinamen employed at a wage varying from 7.5 cents to 81.50 pj day, their hours of labour extending oyer the whole twentyJour hours, with barely tune to eat and sleep. In some wash-houses a double gang is worked, the off men sleeping m the same apart- 'ment as those working and often sleeping on clothes to be washed ; and their habits are such that we feel sure that in many cases ^ health officer would condemn the same as iniurious to public health. , . . . . 4.1, -vr • Knowincr the above to be true, we have no hesitation in saying, were the -\lon- aolians removed from the Kootenays, in addition to the two steam laundries owned by the firm for whom we work at Nelson and Greenwood, each costmg well on to .-^10,000, there would be at the present, room for five more each -employing from fifteen to twenty hands and paying a fail- profit to their owners, which we are sorry to say is not the case Trustin" that the Commission will see the necessity of immediate action, we extend . our most hearty approval and support to any legislation which will effectuaUy remove this evil of Mongolian labour. Signed on behalf of the union, Mrs. MARSHALL, Vice-President, .JOHN TEMPLETOX, CARL LARSON, Seeretai-y, I. .1. LARSON, ROBERT NIEVLAIDES. Mill" Lee, laundryman (farmer in China), says : I have been in business eight years in Victoria. Pay my men from .S17 to •'?lbi a month ; the lowest •':?8 a month. I board my men. I send home between -SI 00 and 8120 a year. I expect to return to China as soon as I get money. My wife is in China. I had six acres of land in China. It cost 8-SO Chinese money to live there. I intend to go back to China by and by. If there were no tax on the wives and children I think Chinamen would bring their ^\-ives and famiUes to this country. I would certainly bring my wife. It costs too much money to keep them here and feed them here. Sun Sam Cheong, laundryman, who has lived eighteen years in A''ictoria, says ; As soon as I arrived I went into the laundry business. I went home and came back and took it up ao-ain, and have been in it up to date. I have a wife and three children in China. Sometimes I send 8100 a year and sometimes 8130, and the largest amount I .ever sent is 81^0 a year. I employ ten men, including myself. The highest wage I pay is 818 a month and the lowest is 86 a month. I have hardly enough work to keep my men busy. I pay 820 a month rent. I am in debt now, because I have so much of debt that cannot be collected. I board the men I employ. Each man costs me about 87 or 88 a month. If I did not make so many bad debts I would earn something. Several years ago I made some earnings, but during several years I hardly make any earnings at all. The largest amount of money that any man owes me for a" bad debt is .•5100 ■ one man owes me that. That man's washing comes to 8-5 a month. I have been washing for him since starting the laundi-y business. Four men owe me about that, and lots of them owe me from 810 to 820. As to honesty, Chinese and whites are about the same. OjST CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 177 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Mar San, laundryman, of Nelson, says ; I have eight or nine men in my laundry. There are nine Chinese laundries altogether in Nelson. I and two others employ eight or nine men. The rest employ two or three men each, — altogether about fifty Chinese laundrymen. I have been here eight years. My wife is in China. I pay my men $20 a month and give them board. I pay $18 a month for rent, and $10 a year for license. I own one house in Chinatown. The lot cost $850 ; the house cost $1,500. I can't tell if $100 is too much to pay, head tax. I can't say if $500 will keep the Chinese out. I don't care. I am not a British subject. A. H. Grout, Labour Commissioner, Seattle, says : I should judge that from one- sixth to one-eighth of the work done by laundries is done by Chinese, and the other seven-eights of the work is done in laundries where white people are employed. SUMMARY. The result of the evidence seems to be, that probably from eight hundred to one thousand Chinamen are engaged in this business. They do their work well, and are, in many places where steam laundries do not and cannot exist, a great convenience, but at the same time they take the place of many poor people who would find in this employ- ment an addition to their stinted means. • This may be looked upon as a trivial matter, but in the aggregate it is large. Doubtless the work is done cheaper than it would be by white labour, but a large pro- portion of the money paid for the service does not return into circulation, but, as in the case of other employments occupied by Chinese, passes out of the country. There is probably paid out in wages to Chinese laundrymen in British Columbia over $200,000 a year, a small proportion of which benefits the country at large. CHAPTER XVIII— PART I— MERCHANT TAILORS. During the course of the investigation it was frequently stated that Chinese labour was employed in the more menial and unskilled employments, and that there was no danger of it encroaching upon the different trades and callings where higher wages are obtained. How far this is so, will appear from the examination of this and other trades, where they have already entered, and in some cases supply all the labour except the foreman. James Andrew Grant, a merchant tailor, of fifteen years' standing in Victoria, says : In 1891 there were eighteen white tailor shops employing 150 men and women, with a yearly wage of over $109,000 ; average weekly wages for men $18, for women $10. A Tailors' Union existed with a membership of 130. The first competition from Chinese was in 1891. Then there were 150 whites em- ployed. On March 13, 1901, there were employed in Victoria in the tailoring business twenty-one white men and 30 women and girls, with an average wage for the men of $12 per week, and for the women $6 per week, giving a yearly total of about $22,464. In the meantime the population of the city has nearly doubled. The decrease in wages is $86,736 per year. To what extent has this change been brought about by Chinese entering into competition in this line of business ? There are fourteen firms of Chinese merchant tailors, employing eighty-four hands in the manufacture of clothes for white people. This does not include two firms who manufacture Chinese clothing. It must not be supposed that these Chinese firms manu- facture the cheaper class of clothing ; the contrary is the fact. The evidence was indisputable, that many of their firms have a very large trade in the highest class of work, including ladies' tailor-made dresses, which it was said formed about one-third of Daniel Campbell, who is a high-class tailor, said that he had carried on business in Victoria since 1889. Wages were about fifty per cent lower now than then. He now 54—12 178_ REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 employs one hand where before he employed sixteen. Victoria then contained about 16,000 of population, now about 25,000. The Chinese competition has caused this. He then, as did other merchant tailors, went into great detail as to the cost of manufacture. He still paid for high-class work $18 per week. He had to move int« cheaper premises where he now pays $40 a month for rent instead of $80, owing to the falling off in busi- ness. He says a suit that would cost $35, the Chinese tailor sells for $18 to $22. That simply drove them out. A serge suit which he would sell for $28 they would sell for $18. Their work would not pass his inspection at all. The figures quoted above show a decrease in the actual number of hands employed from 150 in 1891 to 135 in 1901 ; in the former year only white hands were employed, whereas in the latter year eighty-four Chinese are included in the total. This decrease in the number of hands employed, in view of the increase in population, and of the fact that the Chinese engage in ladies' tailoring, and, also, in tailoring for their own people, would indicate the extent to which eastern ready-made clothing has encroached upon the tailoring business, but the fact remains that the Chinese do more than half of the ' made to order ' clothing in Victoria. John Logg, a journeyman tailor, of Victoria, put it in this way : I came here in 1889. I stayed two years at that time; conditions were good. My wages averaged over $20 a' week. About ninety men and sixty women were employed. Now the average wage is about $12 a week for men and about $6 for women. The Chinese came into competition and are taking almost the whole trade. It is impossible for a white* man to compete with them. Whenever I pass at eight, ten or eleven o'clock p.m. the hands are working. The white men can hardly live here, and they have left. Their manner and mode of living is altogether different. I am a married man and have four children. I don't know of a single case of any Chinese house like a white man's. Our business will be wiped out. If things do not change, and that soon, I will leave with my family, and leave the country. It seems to apply to other trades as well as our own. It wiU stop the flow of immigration into this country. Most of the journeymen have famUiefe. The Chinese competitor does not bring his wife with him. This witness gave a carefully prepared statement of the cost of lining for himself and family for one year in Victoria. The family consists of himself, wife and four children. Bent, .88 per month .S 96 Groceries, meat, milk, &c 365 Fuel, wood and coal, $2.50 per month 30 Boots and shoes 40 Dry goods and clothing, self 30 " " wife 30 children, §10 each 40 12 9 School supplies Scavenger Taxes Furniture, dishes, &c Total ■S662 There should be added something for laundry, fraternal societies, newspapers church doctors' bills, nursmg, &c. If all these were added it would bring up the cost of livina to $800 a year. I am Kving in a house altogether too small. If I had a large enouo-h house it would cost $4 a month more. A white man cannot exist on wao'es brouo-ht about by Chinese competition. ° ° T. B. Smith, Victoria, commission merchant, said : When I came here to Victoria first there was tailoring done by white tailors. No tailor would work for less than so much per garment, and the cost of clothing was then so high that it induced a make a better article. Q. Do you know the conditions under which the goods are manufactured in the east, with which you have to compete ? — A. No, I do not. Q. You do not know the systematic conditions ? — A. I think they have factories and they employ a large number of girls. They have cutters who get out a large quantity of work, and I think that work is done by piece work. Q. You refer to the big eastern cities, do you 1 — A. I refer to Montreal and Toronto. W. A. Lorimer, salesman for Turner, Beeton l^ Company, of Victoria, described the method of procuring this work to be done by stating that : We make no contracts ; just as the work requires to be done we give it out to the Chinese boss. Four Chinese firms do our work. It amounts to about 8300 a month in trade. We have our canvas work done by white labour. It costs more, but I give white men the preference, pro- bably as a matter of sentiment. Our house handles coarse clothing, such as mackinaw. The Chinese manufacture these. Women could do this work, but it would necessitate putting in a power plant. We pay $4.50 for pants and .S.5.00 for coats a dozen. The Chinese tell me they pay their men from .^S or .SIO up to 825 a month and board them. Moses Lenz of Victoria, said : We manufacture shirts, overalls, underwear, pants and the like, canton flannel and flannel underwear. The Chinese are principally engaged in the manufacture of overalls and pants. This work amounts from 8150 to 8200 a month. We also have a factory where white hands are engaged, 27 at present. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 183 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 manufacturing principally shirts, underwear, &c. An experienced girl is paid $20 a month. 'Good girls earn as high as $30 a month ; apprentices $10. Q. What are the Chinese able to make usually 1 — A. We pay them by the dozen. For pants all the way up from, $3.50 to $5 a dozen. Q. What kind of pants '! — A. Tweed and worsted pants. Q. Supposing there was absolute prohibition of any further immigration of Chinese, are there enough here for the present trade ? — A. Yes, for the present trade ; but last season we were very busy, and we could hardly get our work done. It was very hard to fill all our orders. Q. Last year you had the Yukon trade % — A. Yes, we had our own factory and got all the outside help we could get. Q. Could you afford to employ whites with machines at your trade? — A. I think the class of manufacture is too low for white men. Q. White girls ? — A. We employ all the white girls we can get. Q. Do you prefer them to Chinese 1 — A. We do in most work. They do better work. Q. You have never made up your mind whether you were in favour of unrestricted immigration or not? — A. No. Q. Are you able to hold your own with the eastern manufacturers 1 — A. As a rule we are able to compete with the eastern people ; in very low lines of goods we may not be able to compete. We cannot compete in the low lines, either by white labour or Chinese ; but in the most of our manufactures it is cheaper for us to manufacture here. It is an advantage to us to manufacture. If we bought the goods we could hardly be able to compete with other houses. The majority of the factories sell both to the wholesale and retail trade. They would compete with us in selling their own goods. If we were to buy from different houses, probably three or four travellers would -be selling the same identical line of goods. Q. If the Chinese were excluded would it affect it ? — A. In present conditions we could not get the labour. When we first started we had foot power machines, and now we have electricity. If we could get it, we would employ white labour. A. M. Sandell, cutter at Lens & Leiser's, wholesale manufacturers of clothing, Victoria, says : I should say we had about thirty or thirty-five Chinese engaged in the business. We average about $200 a month for the work done. They work for other houses and earn from 90 cents to a dollar a day. We have experienced women who earn from $20 to $30 per month. There are not sufficient girls and women to do the work. Men could not do it, and live. Q. What do you pay for trousers a dozen?— A. $2.25, $3, $4.50, and as high as $6. Q. White men cannot live on that ? — A. No. Q, There is no difficulty in getting Chinese to do the work 1 — A. No, there is a surplus. Q. A large surplus, do you think ? — A. Yes. Q. So if the Chinese here are allowed to remain and further Chinese immigration prohibited entirely, there are quite sufficient Chinese here now to supply the labour market? — A. Yes, quite sufficient. Q. You would not be affected in your business by any restriction or prohibition? — A. Not at all. Q. For how long a time to come do you think ? — A. For all time. Q. So from your standpoint further restriction, or even prohibition, would not affect your business, leaving the Chinese here that are here ? — A. That is my view. Q. Are you in favour of restriction or prohibition ; what is your own opinion about it? — A. I think it would be better for the country in general to have no more Chinese come in. Q. There is at present a poll tax of $100?— A. That is not suflacient. Q. We were told by one witness that the white men did the work satisfactorily, then the Chinese came down in price, then the white men dropped their price, then the Chinese dropped their prices again to such an extent that white men could not do the work and live, and these white men were driven out of the country?— A, White men 184 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 could not do that class of work — ready made trousers — and compete with the other business. I cannot speak of any but my own business. Q. You say there is abundance of Chinese labour here now? — A. Yes. Q Is that the way all the year through? — A. Yes. Q. Just as plentiful in summer as in winter ?— A. Except in the canning season, and that does not last long. Q. Have you sufficient of Chinese then ?— A. I think we have sufficient ; not many tailors go to the canning. There are sufficient left to do all the tailoring we want done. Chinese in our employ make overalls, the white girls, shirts. We send the best tweed pants to Chinese now. I do not think white men ever did it ; it was done by girls, now by Chinese. If the Chinese were deported from Victoria, we should have to go out of the business of making overalls. If the present number of Chinese remain our trade will not be affected. I think white labour is getting more plentiful. The matter will adjust itself. White labour will have a tendency to increase in this country if Chinese are kept out. John Piercy, manufacturer of clothing and men's wear, Victoria, said : We employ from ten to twelve or fourteen Chinese, who work by the piece. We contract with two different men. I am sure I do not know what wages they average ; I have never gone into it ; probably they earn $10 a week sometimes. Probably we pay out $2.50 a month to the Chinese. We employ those Chinese because we cannot get enough of white labour for our factory. We have from eighteen to twenty white women employed. They do a better class of work than the Chinese. I do not think the Chinese capable of doing as good work as the white women. I think if there was plenty of labour to be got in the city the white girls could do just as well, if not better, than the Chinese in the work the Chinese are doing, but we have not got the girls here and cannot get them. I do not think they are in the city. I think the women earn more than the Chinese, taking it all through. Q. Could you carry on your industry here without Chinese labour ? — A. Well, we could do so, but it would be a loss to us ; at the same time we prefer to have Chinese labour until we can get more white labour ; that is the position now. If no more Chinese come in we could get more white labour. With the number of Chinese that are here and with a probable increase of white labour, I think we could carry on our business without loss. I am thoroughly in favour of exclusion ; my reason for that is, sympathy for our own class and our own people. We prefer to give employ- ment to our own people, if we can get them. We do not want the others to replace them. SUMMARY. There are several wholesale houses in Victoria that manufacture overalls and special lines of coarse underclothing and mackinaws, &c. The work is not done by regular journeymen tailors, but by women and Chinese. One firm put in a plant costing S2,000, with the latest machinery, and employed about forty hands, obtaining work from the wholesale merchants at a price which was thought would pay. The Chinese took most of their payment for work out in trade. This firm was paid in cash. The Chinese found that their trade was likely to be injured, and they offered to do it for less. The price continued to be cut until the firm was driven out of the business. The hands employed were then allowed to make all they could earn at the present prices ; the girls by work- ing hard could only earn 40 cents a day on piece work, and quit. Since'that time the work has been divided between women, girls and Chinese. The work done by Chinese is let by contract to Chinese bosses, who sublet, or engage their own men by the month. Certain parts of the trade are entirely in the hands of the Chinese. Women are said to earn from $20 to $30 per month ; apprentices, $10 a month. All the employers engaged in this business stated that sufficient white women and girls were not obtainable, and one stated that if the Chinese were deported, he would have to go out of business. All, however, agreed that the present supply was ample and no injury would be done to the trade if no more Chinese were admitted. ' ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 185 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 CHAPTER XIX.— OTHER TRADES AND CALLINGS. 1, The manufacture of boots and shoes ; 2, cigar making ; 3, brickmaking ; 4, Ume burning ; 5, fruit canning ; 6, sugar refining ; 7, cordwood cutting ; 8, railways ; 9, the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company ; 10, railway construction ; 11, electric railways ; 12, freighting. I. THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES. There is one small boot and shoe factory in the province, at Victoria, employing sixteen Chinese, who receive from $1 to $1.35 a day, and four white men at from $2 to |3 a day. The proprietor, Angus McKeown, who succeeded Ames, Holden & Company, stated that eight years ago there were 150 Chinese employed in the industry in Victoria, and only thirty white men ; now there are sixteen Chinese and four white men. The market being limited in the west, it was found difiicult to compete with eastern manu- facturers even with Chinese labour, owing to the fact that many lines are required, but comparatively few of each, so that they cannot be manufactured as cheaply as in the east. This witness stated that he was going to attempt to manufacture with white labour, as an experiment, or not at all, for the reason that custon||rs are complaining as to Chinese labour, as they prefer to have goods made by white labour than by Chinese, and that they would rather buy imported boots and shoes than those made by the Chinese. The witness also stated that but for the Chinese, there would not have been such a thing as that industry here at all at that time. I do not think the factory would have existed here but for the Chinese. Q. Supposing further immigration were restricted what effect would it have on your business 1 — A. I do not think it would have any efifect whatever. Q. Would you like to see the prohibition of the immigration of the coolie labouring class ? — A. I think there are sufficient, quite sufficient in the country now for all purposes. There are only about ten or fifteen shoe shops in Victoria, employing from one to two white men each. Ready-mades practically govern the trade. There are two Chinese shoe shops, who employ three hands each, and pay from 125 to $30 a month to their men. William Smythe, of Victoria, a white man, keeps a shoe shop and employs from one to two Chinese, paying one $5 and the other $1 1 a week ; one of these he has had with him for ten years and never had any reason to make any objection to him. This witness stated that he worked a number of years for Mr. Heathorne, as cutter, who then employed about eighty Chinese in the boot and shoe manufacture. During the time of Canadian Pacific Railway construction Mr. Heathorne's sales went up to $10,000 per month. He speaks very highly of them. They made goods that were saleable and parties came back for more ; that was proof of their work. We could depend on them six days in the week. Their hours were from seven to six o'clock, with an hour off for dinner. He attributes the reduction of men engaged in this line of business to eastern competition. I think competition from the east has driven out more than the Chinese. The Chinamen never made the best goods here. The Chinaman does not make a high class shoe. About half his trade is with the Chinese. Q. Could you not obtain white labour at the price you pay Chinese ? — A. I cannot get white men I can rely on. They become demoralized. Q. How do you account for white men becoming demoralized here 1 — A. They are not good because they attend Lodges of Knights of Labour, and things of that kind. They are not as docile or as steady as the Chinese. When I want a couple of men I have to have men I can depend on. 186 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Q. You favour prohibition of further immigration of the Chinese ? — A. I do not. Q. You favour restriction ? — A. No, sir. I think white men ought to be able to compete with them on easy terms. Q. Would you favour unlimited immigration? — A. Yes. It may be noted here that this witness is one of two or three who are in favour of unrestricted immigration of the Chinese. SUMMARY. It has been found difficult, if not impossible, to compete against the eastern trade, even with Chinese labour, in the manufacture of boots and shoes in British Columbia. At one time about eighty Chinese were employed in this business ; now there is but one factory, employing sixteen Chinese, and the proprietor stated his intention to be, to try the experiment of manufacturing exclusively with white labour, or not all. There are two Chinese shoe shops, employing three hands each. There are from ten to fifteen shoe shops, employing one or two white men each, and one instance where a white man employs a Chinese in his shoe shop. This gentleman was in favour of unlimited Chinese immigration. The proprietor of the factory favoured exclusion, and stated that his business would not be affected if furthur immigration of Chinese were restricted. II. CIGAR MAKING. At Victoria th#e are thirty-two hands employed, of whom thirteen, inpluding three girls, are incidental to the business ; that is, they do some work there, but they do not roll cigars ; that would leave nineteen cigar makers proper. The rate of wages paid is that of the Cigar Makers' International Union, which took effect on Mav 1, 1899, and ranges from .Sll to $19 per thousand cigars, that is 81.10 to 81.90 a hundred. At Victoria there are seven Chinese, including three Chinese women, employed in the trade. The wages paid to the Chinese are from .50 cents to 81 per hundred cigars for making. While cigars are made in many other towns and cities throughout British Columbia, the Chinese do not appear to be employed in the trade except at Victoria. The cigars there made by them, it is said, are chiefly for consumption by Chinese. III. BRICKMAKIXG. There are about three hundred men employed in and about the brick yards in British Columbia. This number varying of course with the demand. Of this from 8.5 to 90 per cent is Chinese labour. At one time white labour was exclusively employed. That was many years ago. Then white moulders were still retained with Chinese labour. Gradually some of these labourers learned to mould, until on the coast they do all the moulding and other work in connection with the brickmaking, whites being retained only as foremen and teamsters. At Kamloops, exclusively white labour is employed. Morris Humber, Brickmaker, Victoria, says : I employ twenty-three Chinese and two whites outside of my sons. I pay the Chinese $9 and 810 a week, and a Cliinese moulder 82.50 a day. Their board averages 82.95 per week where they live together. When I started business I paid 8-1: a day to moulders. A moulder's work is 8,000 bricks a day, whether he be a white man, black man, or Chinese. Japanese are not as good as Chinese. If white men would serve me as well I would have them. At one time I had all white men. I discharged all my Chinamen and hired all white men. I got along pretty well for a time ; then they wanted to dictate terms to me, and dictate how I should run my yard. I came to the conclusion I would either have to close the yard or hire all Chinamen. When first I made bricks we got 812.50 a thousand. The prices came down to 86, and we now get 87.50 a thousand. I think it would be better for the Chinamen to stay in their own country. People would have to pay more for ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 187 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 bricks, there is no doubt about that. Bricks in Eastern Canada are as high as they are- here, because wood is higher in price and labour is higher. Putting on a tax of 1 100 upon Chinese coming into the country, looks as if we were afraid of the Chinamen running away with our country. I think .$100 is plenty to keep them out ; I think there is a duty of $2.50 a thousand from the United States.. Bricks from Seattle cost six cents apiece. If I did not get the Chinese to work for me I could not sell. I would be foolish if I did not approve of tariff on bricks. If all were- treated alike the Chinese would be all right. Q. According to that then we ought to restrict the immigration of Chinese here in order to protect white labour 1 — A. No, sir ; I am perfectly satisfied with the prices I get.. Q. You are in favour of protection applied to yourself, but not to others ? — A. I do not know. I think the protection is all right as it is. William Bull, foreman for the last witness, says : There are four brick yards in Victoria and vicinity ; fourteen white men are employed and seventy-one Chinese. The- white men are paid from $2 to |2.50 a day; eight Chinese are paid $2.50 a day as- moulders ; twenty-four are paid $1.60 a day. They carry bricks and put the clay in the mill and temper it. Thirty-nine are paid $1.50 a day ; they wheel in the brick and put the clay in the car. I have been forty years engaged in brickmaking ; in Montreal since 1870, and in Vancouver for thirteen years. At the time I came here the China- men made all the bricks, the same as at present. The white men drove horses and' carts, (fee. Q. What is the reason white men are not employed 1 — A. I asked to employ one- white man who is a good moulder, and the boss told me not to employ him ; that it would not do to break the gang. The Chinese would not work with a white man. It takes four white men to make a set. That is the excuse the briokmakers give. Q. Why? — A. Because they reckon the Chinese would not agree with white moulders. I did not have the privilege of hiring white men as moulders. Any China- man I did not like I could let him go, but I had to put another Chinaman in his place. Good white men used to come here ; they would ask for work in the brick yard but they could not get it. They would walk away again. There are some here, good practical brickmakers, but they cannot get work. White men are as good and steady- as Chinese. Q. What is the cause of Chinese being employed ? — A. There are a certain number of Chinese employed at low priced labour. The employers say it is better to have all Chinese employed with the moulders, because they work better with each other. The ' whites are only employed for driving carts. Q. What is the effect of the presence of the Chinese here upon the brickmaking^ business as far as white men are concerned 1 — A. Well, white men cannot get employment and they have gone away. Q. What has been the effect ? — A. The whole of the brickmaking now is in the hands of the Chinese. Q. Is there any other point in connection with the trade you think it important to mention ? — A. There is one reason the Chinese are employed in brickmaking. They work for lower wages ; and in addition to that, for a three-gang yard it takes about twenty-two Chinese, and they build them little huts in the brick yards and they have no fuel to buy, whereas a white man has to pay $12 a month for rent and $4 a month for fuel. The Chinaman has a hut in the brick yard that he gets free. Q. I suppose comparatively few of them have families 1 — A. None of them have families here. Q. Do you think it likely that within a reasonable time they will adopt our habits or will they live as ^ distinct race 1 — A. I think they will live as a distinct race. One intelhgent Chinaman told me they liked to live here and make money until they were about fifty years old, and then go back to live in China ; that all Chinamen wanted to get back to China, and he told me he was going back. Q. There has not been much profit in brickmaking recently ? — A. Not until last summer. They have entered into a combination which has raised the price of brick up to a fair figure. 188 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Q. Have they raised the wages ? — A. Oh, no. A moulder in Ontario will command nearly double the wages of an ordinary man. Work in this line is not steady all the year around. Chinamen's wages amount to about $36 a month. Their board averages about $8 a month. Say the white man gets $50 a month and pays $20 a month for board ; that would leave him $30. Both of them have the same amount of spare cash, supposing them to be single men. A white man earning $50 a month will just have about enough to get along. Rents are high here. In London, Ontario, I used to rent a house with an acre of land attached for $5 or $6 a month, and I never paid less than $12 a month here for a small house and small lot. I favour a head tax to prevent any more coming in. My objection to the Chinese is because of their interference with white labour here. Q. Supposing there were no Chinese here, would there be any difficulty in getting white moulders at the same price ? — A. No, sir ; we got them in Winnipeg at the time •of the boom. This is a better climate than Winnipeg. Q. Could this industry exist if there were no Chinese in this country 1 — A. Yes, it exists in other parts. There have been too. many competing in the brickmaking trade here. Sam Lum said : I worked in a brick yard carting clay. I get $2 a day. I drive a horse. I have worked at that fourteen years. I got only $1.50 in winter. I only have, about six months' work in the year ; sometimes we get two days in the week, sometimes none at all. My wife and children are in China, a boy and girl. I have never been back. I send $30 or $40 home every year. I board myself at the bfick yard. I pay no rent ; there is a house in the brick yard, 20 by 30 or 40 feet. At present there are only three or four living there, but sometimes twenty live there. It costs me $15 or $16 a month to live, $2 for rice, $8 for meat, $9 for beer and whiskey. Lum Chow, brickmaker, has been in the country twenty years, speaks through an interpreter, earns $2 a day as a moulder. Q. What does it cost you to live ? — A. My meals alone cost me from $14 to $15 a month beside drink. Q. How much for drink 1 — A. During the summer when I am working each day it costs me about 35 or 40 cents a day for drinking, but in the winter of course I do not have any money to spend on that. I have worked in a brick yard for fifteen years. Only work four or five months in the year. George Gill, brickmakers' foreman and manager, Vancouver, says : I have been in most of the brick yards on the mainland. At New Westminster some years back, four or five years ago, there were sixty or seventy Chinamen employed, three white men and two boys ; no Japanese The Chinese work by contract. At Roches Point, six miles from Vancouver, twenty-four Chinamen are employed and three white men ; at Port Haney, twenty-four Chinamen and four white men ; Westminster Road, twenty-three to twenty-four Chinese and four white men ; at Port Moody, ten years ago there were twenty-four Chinese and four white men. I heard they employed Japanese last j'ear ; at Bowen Island, twenty-two to twenty-four Chinese, four white men ; at Kamloops, all white men, twelve men employed. The labour work is in the hands of the Chinese. The Chinese also assist in firing. I was foreman in each of these places, except West- minster Road, for twelve years since. If I am offered more wages in another place I go. There are made from ten to twelve million bricks on the island and on the mainland. Some bricks are imported from the American side and from Manitoba. The season lasts about six months. I don't think they made much money, — too many in the business. The brick business could be carried on without Chinamen. The Chinese contractors contract to make bricks at prices at which no white man could touph it. The contractor is generally a Chinese merchant. The brickyard owner comes to a Chinese merchant and the merchant contracts with him, and signs an agreement and becomes responsible for the fulfilment of the contract. He gets a commission on the supplies to the men. He gets paid in the first place for getting these men together, and one of the conditions of their employment, is that they deal with him, take all the supplies from his stores. I am in a position to prove this, For instance, a case at the ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 189 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Westminster road yard, it was found that the amount the Chinese contractor had paid out in wages exceeded the sum he had made under the contract by about $300, and yet he was well satisfied at the result. For every sack of rice he supplied to the camp he charged $1 more than the retail pries of rice in Vancouver. On every pound of pork he supplied he had a profit of about 7 cents a pound. He bought the pork in the whole- sale market at from 10 to 12 cents per pound, and sold it to the camp at 19 cents a pound, and he sold to those men about 200 pounds of pork every 5 days. He supplied about 70 sacks during the month, which was equal to a profit to him of from $60 to |70 per month, and every week he cleared a profit of $20 on pork. He supplied tobacco, opium and intoxicating liquors imported from China, and he did not pay a license for selling it. He allowed gambling in the camp and charged each man 10 cents per month for the privilege of gambling. I do not know exactly what his profit was on the liquor and the opium and the gambling, but he expressed himself to me as satisfied, although on the face of it he had lost $300 on the contract. I may say that he bought a wife at the close of the season, a Chinese girl in Victoria, and paid $500 for her. At Port Haney, year before last, 1899, there were several contractors. A merchant here became responsible for the contract. The same thing was carried on, gambling, drinking, and one of the contractors bought a female slave for immoral purposes. There were hundreds who came (white men) seeking employment and were refused. I told them there was no show. They would want $2 a day perhaps. If white men were employed exclusively in the brickyards, it would cost $1 a thousand more to pro- duce them. Abel Wemkem, a German, brickmaker, Vancouver, said : I employed last summer 43 men in the yard ; 39 Japanese, four or five white men ; no Chinese. I started in with white men. I changed in the fall to Chinamen. Next year I had machines and all white men. I could not compete against other brickyards. I paid white men from $2.50 to $3 a day. I would prefer to employ white men if other yards did. Under present circumstances I would say exclusion, both as to Chinese and Japanese. The labour is cheap. Someone makes a good deal, and then too many go into it. The business is bad. The town would be more prosperous if all were white. It would cost $1 per thousand more. If all were white men here, we would have more on the farms and it would lessen the cost of living. Where I have been cheap labour meant poor wages and poor times. SUMMARY. Chinese are now exclusively employed on the coast in brickmaking, the white men having been gradually driven out. The foremen and teamsters are whites. At Kam- loops only whites are employed. The work is chiefly done through Chinese contractors, who pay the men and supply them with provisions. Wages range from $9 to $15 a week. The white foreman is paid $2.50 a day the year round. The following shows the relative numbers that have been employed in different yards at the time the witness was acquainted with them, within the last few years : Place. Victoria 14 New Westminster Roches Point Port Haney Westminster Road Port Moody Bowen Island Kamloops The Chinese usually live in shacks on the brickyard furnished by the employer free, living together after their usual fashion, under conditions that are degrading, where bites. Chinese. U 71 5 60 3 24 4 22-^4 4 23-34 4 24 4 22-24 12 190 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 white men could not decently live ; and at a cost that would not support a white man «ven without a family. The work lasts about six months in the year. ^'iiJiiTwo foremen who had had a very long experience and commended themselves to us 3s entirely credible witnesses, declared that there -were enough white men to do the work, but they were no longer employed, and white men making application for work were constantly refused. One foreman put it hundreds apply and are turned away. We desire to make it clear why this is so, and to explain the fact why the white man cannot compete with a Chinaman. The reason is that the work is done through Chinese contractors or bosses who engage only Chinamen. The Chinamen work in gangs and a gang would not work as well if composed partly of whites and partly of . Chinamen. The Chinaman does not want the white man, and the white man would almost rather starve than work in a gang of Chinamen. This, coupled with the fact that they work for less and hire in a manner which a white man will not and ought not .to accept as his standard of living, fuUy accounts for the fact why, where they have • once obtained a footing, they stay. A further reason may be found in the statement of a foreman of many years' experience, — that the Chinese contractor will take a contract for making brick at so much per thousand, at a price in which there is no profit, even by employing Chinese labour ; that he makes his profits on his supplies, which are said to be sold to the Chinese workmen at extravagant figures ; that in one case, where at the end of the season there was an apparent loss of $300 on the contract, the contractor expressed himself as well satisfied having regard to his profits made on the supplies. To hope that the white man will be able to compete and to finally drive them out ■of these employments where they have once obtained a footing, is the sheerest nonsense. The only cases where they have given place to others is where the Japane.se have been able to outbid them. One of the most successful employers in this business is in favour of no restriction upon labour. He appro\-es of a duty on brick. The foremen engaged in the business are in favour of exclusion. IV. LIME-BURNING. This work is largely done by the Chinese. In one lime kiln near Victoria the fore- man stated that nine men are employed, seven of whom are Chinese. The wao-es paid to Chinese are from §1.00 to 81.25 per day. White men receive 845 to 850 per month. l-~VJohn S. Annet, foreman at Raymond & Sons' lime kiln at Esquimalt, says: There are six or seven Chinese and two white men engaged at this Ume kiln. The wages for Chine.se are from 81.10 to 81.25 a day. I am paid 850 a month, and my assistant I believe 845 a month. The Saanich Company closed down in April 1894 because they could not compete with the other lime kilns where Chinese were employed! 1 do not know how many are employed at Texada Island. Where I am the white man is not employed steadily. For instance, I was discharged last September and the Chinese were kept on. All last season and a part of the season before, Chinese were employed as teamsters. Now it is considered necessary to have a white man to overlook the opera- tions of the Chinese. They have nearly a monopoly of all business here in labour There are only two lime kilns in operation at the present time that I am acquainted with. The proportion is two white men to eight Chinese. The general work is done by the Chinese. I have been working there four years. Previous to that all Chinese were employed. There is no such thing as Sunday observance by the Chinese. The Chinese would be varj' much put out if he hadn't a chance to work on Sundaj'. V. FRUIT CANNING. Fruit canning has reached but small proportions as yet in British Columbia ^Valter Taylor, of Vancouver, manager of the British Columbia Canning Companv says : We employ from twenty to thirty hands, men, women, girls and boys for three months in the year, if the fruit crop is a good one. We employ no Chinese or Japanese ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGBATION 191 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 "We sometimes find difficulty in getting sufficient numbers, for our work, of girls and women. We pay boys from $2'5 to $35 a month ; for men |60 a month up. They board themselves at that ; and women and girls from 75 cents to $1 a day. These wages are paid for such work as requires a little training. It is nine years since I employed Chinese. I employed Chinese for a couple of months one year during the fruit season. I would not have employed them, only I could not get anyone else ; at least, I could not get enough of white labour to keep up the work. Since that I have been able to get all the white labour I wanted, until last year, when I had to get in a few Japanese for a few days. I employed five Japanese at f 1 a day. Q. Did you find any advantage in the employment of Japanese over white labour ? — A. No, I would sooner have the white labour than the Japanese. Q. Why did you employ Japanese ; was it because their labour was cheaper ? — A. It was not any saving in the way of wages at all. It was the same to me for the time being, and the circumstances were such that I could not help myself. I only had these Japanese on the place for two days and a half. As soon as I got through with the little rush I sent them off. I have resided on the coast eleven years. I came from Ontario. I think we have too many Chinese and Japanese here now. We have certainly got enough to supply all our present wants. I do not think we are at all prepared to do without the Chinese at once in this country. I do not think we could get along with- out them if they went away now, for a time anyhow. I think with the number we have here now the labour market would be supplied for years. I am in favour of further re- striction on Chinese ; flOO is no good ; I think they will come in as freely under f 100 as $50. I think it ought to be higher than that. There are two classes of industry in every country. Where industries employ labour all the year round they can manage to get their labour and keep it ; at least it should be so. But take the canning business, where it only lasts for three months of the year, you cannot import labour for the purpose ; men cannot come here and live upon what they earn in three months' work. I would not like to see development impeded ; I would sooner see the Chinaman come in than that. Develop by white people if possible but if that be not possible I want to see it developed by whatever labour you can get. VI. SUGAR REPINING. It was stated by some of the witnesses that if Chinese were not employed there would be a great difficulty in obtaining sufficient unskilled labour, but Mr. Benjamin F. Eogers, manager of the sugar refinery at Vancouver, has not found it so. He stated that he had resided eleven years in Vancouver, and during that time the company had not employed any Chinese or Japanese labour. They employ from seventy to one hundred men, and of these 97 per cent is unskilled labour. Lowest wage paid is 20 cents per hour. In their contract with the city the company agreed not to employ Chinese labour. This does not apply to the Japanese, but still they did not employ Japanese labour. He stated that the company had no difficulty in getting unskilled labour, and no difficulty in keeping up the supply ; sometimes there was a difficulty in getting labour for loading and unloading vessels. This witness further said : The wages I pay are a little higher than the current wages. I never take back a man that leaves me if he is the last man on earth, so they generally stay with me. The city gave me a free site and exemption from taxation for fifteen years, and free water for a certain period of time. I only know of once or twice of an over-supply of labour in this province. For a long time I have never seen an over-supply of white labour, but I have always been able to get all the labour I wished for. Because of the over-supply of labour in 1889 there were hard times. That was local. Last winter the over-supply was of common labour. 192 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 I would rather employ a white man with a family than a man without a family. The Japanese I think do the work quite as well, though. ' To my mind it would not be a kindness to take a man on and perhaps he would move his family here and after a short time shut him out. The Japanese are all unmarried men and it does not matter so much to them. We get our sugar material from Cuba, Java, Queensland, South America, North America, Mauritius, Hayti, and other places. Our strongest competitors are on one side in China and on the other side in Montreal. There is a duty on refined sugar and raw sugar according to its polarization. I get my raw sugar from China. I ship sugar as far east as Manitoba. I can compete with Montreal. We export no sugar. There is no sugar imported from China. In the use of sugar the Indians come first, the white people come next, and I should say the Chinese and Japanese use something like two-thirds of the other. VII CORDWOOD CUTTING. James Edward Painter, a wood dealer in Victoria, indicates the present method of cutting cordwood : I go to a Chinese contractor to get say two thousand cords at 7-5 cents, for large timber, and 85 cents for small. He has seven Chinamen. He gives them the full price and makes his profits out of the provisions which he supplies them. I reckon they can put up one and a half cords per day, and make something like §1.20 a day. There are seven or eight wood-dealers in Victoria. All employ Chinese but one who employs Japanese to cut the cordwood. I do not think we could get white men. There was only one case of a white man coming to me and asking to cut timber. I never advertised for white men. They knew the job was open. I would perfer white men if they stayed at it. About half the wood is sold to white people and half to Chinese. I think a .SI 00 tax is sufficient to keep the inferior labour of Chinese out. I think they are a benefit in opening up new industries ; benefit to the canneries, coal mines, and in getting out cord- wood. There are 20,000 cords of wood used in the city in a year, cut principally by Chinese. With white men the price would have to be increased to •S-3..50 a cord for 4-ft. wood to get it out. It would have to be done by cheap labour because a ton of coal will go as cheap as two cords of wood, and a ton of coal costs §6. .50. Some people prefer wood to coal. In 1881 I was firing on a Grand Trunk wood train. They employed coloured men at from 90 cents to ■$! a day. In all countries they have to have cheap labour. I sell cordwood now for ijS.-SO. John Murray, Provincial Timber Agent, Vancouver, said . I think most of the wood on the lower mainland, or at lea«t a great portion of it, is cut by Chinese and Japanese. The wood business is mostly done by Chinese, and the shingle bolt business is mostly done by Japanese. Getting out cordwood and shingle bolts is all by contract. You will find a great many white people' in and around the city of Vancouver who are willing to work but cannot get work, because of the presence of Chinese and Japanese, who are filling positions that would be better filled by white people, citizens of the country. Senator Reid, of Quesnell, in the course of his evidence stated that he employed" about ten Chinese in cutting cordwood, finding them more satisfactory than whites in fulfilling their contracts. Note— In recent years at all events the Japanese have largely superseded the Chinese in wood cutting. How Chinese and Japanese cordwood cutters aflfect the farmers has been dealt with under land clearing and agriculture. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 193 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 VIII — -RAILWAYS. The Nanaimo and Esquimalt Railway Company employ from one hundred and fifty to two hundred white men, and from forty to sixty Chinese on their railway. The Chinese are employed as section men and on other work, such as grading roads, clearing right-of-way and quarrying stone. They are paid %l a day. Joseph Hunter, the manager of the road, said : We find them fairly good servants — depends on the character of the work. Where soft excavation, where no picking and no roots, they are fairly good. I would like to say, in this work, equal to a white man. ¥oT the heavier work a Chinaman does not compare with the white man. I have known Chinese drill strikers in rock work — first-class strikers, equal to anyone — but this is rare. They cannot be compared to white labour, man for man. They lack strength and ingenuity of grappling with difficulties. The white labourer is paid from $2, $2.25 and $2.50 per day. The Chinese are mostly section men. The exclusion of Chinese would not aifeot the railways. If you were to exclude them all to-morrow you will be able to get a railway trip to Nanaimo as well as you can to-day. I hardly like to express any opinion as to restriction. I suppose further restriction would diminish the influx of Chinese, and I have not taken any sides on the question. I should like to see white labour become prominent. I think the country would be better without Chinese, if it were possible to do without them. There does not seem to be much scarcity of Chinese at present. I think the exclusion of Chinese would tend to raise wages. I do not think any increased restriction or prohibition would materially afifect the various trades and callings here, or commercial interests ; that is providing those who are here are'allowed to remain. It might tend to raise wages, but we could stand that. We have got a good country here. If I were a labourer I would prefer to go to a country where there are no Chinese. There may be compensating advantages to some corporations requiring construction work. The tetidenCy is to prevent white labour coming in. If no more of the labouring Chinese were allowed to come in naturally that would increase the number of white men coming here. There is no tendency of the Chinese endeavouring to reach our standard or mode of living. They are conservative and wedded to their own manners and customs. Looking at it aside from any particular interest, I do not think it in the interest of any particular country that that class of people should be allowed to come here. I think the reasons are very plain. They are a very undesirable class in many ways. They are behind even the lower class of white labour. They come into competition with white labour in lines where it is not desirable they should come into competition with them. I would think it a menace to the country if it were found as a fact, that a race such as the Chinese jvas gradually encroaching on the various avocations, trades and callings that go to make up the foundation of the community. I have already said the country would be better without the Chinese, if the conditions were such that we could get along without them ; but I am not prepared to say that the conditions at present are such. I have already given my opinion and I repeat it ; I believe this would be a better country without them. I do not want to moralize too much on that point. If we could get along without them the country would be better off I believe. Whether we could do so or not I am not prepared to say. Q. Has the standard of wages for white men in the country been maintained by reason of the Chinese doing the menial work ? — A. Well, I do not think that has very much effect on the wages of white people. Richard Marpole, Vancouver, the general superintendent of the Pacific division of the Canadian Pacific Railway, started: That of 4, 6 9 3, the total number employed on this division, 99 are Chinese, 70 Japanese, and the rest white. Last year, however, over 300 Japanese were employed for a short period on construction of snow sheds in the mountains ; 1 9 Chinese are employed in Vancouver and New Westminster in coopering and on the wharf. They work in connection with the steamship line. In the local offices there are two. At New Westminster there are five employed around the freight house from 54—13 194 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 time to time. In the shops here (Vancouver) there is a standing gang of twelve who act as cleaners. That is the total number of Chinese we have here, — nineteen in all I think. There are two gangs of forty men each, engaged in extra work, shovelling snow and anything eke required to be done in the mountains. I think the gangs are equal, but one gang may have fifty men in it. There are eighty altogether. Then we have thirty Chinese on the section. The section bosses are white men. The average pay is $1 and $1.10 for Chinese and Japanese section men. The wages of the white man is $1.25 to $1.50 a day. That depends on the locality. The Kootenay represents about one-third of the mileage, and the employees are about in the same pro- portion with the exception that there are no oriental labourers south of Revelstoke. The major portion of the aliens in this province were employed by Mr. Onderdonk during the construction of the railway. He employed Chinese ahnost exclusively on the work of construction for the Canadian Pacific Railway. When the line was taken over we found a great many Chinese employed on the road, particularly between here and Revelstoke. Roughly speaking it would be in 1886.' At the time we opened the road about six hundred Chinamen were employed between here and Revelstoke. That was in the spring of 1886. They were gradually changed to what you see now, as white men could be secured. The reason of the change from Chinamen to white men is, white labour is superior to Chinese labour, because of the strength and efficiency of a white man in work which the Chinese is not adapted for. I would prefer white men on the line every time if you can get them. If handled by white foremen I do not think it matters much as to safety. The cost to the company is ultimately about the same. That is to say, we employ more Chinamen in the section than we employ white men for the same distance. The section foremen generally remain from year to year, and probably one or two of the men in each gang remain with them. All the» section foremen have permanent homes. The number of men under the section foremen varies from two to eight, according to the location. I do not think more than one in each gang would be married. The married element, except the foremen, is a scarce element in British Columbia. They are all transients mostly. This side of Kamloops we have a number of Indian labourers. They may be considered married as they have the concomitant. The foremen are married. They live in houses provided by the company! The section foreman hires the men and he arranges for their board. Some of them batch, but generally the section foremen boards them himself. That is a matter entirely within the men's own control. The result is, as far as the Chinese are concerned, they have gradually been eliminated from the time we took over the road, from a desire to have white men and because white men were more plentiful in 1886 and 1887 and the spring of 1888, because we brought thousands of men here to assist in the construction of snow-sheds. I have been here twenty years in August. Previous to that I had charge of the Lake Superior section, and I brought most of the old gangs of men with me. That is one reason why the gangs here are mostly white. I brought nearly all the old foremen with me. We had plenty of white men immediately after the construction of the snow- sheds, in which between three and four thousand were engaged. We had no Japanese until last year. Last year is the first year we employed them in any numbers. The summer before last is the first year we employed any number of Japanese. The occasion of that was the scarcity of white labour. The greatest number of Japanese we employed last year on the snow-sheds was three thousand altogether We engaged them in the spring, May or June. They were sent to the work from time to time as required. They would only be sent when we could not get other labour We attempted to get men from the east, from Ottawa, through an agent there We secured quite a large number. The most of them went oh to Mr. Mackenzie's road at Ramy River at our expense. I never call Italians white labour. They get from $1 40 a day and upwards. The Italians are not equal to Canadians, white men, when you can get them. The Japanese labour in my opinion is fully equal to the ItaUan, and in some cases superior to any of the labour that comes along here, that you may call Canadian labour. At some kinds of work they are as good as whites, because the white labour 0]!i CHINESE AMD JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 195 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 that comes here is generally of a roving disposition. White labourers as a rule stay with us until they get something better. It is a question of wages and locality. They are not regular labourers. On many of the sections the men have to live away from civilization, and that has a good deal to do with it. The white man also has a desire to spend his money in some town. ,Q. I suppose higher wages are paid to better men; that better men cost more money ? — A. It would have to be so high we could not afford to pay it. Wages are paid for work done, and if higher wages had to be paid it would be impossible for any operating men to work. Q. Your rates would provide for that? — A. I do not know they would. We reduced our rates the other day twenty per cent. The freight just now is hauled at very low rates, especially to Skagway and other places. The expert labour is paid higher on this division than any railway to the south of us. That is a broad statement to make. Railways on the south are employing from 5,000 to 6,000 Japanese. We are only eniploying 70. That is not generally known in Canada, but it is so. This company is not interested in employing a single oriental apart from where we cannot get white labour. We prefer white labour if we can get white labour that will stay with us. That is our difficulty. I may say we are bound to depend a good deal on Chinese and Japanese and Indians for section work. The Indians number about 100. We experience some difficulty with them in the fishing season. They leave us for a time to go fishing. I think highly of the Indians as workmen on the sections. When I speak of snow-shed work done by the Japanese I mean pick and shovel work. They are not engaged in carpenter work or any work of that kind. I do not care to express any opinion as to whether Chinese immigration should be restricted or not ; nor as to the Japanese. There is certain work connected with the railway where very light men can do as much as heavy men, but when it comes to heavy work I should say two white men would do as much in a day as three Chinese or Japanese, but a great portion of the work on the railway a Japanese can do as well as a white man. A white man on an average would be worth 25 cents a day more on section work. We have been trying to induce white labour to come here, and we have imported 3,000 men in the last eight years, and I guarantee there is not 10 per cent of them in the country to-day. The construction of the Columbia and Western was all done by white labour at high rates. It is a pretty broad question as to what proportion employed in the con- struction work settle down, take farms or settle in the neighbourhood of the railway. I do not believe that over one per cent of the white labour settled in the Kootenay section. Those men generally follow the railway contractors to other work of a similar kind. They go with the contractors and foremen. The same thing applies to aU roads. The Chinese are on the decrease ; the Japanese perhaps are stationary, but if I can get white labour I will take all I can get. Q. You mean to tell me the Canadian Pacific Railway cannot be operated by white labour % — ^A. This division cannot be. Q. On the road in the east you employ white labour 1 — A. Yes, we can get all we want in Montreal and east. Q. Provided you are able to pay better wages? — A. If we are gompelled to pay higher wages than the roads to the south of us we cannot run it. We have to employ some of that class of labour. If the road depended upon the local traffic between Lagganand Vancouver it could not be operated to-day. I do not suppose a white man with a family could live on what we are paying Japanese. We are*not encouraging white men with families to come here, because we have not got accommodation for them. Unless a white man comes along with the object of becoming a section foreman you cannot get white men for railway work here. If you were to pay very much higher you would still have to depend on transient labour on the remote sections of the road. Italians and Scandinavians are plentiful, but you cannot go to the east and pick up Canadian labour. I can assure you we have done a 54—13^ 196 bsport of royal commission 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 good deal to get white labour, and we have been unable to secure white labour that will stay with us on the remote sections of the road. In the Kootenay section we employ only white labour, because we can get white labourers there, men drifting from the hills and from the mines ; and there are a great number of men between here and Laggan that we can call on for assistance. If the government in their wisdom had brought in white labour years ago it might have been different to-day. As a matter of fact these miserable Italians they have brought out now, they are going out. I think it would be well if we had more good white labour brought in here. A great many of those who come here are men not adapted for our work. To Mr. Cassidy : Q. Is it possible that the Canadian Pacific Railway could pay higher wages and recoup itself by taking people from the east here 1 — A. Certainly not. Q. "Would it be suitable to the country ; would that meet with general favour ? — A. I do not think it is possible to raise the rate of wages in any industry in this pro- vince to-day. It would be a most impolitic thing to do. Q; Do you think it would be advantageous to Canada, or the reverse, that your road should pursue a policy of that kind ? — A. Certainly not. EXHIBIT 47. Approximate statement of white men employed during Columbia on the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. the year 1900 in British Average Rates Earned. Trainmen Enginemen Mechanical department Section foremen Watchmen Seotionmen Extra gangs Bridgemen (including foremen) Station agents, operators and clerks General office clerks Officials C & K. steamer employees Porters and checkers Total Conductors, .$125 per month. Brakesmen, $90 „ Engineers, $150 ii Firemen, $90 „ Foreman, $125 „ Leading hands, $3,50 per day. Fitters, $3 Turners, ¥3 Boilermakers, $3 Painters, $2.50 and $3 Carpenters, $2.50 Car repairers, $1 , 70 S55 to $60 per month. Yard foremen, $70 per month. At $40 to $45 per mouth. At.S1.25to.$1.50perday. Foremen, $2.50 to $3.50 per day. Men, .$1.40 to $1.75 per day. Foremen, $3 to $3.60 per day. Men, $2 to $2 . 50 per day (average $2 , 25 p. day). Inspectors, $125 per month. $55 to $125 per month. $20 to $90 per month (average about $60). Masters, $100 to $125 per month. Engineers, $90 per month. Deckhands, $35 per month and board. 20c. to 25c. per hour. Cooks, $60 per month. W. S. Newman, Revelstoke, roadmaster on the C. P. R. from Revelstoke to Donald and on the Arrow Head Branch, a total length of 108 miles, said : At the present time ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 197 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 I have sixty-seven whites, eight Japanese, no Chinese, on the section. In the winter time I have four Japanese and the rest are whites on section work. That was last winter, and some of the whites were worse than the Japanese. We have 175 extra men just now ; thirty-two of them are Chinese and twenty-eight Japanese. The Chinese get $1 a day," the Japanese, 11.10. White section men get |1. 25. The extra gang of whites get $1.40 and board and $1.60, according to the class of labour they are put at. The whites are made up of ItaHans, Hungarians, Polanders, Swedes and some Finlanders. We have about twelve foremen. They are English, Irish and Scotch. The same propor- tion of Chinese and Japanese are on the section from Revelstoke to Kamloops. There are more Finns there. No other Chinese or Japanese are employed by the C. P. R. in this district that I know of. If we cannot get white men when we want them, we have to get Chinese and Japanese to make up the gangs required. Last summer was the first time I used Chinese and Japanese on section work. In winter time the force is cut down, and I keep all the white labour on. In the summer when we go to make up the gangs for extra work we have to employ Japanese. The summer before last Chinese . were employed in shed-building. I have had Chinese here fifteen years working on extra work. The Hungarians and Italians that are here I do not call really white men. They are a very poor class of workmen generally. Swedes and Finlanders are about as good as the Britishers we get here. They are not as dilEcult to keep here as British people at the wages paid. It will take five Chinese and Japanese anyway to do the work of three Britishers. Some Italians have brought their families here and are making fairly good settlers. The Swedes settle, especially the section foremen. If Britishers were paid the same rate of wages as is paid for other work here, I think they would settle down and work here. Wages equal to the pay of skilled white labour, that would be from $1.75 to $2.50 a day. The company furnishes the married men with houses. The class of single men we have won't live in a boarding house, and do their own cooking. They won't pay the high charge of boarding house keepers. That charge would be $4.25 a week. We have three boarding houses with Chinese cooks. They are paid $30 a month and board. I have tried white men as cooks, and as a general thing when we wanted them they were drunk. They were getting $50 a month. That was during the time of construction. I have tried to get them since, but they won't stop here. I favour the exclusion of Chinese and Japanese. I favour the immigration of white men. Men employed by the company are free to state their opinions. This is a pretty difficult division to work on account of the snow-slides. Hungarians and Italians are not in favour with the British labourer here. They come here and earn money and send it home, instead of spending it in the country, that is about the only reason. Not more than one in one hundred of the Italians that come here to work on the railway take out citizen papers. The Japanese draw their money the same as any other man, indivi- dually ; they all do but the Chinese, and they are paid in Vancouver to the Chinese company. The company furnish them with provisions, and the amount is deducted from their wages. SUMMARY. There are 4,693 men employed on the Pacific division of the Canadian Pacific Rail way, of whom only 99 are Chinese, 70 Japanese, and 4,524 whites, including 341 inland steamer employees. The superintendent of this division stated that the Chinese have been gradually eliminated. It will thus be seen that on the Canadian Pacific Railway the Chinese represent only about two per cent of the total number of men employed. From 150 to 200 white men are employed on the Nanaimo and Esquimalt Railway, and from 40 to 60 Chinese. The general manager of this road stated that there was no scarcity of Chinese. Your Commissioners think it clear that having regard to the small number of Chinese employed on the railways, it cannot be said that they are to any considerable extent dependent upon this class of labour for their successful operation, but in any case the supply is ample. 19a REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 IX. THE CANADIAN PACIFIC SliEAMSHIP COMPANY. J. H. Watson, boiler-maker by trade, now customs officer at Vancouver, stated that he had worked on the steamships, and spoke from personal knowledge. He said : It is not only in Canada that we have to compete. We have a line of steamers here draw- ing a large subsidy from the Dominion Government, which gets all the repairs done in Hong Kong, and these boats bring this Mongolian labour into British Columbia to compete against white workers here. If they got the repairs done here it would mean an increase of one hundred mechanics at least in this city. It would mean twelve more men of my own trade at $3 a day — $864 per month. 18 mechanics at $3 a day §1,296 per month. 6 shipwrights at 8-1 a day 576 n 6 caulkers at $4 a day 576 n 2 coppersmiths at 84 a day 192 h 6 blacksmiths at 83 a day 432 ir 25 painters at 83 a day 1,800 h 25 riggers and specialists 1,800 <\ •87,536 This does not include Chinfese firemen or coal passers, mess boys and greasers. Add all these and it would mean from 811,000 to 812,000 a month, which is now spent in Hong Kong. I worked on the boat and know it. I have seen as many as five or six hundred Chinese employed. A boilermaker in Hong Kong gets 50 cents a day. One white man would do the work of three or four of these Chinamen. The Australian boats employ nothing but white help. It is done at Sydney. They look out to carry their work to their own port. The Canadian Pacific Railway engage their men by contractors, as they do here, and he rakes so much off. The Australians get their repairs in their own port. The Americans get their repairs there (Hong Kong), but they have no subsidy. ' Jin Kanga said : I worked on the Empress of China. I joined in 1894. Just one Japanese besides me on the ship. Chinese do the bedroom work and the saloon work. There is one white cook and one Chinese cook. Richard Marpole, general superintendent of the Pacific Division of the Canadian Pacific Railway, stated that he could give no information relating to the steamship company. Q. Can you speak of the extent of the trade that exists at present in Canada and China and Japan ? — A. No, I can not. Q. Can you speak of its possibilities 1, — A. The possibilities are immense. Take our steamer service and to-day we have two extra steamers in commission. The trade is so increasing that it will necessitate an increase of the number of our ships, which I hope to see shortly. The fact that Mr.' Hill, of the Great Northern, is going to put on much larger steamers as freight carriers is an answer to that question. Q. Is the traffic reciprocal 1 — A. I think so to a great extent. I am taking it as a whole'^ Japanese and Chinese. I have no means of separating it. Q. WoTild you care to say whether you think a restriction of the immigration of Chinese and Japanese to our shores would interfere with the traffic to China and Japan ■? — A. Well, I would fancy it would. That is my owti opinion, not an official one. The above evidence of J. H. Watson having been submitted to the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, they furnished the following statements under oath : — Arthur Piers, of the city of Montreal, the general superintendent of the steamships of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, states that the number of Chinese employed on the company's fleet of steamships running between Vancouver d,nd Hong Kong, namely, the Empress of India, the Empress of Japan, the Empress of China, Tartar aid the Athenian, is about the number of 570. That I do not know how many Chinese are ON GHINESm AND JAPANESE IMMIOMATION 199 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 employed oii repairs to the said fleet in Hong Kong, or the wages paid per day for the different classes of mechanics, or the total per year, because the Chinese employed there on repairs to the company's fleet are not employed by the company, the said repairs being done for the company by the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, and other contractors. The Chinese servants are employed by the company on the said fleet, because reliable, experienced and qualified Europeans could not be kept available in sufficient number for a first-class passenger service ; and furtherinore,- ten years' experience has shown that the Chinaman is the very best ship servant in the world. The Chinese firemen and trimmers are employed by the company on said fleet, because first, steady experienced and reliable European firemen and trimmers could not be kept available in sufficient number ; and second, if they were available they could not stand the high temperature in which our men have to work on the China and Japan coast, in the stoke holes and engine room. Robert Kerr, of the city of Montreal, Passenger Traffic Manager of the Canadian Pacific Kailway Company, states : 1. That I have caused an examination to be made of copies of the manifests of the Company's steamers running between Vancouver and Chinese and Japanese ports since the year 1891 (inclusive) to September ST), 1901, to ascertain the number of Chinese and Japanese emigrants landed in British Columbia by the Company's steamers in each year during that period and find as follows : 2. That during the year 1891, the year 1892 from January 1 to April 19 and the years 1895, 1896 and 1897, no separate record was kept of those Chinese landed in British Columbia by the Company's steamers who had previously lived in Canada and were then returning to Canada : 3. That during the respective periods mentioned in paragraph two there were landed in British Columbia, the following number of Chinese : 1891 2,232 1892 (To April, 19) 1,150 1«95 1,603 1896 1,854 1897 1,793 Total 8,632 4. That during the following periods, namely, the year 1892, from April 20 to De- cember 31, the years, 1893, 1894, 1898, 1899, 1900 and the year 1901 from January 1, to September 30, there were landed in British Columbia by the Company's steamers the following numbers of Chinese, who, on being landed, paid the duty or tax imposed by Statute and also those who were returning to Canada and had the statutory' certificate for that purpose, that is to say : — , Paid tax. Held certificate. 1892 Apl. 20 to Dec. 31 961 1,036 1893.... 1,366 135 1894 1,086 197 1898 : 1,705 .546 1899 1,583 713 1900 1,600 635 1901 to Sept. 30 1,113 512 Total '... 9,414 3,774 200 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 5. That the rate per capita from Hong Kong or Shanghai to Vancouver or Vic- toria, has been, since 1891, as follows : 1891 ^60 1892 to Apl. 19 65 1892 Apl. 20, to Dec. 31 ■ 75 1893 , 90 1894 to 1897....' 105 1898 to 1901 110 6. That no record was kept of the Japanese landed in British Columbia by the Company's steamships prior to the month of May, 1893. Since May, 1893 there have been landed in British Columbia by the Company the following numbers of Japanese ;^ 1893 May to Dec 29-4 1894 382 1895 225 1896 298 1897 11 1898 819 1899 1,084 1900 214 1901 to Sept. 30 22 Total 3,349 7. That the rate per capita from Yokohama to Vancouver or Victoria since 1893 has been as follows : the year 1893, $45 ; since 1893, $50. 8. Since 1891 the Company has taken out of Canada by ships leaving Vancouver the following numbers of Chinese and Japanese : Chinese. Japanese. 1891 605 1892 579 1893 658 42 1894 : 534 53 1895 775 156 1896 6.37 74 1897 755 119 1898 891 99 1899 1,200 150 1900 • 1,027 133 1901 505 . 123 Total 8,166 949 9. That the rate from Vancouver to Hong Kong or Shanghai has been $51 since 1891 and from Vancouver to Yokohama has been since 1893 $51. Mr. Piers, the general superintendent, states in reference to the Chinese poll tax : This tax is collected from the Chinese at Hong Kong when they are purchasing their tickets, and we pay over the amount to the Customs Department at Vancouver on sir- rival of the ship. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 201 SESSIONAL PAPER No 54 The following letter was ^received by the Commission from the President of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co.: — / January 17, 1902. D. J. Mdnn, Esq., Queen's Hotel, Toronto. Without discussing the Chinese question in the abstract, I think it proper to sub- mit for the consideration of your Commission, some facts to show the bearing that legislation against the admission of Chinese to our country may have on this company's business. We are, as you know, operating a steamship line» on the Pacific Ocean, consisting of the three Empresses and the Tartar and Athenian, all of which are engaged in the Chinese and Japanese trade. The advantage to the ports of Victoria and Vancouver of this steamship line will not, I think, be questioned by anybody, and as the larger part of the passenger and freight business, to and from the steamers, passes through the whole length of Canada, involving the expenditure within the country of a considerable amount for the labour, fuel, &c., required for the movement of trains, every portion of Canada is interested to a greater or less extent. During the year just closed our steamers brought from China 4,107 Chinese pas- sengers, and took to China 3,069, our total earnings from this source being $537,000. Of these Chinese passengers 3,338 were Chinese coming to or going from Canada. During the same year we brought 32 Japanese to Canada and took out 296. Our pay roll for oriental labour, on and in connection with the steamships, amounts to about $50,000 per annum, and, on the railway, to about $26,000 per annum, a total of about $76,000 a year, or one-seventh of the amount that we receive for the carriage of Chinese on our steamships. As our total pay-roll amounts to about $14,000,000 per annum, you will observe that the percentage paid for oriental labour is scarcely worthy of notice. In addition to the Chinese passenger business, we carried to China, last year, about 1,200 tons of cotton sheetings, salmon, condensed milk, lumber products, and other articles of freight, constituting Canadian exports, and, in future, when refineries are established in the west, we expect to find a market in China and Japan for a consider- able quantity of lead from the mines of British Columbia. It is possible, of course, that the Chinese would not resent unfriendly legislation, and that the exports from Canada to that country might not be interfered with, but, even if this were the case, legislation by Canada that would deprive us of the revenue resulting from the carriage of Chinamen back and forth between this country and their own would so seriously affect the revenue of our Pacific steamships that we could not afford to keep them running. With the advantages enjoyed by the port of San Francisco, it was no easy matter to establish strong competitive ports on the Pacific coast in British Columbia, and it would be a most unfortunate thing if any legislation were passed in Canada calculated to give these ports a serious set back. As the largest employer of labour in Canada, this company asserts most positively, that there is nothing in existing conditions calling for such unreasonable legislation against the Chinese as is demanded in some quarters, and that there is nothing on the horizon to indicate that these conditions are likely to be changed in the near future by reason of the undue importation of Chinese labour. » T. G. SHAUGHNESSY, President. SUMMARY. There are employed upon the steamships of the Canadian Pacific Railway running between Vancouver and Hong Kong 570 Chinese. There are also employed upon the said steamships in making repairs at Hong Kong large numbers of Chinese, amounting, it is said, to between five and six hundred. The 202 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 repairs are done through a company at Hong Kong wh« employ Chinese labour. If these repairs ^vere done in Vancouver it would require at least one hundred mechanics and an expenditure of about 890,000 a vear, exclusive of firemen, coal passers, mess boys and greasers, which, if added, would amount to from 811,000 to 812,000 a month. The Australian steamships, according to the evidence, employ exclusively white labour. Tlie reasons giving for the employment of Chinese on the fleet are : First, because reliable, experienced and qualified Europeans could not be kept available in sufficient numbers, and second, that the Chinaman is the very best ship servant in the world. The Chinese firemen and trimmers are employed on the fleet because steady, ex- perienced and reliable European firemen and trimmers could not be kept available in sufficient numbers, and if they were available they could not stand the high tempera^ ture in which the men have to work on the Chinese and Japanese coasts in the stoke holes and engine room. The company's steamers have brought 21.820 Chinese to British Columbia since 1891 to September 30, 1901. (This number does not include those brought by other steamships.) Of this number about 6,227 held certificates, leaving 1.5,593 as new ar- rivals bv the conipanvs steamers, or an average of about 1,.500 a year. The fare from Shanghai to Vancouver or Victoria has increased from S60 in 1891 to 8110 in 1898. at which it still remains. The return fare from Vancouver to Hong Kong or Shanghai has been 8-51 since 1891. Eight thousand one hundred and sixty-sis Chinese have left Canada for China by the company's ships since 1891. The employment of Chinese upon the steamships of the Canadian Pacific Railway and for their repairs at Hong Kong raises a question of great interest. The steamship line, as a part of the Canadian Pacific Railway, is national in its importance. It is but reasonable that the mechanics and people of British Columbia should desire as far as possible to reap a portion of the benefits which ought naturally to flow from this enter- prise. X. RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. Cliinese are not employed in railwav construction at the present time, and have not been, with some few unimportant exceptions, since the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Railwav charters granted by the Legislature of British Ccjlumbia in recent years prohibit the employment of Chinese and Japanese in their construction or operation, a number of Acts containing a clause attaching a penalty of 8.5 a day for each and every Chinese or Japanese person employed in the construction or operation of the under- taking authorized by the Acts. Contractors much prefer white labour for railway con- struction. Richard ^larpole, general superintendent of the Canadian Pacific Railway, says : Q. You have done a great deal of construction work in the Vpper Countrv i — A. Yes, that is where we employ white labour to-dav. Q. In the construction of the Columbia and Western ? — A. The work on that is all done by white labour at high rates. We are trying to get labour in the east for the extraordinary construction work that we are about entering upon, for which 8500,000 has been set apart. James Wilson, Victoria, says : Two years ago I was up in the Kootenav country and had a sub-contract, and I never employed a Chinaman if I could get a white man. We had to send to Chicago, New York, St. Paul and other places to get men, and some of the agencies sent out men here who had never seen a pick and shovel. I could not get white men at that time in the Kootenays and I had to send east for white men. The riff raff of the American cities were sent to us. Thev were of no use. I would rather have the Chinese. When thev got their first pay they would go on the spree and slip away rather than work. That was on the Robson and Grand Forks Railwav. I did not engage Chinese then. I got Italians and some common men I had before. I could , ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE iMMIGRA TION 203 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 not see any difference between the Italians and the Chinese. Many of them went out of the country. G. A. Carlson, Mayor of Kaslo, said : I am a railroad contractor, resided here six years. I have a contract for the Lardo extension. We work 150 men now. I will employ about 1,000. I don't intend to employ Chinese or Japanese. I have never done so. Quite a number of men who work on railroads settle down here. I know 75 or 80 who came in on the construction, work of the Slocan Kaslo R.R. did so. Last year we paid $2.50 a day. This year I don't intend to pay more than |2 a day. That is good standard wages for railroad work. Board is $5.25 a -iveek. Italians do that class of work. Others take contracts and clear $75 or $100 a month, or more. White cooks' pay is $75 a month, helpers $40, $50, and may be $60 a month. Provisions here are very high. Boarding men in camps cost 60 or 65 cents a day per man on an average, we work ten hours a day on railroad work. I would favour restriction. I don't think the railroad labourers want Chinese or Japanese here. I can't bring alien labour here. I don't care much about it. I expect to employ my men in six weeks. At present I can get six or seven hundred unemployed men from the boiindary country. They will work for me at $2 a day. I had experi- ence as a contractor before I came here, in Minnesota, Virginia, Illinois, Mohtalia and Washington. H. S. Rowe, Mayor of Portland, in answer to Chairman Clute, gave the following information : It will afford me great pleasure to give you all the assistance I can, I will endeavour in a few words to give you what information I have. Prior to the tftne the Exclusion Law was enacted, the condition of the country here was very different from what it is now, communication with the east was slow, and transportation was high ; there were no lines of railway across the continent ; here were an isolated community depending altogether on transportation by sea, which was long and costly ; we had no communica- tion with the Eastern States of our country, or with your country, except by water. The only place we had to draw labour from was from China ; it was almost impossible to secure white labour at any price. But since that time we have had three or four railways built across the continent ; if we had had to depend altogether on white labour, none of the large railways could have been built at the time they were stretched across the continent ; we would have to wait for years for railway transportation facilities. I was superintendent of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. While that railway was being constructed it was almost impossible to get labour ; we had to depend almost altogether on Chinese labour for the construction of that railway, and for the construc- tioij of the western part of the Northern Pacific ; but that was long before the passing of the Exclusioil Act ; it was some years before that. Q. About 1886 there first came up an agitation about restriction? — A. Yes, per- haps a little before 1886 there was an agitation for restriction ; some of the railways had been completed then ; the Northern Pacific and the Union Pacific had been completed, and we could readily get people in from the east. We were constructing in two parts ; one part was to make connection with the Union Pacific, and another part was to make , connection with the Northern Pacific. At one time we had about 25,000 Chinese em- ployed on construction work ; we had two contracts, and between those contracts, as I say, we had about 25,000 Chinese employed on construction work ; I do not suppose we had 1,000 white men employed on our contracts. Such was the state of the labour market here that we were glad to get what labour we could in order to fulfil our contracts ; but fortunately those conditions have passed away ; we have four railways running in here now, and we are well able to do without either Chinese or Japanese abour. Thisds a white man's country, and we want to keep it a white man's country. 1 XI. ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. The British Columbia Electric Rail- . . , r^ , i,- j 1. That the Chinese do not assimilate with the white race m British Columbia, and it would not be desirable if they did. 240 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 2. That it is not desirable to give them the franchise, as they are not and will not become citizens in the proper sense of the term or an integral part of the nation. 3. Of the witnesses called less than half a score were in favour of unrestricted immigration. Of the rest, a few took the view that the tax now imposed was, for the present, at all events, suiEcient, but the general concensus of opinion was in favour of higher restriction, or total exclusion, a few favouring the Natal Act. Reference must be had to the chapters dealing with the various industries, so far as the question concerns them ; but the undoubted fact remains that the great mass of the white people of British Columbia of all professions, trades and callings, and the Indians, are not favourable to the Chinese, and desire further inunigration of the labour class excluded. It is entirely erroneous to suppose, as has been in some quarters sug- gested, that this view obtains mainly with the labouring classes. In the foregoing evi- dence referred to in this chapter, it will be seen that comparatively few of that class have been called, for the reason that their views were well known, and it was considered ■ especially desirable to bring out the views of other classes of citizens. Of the 131 witnesses quoted in this chapter, 40 are employers, 44 professional men and others, of whom 9 are ministers, 18 merchants, 14 farmers and market gardeners, and 15 employees. Of the total number 77 were in favour of exclusion, 36 higher restriction, 5 for the statu quo, 7 declined to express a definite opinion, and 6 in favour of unrestricted immigration. The following analysis will indicate more accurately the views of citizens. Of the witnesses called, not quoted, even a larger proportion favoured exclusion or higher restriction. Of the employers 11 were in favour of exclusion, 15 of higher restriction, 4 leaving the matter as at present with $100 head tax, 4 in favour of no restriction, and 7 who declined to express an opinion. Of the merchants, 11 favoured exclusion, 4 higher restriction, 1 leaving the tax as at present, and 2 favoured unrestricted immigration. Of the professional class and others not employers and employees, 35 favoured exclusion, 4 higher restriction, 2 the present tax, and 2 unrestricted inmiigration. Of thefartoers and market gardeners, 8 favoured exclusion, 5 higher restriction, and 1 non-restriction. Comparatively few farmers were called because they were represented by their various societies, all of which favoured exclusion or higher restriction. The employees, skilled and unskilled, favoured exclusion or higher restriction, and it may b» noted that the ministers were decided in their expression of their opinion, that the Chinese were an undesirable class and, with one exception, favoured the prohibition of further immigra- tion of the labouring class of Chinese. CHAPTER XXIII.— TRADE WITH CHINA. Our total trade with China in 1896 amounted to $1,690,456. It had fallen in 1900 to $880,740. The imports which in 1896 were $1,030,698 ($342,071 dutiable, $688,627 free) had dropped in 1900 to $624,433 ($211,730 dutiable, $412,703 free). The exports which were $659,758 in 1896, had fallen to $256,307 in 1900. Doubtless the war in China may in part account for this, but an examination of the tables throws further light upon the question. In 1896 we imported $71,642 of sugar and molasses; in 1900 only $8,143. In 1896 we imported $676,388 worth of tea, which had fallen in 1900 to $391,41 i. These two items make nearly the whole difference in imports. The other two principal items of import are rice and opium, the first of which increased from $54,000 in 1896 to • $81,000 in 1900, and crude opium which dropped from .§123,690 in 1896 to $1,541 in 1900. The falling off in tea and sugar was probably fully accounted for by larger imports from other countries. In 1896 we imported $221,000 worth of tea from British East India, in 1900, $1,148,000 worth. We imported sugar in 1896 from the United States $244,000 ; in ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 211 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 1900 over $1,000,000 ; in 1896 from Belgium a little less than $400,000, and in 1900 over $2,250,000. The two chief items of exports are cotton manufactures and lumber. In 1896 we exported $549,000 worth of cotton and cotton manufactures, and $88,000 of lumber, making a total of $637,000 out of a total export trade of $659,000. In 1900 the cotton manufactures had fallen to $101,000, and lumber had increased to $116,000. There was also a falling off in metals and their manufacture. Other exports slightly- increased. There is no export of wheat or flour, and the exports of the produce of the farm does not amount to $5,000. The imports are more than double the exports, and the goods admitted free are double of the dutiable goods. The trade of the United States with China has an indirect bearing upon this question. The imports from China into the United States have increased from $22,000,000 in 1896 to nearly $27,000,000 in 1900, and the exports have increased from a little less than $7,000,000 in 1896 to over $15,250,000 in 1900. The increase is especially noticeable in two items, cotton and wheat flour. The exports of the former increased from $300,000 in 1896 to $460,000 in 1900, and the export of wheat flour increased from $45,000 in 1896 to $298,000 in 1900. The coast states are large exporters of wheat. The wheat yield of Oregon alone is from 20 to 30 millions a year, and California far exceeds that. Lee Choong, a prominent Chinese merchant of Victoria, and president of the Chinese Board of Trade, in reference to export trade, said : In British Columbia we have not got any flour mills, and if we want to export flour we cannot get it. In regard to price the flour is cheaper in the United States than in British Columbia. I would like to export goods to China from British Columbia, but I see no way of doing it. Q. Is the American flour cheaper than the flour from eastern Canada 1 — A. United States flour, I do not know why, is cheaper and better flour than the flour which is manufactured here. Q. Then no matter whether Canada increases the tax or prohibits the Chinese labourer coming in here from China, it would not make any difference to the trade coming from China or going to China 1 It would not increase or decrease the exports ? — A. My opinion is this : If Chinese or other cheap labour comes in here and opened up the country in farming and so on, and you get the flour a good deal cheaper, then we could see large business between British Columbia and China, and that would increase the trade. Q. So in that way you would like to have the Chinese come in here and give us cheap labour so as to improve the trade '? — A. Of course. I would rather have our people come here and so have cheap labour and open up all the country. If you have large farms all ovei", then the exports would improve. This witness further said : Speaking of my own business, of the goods imported from China 97 per cent are sold to my own countrymen and 3 per cent sold to white people. Thomas R. Smith, of the firm of Robert Ward & Company, general commission merchants, &c., &c., said : m ■ i n i n Q. Do you look forward to. the development of trade between Chma and Canada < ^ Yes. Q. And Japan 1 — A. Yes. It is only a question of time when development will come about, but in what way it is difficult to explain. The Chinese in the course of time will require more European goods, and the Japanese are very progressive. The Japanese always seem to be open to cultivate trade relations here, and of course steam- boat facilities will increase. . , , , . ^ Q Would the exclusion of Chinese or Japanese prevent the rapid development of trade between China and Canada ?— A. Well, so few Chinese are here, such a small fragment of the population of China is here, it would not make much difference. I do not think it will have any effect in regard to trade, the exclusion of the Chinese. Q. Would a restriction upon Japanese prevent trade between the two countries ? A I do not think it would have any effect. Robert James Skinner, provincial timber inspector, Vancouver, said : Q Would restriction, increased restriction or exclusion of the Chinese and Japanese tend to curtail any trade (lumber), any possible trade between these countries and here? A. I think it would. 242 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Q. Is the trade of these countries at the present time sufficient to keep a large number of men employed in connection with the lumber mills in British Columbia ? — A. It would keep a certain number employed ; I would not say a large number. Edmund James Palmer, manager of the Victoria Lumber Company at Chemainus, the largest exporting mill in British Columbia, referring t(j the effect of the exclusion Act on American trade, said : At the time they (the United States) had trouble with the Chinese the export of lumber did not amount to more than fifteen million feet, and to-day that has increased to two hundred million feet. I think exclusion would do no harm ; it would be a great benefit. I am in favour of total exclusion. I think we have enough of the Chinese here now. Hugh B. Gilmour, member of the Local Legislature for Vancouver, referring to the Canadian Pacific steamship line, said : I might explain that matter shortly. The Canadian' Pacific Railway does not live on the Chinese and Japanese coming to British Columbia ; the biggest travel is going to another countr\^ A large number of Chinese come here by steamers and are going through in bond to other countries. I take it from the number of Chinese in this country, if they had not been brought here, that would not have stopped the steamers from running, but I think we would be better ofP without the line of steamers running than to give away our country to the Chinese and Japanese. I do not claim that Chinese passenger traffic is necessary for the success of any steamship line. Q. Has the Exclusion Act had the effect of driving the steamship lines out of busi- ness in San Francisco I — A. No, the lines have increased. A. E. McPhUlips, member of the Legislature for Victoria, said : As a member of the Legislature I was in favour of increasing the per capita tax on Chinese to .SoOO. I do not think it would affect the interests of the Dominion at large in the trade with China. I think most of that trade has been produced or brought about by our own people or European people, residents in China, and it would not be affected in any way by restriction or exclusion of the labouring classes of either China or Japan. I do not think that Japanese trade would be affected by preventing Japanese immigration. At present British Columbia has not much to offer in the way of flour for exporta- tion, but I consider as time goes on we will have a large amount of flour to export of a class that seems to conunand trade in the Orient, made from softer wheat than that of the North-west. From millers I understand that they use flour made in Oregon and Washington, and that is made from soft wheat. They have not been educated up to the Hungarian flour made from hard fife wheat. I would allow free intercourse of the merchants and educated classes of Japan. Richard Marpole, superintendent of the Coast Division of the C. P. R., said : I cannot speak of the extent of the trade that exists at present between Canada and China and Japan ; the possibilities are immense. Take our steamship service and today we have two extra steamers in commission. The trade is so increasing that it will ne- cessitate an increase in the number of our ships, which I hope to see shortly. The fact that Mr. Hill of the Great Northern is going to put on much larger steamers as freight carriers is an answer to that question. I think the traffic is reciprocal to a great extent. Q. You spoke about the business being on the increase in the steamers and so on — do you think it would have a tendency to stop the steamship lines if there were no Chinese or Japanese here ? — A. The freight is more to us than the men. Truman Smith Baxter, ex-alderman of Vancouver, said : There is one matter I would like to mention ; it is claimed that if we stop this immigration here of Chinese or Japanese that trade will suffer. The United States passed an Exclusion Act, I think it was the year 1893, to keep the Chinese out of the United States. I will give you the result of their trade until 1897, which is the last I could get. My figures are taken from the Commercial Bulletin, published by the Treasury Department Bureau of Statistics for -the United States, and signed by A. T. Austin, chief of the Bureau of Statistics. In 1893 the United States exported to China goods to the value of .SS, 900,000 ; in 1894, $5,862,000 ; in 1895 the exports were reduced to 83,603,000, but that was at the time that the Chinese and Japanese war was going on. In 1896 the United States ex- ported to China goods worth $6,921,000 and in 1897 the exports rose in value to §11,- ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 243 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 S24,000. So that the trade grew from 1893 to 1897 from something Hke four million •dollars to twelve million dollars. This I think shows that it is not likely that the trade with China at least will be hurt by the bringing into force of the Exclusion Act. Richard Henty Alexander, manager of the Hastings Lumber Mill, the second largest exporting lumber mill in British Columbia, said : Since the trouble in China very httle lumber has gone from this coast there. If the trouble was settled in China there would be a large market there indeed. We ship principally rough lumber. Trade with Japan is increasing. As their lumber gets scarce I think it is hkely to increase. Both the trade with China and Japan are well worth cultivating. There is less competition in China ■and Japan than in any of the other countries. The only competition we have there is with our friends on Puget Sound. The mills here do not ship as much lumber as the mills on Puget Sound. George Owen Buchanan, sawmill owner, Kaslo, said . I think exclusion would react against us in China. I think we should cultivate the friendship of China and Japan as we are bound to have large dealings with them later. We have about 25,000 tons of lead to go in, which would have to be refined here. The market for the lead in China and Japan is not as large as is generally supposed ; it is about 20,000 tons per annum. With the opening up of China consumption of lead is liable to increase rapidly, also of lumber. The chief competitor of Canada in China is Australia. United States is also a competitor. I have observed the increase of trade between the United States and China. Thought the restrictive measure passed by the United States had resulted in ill-feeling between China and United States. Present indications are that relations between United States and China are as friendly as that country's relations with any other power. AMEEICAN EVIDENCE. J. W. Clise, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Seattle, Washington, said : Q. Do you think the law of exclusion has interfered with your intercourse with China ? — A. Not at all. I understand it is against the policy of the Chinese Em- pire to allow them to come here. They come here from Hong Kong. Our ships do not run to China. They do not call at Shanghai or any other Chinese port. Q. It has never been argued or stated here then in regard to your commercial interests that this law of exclusion was injurious to your trade? — A. Oh, no, it has not been. Q. I suppose with the end of this war in China the trade with China will largely increase 1 — A. Yes. A great many things enter into our trade with China. The volume of trade is largely increased and is continuing to increase. Flour is the chief thing we send there. We send about 100,000 barrels of flour per month to China and Japan ; we send that largely from Oregon and California. Q. How far east of the Rockies does the flour come from 1 — A. It is Washington flour we ship. Our flour is cheaper than that of the Mississippi Valley. Q. Do you find any opinion or suggestion that trade would have been larger but for the Exclusion Act ? — A. Not at all. Trade has grown and we are willing to let it alone. I do not think there is any strong feeling amongst the Chinese either way, and I do not think the exclusion of the Japanese would injure trade, when the exclusion of the Chinese did not and does not. Q. I suppose that is quite an important factor in arranging with the Japanese I — A. Yes, I think so. Q. There is a large commerce between Puget Sound and China ? — A. About five millions or six million dollars in a year. But something has to be said in favour of the Chinese ; we do not get a fair idea from the Chinese here of the Chinese in general. In Japan we get a better class of people, and they come here to learn our ways and enter into our trade and everything. Theodore Ludgate, sawmill owner, Seattle, said : Q. Is the export (lumber) business in a satisfactory shape ?— A. We find it very good. I am speaking of the export business to Hong Kong and Japan. Vessels are 54_16| 244 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 coming here all the time, and another steamship company is going to build docks just outside of here. The market in Japan is improving for good lumber, but not much to- speak of. Q. Do you think it (exclusion) would interfere with the extent of trade likely to develop between this country and Japan ? — A. I do not think it would have much influence. All the influence would be on the politicians of this country, and they would be almost entirely ruled by the labour organizations, and exclusion would be brought about in some way or other. S. E. Masten, secretary of the Board of Trade and Commerce, Portland, Oregon, said : Q. I want to ask you whether the introduction of the Exclusion Act had any efiect on business 1 — A. I do not think so. I do not think that any action that has ever been taken against the Chinese here has ever affected our trade in any way. I am only speaking from my own personal observations. I know it has never interfered with our business. H. S. Rowe, mayor of Portland, Oregon, said : Q. Do you think the introduction of the law of restriction and that of exclusion in any way interfered with your trade with China to any appreciable extent I — A. Xot at all. I have resided here for many years, and my observation is that the trade with China has increased rapidly since the enforcement of the Exclusion Act. T. M. Crawford, labour agent, Portland, Oregon, said : The Japanese have three steamers running here. There are other lines running to Japan, the Occidental and Oriental, that is a United States line ; and there is the Pacific Mail Line, that belongs to the Southern Railway ; and the Santa Fee railway have steamers running over there, and there are a great many tramp steamers. Henry Fortman, president of the Alaska Packers' Association, San Francisco, said : A few of our canned salmon go to China and Japan. Q. The trade of this country with Japan is extending 2 — A. Yes, it is extending very materially. Q. Much more rapidly than the trade with China 1 — A. I do not think so. I think the trade with China is increasing more rapidly than our trade with Japan. Q. The Exclusion Act does not prevent trade increasing 1. — A. No ; they buy a great many American goods in China. SUjniAEY. There are several facts disclosed in regard to the trade with China that have an important bearing upon this question. 1. Canada's total trade with China in 1896, was : Imports $1,030,698 Exports 659,758 Total $1,690,456 1900 Imports 624,433 Exports 256,307 $880,740 2. The falling off in imports relates chiefly to two items — sugar and molasses and tea. The falling off in exports is principally covered by one item — cotton and cotton manufactures. 3. It will be noticed that imports are more than double the exports and the goods admitted free are double the dutiable goods. 4. Notwithstanding that an Exclusion Act has been in force for many years in the United States, their trade with China has largely increased. The increase in exports is noticable especially in two items — cotton and wheat flour. The opinion of a number of prominent Americans, including the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Seattle, ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 245 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 the secretar}^ of the Board of Trade and Commerce, Portland, and the mayor of Port- land, was that the Exclusion Act has not interfered with the trade of the United States with China. ^5. Having regard to the evidence adduced before us and the experience of the United States in this regard we are of the opinion that further restriction or exclusion win not appreciably affect the trade of Canada with China. CHAPTER XXIV.— ANTI-CHINESE LEGISLATION ELSEWHERE. It is a fact worthy of consideration in dealing with this question that in other countries to which the Chinese have emigrated, their presence has given rise to dissatis- faction, resistance and agitation for their exclusion, and as far as possible a policy of restriction and exclusion has been adopted. The growth of this sentiment and consequent legislation in the United States, Australia, New England and Tasmania is outlined in this chapter. THE UNITED STATES. In 1876 a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives was appoint- ed to investigate the character, extent and effect of Chinese immigration. A very ful investigation was made by this committee (full quotations from the evidence of which were given by the Canadian Chinese Commission of 1 884). The following quotations from the majority report will show the result arrived at. In the testimony will be found that of lawyers, doctors, merchants, divines, judges and others, that the apparent prosperity derived from the presence of Chinese is decep- tive and unwholesome, ruinous to our labouring classes, promotive of caste and dangerous to free institutions. That the Chinese have reduced wages to what would be starvation prices for white men and women, and engrossed so much of the labour in the various callings, that there is a lack of employment for whites, the young men are growing up in idleness, while young women, willing to work, are compelled to resort to doubtful means of support. The hardships resulting from these causes bear with a special weight upon women. It is also shown that this distinctive competition in some branches of labour operates as a continual menace and inspires fears that the establishment of these ruin- ously low wages will extend to all employments and degrade all working people to the abject condition of a servile class. From this cause, amongst others, has sprung up a bitterly hostile feeling toward the Chinese. As the safety of Republican institutions requires that the exercise of the franchise shall be only by those who have a love and appreciation for our institutions, and this rule excludes the great mass of the Chinese from the ballot as a necessary means to public safety, yet the application of the rule deprives them of the only adequate protec- tion which can exist in a repubhc for the security of any distinctive large class or persons. An indigestible mass in the community, distinctive in language, pagan in religion, inferior in mental and moral qualities, and all peculiarities, is an undesirable element in a republic, but it becomes especially so if political power is placed in its hands. They can subsist where the American would starve. They can work for wages which will not furnish the barest necessities of life for an American. They make their way in California as they have in the Islands of the Sea, not by superior force of virtue or even industry, although they are as a rule industrious, but by revolting characteris- tics and by dispensing with what have become necessities in modern civihzation. To compete with them and expel them, the American must come down to their level or below them, must work so cheaply that the Chinese cannot compete with him, for in the contest for subsistence he that can subsist upon the least lasts the longest. The presence of the Chinese discourages and retards white immigration to the Pacific States. This clearly appeared in evidence and probably arises from their 246 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 monopoly of farm and mechanical work through the low price of their labour, making- subsistence difficult to procure by the poorer classes of immigrants. From all the facts that they have gathered bearing upon the matter, stating fairly the testimony for and against the Chinese, the committee believe that free institu- tions founded upon free schools and intelligence can only be maintained where based on intelligent and adequately paid labour. Adequate wages are needed to give self respect to the labourer and the means of education to his children. Family life is a great safeguard to our political institutions. Chinese immigration involves sordid wages, no public schools, and the absence of the family. We speak of the Chinese as^ they have exhibited themselves on the Pacific Coast for twenty-five years past, and as they are there at the present time. They show few of the characteristics of a desirable population and many to be deprecated by any patriot. This problem is too important to be treated with indifference. Congress should solve it, having due regard to any rights already accrued under existing treaties and to humanity ; but it must be solved in the judgment of the committee, unless our Pacific possessions are to be ultimately given over to a race alien in all its' tendencies, which will make of it practically pro- vinces of China rather than States of the Union. The committee recommend that measures be taken by the Executive, looking toward a modification of the existing treaty with China, conforming it to strictly commercial purposes, and that Congress legislate to restrain the great infiux of Asiatics to this country. It is not believed that either of these measures would be looked upon with dissatisfaction by the Chinese Government. Whether this is so or not, a duty is owing to the Pacific States and terri- tories which are suffering under a terrible scourge, but are patiently waiting for relief from Congress. Senator Oliver P. Morton, the chairman of the committee, made a minority report in which he quotes Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the United States treaty of China concluded in lb68, commonly known as the Burlingame Treaty, and reached the conclusion that labour must needs be free, and have complete protection, and be left open to competi- tion. He says : Labour does not require that a price should be fixed by a law or that men who li^'e cheaply, and can wc.irk for lower wages shall for that reason be kept out of the country. In 1878 the committee of the senate of California issued an address to the people of the United States upon the social, moral and political effect of Chinese immigration. (This lengthy document will be found in State Papers, 4.5 Congress, 1st Session, Mis. Doc, No. 9.) After setting forth their view of the then conditions, conclude their address as follows : In view of these facts thousands of our people are beginning to feel a settled ex- asperation, a profound sense of dissatisfaction with the situation. Hitherto this feeling has been restrained, and the Chinese have had the full protection of our laws. It is the part of wisdom to anticipate the day when patience may cease and by wise legislation avert its evils. Impending difficulties of this character should not in thi& advanced age be left to the chance arbitrament of force. These are questions which ought to be solved by the statesman and philanthropist and not by the soldier. In 1878 a committee of congress on education and labour made a report on educa- tion and labour (see No. 3 United States Documents, relating to immigration), in which they find : 1. That the presence of the Chinese has had a tendency to degrade and dishonour labour. 2. Their personal habits, peculiar .institutions and lax morals render them un- desirable members of society. 3. They cannot and will not assimilate with our people, but remain unalterably aliens in habits, morals, politics and aspirations. The principal facts upon which these three propositions rest will be briefly con- sidered : I. The Chinese labourer, in some respects, is desirable. He is frugal, thrifty> patient, cheerful and obedient. He readily learns his trade and expertly performs any ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 247 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 species of light work. Chinese cheap labour has worked great national benefit to California in its early history, digging its canals, delving in its mines, reclaiming its tule-lands, building its railroads, and in various other ways contributing to the rapid development of its wonderful natural resources. If, therefore, moneymaking were the only question involved in this contest between the American and Chinese races, it would in its industrial or labour phase be promptly decided in favour of the latter. The material advantages of this kind of labour, however, sink into insignificance when com- pared with the personal considerations at stake — the comfort, the self respect and decent, honourable living of the labourer himself. The Chinese labourer does not come up to the American standard of industry. The central idea of our system is, that the labourer shall possess courage, self-respect and independence. To do this he must have a home. Home is the mould in which society is cast. There the habits are formed which give character. There the zest and wakeful interest of living centre. There the fires of patriotism are kindled. There free institu- tions find their source and inspiration. The Chinese who come to this country have no homes. They have neither home feelings nor home interests in any true acceptation of the words. With the conditions of their mode of life they never can have homes. They are willing to work for less wages than will secure homes or comfortably support white labour. In their own country they work patiently and obediently during twelve or thirteen hours for less than one- tenth of what the poorest class of American workingmen receive. In the Pacific States they are willing to work for about one-half the price paid to American operatives. They are able to live upon rice, tea and dried fish, costing upon an average from 20 to 30 cents per day. Underclothing is a luxury almost unknown to them. What clothing they wear is of the cheapest, simplest and coarsest character. They bring with them neither wives, families nor children. One hundred Chinese will occupy a room which, if sub- divided, would not accommodate five American workingmen with their families. In such a small space they are packed like sardines in a box, and here they both sleep, eat and cook. Such a place does not deserve the name of home. No tender and loving interests cluster around it and dull habit alone endears it to them. An enlightened statesmanship would suggest that no material advantages, however great, arising from Chinese frugality and industry, can compensate for the loss of the homes, the comforts and the appliances of personal civilization, which have always been enjoyed by the labouring classes of America, and from which springs that spirit of self-respect and manly independence which is the highest result and best security of our political system. II. Another and more serious objection urged against the Chinese is that their personal and moral habits make them undesirable members of society. The crowded condition in which they live renders the observance of hygienic laws and sanitary regu- lations almost an impossibility. Neatness and cleanliness is the exception. The air^ of their apartments is filled with noisome smells and pestilential vapours, threatening disease and death. Property occupied by them is consequently lessened in value and the locality itself is avoided by the white population. Not only their personal habit but their moral ideas, methods and institutions directly antagonize our own. What we love they hate, what we admire they despise, what we regard as vices they practice as virtues or tolerate as necessities. The religious ideas even of the higher and titled classes in China are pre-eminently wretched, their superstitions numerous and ludicrous, their educational system exceed- ingly defective, and their civilization effete and decaying. Among the labouring or ' coolie ' classes the grade ol morals is very low. One illustration of this i.s seen in their treatment of woman. Her birth is commonly regarded as a calamity. If not destroyed, which is not unusual, she is regarded as a slave and suffers privation, contempt and degradation from the cradle to the tomb. Instances are frequent of the sale for debt by parents of their daughters and by hu.sbands of their wives, and that too for the worst purposes. Infanticide of girls is practised to some degree in all parts of the empire, and in some sections to an alarming extent. Concubinage is a recognized mstitution. The sanctity and obligation of an oath are disregarded, and the torture is often employed to extort the truth. 248 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSIOX 2 EDWARD VII.. A. 1902 Such are some of the characteristics of the class from which nine-tenths of our immigrants come. Respectable persons are deterred both by law and prejudice, and as a rule, only the most indigent and desperate consent to leave their native country. The female immigrants are bought and sold like chattels and practice the most revolting vices and immorality. Born and brought up under these heathenish influences, with these low ideas of law and virtue, coming to our country for the sole purpose of making money, without homes and families, without domestic affections or interests ; with no Jhigh incitements to duty or strong dissuasives from wrong doing ; with no adequate sense of special obligation ; with no property to pay a fine, and with no fear of imprison- ment, since it brings no greater discomfort or confinement than his usual mode of life ; with blunted or erroneous perceptions, groveling thoughts, gross passions, parsimonious and degrading habits, the Chinaman in America cannot be considered a desirable mem- ber of society either from a physical or moral standpoint. III. — The third and principal objection, however, to the Chinese is the fact that they do not assimilate with our people, but remain a distinct and alien element. In this respect they differ from all other voluntary immigrants. The German, the Irishman, the Frenchman, have sought our country as a permanent home for themselves and their posterity. Promptly and cheerfully adopting our habits, customs and political institu- tions, devoted to our people, to our government and the laws, they speedily become our worthiest and thriftiest citizens, vindicating in the council chambers of the nation their knowledge of our political principles, and illustrating upon every battlefield where liberty has been attacked the patriotism which such knowledge inspires. It is not so with the Chinese. They have been in this country over a quarter of a century. Their employment as house servants and labourers has brought them into close and immediate contact with our people, but no change in them has been produced. What they were when they came here they are to-day — the same in dress, the same in disposition, the same in language, the same in religion, the same in political feeling. They indicate no desire, either by word or action, to become identified with us. They came to us not because thej' were dissatisfied with the social or political institutions of their own country, but because they believed they could better their condition in life. To make money was their sole object. Even when they have accomplished this they do not invest their earnings in land or homesteads, but return with them to their native China. They come with no desire or purpose to make this their permanent home. So strong is their feeling in this respect that the poorest labourers stipulate, as a part of the con- tract by whicli they sell their services, that their dead bodies shall be carried back to China, and thousands have been thus exported. They have no conception of our judicial or legislative system. They cannot be relied upon to perform military duty. They are incompetent as jurymen. Indeed, the only purpose in societ)' for which they are avail- able is to perform manual labour. They bring with them neither wives nor families, nor do they intermarry with the resident population. They have an inferior intelligence and a different civilization from our own. Mentally, moralh', physically, socially and politically they have remained a distinct and antagonistic race. Nor, in view of their strong national prejudices, is there any hope that the futui-e will be different. Instances are numerous where an inferior race- has been absorbed and improved b^' a superior one, but the condition precedent to such a result is the acknowledgment on the part of the lower race of such inferiority. Nations, as well as individuals, must conclude that they need help, before they are willing to ask or receive it. The Chinese have not and ne\'er will, come to such a conclusion. Their inordinate vanity leads them to believe their country to be the center of the terrestrial system, and they therefore call it the ' midland or central nation.' They boast a civilization which antedates the birth of Christ ; the}- point with pride to a philosopher, Confucius, whose maxims, as the perfection of wisdom, have become their code of laws. They obey a government which, in their faith, is heaven-descended — an absolute despotism, vast, awful, and impressive, whose tremendous and mysterious power regulates their li-\'es or decrees their death, and under which liberty is an unknow n idea. Thus intrenched behind national prejudices, they are impregnable against all influ- ences, and remain a great, united class, distinct from us in colour, in size, in features, in O.V CHINESE AND J A PANESE IMMIORA TION 249 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Except a slight falling off after the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the number of Chinese has steadily increased in the Province of British Columbia from 4,483 in 1880 to 8,910 in 1891, and 16,000 (estimated) in 1901. These immigrants are mostly of the cooHe class, or farm labourers, whose earnings in their own country would not average more than three to seven cents a day of our money, upon which commonly a family of from two to five people have to be supported. They are poor below our conception of poverty, always bordering on the hne of want. This is the class of immigrants that come to British Columbia. They are chiefly adult males who come. Take Victoria as an instance most favourable to the Chinese, as being the oldest settlement : Of 3,272 less than 100 had their wives with them and of these 61 are of the merchant class, leaving about 3,000 labourers, of whom 28 had wives liv- ing with them. The others who are married have their wives in China. In the whole province, with a population of 16,000 (estimated) Chinese, 122 , Chinese children attend the public schools. CHAPTER III. — THEIR UNSANITARY CONDITION. Medical men, health officers and sanitary inspectors with one accord regard them as a menace to health, because of their overcrowding and persistent disregard of sanitary conditions and regulations. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that consumption is especially prevalent among them. 264 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 CHAPTER IV. — CRIME STATISTICS. Crime statistics are not unfavourable to the Chinese. This may arise from the undoubted difficulty of securing conviction. There is strong evidence that they conspire to conceal crime. ^ CHAPTER V. THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE CASE. The presence of Chinese, who have an entirely different standard of morality to that of the white population, without home life, schools, churches or religion, tends to lower the moral sense of the community, especially of the young. They are undoubtedly looked upon by the great mass of the people as a servile class. The young despise the Chinaman and look upon the employment in which he is engaged as degrading, and as he is employed in nearly every avenue of unskilled labour, this evil is widespread, and its effect was everywhere observable. A reference to the views of ministers and clergy shows that missionary work among •the Chinese in British Columbia is surrounded with great difficulty, and the progress made, having regard to numbers only, exceedingly slow. The consensus of opinion seems to be that conditions for missionary work were not as favourable here as in China, ' possibly ' (as one witness put it) ' because I doubt whether Christian practices and Christian theories would not baffle the Chinese intelligence.' CHAPTER VI. THE PROPORTION OP TAXES PAID BY CHINESE. The Chinese bear no fair proportion of the burden of taxation, either municipal, provincial or dominion. CHAPTER VII. LAND CLEARING AND AGRICULTURE. While the Chinese have contributed as labourers to the clearing of land, their pres- ence has been seriously detrimental to its settlement by a white population. The white settler who earns his living from the land by his own -work is strongly opposed to further immigration. He is in many^cases isolated and every incoming Chinaman adds to his isolation. To the extent of their numbers the Chinese discourage churches, schools and social intercourse. They prevent incoming settlers and drive out those who are there. They are a deterrent, sure and effectual to the settl«nent of the lands, encouraging land monopoly and discouraging small holdings. CHAPTER VIII. MARKET GARDENING. This very important branch of industry that ought to be a help to small holders and farmers is entirely in the hands of the Chinese. It is impossible to compete with them. Their control of this branch of industry retards settlement and severely cripples the small land holders and farmers who, while clearing the land might otherwise look to their market gardens to assist them in supporting their families. CHAPTER IX. — COAL MINES. Chinese are not employed in coal mines except on the coast. At the new Vancouver Coal Company, of a total of 1,336 men, 175 are Chinese. The rest are whites. The Chinese are employed only above ground at this mine. At the Dunsmuir Union Mines 877 men are employed, of the.se 363 are Chinese, and they are employed above and below ground. ON CHINMSE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 265 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 At the Dunsmuir Extension Mine 1,000 men are employed, of whom 164 are Chinese and these mostly above ground. The general superintendent of the New Vancouver Coal Company favours the total prohibition of further immigration, and thinks the remedy should be applied at once. The general manager of the Wellington Colliery Company (the Dunsmuir Mines) thinks there should be no restriction whatever. The Hon. James Dunsmuir, president of the above company, in an official communi- cation to the Dominion Government, dated October 9, 1900, favours 'an increase of the per capita tax in such measure as to surely limit the number of immigrants, and by enactment of legislation similar to the Natal Act to regulate their employment while in the country.' The present supply of Chinese labourers is sufficient to meet the demands of this industry for years to come. The evidence of those chiefly affected is in favour of the view, that no appreciable inconvenience or loss will be suffered by this industry by further restriction or even exclusion. CHAPTERS X AND XI. PLACER AND LODE MINES. The value of the mineral output of British Columbia, including coal and coke, for the year 1900 amounted to over sixteen millions, and for the year 1901 to over twenty millions, and of these amounts the Lode Mines (gold, silver, lead and copper) in 1900 yielded ten millions, and the Placer Mines, including hj^draulic, over one and a quarter millions ; and in 1901 the Lode Mines yielded fourteen- millions and a quarter and the Placer Mines less than a million. Chinese are not employed in the Lode Mines in the interior, and only in one or two instances on the coast. They are not employed in the Atlin district, nor are they employed in the Cariboo Consolidated. They are employed, however, in the other Placer Mines to the number probably of one thousand or over, about one-half of whom work for themselves, either on royalty or under lease, on old placer claims or new claims ; and the other half work for companies who are engaged in placer mining, including open hydraulic. Out of a total yield of $11,347,000 from Lode and Placer Mines in 1900 they assisted in contributing approximately from $300,000 to $400,000. The exclusion of further immigration of Chinese will not affect these industries. CHAPTER XII. THE LUMBER INDUSTRY — EXPORT TRADE. Three mills coritributed 97 per cent of the eighty-four million feet of lumber ex- ported last year. The principal exporting 'mill is the only one that employs Chinese to any extent, except as cooks, and the manager of this mill is in favour of exclusion. It is clear, therefore, that so far as this branch of industry is concerned the exclusion of further Chinese immigration would not injuriously affect it. CHAPTER XIII. LOCAL AND EASTERN TRADE. The owners and managers of the non-exporting mills are largely in favour of further restriction or exclusion of Chinese. Chinese are not employed to any considerable extent in the woods. , , , i, . If Chinese and Japanese both were deported, it would put the owners to serious inconvenience and loss, but if no more Chinese are permitted to come m the supply is ample, and the change will be so gradual as in no wise to impair the business. Ihe Chinese are not employed in any lumber mills on the Sound. 266 -REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 CHAPTER XIV. THE SHIJfGLE AND BOLT BUSINESS. This important industry employs over a thousand men, of whom more than half are Chinese and Japanese; the Chinese being employed in the shingle mills and the Japanese in getting out bolts. There are sufficient Chinese to meet the demand in this trade for years to come. Neither Chinese nor Japanese are employed in this business on the American side, and they are not essential to its success here, but being available and conveniently employed by Chinese boss contractors, they have become a part of the machinery of production, which would for a time be thrown out of gear if they were discharged. They are at present more convenient, but not essential. They displace, however, boys who could well do this work, and by whom it is chiefly done in the east and on the Sound, the fact being that while there are plenty of boys who might be employed they are left in idle- ness, because the Chinese are preferred. In this regard this business affords a marked illustration of the permanent injury that is being done to the youth of the country. While the Chinese are here they will be employed. CHAPTER XV. — CANNING INDUSTRY. The Chinese have become experts in salmon canning. They are employed as a rule by Chinese bosses, who contract with the canners at so much a case. They are used in all canneries. The number required has been greatly lessened in proportion to the pack by the introduction of machinery. Formerly all the cans used were made by Chinese ; now an automatic canning factory, run by white labour, at New Westminster, has a capacity to meet the entire demand of the province, but only about one-tenth are so supplied, the rest being made by Chinese at the various canneries. In the process, also, machinery has greatly reduced the numbers employed. Chinese labour is preferred because it is always available, easily handled, efficient and cheap. Cheap labour and large profits invited many to engage in the business. Canneries increased, the river became crowded with fishermen, competition appeared from Alaska and the Sound, and profits were reduced. Nearly all agree this industry is being over- done, both in the interest of the canneries and the fishermen, and that a depletion of the supply is threatened. Opinion is divided among the cannerymen who testified as to the expediency of prohibiting further immigration or exclusion. Only two favoured the removal of all restriction ; one declined to express an opinion ; one thought the present restriction sufficient. All agreed that the Chinese labourer does not make a 'desirable citizen and ought not to have the franchise. Without an exception the canners who testified st9,ted that the industry, at the present time and under existing conditions, could not be carried on successfully without the aid of Chinese. Having regard to the views generally expressed by witnesses as to a maximum development having been reached, and the possible depletion of supply and the number of Chinese now in the province, there are sufficient Chinese already in the province to meet the demand for years to come. The change will be so gradual as to be all but imperceptible, and may be met by the employment of whites and Indians. On the Sound and in Alaska Chinese are also employed in the canneries, and this industry has there developed cljiefly during the period since the Exclusion Act came into force. It has not only not retarded development, but expansion has taken place chiefly during this period. Many millions have been invested therein within the last three or four years. There is nothing disclosed in the evidence as it affects this industry which renders it inexpedient, if otherwise desirable, to exclude the further immigration of Chinese into the Dominion. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIURATION 267 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 CHAPTER XVI. DOMESTIC SERVICE. Chinese, and of late Japanese, supply the demand largely for domestic servants ihere is no doubt that under present conditions it is exceedingly dilficult to obtain white domestic servants in British Columbia, though there were many prominent citizens who declared that it was purely a question of wages and mistress, and that they had never had any difficulty m obtaining and keeping white girls as domestic servants. The cause of this exceptional scarcity is quite apparant. This kind of help is usually largely drawn from the families of unskilled labourers who in this way assist their income, if- then the work of unskilled labourers is done by Chinese and Japanese, who take the places of fathers of families from which under normal conditions domestic servants would be drawn, the source of the supply is cut off, and every Chinaman who comes into the country,- displacing a white labourer, increases the difficulty. The Chinese first create and then fill the want. With six thousand white labourers, or even half that number with families in the four coast cities, (having regard to the- number of Chinese that are actually employed as domestics, being less than a thousand all told) it is altogether probable that the supply would meet the demand, at least to the extent that it is generally met with in the east. So long as unskilled white labour is displaced so long will it be difficult, if not impossible, to get white girls for help. It was found in Seattle that very few Chinese were employed as servants. None are employed in the city of Tacoma, very -few in Portland. As white labour took the place of Chinese, white servants filled the place of Chinese servants. The fact is established that with an Exclusion Law and Chinese excluded from mills and factories, Seattle with a Chinese population of about four hundred, is fairly supplied with servant girls, while in Victoria with three thousand Chinese employed in the mills, &c., servant girls are rarely employed. The lesson is plain : as long as you have Chinese for unskilled labour you cannot expect to have white girls for domestics- CHAPTER XVII. THE LAUNDRY BUSINESS. From eight hundred to a thousand Chinamen are engaged in this business in British Columbia, and in many places where steam laundries do not exist they are a great convenience. Over a quarter of a million is paid out to Chinese in this business, a small proportion of which goes in circulation or benefits the country at large. CHAPTER XVIU. PAETS 1 AND 2 MERCHANT TAILORS AND THE WHOLESALE MANUFACTURE OF CLOTHING. Part 1. In no case have the Chinese encroached upon skilled labour to the same extent as they have in the tailoring business in Victoria. In 1891, there were eighteen tailor shops in Victoria, employing 150 white men and women, with a yearly wage of $109,000. No Chinese were engaged in the trade ; a few made overalls. In March,, 1901, there were employed in Victoria in the tailoring business 21 white men and 30 women and girls, with an average wage to the men of -$12 a week, and for the women $6 per week, giving a yearly total of $22,464, and fourteen firms of Chinese merchant tailors, employing 84 hands in the manufacture of clothes for white people, and two firms that manufacture only Chinese clothing. They do a large portion of what might be called high class work, and ladies' tailor-made dresses, which in some cases formed one-third of the business. The result has been that many journeymen tailors with their families had to leave the country. It was quite clear from the evidence that it is impossible for the merchant tailors to compete without reducing wages below what a journeymen tailor can live upon and support his family and educate his children. The Chinese tailors in a few years will practically control this trade unless con- ditions are changed. This trade afibrds evidence that it is only a question of time when, skilled labour in the other employments must meet this competition. 268 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION ■ 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Part 2. — In the wholesale manufacture of clothing certain parts of the trade are ■entirely in the hands of the Chinese. One firm put in a plant costing $2,000, with the latest machinery ; employed 40 hands, girls and women, and got work from wholesale merchants at prices that would pay, and that had been paid to the Chinese. The firm was given the preference over the Chinese. The Chinese cut the price. The firm again ■competed at this price. The Chinese again cut the price. The firm tried to meet this by allowing their hands all they could earn at this price, but hands that were paid 81 a day could only make 40 cents on piece work at the last reduction. The firm had to go out of the business. The Chinese fix the wage and practically control this part of the industry. CHAPTER XIX. OTHER TRADES AND CALLINGS. 1. The Boot and Shoe Trade. — There is one factory at Victoria, employing 16 Chinese. Some years ago 60 Chinese were employed in the factory, but the market being limited in the west, it was found difiicult to compete with eastern manufactures, even with Chinese labour. The proprietor favoured exclusion and stated that it was his intention in the near future to manufacture with white labour or not at all, as custo- mers complained of Chinese made work. ~. Cigar-making. — Victoria is the only city in British Columbia, we believe, where Chinese are engaged in cigar making. The cigars made there are said to be chiefly for consumption by Chinese. 3. Brick-making. — At one time white labour was exclusively employed in brick- making. Chinese are now employed on the coast, only foremen and teamsters are white. The Chinese li\e together in shacks in the brickyard, at a cost and under con- ditions that preclude competition. They have gradually driven out the white labourer, and the work is now practically done by them. One foreman put it, — ' hundreds ' (of white men) ' apply and are turned away.' The work is usually done through Chinese bosses by contract ; only Chinamen are employed. To hope that by and by the white men under these conditions will be able to replace the Chinese in the employments where they are so engaged is not justified by the facts. Where they have given place to others is where the Japanese have underbid them. One of the most successful employers in this business is in favour of no restriction upon labour. He approves of the duty on brick. The foremen engaged in the business are all in favour of exclusion. 4- Lime-burning. — This work is also largely done by Chinese, (except that of fore- men) in the proportion of seven Chinese and two white men. J. Fruit-canning. — In this industry no Chinese are employed, the woik being done by women and girls. The owner is in favour of exclusion. 6. Sugar-refining. — From 70 to 100 men are employed in this industry. Of this number 97 per cent is unskilled labour. The company has an agreement with the city not to employ Chinese labour. The manager stated that the company had no difficulty in obtaining and keeping a full supply. /'. Cordwood-cutting. — This industry, which is of importance by reason of the large amount of wood required by the canneries, was monopolized by the Chinese ; until recently the Japanese have largely superseded them. The supply of wood shqjild be an important adjunct to the settler, the injury to whom, from its falling into the hands of Chinese and Japanese, is fully dealt with under Land Clearing. 8. Railways. — The Nanaimo and Esquimalt Railroad Company employ from 150 to 200 white men, and from 40 to 60 Chinese. On the Pacific Division of the Canadian Pacific Railway 99 Chinese are employed out of a total of 4,693 in this division. Having regard to the small number of Chinese employed, it cannot be said that the railway is to any considerable extent dependent upon that class of labour for its success- ful operation. O.V CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 269 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 9. The Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. — Five hundred and seventy Chinese- are employed on the vessels of the Canadian Steamship Company, running between Vancouver and Hong Kong. From 500 to 600 Chinese are employed to do repairs on these vessels through a company at Hong Kong, which, if done at Vancouver, would give employment to at least 100 mechanics : which with other expenditures would amount to .$10,000 or 112,000 per month. The repairs on Australian ships are done by white labour and done in their own ports. JO. Railway Construction. — The Chinese are not employed in railway construction at the present time, and have not been since the building of the Canadian Pacific Rail- way, with few unimportant exceptions. White labour is preferred. 11. Electric Railway in Vancouver, Victoria anfiL New Westminster. — Nearly four hundred men are employed by this company ; all are white men.. The manager stated that there was no difficulty in getting all they required. 13. Freighting. — The Chinese engage in freighting from Ashcroft into the Cariboo- mines, chiefly for Chinese merchants. CHAPTER XX UNSKILLED LABOUE. The employment of Chinese in all the avenues of unskilled labour presses unduly upon this class of white labour, forcing many to leave the province and deterring many who would otherwise come to the province as permanent settlers. The injury to the youth of the country is equally apparent, causing deep concern to parents, which is well founded. CHAPTER XXI GENERAL MERCHANTS AND TRADERS. There are Chinese merchants in business in every city, town and village in the prov ince, except Phoenix and Sandon. Their trade is chiefly with their own people. In large centres the business of green grocers and garden vegetables is largely con- trolled by them. White traders are almost unanimously opposed to further Chinese immigration, for obvious reasons. They not only control the trade of their own people, but their pres- ence in large numbers, taking the place of men with families, affects injuriously every trade interest and to a very serious extent. CHAPTER XXII — IS FURTHER RESTRICTION OR EXCLUSION DESIRED f Public opinion in British Columbia, with few exceptions, is in favour of the pro hibition of further Chinese immigration. It is by no means confined to the labour class. They are unanimously in favour of exclusion, and this applies to both skilled and un- skilled labour. Traders of all kinds in the cities, towns and villages are also largely in favour of exclusion. Farmers actually engaged in agriculture, fruit-growers, white and Indian fishermen, and a large majority of the employers who are engaged in the leading industries, are in favour of high restriction or total prohibition. The general feeling is further evidenced by the action of the Legislature which for many years has been prac- tically unanimous in favour of exclusion, and has endeavoured to exclude them from public works and all works" receiving public grants ; municipal corporations also exclude them from corporation work ; and lastly, ministers, missionaries and clergy, with few exceptions, favour either further restriction or prohibition of further immigration of this class'. The suggestion that the feeling of antagonism is confined to the labouring classes, is wholly without foundation. 270 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD Vll.^ A. 1902 CHAPTER XXIII. TEADE WITH CHINA. The evidence adduced and the experience of the United States in this regard in- •dicate that further restriction or exclusion will not affect the trade of Canada with China. CHAPTER XXIV. ANTI-CHINESE LEGISLATION ELSEWHERE. In the United States. Wherever Chinese labour has come in competition with white labour, agitation has commenced and restrictive legislation followed. In 1850 Chinese were welcomed to California ; now there is an Exclusion Act and treaty, which absolutely prohibits the ■coming of Chinese labour into the United States. Hawaiian Islands. In 1898 the United States prohibited the immigration of Chinese into the Hawaiian Islands except upon such conditions as are now or may hereafter be allowed by the laws •of the United States. The Philippine Islands. The report of the Philippine Commission 1900, declares that the Chinese are one -of the principal causes of the commercial and industrial backwardness of the Archipelago. Australia. The Australian Colonies prior to the formation of their present commonwealth had passed restrictive legislation against the Chinese, and in the first session of the first parliament of the commonwealth, an Alien Immigration Restriction Act has been passed. New Zealand. Since 1881 increased restriction has from time to time been imposed against the immigration of Chinese until in 1896 the immigration was limited to the proportion of one to every hundred tons tonnage of the vessel, with a poll tax of £100 ; and in 1899 an Immigration Restriction Act was passed on the lines of the Natal Act. In 1888 the Australian Colonies, New Zealand and Tasmania urged upon the Im- perial Government that diplomatic action should be taken to obtain from China a treaty similar to that then existing between China and the United States, under which practi- vcal exclusion was enforced, but that mu^ desired result was not obtained. CHAPTER XXV. — EFFECT OF EXCLUSION IN COAST STATES. Practical exclusion has been in force in the United States since 1894, without any injurious effect upon the industries or upon trade with China. It has had the further effect of steadily decreasing the number of Chinese in those States, who have given place to a rapidly increasing white population. ■ The question is regai-ded as settled in the Coast States and the Exclusion Law satisfactory and beneficial. ' ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 271 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 THE CENSUS A COMPARISON. British Columbia, with a population of 177,272 has 16,000 Chinese (estimated) while Washington State with a population of 518,000, has 3,629. Oregon with a population of 413,000 has 10,397 Chinese, and California with a population of 1,485,053, has 45,753 Chinese. The conditions in Washington and the natural industries more nearly resemble those of British Columbia than do the other States. The City of Victoria has nearly as many Chinese as the entire State of Washington, and nearly twenty times as many Chinese as Seattle in proportion to population. New Westminster with a population of about 6,000 contains more Chinese than Seattle with a population of nearly 100,000, while Tacoma with a population of a,bout 60,000 has no Chinese whatever. Further comparisons might, readily be made, but the above clearly indicates the large proportion of Chinese in British Columbia as compared with the Coast States. In British Columbia they have increased during the last decade from 8,910 to 16,000 (estimated). In the three Coast States they have decreased from 85,272 to 59,779. CHINESE IMMIGRATION. British Columbia. Other. Total. Capitation Tax at S50. Exempt. Certificates of Leave. 1885-6 211 116 296 764 ■< 1,065 2,108 3,264 2,199 2,044 1,382 1,722 2,417 2,137 4,279 3,880 r 1,338 1 983 617 375 \ • 211 124 299 773 1,069 2,114 3,272 2,244 % 10,550 6,200 14,950 38,650 53,450 105,700 163,600 112,200 1 827 I886-7! '.'.'..'. 1887-8 1888-9 1889-1890 1890-1 8 3 9 4 6 8 45 734 ii2' 97 12 6 14 923 1,267 1,671 1,617 1891-2 2,168 1892-3. 106 Registrations for leave ... . 1893-4 J, 171 43 58 40 30 58 106 351 149 48 31 Not ^ven. 2,087 1,440 1,762 2,447 2,175 4,385 4,231 1,487 *1,031 *648 *375 104,350 72,000 88.100 122,350 108,750 219,250 211,550 } 177,450 64,800 37,500 22 22 24 24 17 17 26 26 12 15 666 1894 5. 473 1895-6 697 1896-7 768 1897-8 1898 9. 802 859 1899 1900 1,102 1900-1 1,204 To Oct. 31, 1901 Tn T)t-p 31 . « 670 Not given. 31,197 977 32,174 1,711,400 Less refunds, $18,900. 447 ^ * At 1100 Certificates of leave 9.313 Regristrations for leave 8.41^ Certificates of leave outstanding and lapsed from 1885 to present time , 4,850 Registrations for leave, C. I. 9, valid at present time l.OIS J^OTE— 1 975 Chinese entered British Columbia in the year 1901 who paid the capitation tax of $100. 272 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Return showing Chinese entered for the purpose of passing in transitu through Canada and those passed out who have arrived in traij^situ from other ports. Year. British Columbia. Othke Pkovinces. Entered. Passed out. Entered. Passed out. 1887-88 1 3,309 302 233 720 3,650 2,316 1,024 2,048 4,035 2,455 2,177 1,885 1,694 729 1 3,r.76 1,108 1,676 983 2,511 1,863 1,437 1,456 1,599 1,349 1,505 1,860 1,907 690 1888-89 1889-90 1890-91 1891-92 11 118 226 182 208 438 349 326 223 441 230 11 1892-93 1893-94 596 834 1894-95 1S95-96 1896-97 1897-98 422 744 1,587 1,118 723 1898-99.. 1899-1900 1900-01 1901-Oct. 31, 1902 323 236 200 26.638 23,521 2,752 6,794 Total entered Total passed out. 29,390 30,315 CHAPTER XXVII.— CONCLUSION. 1. The advent of Chinese in large numbers into British Columbia dates back to the early sixties, and the discovery of the rich placer fields of Cariboo and Cassiar. Later when this industry waned numbers of the Chinese left the country, but some remained. During the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, however, large numbers ao-ain came in, so that as the great industries began to develop there was always a supply of cheap labour available, first the Indians, then the Chinese, and lately the Japanese. The Indians in the sawmills were gradually displaced by the Chinese, who in turn are now being superseded by Japanese. Some of the employers in effect said : we have always had cheap labour, and we require cheap labour to carry on our industries ■ it doesn't matter what kind it is, whether it be white, black or yellow, so lono- as it is chea4) and in sufficient supply. Will the prohibition of further immigration of Chinese labour injuriously affect the various industries of the country 1 To answer this question satisfactorily each industry must be examined separately, regard being had to its peculiar position and special require- ments ; and this has been done in every case with great care. The various chapters in which the several industries are dealt with give the evidence and findings relating to each. A few of the facts may, however, be here indicated. In the important matter of land clearing, farming and settlement, the view of those who are especially interested (excepting only the large land owners, and those who rent their land to Chinese, and very few others, who cannot be said to look to farmino- ex- clusively for their livelihood) is voiced in the one word, — exclusion. In the mining industries, which in 1901 produced twenty millions, the Chinese con- tributed to the production of the gold output a small fraction of the whole, confined almost exclusively to the placer mines. They are not employed in the collieries in the interior ; on the coast they are employed for surface work, but not underground, except in the Union Mines. A point not to be lost sight of is the fact that the manager of ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 273 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 the Company that is the largest exporter of coal, where they are employed, is in favour of total exclusion, and thinks the remedy ought to be applied at once. The president of the other collieries of the coast where they are employed, is in favour of higher restric- tion and the Natal Act, as indicated in his official utterance as Premier of the Province ; on the other hand the general manager of this company favours unrestricted immigra- tion. Chinese are not employed in the coal mines of the Pacific Coast States. The lumber industry must be treated, for clearness, under two heads, — 1. The export trade ; 2. The local and eastern trade. The export trade is done by five mills, of which three represent 97 per cent, and of the three, the largest exporter (nearly one-half the total in 1900), is the only one that employs Chinese to any extent, and the manager of this large concern is in favour of total exclusion ; the next largest employs only some nine or ten as cooks, and the third only employs some five or six, and these not directly in connection with the export trade ; so that for this part of the industry it is perfectly plain that they are not essential. It may be here noticed that the exclusion of further immigration of the labouring class of Chinese is desired by the two principal exporters of lumber and coal. The local and eastern lumber trade is in many hands, and the undoubted voice of most of the employers examined, representing this branch of the business, is in favour of exclusion or higher restriction. In Washington State Chinese are not employed in the mills, and after nearly twenty years' experience of an Exclusion Law the mill owners favour its continuance. The shingle business in British Columbia has developed to large proportions, and Chinese are employed in considerable numbers and are regarded as at present necessary for the trade. The difference in cost, if white labour were employed, was estimated at three cents per thousand. Shingles are now produced at a shade less on the American side. It should also be noted here that this industry, which has assumed enormous proportions in Washington State and Oregon, is carried on exclusively by white labour. In the province there are 74 salmon canneries, which are owned and operated by between forty and fifty companies and individuals. In no other industry are the Chinese as largely employed. Their numbers have steadily increased as the industry developed, although by the introduction of machinery the number in proportion to the pack has largely decreased. It is said they are peculiarly suited to the work. The fluctuating character of this industry in respect of the supply of fish and the market for the product, and the large number of hands required during the busy season, deserves special mention. In no other industry is there so much uncertainty as to when and to what extent labour may be employed, owing to the lack of knowledge of the con- ditions of the supply. From the passing runs of salmon they must be caught and put into tins without delay, and the hands must be there ready to do the work. In an emergency occasioned by an unexpectedly heavy run difficulty is sometimes found in getting an immediate supply of labour. It was stated that in some cases the bulk of the season's pack is obtained in several days. Apart from the men who are engaged in making the tins the Chinese labour is drawn from other occupations, to which they return as soon as the canning season is over. The Chinese being available apd easily conveyed to the canneries, this industry was estabhshed and carried forward more with regard to advantageous location for obtaining fish than to obtaining a supply of white ' labour. In the adjoining State of Washington the industry was first established in the year 1892. Chinese are also there employed, but not to the same extent as in British Columbia. In the last few years the development of this industry in Washington State has been very great, many millions being expended in plant, and the pack now exceeds that of British Columbia. This development has taken place during the years of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States. In most cases their canneries are located with a view to convenience in securing available labour of girls and youths from the adjacent towns and villages, who take the place of the Chinese for mside work to a certain extent. . British Columbia, with a white population of 129,000, has about 16,000 Chinese ; while Washington State, with a white population of 518,000, has 3,600 Chmese, where 54—18 274 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 • about 2,500 are employed in the canneries ; some are brought up from Portland, while some of the Chinese in Washington State go to the Alaska canneries. The white fishermen who are numerically a great factor in the industry, ard deeply interested in the success of the canneries that afford the only market for their fish, are practically unanimous in their opposition to any further immigration of the Chinese, notwithstanding the fact that if the canneries had to pay a higher price for inside labour, the price of fish would be most likely to be affected by it. We repeat the closing statement contained in the summary of the chapter where this matter is fully dealt with : — Had there been no Chinese in the country, it is probable that the whites and Indians would have been trained to the business, and would have furnished sufficient supply, but the almost exclusive employment of Chinese through their boss contractor, who naturally employs his own countrymen, where available, has practically shut the door against whites and Indians and prevented them from learning the business. The exclusion of further Chinese is not likely to seriously affect this industry, for {a.) There are sufficient Chinese already in the province to meet the demand for years to come, having regard to the views generally expressed by witnesses as to a maximum development having been reached, and the possible depletion of supply and the number of Chinese now in the province. (h.) The change will be so gradual as to be all but imperceptible, and may be met by the employment of whites and Indians. (c.) On the Sound where the Exclusion Act has been in force for many years and the number of Chinese has decreased in the last decade, it has not retarded the develop- ment of this industry, but on the contrary this industry has received its chief expansion during this period ; many millions having been invested therein within the last three or four years, and this, although Chinese are emploved both on the Sound and in Alaska, as they are in British Columbia. There is nothing disclosed in the evidence as it affects this industry which renders it inexpedient, if otherwise desirable, to exclude the further immigration of Chinese into the Dominion. As cooks and domestics the Chinese are distributed throughout the whole province. As cooks and assistants in hotels and restaurants, on steamboats, in camps, &c., it may be safely said that they outnumber all others. The wages they receive are equal at least to what is paid usually for the same class of labour in eastern Canada. They are regarded favourably by their employers, principally because of their sobriety, machine-like regularity, economy, and their disposition to remain with one employer. Complaints were frequently made of the instability and uncertainty of white men as cooks, and it was stated that the employ- ment of Chinese was a necessary result. There can be little doubt, however, that relief would be found in a great measure by a withdrawal of the Chinese from this occupation, in consequence of which a better class of men would become available for positions where men only could be employed. In domestic service they are found valuable, useful and convenient. The wages paid to them are as high at least as are paid to white women and girls in British Columbia, and higher than is usually paid for similar services in eastern Canada. In addition to the ordinary work performed by servant girls, they do many small chores * and services which the former cannot do. They are punctual, obedient, and desirous of pleasing their employer. They generally accept the discipline of a strict mistress, and do not readily take offence at the petty annoyances of housework. There are no questions of social rank and privileges. The Chinaman does his work well for his employer for so much money, and there their interest in each other may be said to cease. Servant girls are difficult to obtain in British Columbia ; they are not there in large numbers. Even family nurse girls are hard to secure. The problem of securing domestic servants is not, however, confined to British Columbia, though the extreme scarcity there can undoubtedly be largely accounted for by the presence of the Chinese. The source from which a supply would be expected is shut off. It is not usually the ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 275 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 family of the skilled mechanic or of those who earn high wages that provide this class of labour ; it is obtained from the families of those who for one reason or another do not enter the higher paid callings, and who are forced to look for employment in the avenues of labour which are occupied by the Chinese. It would not require a great number of families of the labouring class to provide servants to the number of Chinese now employed in domestic work, and from these again in any new country is the hope of a steadily increasing population and permanent settlement of the country to be looked for. A report of the Seattle Bureau of Labour furnishes an interesting example of how this class of servants may find employment, and at the same time supply the demand of those requiring this class of labour. With reference to the other industries, trades and callings, reference may be had to the chapters where they are treated. In the great majority of cases and with the great mass of people, the Chinese are not desired and not required, and are regarded as a great injury to the country. The supply of this class of labour already in the country is sufficient to meet the demand for all the industries, not only for the present, but for years to come. There is one consideration as it affects the various industries that ought not to be lost sight of. Exact data from the census is not before us, but in a total estimated population of 177,000, of whom 129,000 only are whites, the presence of about 16,000 adult unmarried males, trading with their own people and importing largely their own food, and finally taking the greater part of their earnings with them to China, is a vital matter. Under normal conditions this number of adult males ought to represent a population of from 50,000 to 75,000 at the least, of men, women and children, requiring • homes, and creating a demand which would aflfect favourably every industry, trade and calling in the province. This great advantage which ought to flow from the development of the country's natural resources is thus largely curtailed by the employment of this class of labour. Some employers call attention to the fact that certain industries create a larger demand for unskilled labour during the summer season, e. g. placer mining and prospecting ; timber logging on the coast and land clearing is carried forward more vigorously in summer, owing to climatic conditions ; the canning season is almost whoUy confined to six or eight weeks in summer^ and at the same time the demand for farm help is at its height. Your Commissioners are of the opinion that the interests of the country are not promoted to the best advantage by any undue stimulus to one or more particular industry in the way of cheap labour in unlimited supply ; rather is it better that any industry should not quickly reach its maximum point of development, but that the industries of the country as a whole should be encouraged and built up, all inter- dependent, each supporting the other as far as possible in the elements of production ; a,nd that those who find employment therein should be permanent settlers with homes, and recognizing the responsibilities and discharging the duties of citizenship. The great industries should be able to adjust themselves by a gradual change from the employment of Chinese to those of our own race who come in to take their places. There is a surplus in the country now, excepting for a very short time in the summer season, and hundreds in winter are unemployed, ready to enter any avenue of unskilled labour that may open. In order that the situation in British Columbia may be fairly understood it should be mentioned here that relatively speaking, there is at present a small fraction of the population engaged in agricultural pursuits or in industries kindred thereto. Employ- ment is chiefly given by the mines, fisheries and lumbering industry from which spring auxiliary enterprises, trade, and the employments attendant and necessary to those engao-ed directly as primary producers. The character of these resources, generally speakin-' requires a large amount of capital for their successful prosecution. There are few in the province who may be termed capitalists ; the money invested is largely from without the province. From this it will be observed that the employers as a class are numerically few in number. From amongst this class are the only avowed opponents of 54— 18| 276 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 further restriction or exclusion, and the evidence does not disclose any great number of them ; their objection was solely on economic grounds. They were opposed to granting the Chinese the rights of citizenship or to encouraging the assimilation of the races. The repeated expression of opinion by the provincial legislature may be regarded as a fair reflex of public opinion as a whole on this question. Frequently it was asserted that one of the chief objections to the Chinese was that they would work for too low a wage, that the question was one largely between capital and labour. The mere appear- ance of this class of labour, standing as a wedge between the employer and the labourer, is sufficient in itself to arouse the antipathy of the latter. Whatever may have been their relations in the past in this respect, it cannot now be denied that industrial pro- gress and peace can only be assured by bringing the employer and white labourer closer together, and by their understanding each other better. By the gradual removal of the Chinese — one of the chief estranging elements — the industries should not suffer, and a further approach to a better understanding between the employer and the employed be the result. 2. In the older provinces the disturbing element introduced by Chinese coolie labour has not yet been felt to any serious extfent. Immigrants who come to other parts of Canada come to make it their home and meet on an equal footing. In British Columbia this normal condition of equal opportunity is disturbed by an immigration so diSerent in kind, in civilization, in manner and cost of living, that it puts the unskilled working man at a disadvantage in every avocation in life where he meets this class of labour, and he meets it everywhere. He insists that he does not seek to disturb normal con- ditions but to restore them, and to be placed on a common footing and given an equal chance to obtain a, living for himself and his family. A great need of British Columbia at the present time is actual settlers, and especially upon the land. A settler with small means can only afford to clear ' his land by utilizing the wood and timber upon it and by getting outside work. Under present conditions he is cut off from this assistance from either source. WUl he realize from his wood and timber or find work in the lumber mills, shingle mills, or as surface worker at the mines 1 In all these and other occupations where unskilled labour is employed he finds the Chinese, working at a wage that bars him out. It is not correct to say that there is plenty of work for unskilled labour, unless you add ' at the wage for which the Chinamen work,' and even then it is not true, because in most cases Chinamen work in gangs under a Chinese boss, where white men ai'e not wanted ; and for a part of the year numbers of Chinese are also out of employment. Another feature of this class of labour is that it creates a dislike, amounting to contempt, for the work itself in whatever calling it is employed. The majority of work- ing men will not, if they can avoid it, work with Chinamen ; they feel that they would be degraded in the eyes of their associates by so doing. Nor is the dislike of those pur- suits in which Chinese are engaged confined to the adult labourer, it is shared by the youth of the country as well, and labour is degraded where it ought to be honoured. The constant presence of this class, with hundreds being added to their number every year, is a real danger to the very existence of the white working man. He becomes dissatisfied and in many cases leaves the province, or if he remains, -advises his friends not to come. The satisfied settler is the best immigration agent, but it was evident that this important influence is directed against immigration of that class of settlers of which the country is most in need, and solely because of the presence of this class of labour. That they are employed in many industries is readily understood. They are noted for faithful observance of contracts, they are docile, plodding and obedient to servility, easily obtained through boss contractors, accept accommodation unfit and intolerable to a white man, working in gangs under a Chinese boss who has the contract, and who makes his profits chiefly in furnishing them supplies at a high price. A glance at the conditions under which the white workingman and the Chinese compete will show how unfair this competition is. The one is expected to discharge the ordinary duties of citizenship to himself, his family and his country ; rent must be paid, food provided, and the family decently clothed ; yet he is put in competition with one ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 277 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 who does not assume any of these duties, and who lives under conditions insufferable to a white man. Fifty cents a month or less pays the rent, a few cents a day supplies the food, he has no home, wife or family in this country ; he shows no desire to change, he is well content as he is until such time as he can return to China and take his savings with him. Fifty years or more on this continent has made little or no change in him or his manner of living. The fact is established beyond all doubt, that under present conditions the white labouring man cannot compete with the Chinese and decently support his family. It is wholly illusory to say that wages are fair for the ordinary working man. He may get work at odd jobs which a Chinaman cannot do, but the real avenues for unskilled labour that are afforded by the natural industries of the province are practically closed against him, while the cost of living is very much higher than in the east. The workingman is further embittered by the fact that not only is he compelled to compete under these unfair conditions, but he also finds the places which he has a right to expect his sons and daughters to fill, occupied by Chinese, and his children growing up in idleness and despising honest labour. Many parents and others expressed concern for what they regard as the dark future for the youth of the province. We found an intense feeling, taking the form of indignant protest, against the wrong thus done to the rising generation. In eastern Canada it is not so ; there the youths are employed in the lighter work connected with the leading industries ; they thus become familiar with the bu.siness, acquire the knowledge necessary, and gradually work up to positions re- quiring more skill, thus pro-^iiding for the transition from boyhood to manhood, giving thoroughness to the man and affording a constant supply of trained hands ready to meet the demand for this class of labour, and promoting the stability of the industry. The above applies with greater or less force in the case of women and girls who have to seek a livelihood by their own work. It was urged upon us by sonje that the effect of this cheap class of labour is to in- crease the number of skilled labourers employed and to increase their wages. The skilled mechanic did not admit this contention to be true, and declared if it were true he did not want the advantage. There ought to be no distinction in opportunity be- tween different classes of labour, and besides, the fate of the unskilled labourer to-day may in time be the fate of those engaged in- the more skilled employments. In many lines the encroachment has commenced. From the position of the labouring man the admission of this class of labour is unfair, unjust and deadly in its effect; unfair because it does not affect all alike ; unjust because it robs the poorest of half his income from his only capital, and deadly because it strikes at home life and the wage-earning class. Labour in effect says : You guard this country against being made a slaughter market for cheap goods, where the manufacturer is able to limit supply and fix prices ; yet you ask me to accept conditions where the supply is unUmited and the prices not fixed. You admit this competitor is not my equal ; is not now and never will become a citizen ; you debar him from municipal work and deprive him of the franchise. You admit that I cannot live decently upon what he lives upon, nor work for the wages he works for, yet you ask me to submit to this unequal and degrading competition and at the same time expect me to assume and discharge all the duties of good citizenship There ought to be some comity in this matter. I ask that normal conditions be restored by preventing any further immigration of this class of labour. , . , 3. British Columbia is especially favoured by nature in the versatility and richness of her natural resources, which it is believed Canadians are able to develop, and which it properly apphed are capable of supporting a vast and permanent population, ihis nation building should be based upon a sound foundation of good citizenship, m which every useful employment is honourable, and where the dignity of labour is recogmzed a.nd preserved. . , ^ ^, i -j. j.- If the end to be sought is the building up of the nation, and not the exploitation of these resources, the one vital interest to be secured above all others is an immigration of settlers of whom we may hope to make Canadians, in the highest and best sense of that word. That this object ought to be the one in view is supported by the recent public utterance of a very distinguished personage, when he said :— 278 REPORT OP ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VI!., A. 1902 '' No one who has the privilege which we have had during our tour could fail to be struck with one all-prevailing and pressing demand — the want of population. Even in the oldest of our colonies were abundant signs of this need, — boundless tracts of country yet unexplored, hidden mineral wealth calling for development, vast expanses of virgin soil ready to yield profitable crops to the settler ; and these can be enjoyed under con- ditions of healthy living, liberal laws, free institutions, in exchange for the overcrowded cities and the almost hopeless struggle for existence which, alas, too often is the lot of many in the old country. But one condition, and one only, is made by our colonial governments, and that is — send us suitable immigrants. I would go further and appeal to my fellow countrymen at home to prove the strength of the attachment of the mother- land to her children, by sending them only of her best. By this means we may still further strengthen, or at all events pass on unimpaired, that pride of race, that unity of sentiment and purpose, that feeling of common loyalty and obligation which, knit together, alone can maintain the integrity of our Empire." How far do the Chinese of the labour or coolie class approach to this standard ? They come from southern China, drawn from the poorer classes, reared in poverty where a few cents a day represent the earnings which must suffice for a family ; accustomed to crowd together in small tenements or huts, close, unhealthy and filthy ; with customs, habits and modes of life fixed and unalterable, resulting from an ancient and effete civilization, with no desire to conform to western ideas. They form, on their arrival, a community within a community, separate and apart, a foreign substance within, but not of our body politic, with no love for our laws and institutions ; a people that will not assimilate or become an integral part of our race and nation. With their habits of overcrowding, and an utter disregard of all sanitary laws, they are a continual menace to health. From a moral and social point of view, living as they do without home life, schools or churches, and so nearly approaching a servile class, their effect upon the rest of the community is bad. They pay no fair proportion of the taxes of the country. They keep out immigrants who would become permanent citizens, and create conditions inimical to labour and dangerous to the industrial peace of the community where they come. They spend little of their earnings in the country and trade chiefly with their own people. They fill the places that ought to be occupied by permament citizens, many of whom leave the country on their account. They are unfit for full citizenship, and are permitted to take no part in municipal or provincial government. Upon this point there was entire unanimity. They are not and will not become citizens in any sense of the term as we understand it. They are so nearly allied to a servile class that, they are obnoxious to a free community and dangerous to the state. Situated as this province is, upon the seaboard, it should possess a stalwart, homo- geneous and united population, capable and willing to defend the country in case of attack. In this regard the Chinese are a real source of weakness. It is incredible that British Columbia,admittedly one of the richest countries in the world in natural resources, — with its vast forests, unsurpassed fisheries, minerals of all kinds, and large tracts of delta and other lands suitable for agriculture, — cannot be developed without the assistance of Chinese labour. Your Commissioners believe that it is impossible for the province of British Columbia to take its place and part in the Dominion as it ought to do, unless its population is free from any taint of servile labour and is imbued with a sense of the duties and responsibilities appertaining to citizenship. This class of immigration falls.far short of that standard so essential to the well- being of the country. From a Canadian standpoint it is injurious, and in the interest of the nation any further immigration ought to be prohibited. The great industries will not sufi'er. There is a surplus of this class of labour at the present time ready to enter any avenue of unskilled labour that may open. If no more were admitted the supply is equal to the demand for years to come, and the change will be so gradual as to be almost imperceptible. There are more Chinese today in Victoria and adjacent thereto, than in the whole State of Washington. The Chinese labourers who are already in the country will be benefitted by the change. Trade with China will rather be promoted than otherwise, by removing a cause of friction, as has been found to be the case in the United States in their trade with China since the Exclusion Act. The ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRA TION 279 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 interests of the Empire can best be served by building up a strong and united Canada, able not only to defend herself, but afford help if need be to the Mother Country. Whatever permanently weakens British Columbia weakens the Dominion and the Empire, and no material gain to individual interests ought to weigh for one moment against this injury to the nation. The right to disci-iminate against foreigners has been recognized in our tariff and immigration laws, and it has recently been held by the highest Court of Appeal for the British Empire, that an alien has no right which can be enforced by action, to enter British territory. {See Musgrove vs. Chun Teeong Toy, Appeal Cases, 1891, page 272.) In this connection it may not be out of place to call attention to the recent promise made by the British govermnent to appoint a commission to inquire into the whole question of immigration into Great Britain, with a view of excluding undesirable immigrants. If it could be said with truth that the effect upon the labour class of Chinese coming to British Columbia was to raise them up and to make of them good citizens, and more rapidly bring them under the influence of Christian teaching, it might be urged, from a humanitarian standpoint, that a duty devolved upon this nation to receive them ; but a reference to the evidence, and especially to that of the many Christian teachers who were called, clearly shows that such is not the fact. From a moral and Christian standpoint the Chinese labourers in British Columbia as a class are not improved. Those who are here, however, are entitled to receive all the protection which our law can give. 4. In reference to the representations made by the people and Legislature of British Columbia, wherein it is alleged : " That the province is flooded with an undesirable class of people, non-assimilative and most detrimental to the wage-earning classes of the people of the province, and that this extensive immigration of orientals is also a menace to the health of the community ; " That there is probability of a great disturbance to the economic conditions in the province and of grave injury being caused to the working classes by the large influx of labourers from China, as the standard of living of the masses of the people in that country differs so widely from the standard prevailing in the province, thus enabling them to work for a much less wage ; "That it is in the interests of the Empire that the Pacific province of the Dominion should be occupied by a large and thoroughly British population rather than by one in which the number of aUens would form a large proportion ; " We find that these representations are substantially true and urgently call for a remedy. We also find that the increase of the capitation tax from $50 to $100 is ineffective and inadequate. Your Commissioners are of opinion that the further immigration of Chinese labourers into Canada ought to be prohibited ; That the most desirable and effective means of attaining this end is by treaty sup- ported by suitable legislation ; That in the meantime and until this can be obtained the capitation' tax should be raised to »"""• • i. j 4. 1, The only point upon which your Commissioners could not agree is the date when the capitation tax of $500 ought to come into effect. The Chairman and Commissioner Foley are of opinion that the capitation tax should be raised to $500 at once, while Commissioner Munn is of opinion that $300 should be imposed for two years, and if a prohibitive treaty be not obtained within that period, that it be then raised to $500. R. C. CLITTE, Chairman, D. J. MUNN, C. FOLEY. 2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 A. 1902 APPENDIX. Addresses of Counsel, Mr. C. Wilsoo, E.G., for the Province of British Columbia, and Mr. A. D. Taylor for the Chinese Board of Trade. Extracts from the Report of the Philippine Commission. Hon. Oliver P. Morton's Minority Report, IT. S. Commission, 1876. ADDRESS TO THE ROYAL COMMISSION OP C. WILSON, K.C. Mb. Chairman and Gentlemen op the Commission : At the close of the labours of the Commission in this province, may I be permitted to express my keen appreciation of the unvarying courtesy, urbanity and patience (sometimes under trying circumstances) of every member of the Commission. From the distinguished lawyer who presides, one not unnaturally expected the exercise of high judicial qualities, and certainly there has been no disappointment. But it was a plea- sure to find that those members of the Commission, whose lives have been passed in other pursuits, were also capable of exercising judicial duties in such a highly acceptable manner. So exhaustive, in fact, has the examination of the Commission been, so sincere a desire to ascertain the whole truth been manifested, that the duties of counsel have been greatly lessened. For myself, I have carefully followed the direction given at the outset of our labours not to put a question to a witness unless it would elicit a new fact. The question of Chinese and Japanese immigration naturally divides itself into five classes : (1) The economic or industrial, (2) the social, (3) the moral, (4) the religious, (5) the national or political. I only propose to deal with the first and the last, and, to clear the ground may say that I have no idea of advocating expulsion, but do propose to advocate a policy of restriction which will amount to absolute exclusion, and to show by the evidence that further admission is not expedient in the interest of any industry, and is absolutely dangerous from the national or political standpoint. I exclude the social, moral and religious aspects, not because they are unimportant, but, important as they are, and necessary for the well being of the state, they are dwarfed by the grave and serious character of the other two aspects of the question, and are not properly subject to legislative control. It will be obvious from what has been said that it will not be necessary to discuss the fact of their personal cleanliness, coupled with an utter disregard of the laws of sanitation, at any length. Neither will it be necessary to argue that as servants they are not faithful, sober, fairly honest and industrious. I propose to found my position upon the proposition that no industry has been called into existence by their presence, but that being here they have been made use of. That they will gradually encroach upon and exclude the white worker from fields of labour now exclusively occupied, and rightly occupied by him, and that living as they do under conditions and in a manner intolerable to our own people, the nature of the competition is an exceedingly unfair one. That the strength of a people depends on the good condition and the intelHgence of the masses. 2S1 282 BEPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 The foundation of all social order is based upon a vigorous and intelligent people, and the State cannot long endure whose foundation rests not upon those of its own race and kind,' but upon a race not only alien in so far as their birth is concerned, but of a different type of humanity and civilization, who care nothing for our institutions, nothing for our laws, except in so far as they affect their own temporary welfare ; a people alien in manners and customs, who are not homogeneous, who do not assimilate with us, who would not if they could, and who could not if they would, who are absolutely indifferent to the well-being of the state, who expect to return to their own land either dead or alive, and whatever virtues thev possess have also characteristics which render it very undesirable that they should ever become members of our body politic. In the time allotted to me to sum up the evidence on behalf of the province of British Columbia, I may mention that there are two ways of dealing with that question. One would be to wait until the shorthand writer's notes had been transcribed, and then to make a careful and exhaustive analysis of the evidence, which would carry conviction to the mind of any one who chose to verify the references and take the trouble to study the subject. The other, and that is the method which I propose to adopt, it being the only one that I can adopt within the time, wiU be to state the effect that the evidence has had upon my mind, and to endeavour as well as I possibly can to impress the minds of the Commissioners with the view which, in consequence of the e^^dence, I entertain, and which I may say, to put it briefly, is : That the immensely preponderating mass of the evidence is in favour of such a measure of restriction as to amount to absolute exclusion. I may state at the outset that I have not the slightest desire to address the Commission in such a way as to give rise to the inference that the evidence, while point- ing to total exclusion, is calculated in any way to disturb our political or commercial relations with either Japan or China. We simply object to a common interchange of labourers, using that word in its wider sense. Before entering upon the general question, I desire to say a few words with respect to the position assumed by my learned friend, Mr. Cassidy, who represented the Japanese. If I have grasped his idea rightly, then he primarily put it on the ground that it would be a highly improper thing, having regard to the position assumed in the family of nations by the empire of Japan, to pass any measures calculated in the slightest degree to interfere with the commercial relations existing between that empire and ourselves, or placing any barrier on freedom of intercourse between the subjects of that empire and the subjects of King Edward. China certainly is not one of the nations entitled to invoke international law in favour of the unrestricted right of all classes of its people to enter the territory of another nation. The events of the past year show clearly that that empire is not even able to enforce within its own borders the simplest rules of international obligation. I am unable to advance any opinion whether or no Japan is one of the modern civilized states that regard the certain rules of conduct, Called inter- national law, as being binding on it. I refer to the following passage from Mr. Hall's book on the subject as casting some doubt upon it. At page 42 he says : ' It is scarcely necessary to point out that as international law is a product of the special ci\'ilization of modern Europe, and forms a highly artificial system, of which the principles cannot be supposed to be understood or recognized by counti'ies differently civilized, such states only can be presumed to be subject to it as are inheritors of that civilization. They have lived and are living under law, and a positive act of withdrawal would be required to free them from its restraints. But states outside European civilization must formallv enter into the circle of law-governed countries. They must do something with the acquiescence of the latter, or of some of them, which amounts to an acceptance of the law in its entirety beyond all possibility of misconstruction. It is not enough, conse- quently, that they shall enter into arrangements by treaty identical with arrangements made by law-governed powers, nor that they shall do acts, like sending and receiving permanent embassies, which are compatible with ignorance or rejection of law. On the other hand, an express act of accession can hardly be looked upon as requisite. When a new state comes into existence its position is regulated by like considerations. If by its origin it inherits European civilization, the presumption is so high that it intends to conform to law, that the first act purporting to be a state act which is done by it, ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 283 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 unaccompamed by warning of intention not to conform, must be taken as indicating an intention to conform, and brings it consequently within the sphere of law. If, on the other hand, it falls by its origin into the class of states outside European civilization, it can, of course, only leave them by a formal act of the kind already mentioned. A tendency has shown itself of late to conduct relations with states, which are outside the. sphere of international law, to a certain extent in accordance with its rules, and a tendency has also shown itself on the part of such states to expect that European coun- tries shall behave in conformity with the standard which they have themselves set up.' Mr. Cassidy also put it upon another ground. That is, that our refusal of intercourse with them, and our suggestions that they do not assimilate with us, and that we would not assimilate with them, was not calculated to promote that good feeling which should exist between the two nations. Now, I disavow any intention of casting any reflection whatsoever upon a people who have shown the readi- ness that the Japanese have shown, to adopt western civilization, and who are certainly celebrated for the politeness and courtesy with which theii' intercourse with Europeans is carried on. There are notable instances of intermarriage between the two nations, so that I do not put it upon that ground. My objection is that (while there are exceptions to the rule) the average Japanese remains what he always was, a Japanese, and not- withstanding the fact that he may take out a certificate of naturalization in this country, he never becomes, in truth and in fact, a Canadian, but always remains a Japanese. I think further, that susceptible as these people are, means may readily be found by those in authority, for so arranging matters, as that the immigration of Japanese labourers ■ into this country may be restricted without wounding their amour propre, and without creating any friction between the two countries. It seems to me that it would be a gracious act on the part of the ruler of that country, if, when he found that the labourers of his own country were unacceptable visitors to us, he forbade them from coming here. In other words, diplomatic intercourse may result, and should result, in restriction so far as the Japanese are concerned, as a result of action on the part of their own ruler. If, however, this cannot be achieved, then we have to act ourselves, and I do not hesi- tate to say that it is no new doctrine to state that a country not only can, but should, when the self-preservation of any particular class of its own people becomes necessary, prohibit the entry into the country of unassimilable and undesiralale immigrants. There are many instances in past history not only of the exclusion of the people of one nation from another, but also of the expulsion of great numbers of people ; e.g., the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and the Huguenots from France and the Jews from Russia. Before dealing with the industries, I desire, however, to say a few words with respect to sanitation and health, and to clear the ground somewhat as to some other of the subjects that have been dealt with. The evidence indicates that both of these oriental nations possess a very large degree of personal cleanliness, coupled with the most utter disregard of those sanitary regulations which are considered by Europeans necessary for the welfare of the community. It seems somewhat singular that this personal cleanliness should be coupled with filthiness in other directions in the way that it is, but it is certainly true that such is the case. The evidence of Captain Clive Phillips- WooUey shows some of the mischief arising from the disregard of these regula- tions, and Dr. Wade adds medical testimony of the evils resulting from that disregard, notably in relation to typhoid and smallpox. Dr. Eraser and other sanitary officers tell us that conditions within the last few months have improved. I think it can be said without doubt or hesitation, that the very existence of the Commission has largely improved them, and that the coming of the Commission into the different Chinese quarters has tended to a general clean up,' culminating in the disastrous burning of the Chinese quarters at Union. /o\ « v,- The industries chiefly afi'ected by oriental immigration are : (1) lumber; (2) nshmg and canning ; (3) mining ; (4) domestic service ; (5) tailoring ; (6) cigar-makmg ; (7) laundry : (8) market gardening ; and (9) boat-building. I only propose to deal at some little length with the first four of these subjects. The other five, while of equally grave importance with the first four, do not employ in their business so large a number of per- sons and while the injury done to them is in some respects greater than m the larger 284 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 industries, it does not as a state question make itself so greatly felt, and the time at my disposal does not permit me to deal with the several subjects exhaustively. I will, there- fore, confine myself to this, that so far as those industries are concerned, the whites have been really driven out, and their places taken by the Chinese and Japanese, particularly is that so with tailoring and market gardening. By the employment of improved methods and machinery, it would appear as if the laundryman was once more beginning to hold his own with his oriental competitor. Turning now to the lumber industry. The evidence of the witnesses would seem to show that this industry is not in a good condition, and the reason seems to be because the price of the British Columbia product is regulated by the foreign market, and the absence of protection to our own market. Again the local market seems to be largely depending on the canning and mining industries. Depression in either of these indus- tries producing like depression in the lumber trade. Mr. Alexander points out most forcibly that eighty per cent of the labour employed by them is white, more than eighty per cent of the wages being paid to white men, the remainder being paid to the orien- tals. His evidence may be briefly summed up to this extent, that owing to existing conditions of the trade the cost of production cannot be increased ; in other words, to sell profitably under existing conditions, the limit for the payment of wages has been reached, and that to place any impediment in the way of the trade as it at present stands, would be to exclude twenty per cent of oriental labour and eighty per cent of white labour. In other words, the existence of this amount of white labour depends upon the proportion of oriental labour now engaged in the trade. The limit of profi- table production having been reached, they cannot afford to employ white labour at all except by employing a certain amount, namely, 20 per cent of oriental or cheap labour. Now, this appears to involve several very serious propositions. First, it would appear that the British Oilumbia manufacturer or lumberman has not control of the market, and the reason assigned is because he is brought into competition with Ivunber mills, chiefl)^ the Port Blakely mill on the other side, which, it appears, employs some 300 Japs. Secnnd, that the United States mill owners have an enormous market in their own country, from which, bv reason of the protection which the government extends to them, we are absolutely excluded. It would appear, then, as if one of the chief export mills on the other side employed Japanese labour, and it would also appear that the very thing which the British Columbia lumberman demands, namely, cheap labour, has created a necessity for its own existence ; for if the United States pursued the same policy of exclusion towards the Japs as they have towards the Chinese, the competition which the British Columbia lumberman would then meet, would be a competition of white labour alone, in which the same field for obtaining it would be open to him as to the American. The only disadvantage that he would then labour under would be the lack of protection in his own country, an evil which it would seem admits of a very ea.sy remedy. That this last, the lack of protection here, owing to the repealing of the Wil- son bill in the United States, has been a very serious evil, there can be no doubt. It gives the American manufacture the advantage of his enormous home market, an equal competition with ourselves in the general markets of the world, and, lastly, the liberty of using Canada as a slaughter or dumping ground for their surplus product. There can be no doubt either but that the very existence of this particular class of labour, that is, the cheapest labour that can be obtained on earth, is an inducement to the capitalists to invest moneys in enterprises which are not necessarily productive when managed under fair conditions with respect to the operative. In other words, it means this, the more saw mills the more competition, the more competition the more is the price re- duced, hence the necessity of reducing wages so that the articles may be produced and sold at a profit. We cannot hope, but we may as well face it, so far as this parUcular industry is concerned, we cannot hope to meet their competition except by the intro- duction of Europeans. I may add, of Europeans from the north of Europe — we do not want them from the south of Europe — and of people from the eastern provinces, who, being frugal, hardy, thrifty, industrious people, and whose condition would be improved working, not for Chinese wages, but for a fair wage which would enable them to at any rate better their condition after coming here. I say we cannot hope to compete with ON QHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 285 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 them until we have produced this state of affairs, and we cannot produce this state of affairs until we have adopted a policy of restriction. Mr. Jardine shows that the shingle industry has been carried on without oriental labour, but it is idle to expect that white labourers will come into this country when there is an abundance of oriental labour. In the first place there is no room for them. Second, they would have to compete as to wages with a class who live under conditions that they will not submit to ; and, third, when once they get the idea into their heads that certain labour is only performed by a race, whatever their skin, we are accustomed to regard as inferior, it is certain that the better class of European labourers will not come to this country. So long as we have cheap labour in the province, all industries will work or level down to it. If the em- ployer can by the use of cheap labour employ his capital he will surely do so. The ex- istence of this class of labour creates a demand again for more, until the limit of profit- able production is reached, or the manufacturer or producer can sell no more at a profit. Turning now to the fishing industry. I submit without any hesitation that the evidence shows that there are quite enough orientals in the country for the successful carrying on of that industry. The following figures show the number of cases from the year 1894 to 1900, inclusive, the number of fishermen from 1896 to 1900, and the total number employed in the industry : ' Year. Cases. Fishermen. Total Employed. Value of Plant. 1894 494,371 566,395 601,570 1,015,477 484,161 732,437 585,413 $ 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 .• 1900 3,593 4,500 4,435 4,197 4,892 14,277 19,850 20,695 20,037 20,062 2,197,248 2,350,260 2,480,215 2,145,173 2,839,904 Believing in the theory, that once in four years there is what is called a good year, it is very much to be regretted that Mr. Bell-Irving who furnished these very valuable statistics, did not give the amount of the catch in the year 1893. However, there is sufficient material here to draw one conclusion which seems to me to be irresistible. The number of Chinese from 1893 to the present time have increased. The value of the plant from 1896 to 1900 has increased nearly seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the number of Chinese have increased proportionately with the increase in the num- ber of canneries, yet in 1893, 1896, 1897 and 1899 more fish were put up with fewer canneries, less capital, and fewer Chinese than in 1900. There is an additional fact, and that is, that improved methods and machinery enable one man now to do much more than at any other time. There being then Chinese, whites and Indians sufficient now to carry on the industry, it would seem that the exclusion of the oriental would work no injury. Fisheries on the Labrador coast are supplied with white fishermen. Even this inhospitable clime finds no difficulty in obtaining its supply of white labour. New- foundlanders are returning to their own country, leaving British Columbia rather than settle here and compete with orientals. If the canning industry is not a profitable one, then where does the money go '? From five hundred thousand to a million cases of fish are produced in the year. Some few whites are employed in the province ; supplies are foreign. How, then, is the state benefitted 1 Upon the supplies, a certain amount of duty is collected by the federal government, certain amount of taxes in the way of licenses are collected from the fish- ermen ; but beyond the expenditure of the money that the white fishermen receive, or the whites in the employ of canners receive, the province of British Columbia receives no benefit whatsoever. In other words, one of our greatest provincial industries, one for which we stand pre-eminent the world over, our salmon fisheries, are gradually being depleted, and the benefit the state, that is the province, itself derives is infinit- 286 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 esimal in character. If, on the other hand, the canneries are profitable, where does the profit go 1 No more is received by the white labourer than would be received if the canneries were unprofitable. He gets no more than the canner will reluctantly give him, and it is only to the extent of the money which he gets and the money which he spends, that the province in itself is in the slightest degree benefitted. Canning in t^e eastern provinces is carried on by whites, and the season in some instances is very little longer than it is with us — lobsters and oysters, for example. Canneries as large as ours are run by boys and girls ; equally so with the canning of fruit and vegetables. The Chinese have grown up with the development of the canning industry. No effort has ever been made to replace them with our own people ; and it is not because they have any exclusive or peculiar skill in the handling or management of the work, but simply because it is easier to go to one boss and obtain a number of labourers than it is to search for them individually. The process amounts to this : First, the white man is crowded out, and then it is said that the oriental is a necessity, and that the industry cannot be conducted without him. This process is now not only going on in the fisheries, but the lumber trade, and will ultimately permeate other classes of industry. Mr. Cruickshank tells us that the ordinary labourer in Manitoba becomes the settler. Chinese are not necessary to clear the land. Men are offering to come and clear for him as cash payments on lands they are willing to buy. The occupation of these lands would give a constant source of supply for all the labour that canneries and mills would require, and of the very best sort. The price of adjoining land is depreciated if occupied by Chinese. At courts of revision men ask a reduction on the ground that the Chinese are located on adjoining land ; favour any measure in the direction of exclusion. The capable mUl men here are whites who have learned their business in eastern mills, and they have no use for orientals in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I refer to Reeve Schou's evidence, which shows that many regular fishermen become settlers on the small hold- ings in Burnaby. He has a contract to settle land, and is getting it settled by small holders of forty acres each on Matsqui Prairie, and that is a good farming land. No Chinese labour has been used on the dyke. It has been shown that large areas of our lands are vacant and unproductive. We lack the class that the orientals keep out. The loss by the importation of agricultural products is something enormous — in fact it is one of the marvels, and has been for many years one of the marvels, of our industrial life, and if British Columbia were not one of the wealthiest countries on the face of the earth, it would be bankrupt over and over again by the lack of retaining the value of that which we produce. If our fisheries are profitable, the profits go abroad. If they are not profitable, only to the extent of the labour does it remain here ; the same with the lumber ; the same with the mines ; the same with any other of our natural pro- ducts ; and yet all the time, although our population is increasing, and although we have immense natural resources in the way of cultivable areas of land, we are year by year sending thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars out of the country for the purchase of those products, which we could readily retain ourselves. If we had onlv invited that class of immigrant to our shores who would have settled on the land, whose sons and daughters would have supplied the demand for all classes of labour for which there is here so great a demand. MINING. In this industry, possibly, as far at least so rock mining is concerned, the presence of the oriental has not been so injuriously felt. There would appear to be, so far as the evidence before the Commission is concerned, no acute phase of the question in anv of the mining districts that have been visited. But we may well ask ourselves why this is. The reason is not far to seek. In the first place, owing to his own peculiar super- stitions, the Chinese is not a miner. That is, when he first comes to British Columbia, mining is a thing absolutely unknown to him. He never saw or heard of a mine in his ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 287 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 life. No Chinaman in his own country disturbs the soil for the purpose of profit save for agricultural purposes, and it is for this reason that his attention has rather been directed to some of the other subjects and industries already touched upon, notably the lighter ones, which are within his strength and capacity, and require steady persever- ance rather than particular skill, but there is nothing to prevent just the same acute conditions prevailing in rock mining as prevails in the other industries, if once the oriental becomes familiar with the work. Three causes operate to prevent this : First, the fact that the Chinaman is not a miner as already mentioned ; second, the determined effort of the white miner himself to keep him out, and, thirdly, the fact that the employer, knowing the Chinaman's inability to mine, is reluctant to employ him until he has acquired the necessary knowledge and experience, and that he never can acquire so long as the white miner refrains from teaching him. But that he may become a possible competitor is thoroughly exemplified by the fact shown that he has been exten- sively used in coal mining and also in gravel mining. Curiously enough, it is said, that in this latter branch of business he has produced wealth — and I refer particularly to the evidence of Major Dupont — that he has produced wealth that would otherwise have remained untouched. I say, without hesitation, far better for that wealth to have remained untouched, until in the course of time it had been, or could have been, made available for the white miner, as undoubtedly it would be, when the cost of transport and the decreased prices of provisions would enable him to work diggings of that class. Examine the question for a moment. It is said that he has added something to the wealth of the country. What is it he has done ? He never paid a license if he could help it. He never made a record if he could avoid it. He never paid a tax, if he could escape it, of any kind. He has made some small purchases of manufactured articles that his own people don't produce. To that extent, and to that extent alone, has he benefitted the state. For the rest, his food is Chinese ; it is hauled to the mines by Chinese teamsters ; there consumed by a Chinese miner, who takes something out of the earth which he never can replace, and the larger part of which he, without doubt, immediately remits to his own country ; and then, it is said, that this man has added something to the wealth of the province of British Columbia. I submit, on the contrary, that he has extracted many millions from the province that can never be replaced or restored, and that the state has received little or nothing in return. DOMESTIC SERVICE. One cannot shirk the difficulty involved in the question of where is the supply of domestic service to come from. On the Anerican continent this always has been a vexed question. It alwaj'S has been a matter of great difficulty to fill the demand for domestic service, and that it has practically driven many families out of housekeeping, might just as well be conceded first as last. Probably, as years go by, domestic service will again come into favour, and I venture this as a reason. In former times all classes of female labour, the domestic servant was the most illy paid. The consequence of this was that except among the better class of servants, because grades there are and always have been amongst all orders of humanity and always will be, with the exception of among the higher class of service, domestic service was very greatly looked down upon, and even the better paid and higher class servants were not regarded as being the equals of those who gained their livelihood in some other manner. Gradually better conditions are prevailing. To-day a domestic servant receives nearly as much per month as she formerly received per annum. As a rule, she is an educated girl, she is better treated ; her relationship with her employer is of a far better character than formerly, and I have no doubt the ultimate result will be that in the future, domestic service will again be sou'^ht for by intelligent young girls as a proper and honourable means of earning a livelihood. The remedy lies partly in the hands of the employer. The time has gone by the pity is that it ever existed — when the comfort and convenience of the servant could be entirely overlooked, but inasmuch as it is a class of employment that will never stand a very high rate of wages, the source of supply must be from a class of females whose circumstances in life, from a financial standpoint, press upon them the necessity 288 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 of earning their daily bread. That class will be best recruited from the children of white labourers who should gradually take the place of the oriental if the policy of restriction be carried out. It is important to observe that the policy of non-employment of orientals in the boundary country has largely operated in their partial exclusion, or at least, to the great diminution in their numbers. If a hke policy had been adopted elsewhere, then there can be no doubt that white.s would have come in to fill the ready demand for labour. As an illustration of this, one may refer to Tacoma and to Mr. Houston's evidence. At Spokane and Seattle, and with some feeling of regret may I say that the means adopted in the town of PhcBnix, in British Columbia itself is an object lesson to all who care to read the signs of the times. Depression in commercial matters, depression in all classes of labour, following as a matter of course, produced in \ 686, bloodshed and riot, resulting in the exclusion of the Chinese in Seattle. From that time on, this city has gradually grown from a jiopulation of 6,000 or 7,000 to a population of 90,000. Xow, I do not say that this is owing entirelv to the exclusion of Chinese, but I do say that the startling fact remains that in all that immense population there are only some .300 of them, and that in the neighbouring state of Washington, the people there have managed to build up that immense city in the same time as this city of Vancouver, of which we are naturally so proud. The population of Seattle has increased from 6,000 to 90,000, and the city has been built exclusiNelj^ by white labour. The Exclusion Act has worked well in the United States. Xon-employment has been effective in the boundary country. United action kept them out of the building trades and the mines. Is it not time for a policy of exclusion producing a gradual change in the labour employed in other industries] The continued employment of orientals is having its eflfect upon the younger generation. Work that boys woidd do and girls, too, they find the places occupied by Chinese. They have been taught both bj' education and instinct to look upon the Chinamen as an inferior. The consequence is that thev will not engage into competition with him. The schools are full ; and, sad be it to say so, so are the streets at night. It has been said on behalf of the orientals by their counsel that the labour unions are responsible for the agitation, and what is taking place is but the outcrv of the labourer. Sirs, if that be so, then I say let us thank the labour unions for it — let us thank the labourer for his outcry, because, wliile at present it is the labourer alone who is pinched, the time is not far distant when other classes of the community will be feel- ing the stress of oriental competition in their respective fields, and then the outcry will not be confined to the labour union or the labourer. We are further told that our good relations with the eastern empires, particularly Japan, will be imperilled bv restricting the entry of their subjects into our land. Sir, when the statesmen of any part of our country appeal to the patriotism of the people to suffer and endure for the good of the country at large, and that appeal is limited largely to a particular class of the commu- nity, being that portion of the community who earn their daily bread in probably a precar- ious manner, it is putting their patriotism and loyalty to a very severe strain when thev alone are asked to bear the burden, and to waive their rights in favour of an alien race, and an alien race who bj- their very presence degrade the position that the sufferers occupy. The question seems partly to be, Lf a policy of exclusion were adopted, would there be a sufficiency of white labour come into this country to save such industries as are to a large extent at present practically dependent on Chinese labour ? It is not exclusively a labour question. The labourer, it is true, and his employer are immedi- ately affected. The real trouble, however, is far deeper and depends not upon the indus- trial or economic aspect of the presence of the Chinese, but upon its poUtical aspect. What will be the result in the future of the gradual encroachment of orientals upon certain avocations to the exclusion of whites 1 Ultimately there would be three classes in the community, namely : the master class, the servant class and a class of persons engaged in supplying the daily wants and luxuries of both, and this latter class will, if the servant class be alien, likemse be largely alien. Certain classes of labour in British Columbia are already being regarded as purely Chinese, hence degrading and beneath a Oy CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 289 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 white man. This, in itself, tends to the degradation of labour. When, as a question of principle, no work ever degrades anj' one. Looking at the question from its industrial aspects. While the object of the com- mission is to inquire exclusively into oriental immigration, I hope I may be pardoned for saying that much that one may say on' this subject applies equally to some of the inferior or lower orders of the" Latin races. That cheap labour is not an absolute neces- sity for the production of any particular article of manufacture is shown by the startling fact, that it is not the cheap labour countries that are the manufacturing countries. The cheap labour countries of Europe are Italy, Austria and Spain, the agricultural parts of Germany, Sweden and Norway. The great manufacturing countries of the world are Great Britain, the United States, and those parts of Germany not included in my former remark ; and the curious fact remains that that country which is gradually forging ahead, so far as industrial skill is concerned, and to some extent crowding out the manu- factures of other nations, is the country in which labour is most highly remunerated, namely, the United States of America. It is the large American manufacturer, who, employing white labour exclusively, is now competing with the United Kingdom, with Germany, and all other European nations, and by superiority of production alone, driv- ing the European out of the market. A striking illustration of this important fact is the • recent supply of bridge material and locomotive engines to the Imperial Government. Recently, the government was attacked in the House of Com- mons for purchasing American locomotives for use on the Indian railways. Lord Ham- ilton, Secretary of State for India, having been absent from the House at the time, considered the matter of sufficient importance to reply to the attack by a letter to the Times, and in that letter he made one statement I wish to quote. Said his Lordship : ' You seem to think that orders have gone abroad because those who gave them did not understand their business ; I wish it were so. The competition we have to face is founded on something much more formidable and substantial. Mechanical research, the consolidation of capital, thorough technical education and improved industrial organiza- tion have made in recent years a greater advance in America than here. It is the pro- duct of this combination and not the assumed stupidity of the Indian officials that the British engineer has to fear.' I may add that it was from a high labour country to a cheap labour country that those engines were sent. Mr. Cassidy says there has never been enough labour in a ' fluid condition.' A ' fluid condition ' meaning that any employer can, at any time, with little difficulty find all the labour he may need, for as long or short a time as the exigencies of the particular matter in hand may require. My friend desires to see repeated in British Columbia the scene enacted every day on the opening of the gates of any of the London dock yards. There is labour there in a ' fluid condition.' Better, far better, that the employer should go short of ' fluid ' labour than that the misery and starvation of a London dock yard should be repeated in British Columbia. . My friend, Mr. Taylor, says that we are asking for the ordinary rule prevailing in the British Empire to be abrogated. No, sirs, on the contrary, we are asking that the rule prevailing in the great self-governing colonies of Australia and Natal, and the neighbouring republic, may be introduced here. It is further said that these people do not come here as the result of servile contracts. I cannot prove that they do, but I will mention one significant fact : In fifteen years since the passing of the head tax, there has been paid for the entrance into this country by the Chinese alone $818,033 gold dollars. Approximately in their own money, the silver dollar, nearly $1,636,066. That is to say, these labourers coming here to work for the low wages raised the enormous sum of $1,636,066 for the privilege of entering the country, and paid at the same time their own fares and expenses to come here. Is such a proposition Having now in the time at my disposal touched upon the industrial aspect of the question I wish to refer to its national or political aspect, and in this connection I refer particularly to the evidence of the Rev. Canon Beanlands. I select his evidence because it is that of a highly cultivated, scholarly clergyman, who courageously put for- 54—19 290 REPORT OF ROYAL COMAlISSIOy 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 ward what at first sight seemed to me a most attractive theory, namely, that ' There is a time in the history of every country when the existence of a servile class helps the development, and that the existence of this class emphasized the position of the work- man who was a member of the dominant race. That the Chinese who came here did not compare with the whites or enter into competition with them.' Now, as this theory tended to the advancement of Hie white labourer, it seemed particularly attractive. The question is : Is it sound ? Is there any single instance of a nation in modern times prospering with a servile class 1 Do we need to go further than the civil war in the United States ? Certainly, the result of an attempt to maintain a servile class in the southern states has not been a success. Conditions in British Columbia seem to point to this : That there are some artizans and mechanics, and a few of the better sort of labourers receiving the best of wages. But tlie substratum of the industrial situation is oriental. Xow, of this. Canon Bean- lands approves. I venture to think that he loses sight of the important fact, that the oriental substratum will not remain quiescent. As a matter of fact, it is gradually forcing the way upward and disturbing and displacing the very men whom the Canon seeks to benefit. So far from elevating the artizan and mechanic, I cannot but think it will have the opposite efiect. The knowledge that he is of a higher type of humanity will be little compensation to him when the servile substratum has forced its way up- ward, and working for low wages at the higher branches of labour driven the white artizan out. There are large areas of London in' which the Poles and Slavs, a servile cheap labour class, have driven the English out — the same process there as here, the English worker displaced by the foreigners who will live under conditions intolerable to the Englishman. Does he think you feel proud that he is free 1 That he belongs to the dominant race ? Free. Yes, to do what 1 Starve. It would be a curious inquiry to ascertain what becomes of the displaced Englishman. What becomes of the British worker 1 To every deep there is a lower depth, and honest poverty having been dis- placed by the Pole and Slav, is it reasonable to suppose it has been exalted ? Is it not more probable that the}- have become part of the submerged tenth, and reached that depth of poverty and degradation that gives no hope of raising 1 I refer to the evidence of the following witnesses, who see the evil of oriental immigration. I select them as employers of labour, citizens of high standing in the community, and men whose opinions are entitled to careful consideration : Thomas R. Smith. — Contended that canneries look upon Chinese as an evil generally. Policy would be to exclude. J. A. Sayward. — Chinese crowd out whites and Indians. Favours restriction. \Vm. Munsie. — Could afibrd to pay a higher wage. Do not fear any trade dis- turbances. Willing to see orientals excluded. E. J. Palmer. — No inconvenience will be experienced from restriction of Chinese. Neither Chinese nor Japanese are a benefit to the country. Thos. Piercy. — Thoroughly favours exclusion and protection to white labour. Henry Croft. — Averse to oriental immigration. Advocates restriction. Jos. Hunter. — Prefer to see white labour predominate throughout the country. Country better without orientals. It would be a menace to the country if people like Chinese were found encroaching on the general avocations of the people. I believe this would be a better country without them. Industrial conditions would not be aflected by restriction or prohibition. D. Spencer, Victoria. A. Haslam, Nanaimo. R. H. Alexander, Vancouver. — If it were not for the necessities of our particular industry would much prefer that the immigration should be limited to whites. To build up the country, population must be homogeneous. Does not approve of them as citizens. Prefers to see them replaced by whites. Wages would not increase if ex- Surely, these people who now want to impose further restrictions, if not total exclusion, should show their reasons and support these reasons by facts. I claim therefore on behalf of the Chinese some benefit from this rule and I urge that the evidence brought before the Commission by those opposed to the Chinese, falls iar short of bearing out the statements made by those opposed to the Chinese and their presence in the country. At the outset of this inquiry you gave a series of questions covering the points on which you wanted evidence and before discussing the more general points involved in the inquiry I will briefly refer to these questions and the evidence bearing on each as regards the Chinese. 1. The number of Chinese in the Province. I think we may take it that twelve thousand is about the number. Yip On, the secretary of the Chinese Board of Trade in Vancouver, gives that figure and W. A. Cum Yow also examined in Vancouver gives the same number. We may say therefore that this is approximately the Chinese population of the province. I would mention here, however, that this population, notwithstanding the considerable numbers that have immigrated in recent years, is not increasing in proportion to the general increase in the population of the province. The evidence rather is that it is actually decreasing. The reason for this I will refer to later. 2. The Immigration since 1884. The statistics which have been furnished by the officials show the figures and it is unnecessary for me to go into them except to qualify them by the statement I have Just made that notwithstanding the immigration the Chinese population is not increasing. 3. From what class in China are the immigrants drawn and what was their con- dition in China ? Although there has been some conflicting evidence I think if will be -admitted that the Chinese population in the province come from the country districts or provinces of which Canton is the natural seaport, and that they are of the small -farmer class. There has been an attempt made to sho^\• that they are of the coolie class from the cities of China, but the witnesses who attempted to prove this, are not in a position to speak definitely. At their examination in Vancouver, Mr. G. W. Thomas and :slr. Dyer spoke on this point, but Mr. Thomas had not visited China since the year 187.5 and had no means of knowledge. Mr. Dyer referred specially to the emigration ■of the coolie class to the Straits Settlements and could not speak definitely as to those who came to British Columbia although he inferred that they were also of the coolie class. 4. The character of the Chinese, for honesty, obedience, diligence, thrift, sobriety and morality and keeping of contracts. On this question, the evidence is in fayour of the Chinese. While one or two witnesses do not give them a good character, the mass of evidence even from those who are pronounced in their feelings against the desirability of Chinese as citizens, is that the Chinese are honest, obedient, diligent to a degree, thrifty to an extent which some witnesses claim to be a crime, sober, and on the whole, as moral as similar classes among the whites. As to their keeping of contracts, the ■evidence is all to the effect that -they are beyond reproach. When a man hke the Honourable Mr. Reid who has had thirty-eight years' experience in the country speaks as he does of the way in which the Chinese carry out the terms of a contract, even if it 234 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 be disastrous to themselves; when witnesses like Mr. Smith, of Robert "Ward k Co., Ltd., Victoria and Mr. Frank Burnett, of Vancouver, both of whom have had large dealings with the Chinese, tell us that they can always be relied upon to keep a contract, when Mr. W. A. Cum Yow, of Vancouver, who speaks specially of the relations between the Chinese contractors and the Canning Companies states that he does not know of a single instance where a Chinese contractor had failed to carry out his contract in full, it is not necessary to make &nj further reference to the evidence. But in this connection I would like to remind you of the evidence of Mr. Dyer who was examined in Van- couver on the last day of the sittings here. You will remember that Mr. Dyer is a member of the staff of the province newspaper, and that he certainly was not in favour of the presence of the Chinese in this province. He had ten years' expei'ience in China and Japan, and stated that in Japan, positions of trusts were invariably filled by Chinese and in the same way in the Straits Settlements and other places in the east, showing the reputation which the Chinese have there for honesty and integrity. 5. The next question is the number of Chinese engaged in the various industries enumerated in the question as follows : FISHERIES. The evidence shows that there are no Chinamen employed as fishermen. The only Chinese that can be said to be employed in the fisheries are those employed in the various canneries. As to the number employed in this way it is difiicult to speak precisely, for the employment is not a permanent one, the work beginning about May 1, when what are called the first crew is taken on for the work of preparation and ending with the close of the canning season, about October 1 , the greatest number being employed in the months of July and August, when the actual fishing and packing is going on. IMr. Bell Irving estimates the total number thus employed as perhaps 4,000, but many of these are drawn from other occupations for the time being. In the statement of the Chinese population of Victoria put in by Lee Cheong, president of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Victoria, at the sittings on April 21, the number of cannerymen proper is given at Sf^B, and in Vancouver the number of cannerymen is given as 551. As to the emploTOient of Chinese in the canneries. I shall have occasion to refer more fullv again. THE MI>fES. In these there are a certain number of Chinese employed in the coal mines on the island, but the numbers are smaller than generally supposed, as will be seen from the evidence, and so far as other mines are concerned, there are few or no Chinese employed, except in placer mining. As to this class of mining I would refer to the evidence of the Honourable Mr. Reid. THE LUMBER BUSINESS. Under this head there are very few Chinese to be found. In the statement filed in Victoria the number of saw-mill hands is 48. In the statement filed in Vancouver the number of saw-mill hands employed is 1 2, all in the employ of one mill. These figures refer to saw-mill hands proper. In the shingle mills a larger number of Chinese are employed, the number in Vancouver being 110. In these shingle mills the Chinese are employed on contract work for which they have a special aptitude, owing to their great diligence, and the fact that they are always ready to work long hours. This is one of the many sins laid to their charge by the white workman. MANUPACTUEES. The number of Chinese employed in general manufactures is small. In fact, leaving out those employed in Victoria and Vancou-^er in the manufacture of boots and shoes O^V CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 295 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 and of clothing, the number engaged in factories is nil. Reference will be made to the shoemaking industry and the clothing industry under another head. FARMING AND MARKET GARDENING. There are no Chinese engaged in' farming proper, but a large number are engaged in market gardening. In Victoria, for example, the number of market gardeners is given as 200. In Vancouver the number given is 134. It may be taken that in the province generally there are 500 Chinese employed in this industry for which they show remarkable aptitude, having in most instances doubtless learnt the business in their native country where gardening has been perfected. DOMESTIC SERVANTS. In the city of Vancouver and Victoria there are about 800, and allowing a fair percentage for the other parts of the province it may be estimated that there are 1,000 to 1,200 Chinese domestic servants. As to their efficiency in this respect, and, the necessity for their employment I will refer at a later stage in the argument. OTHER CALLINGS. Under this head must be classed the merchants and merchants' clerks, who in Victoria and Vancouver number .388 and 143 respectively, and in other parts of the province probably as many more, and a certain number of miscellaneous labourers. 6. The difference in wages paid to the Chinese and to white men in the same trade or calling. There are few cases in which a direct comparison can be made, that is where a Chinaman can be found doing the same work as a white man. When this is the case, the rate of wages paid to the Chinaman is considerably lower. But as stated, there are a few cases in which this direct comparison can be made. In the canneries the Chinamen do a class of work which is not done by the whites. In the shingle mills they work by contract. In domestic service the comparison is with white women. Here the Chinaman gets rather better wages on the average, and in- some cases far higher wages, but as the evidence shows, he is a better servant and does work which a white servant girl cannot or will not do. In the tailoring trade the wages of white journey- men can be put approximately at $15 a week (see the evidence taken in Victoria on March 15 and 16) while the wages of the Chinese are from $25 to .$35 a month with board (see the evidence of Tim^ Kee in Victoria, March 15). In the boot and shoe business the Chinese workmen are paid from $1.10 to $1.25 a day (see evidence in Victoria, on March 20). White men in the same business are employed in a different class of work and are paid from $2.50 to $3 per day. In the saw mills where Chinamen are employed their wages may be put at an average of .51.25 a day, while the lowest wages to white men in the same employment is .^l.SO. 7. Has any industry been called into existence by the presence of the Chmese ? I think that on the evidence we may take it that the canning industry, while not actually called into existence by the Chinese, has been built up by the fact of their being here, and their labour available for the peculiar conditions of the cannery busmess m a way that could not have been done had they not been here, and that they are mdispensable in it. It is a significant fact as stated by Mr. Bell Irving, that in every salmon cannery on the Pacific coast from Northern Alaska to the Sacramento, Chinese are largely employed. I shall have occasion to refer to this point again. 8 Is there any industry dependent upon the Chinese labour for its contmuance l While some witnesses claim that the canneries could continue without Chinese, the evidence of the owners and managers of the canneries is to the contrary,; tor they one and all state that it would be impossible to carry on the industry without the Chinese. In the lumber business the evidence of those qualified to speak is that there is an absolute necessity for cheap labour of some class, cheaper than can, be got m the white population. It is these two industries the fishing and the lumber, which with 296 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSIOy 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 mining make up the three principal industries in the province. In both of them the competition is with outsiders and the price is fixed not by tlie local demand in British Columbia, or in Canada, or by conditions prevailing here, but by this outside competi- tion and the necessity for cheap production is hard and fast. 9. How do the Chinese come to the province and under what terms ? I assume that this refers to the statements frequently made that the Chinese are imported in large numbers under contracts which are alleged to be nf a servile nature. These state- ments are not however borne out by any eA'idence. N(j witness has come forward and established this by direct evidence. All they tell us is hearsay. On the other hand we have the positive evidence of E. W. McLean, Mon Kow, Cum Yow and Lee Cheong that such is not the case. It is surelv not necessary for me to refer to this evidence in detail, as this is certainly a p(jint on which I am entitled to claim that the burden of proof is on those who make the statement. 10. What proportion bring their wi^ es, or marrv here or attend school or churches or become christians 1 It is difficult on the evidence to speak precisely, but the pro- portion that bring their wives or marry here is ^■ery small, less than -5 per cent. For this there are reasons. As ilr. Cum Yow puts it, a large proportion would bring their families here were it not for the unfriendly reception given them in recent years which has created an unsettled feeling. As to attending school, the number of children is small, but a number do attend our public schools and there are a certain number of christians among the Chinese population although this number again is small. 11. What is the standard of living of the Chinese as compared witli the whites? This is lower than that of the whites, but here again it is difficult to make a comparison for there is not in the province any class of whites that can be directly compared with the Chinese labouring class. The white labourer or workman is as a rule in a superior position, earning considerably higher wages, so that there is no class of white workmen in the same position. The Chinese live within their means, and the wages which they get compel them to be thrifty and frugal. It is hardly fair to urge, as many of the witnesses have done as a wrong in the Chinese, that he is not extravagant and that he lays up something for the rainy day, and in many cases sends money away to support his wife or his parents. Why should it be a crime in a young Chinaman to deny him- self and send money home to his family ! If a young immigrant of any other nation- ality did this he would be praised instead of blamed. 12. What is the moral and physical condition of the Chinamen, their habits of cleanliness and attention to sanitary regulations ? As to their moral condition I have already spoken. As to their physical condition, they are not as strong physically as the whites, but this is a matter of race. So far as health is concerned, they compare favourably with other classes of the population except as to consumption to which they appear to be peculiarly susceptible. As to their attention to sanitary regulations, they require education and oversight, but here again there is no white class to compare them with. 13. Do they live in different parts of the city or in aggregations ? The conditions prevailing in Vancouver and Victoria may be taken as tyjiical. The Chinese live in aggregation, but this is rather a matter of necessitj- than of choice. In both cities the only class that do not live in Chinatown proper are the laundrj'^men for the convenience of their business, but as Mr. Cum Yow inhis evidence in Vancou\-er states, this aggre- gation is rather forced upon them than chosen liy them. 14. What effect has then- residence in any place on the price of property in that locality 1 Owing to the strong feeling in the minds of many against the Chinese, their neighbourhood has had the effect of depreciating the value of property, but on this point I would refer the Commissioners to the evidence of Major Dupont in his examination in Victoria on April 3, where he states that the Chinese are good tenants in every respect. 1-5. What proportion live in separate houses and have families'? As shown by the evidence the proportion is small. How many Chinese women are there in the province 1 The actual number in Victoria is 94 women and 82 female children. In Vancouver the number of women is 29 with 13 female children. Outside these cities the numbers would bring up the total to about 300 of them : the majority are the wives of merchants y CHINESE AXD JAPANESE IMMIGRA TION 297 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 with a few wives of labour men. The number of women of no occupation is not more than twenty in the entire province. So much for the charge that prostitution prevails to a great extent among them. 17. Are men and women brought under servile contracts? There is no evidence ■of this. 18. This question relates to the Chinese companies. There is no e\'idence that they take an}' part in Chinese immigration, or effect it in any way. 1 9. Do the Chinese take any interest in our laws and institutions ? What propor- tion build up homes and become permanent citizens or residents ? The Chinese take very little interest in our laws, but this is hardly to be wondered at seeing how they are treated, and they have not got the right to vi.ite. The proportion that build up homes is small but increasing. iO. Do they learn our language, etc., and show signs of assimilating ? The number that learn our language.and adopt our customs is small, and the evidence is that the Chinese will not assimilate. 21 How have workmen been affected by the Chinese ? This is in one sense the main question, for this is the great cry against them, and I will have to discuss this point more fully as one of the general points of my argument. In the meantime I submit that the effect of Chinese competition is not at all what it has been represented to be. 22. How has Chinese immigration affected white immigration 1 There is some evidence of individual cases where white immigrants have been prevented from coming, but this is only in isolated cases, and there is no evidence that the presence of the Chinese here has had any general effect in preventing white immigration. 23. What proportion of Chinese return to their own country, and what proportion •of their earnings do they take 1 A considerable number of Chinese, probably 20 per -cent, return to their own country and take some of their earnings, probably 25 per cent. 24. Are the Chinese a menace to health, and, if so, in what way ? If there is any menace to health the greater number should constitute the greater menace, and we can, therefore, refer to the condition of affairs in Victoria and Vancouver, and if the presence -of the Chinese in these cities is not a menace to health it certainly will not be so in -other parts of the province. The evidence of Dr. Fraser, medical health officer of Victoria, examined on March 13, and James Wilson, sanitary inspector of Victoria, examined on March 15, shows the condition in Victoria. In Vancouver similar evidence was given on April 2-1 by Dr. McLean, the health officer, and Mr. Marrion, Health Inspector. In both cities the principal thing alleged against the Chinese is that they are fond of overcrowding, but it is admitted that by proper supervision this is prevented and the sanitary condition of the Chinese quarter greatly improved. No instance is given of the origin of any contagious disease in the Chinatown of either city, and the mortality amongst the' Chinese is not greater than amongst the white population. In Vancouver, Dr. McLean tells us that the condition of Chinatown has _greatlv improved in recent vears and is still improving, and Mr. Marrion, the health inspector, states that there "is less difficulty than formerly in enforcing the sanitary by- laws, as the Chinese are becoming gradually educated to the proper standard, while the merchants and better classes among them assist the health officers in every way in their duties. Dr. McLean speaks in a vague way of the presence of the Chinese being a menace to health, but it is significant that in Vancouver, as shown by his report for 1900, out of 183 cases of infectious disease during that year only six occurred m Chma- town, and of the remaining 177 not one could be traced to Chinatown. This is about 3 per 1,000 of the Chinese population of 2,000, while taking the total population of Vancouver to be 30,000, the number of cases in the white population is 6 per 1,000, or twice as many in proportion as in Chinatown. I submit that there is no evidence that the presence of the Chinese is in any way a menace to health. 25. Has trade between China and Canada been affected by Chinese immigration t There is a considerable import trade done by the Chinese merchants. Mercliants m Victoria imported $107,504 of goods from China in the year 1900. The A ancouver 298 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 merchants in the same period imported 87^,198. There is evidence that some export trade in lumber is attributable to the presence of the Chinese here, but so far as export trade is concerned the presence of the Chinese has had no marked effect. The restric- tion or prohibition of Chinese immigration would naturally directly a£Fect the import trade. 26. The effect of unlimited Chinese immigration ? I think that this question is put in rather an unfoitunate way. Unlimited immigration of any class, Chinese or white, would have a bad efiFect, but I think that the Chinese immigration will, even in the absence of any restriction, be limited by the natural law of supply and demand. In other words, we may leave it to the Chinese not to come in too great numbers. 27. As to the sufficiency of white labour ? I suggest here that there is an insuffi- eiencv of white labour. I will refer to this again in my general remarks. 28. The criminal class among the Chinese as compared with the white population \ On the evidence given I think that you will come to the conclusion that taking the Chinese as a class they are a law-abiding people. They are certainly no worse than their white neighbours. Dr. Fraser, medical officer in Victoria, examined on March 1 3, says that the Chinese are law-abiding, no serious crimes are committed by them, their principal offences being against the citv health by-laws. Superintendent Hussey of the provincial police, examined in Victoria on March 2.5, says that the Chinese are industrious- and sober and conduct themselves as well as other classes. Chief Langley of the Victoria police force, says that comparing the Chinese with the whites as to crime, he says he does not think the Chinese are bad. In Vancouver, Mr. ^Mcintosh, clerk of the pohce C(5urt, handed in a statement showing the police records for the year 1900. From this it appears that the greater number of cases against the Chinese are for infringement of the citv bv-laws such as health by-laws and some cases of petty thieving. Mr. Beck, clerk of the crown in Vancouver, showed that one hundred and forty prisoners were committed for trial for indictable offences in Vancouver in the seven years ending October 30, 1900. Of these si.xteen w-ere Chinese, onlv ten of whom, however, w-ere con^•icted. It is significant that there ha\'e been no charges against the Chinese of assaults upon women or anv cases of that nature. 29. The relative amount of taxes paid compared with their earning power ? The Chinese pay the same \>o\\ tax as the white labourer. They pay on property the same rate as the white population. As their wages are lower the poll tax is a hea'^'ier tax on them than on the whites. 30. With whom do the Chinese trade i To what extent does this country benefit thereby and what proportion of their earnings do thev take out of this countrv ? The Chinese trade in a great measure with their own merchants, but these merchants, as will be seen from the statements handed in by Lee Checmg in Victoria and by Yip On in Vancouver, buy the greater part of their goods in Canada or import from England. They in fact obtain their supplies from the same source as white merchants in the same lines. As to the proportion of their earnings taken out of the country, there is evidence that a number of Chinese do send away a considerable portion of their earnings, pro- bably 25 per cent., but I would refer to the evidence of the Honourable Mr. Reid where he sa^-s that this is not done to an\-thing like the extent that is generally supposed, and Mr. Reid from his thirty-eight years' residence in the ciiuntry is able to speak Avith some authority. 31. What proportion speak and read and write English] A con.siderable number read and write and there is eA'idence that they are anxious to learn in order to better their position. Questions 32, 33 and 34 relate to matters of opinion rather than to matters of fact. I would merely remark incidentally as regards question 32 that the whole gist of evi- dence is that the Japanese are a greater menace tu white labour than the Chinese are. The witnesses who state this, give as their reason the fact that the Japanese show greater aptitude in adopting our ways of life and are much more aggressi-s e, having already forced themselves into competition with the white woi-kmen in a way that the Chinese have not done, although the latter have been in the province in considerable numbers for many years, and the Japanese haxe only been here in any number for a year eir two. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION . 293' SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 I have now gone through the different questions suggested by you and i-('feiTed t.3 the evidence in answer to these questions as it effects my cUents and I submit that it is favourable to the Chinese. So far as facts are concerned it is absolutely so. As to the opinion given by different witnesses, specially in answer to the last three questions it is adverse. As to the capacity of Chinese to assimilate, I have admitted that they will be slow to assimilate, but this I claim is in one sense a good feature and an absolute answer to many of the absurd statements that have been made against them, as for example, that there is danger of their overrunning the country and becoming the dominant race' and statements of that character. So long as they do not assimilate and establish them- selves and multiply in the country, there is absolutely no danger of such a contingency. As already mentioned, when it comes to opinions in answer to the questions sug- gested by you, we find many strongly expressed opinions against them, but so far as the witnesses are concerned, I submit that these come in a great measure horn persons who are not in a position to give opinions, and in many instances from persons who .show by their evidence a strong prejudice against the Chinese. I would now direct your attention to several more general points on which I wish to speak more in detail. These have all been incidentally mentioned under one or other of the various questions to which I have already referred, but several of them are of such importance that I must devote a short time to each of them and the evidence bearing on them. 1. The outcry against the Chinese comes largely from the working class. Thi.s- is clear from the evidence. The witnesses who spoke most decidedly against them were workingmen. When it came to employers of labour, such as Mr. Todd of Victoria, Mr. Palmer of the Chemainus Mills, Mr. Marpole of the Canadian Pacific Railwav, ]Mr. Bell-Irving, representing the canning industry, and Mr. Alexander, Mr. MacNair and Mr. Spicer representing the lumber industry in Vancouver, the evidence was very different. The working class unfortunately in British Columbia as elsewhere, do not always see things in the light of their own true interests. They claim in a general way that the Chinese come into direct competition with them, but when we examine the evidence it is remarkable how slight the foundation in fact is for this outcry. Take the lumber industry for example. On this the evidence of Mr. Alexander is clear. He does not give opinions but states facts, facts of which he has absolute knowledge from his experience of nearly 40 years in the country. Judging from the mass of evidence before us, the length of your labours would have been greatly lessened if other witnesses had taken a leaf out of Mr. Alexander's book and confined their answers to facts and not given .their own opinions which were in many cases absolutely valueless, the witnesses having no qualification whatever to speak. A number of workmen come up and speak of the lumber business. Each speaks from his own individual standpoint, and yet while he talks in a general way of the competition by the Chinese none of them can say that they have been driven out of employment by the Chinese or that they have suffered themselves. Surely if there is any foupdation for the outcry that white labour is driven out by the unfair competition of the Chinese, some workmen cijuld be found who could come forward and speak from his own actual experience. But such is not the case. Witnesses tell us in a vague way that a large number of men had applied to the Hastings Mill, but we have Mr. Alexander, manager of the mill telling us that there is and has been an absolute scarcity of white labour, and that when they do small. Exclusion wcjuld of course prevent any further immigration, and an increased poll tax as suggested would practicallj- have the same effect, for the evidence is that an increased poll tax would mean exclusion, ;Mid here I would remind you of a point I ha^'e already referred to, that the Chinese population of the province is certainly not increas- ing in proportion to the wliite population, and that it is rather absolutely decreasing- notwithstanding the large number that have come into the province in recent years. The explanation of this fact is that a large proportion of the Chinese who pay the poll tax for the Dominion of Canada ultimately find their way to the United States. In other words, we are getting the revenue and the Americans are getting the Chinamen. Exclusion or further restriction means that the Chinese in the country will rapidly decrease, and, with the present number, none too great for the country's needs for the industries to which I have referred, exclusion or restriction means ruin to them. Has any good reason been shown for excluding or restricting the further immigra- tion of Chinese, and have the people who cry so loud against them proved the serious charges that they have madej That there has been a loud outcry against the Chinese I admit, but as one of the witnesses in Victoria put it, a few people can make a loud cry if they cry loud enough. I submit that the cry is the cry of a comparatively few, and from those who unfortunately do not know what is best in their own interests. It is significant in looking through the evidence to compare the standing and position of those who speak in favour of the Chinese with those who speak against them. As I put it in opening, in this province and in this Dominion, part of the Great Empire which has always advocated the policy of the open door and free trade in labour, which has welcomed to its shores immigrants from all parts of the, world, without excep- tion, the presumption is that the Chinese are rightly here like all other people. If they are to be restricted, if they are to be excluded, if the door open to all others is to be shut to them, some special and good reason should surely be shown for so doing. The govern- ment has been asked to restrict if not to prohibit Chinese immigration altogether ; the people who ask this have had the fullest opportunity to come before your Commission ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 305 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 and to present their case. This I submit they have wholly failed to do, and not only have they failed, but the evidence of independent witnesses establishes the very contrary of what these people alleged. Their statement was that the presence of the Chinese was a detriment to the country. The evidence is that far from being a detriment to the country, the Chinese are a benetit. So far from injuring the white working man they afford the cheaper class of labour which is required for some of our most important industries, thus providing positions for a larger number of whites in the better paid classes of work. They are indispensable for the maintenance of salmon canning and the lumber business, two of oui' most important industi'ies, and as domestic servants for the well-beinf;' and comfort of home life in the province. EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT OF THE PHILIPPINE C0MMI8SI0M. Exhibit IV. MEMORANDUM ON THE CHINESE IN THE PHILIPPINES. Since very ancient times the Chinese ha\'e had commercial relations with the Fili- pinos, said relations having existed before Spanish dominion in the islands. As the number of the Chinese was continually increasing, and also as it was neces- sary for the security of the colony to segregate them from the rest of the population, a large building, or market, with numerous habitations was built for them as a measure of governmental policy. This market was called the ' Market place of San Fernando.' This market place served as a home for the Chinese, so that they could not diffuse their religion among the natives, and it was situated on the other side of the Pasig River under the fire of ' Citadel,' as Fort Santiago was formerly called. They made good profits, and in a few years the market place or ' alcaiceria,' which was theirs exclusively, proved too small to accommodate all who came from China, and another building called the ' Parian ' was constructed for a like purpose. ' Parian ' is a Mexican word, which means market place, and the new building, which was made for the Chinese was situated where at present the ruined botanical gardens are, although some historians confound this ' Parian ' with the one which existed m Intramuros, at the end of Victoria street, where the municipal school for girls is at present. The Chinese immigration kept on growing in numbers and became a sort of inva- sion and the time came when there were not enough habitations in both the alcaiceria and 'the parian to accommodate them. In the middle of the seventeenth century there were some 30,000 in the neighborhood of Manilla alone. ,..,,■ Althouo-h historians affirm that at this time the principal occupation of this great number of Chinese was agriculture, nevertheless it is to be supposed that many of them did not have any visible work or means of acquiring it, and they audaciously revolted against Spanish sovereignty in the islands. Although there were, -has-been sai^^^ .30 000 of them, they carried their audacity to such an extreme that they had Manilla m a state of siege for some days, and, although they were repulsed a number of times, they nersisted in their project of taking the capital of the Archipelago by assault ^ A?te variousVtileattempts^hey wereconvinc could no conquer m the Philippines and finally withdrew, raising the siege, and then those who had been beLged pursued them to a point beyond Kainta, slaughtering them without pity until they were in a state of complete and shameful defeat. . « ■ • fV,. a, ,,.!„• As a result of this Chinese revolt against the sovereignty of Spam m the Au-hi- pela-o greater restrictions on their immigration were imposed. , , , , ., .. , , In spite of these restrictions the Chinese colony gained m strength what it had lost ■ "f F^L/use these restrictions gave the Chinese the undeniable right to manage l^tt^Zciri^llnA enable them to always corrupt the administratrve efemenrin the Philippines, and this was the natural consequence of the Spanish ,ules and royal orders referring to the Chinese. 54—20 306 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 It was necessary to punish the Chinese for their attempt to take Manilla, and for the innumerable acts of treason which they were accused of, and consequently, in the time of Don Simon de Anda (1762-1764), it is calculated that some 8,000 died in the central provinces of Luzon, who were exterminated in those towns by the order of that Governor General, only those who lived in JManilla and its suburbs remaining alive. As a consequence of this anti-Chinese campaign many of them who survived this assassination emigrated to their own country, and the number of Chinese established in these islands diminisiied little by little. Only those remained in the Philippines who were secure in doing their business and making a living freely and with more security than in their native country. This noteworthy diminution continued, until from 1840-1846 there were only 5,000 in all the Philippines, a small number as compared with other times. Lastly, the Chinese have always been the preeminent question with the Governors- General, and when Senor Norzagaray gave up his command in the Philippines in 18.59 he wrote an extensi\e paper, in which, among other things, the seven or eight thousand Chinese who were in the archipelago were spoken of. This Governor Genei'al, referring to the Chinese, said : " One of the most difficult questions remains to be solved cm my giving up of my command — that of the commerce carried on bv the Chinese in the provinces. The clamor against these A.siatics is general in the country, because competition with them is not possible ; Spaniards, Mestizos, Indians, all give them a free field in retail business when they enter. Their few needs, their patience under every insult and vexation^ and sacrifice, and personal labour which they can utilize, except agriculture, the ease with which thev adapt themseh'es to the customs of the natives and to the exchange of produce and to all the needs of the consumer ; the insignificance of their personal expenses ; the manner of their life ; the close cooperation which they maintain among themselves, all place them in a situation advantageous to them, but not always to commercial progress. The truth is, that they have monopolized retail business ; they make the employment of capital hj individuals cjf other races impossible. It is also true that they do not start any enterprise nor undertaking of importance. They hoard by instinct and hide or take away their capital from the country, which capital in other hands would be a powerful element of progress and advancement, but is it possible and would it be prudent to at (mce reverse the customs of the country which is now accustomed to the services of the Chinese in the retail business referred to ? Are the complaints of thousands of individuals of other races sufficient warrant for the pre\-ention of their invading activity in all industries 1 An energetic reaction against the Chinese has existed during the last two vears in Java, in Australia and in California. In the voluminous report to which I referred in the beginning, it is set forth by approval and by some roj'al orders that they be protected. I believe that it would be possible to establish a means of quieting these complaints and at the same time avoiding the consequent setback in business, to wit, to take the prohibitive measures which have been adopted in the countries mentioned. The commercial invasion of the provinces by the Chinese could only be advantageous under certain restrictions. The gathering of the fruits of the country for exportation, which up to the jiresent has been done by Spaniards, natives and mestizos, should continue in their hands, for this tendency to fraud, to adulteration, and to monopoly, which is characteristic of the Chinese, would be prejudicial to their production. The industrial tax is called upon to establish a just balance in trade and protection in favour of the national races in the Philippines,. The industrial tax which the Chinese pay at present is insufficient for the purpose, on account of the insignificant rates which it fixes. One of the greatest difficulties which this question presents is the great amount which has been written upon this subject, and the impossibilitj^ of the superior authcjri- ties of the best judgment understanding it in all its phases and all the details which should be known." ON CHINESE A ^D JAPANESE IMMIGRA TIO V 307 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 This is the most interesting part of the paper of Senor Norzagaray, in which he makes it clear that it would be better for Spain to be impoverished by taking energetic and saving measures against these Asiatics than that, these Philippines should be ruined by foreign commercial absorption, of which one Spanish colony was the victim. Since the administration of said Senor Norzagaray up to the beginning of the war between the United States of America and Spain, the influence of the Chinese in the Philippines has been increasing, both in commerce and industry, and in theii' wealth and the volume of their production. The Chinese engaged in a variety of industries and mercantile pursuits in the Philippines, and in 1830 the administration classified them as follows : (1) wholesale merchants ; (2) retail merchants with dry goods shops ; silk merchants, shoemakers, druggists, ink manufacturers, soapmakers, barbers, blacksmiths, carpenters and dealers in notions ; (3) water carriers, boatmen, cooks, and dealers in firewood; (1) workmen and servants of all those comprised in the three preceding classes. Those of the first class paid a tax of $10 a month ; those of the second, $4 ; those of the third, $2, and those of the fourth |1. We shall make a short study of the importance of Chinese commerce in the Philip- pines, especially in some of the richest provinces. In Isabella and Cagayan, a short time before the governmental tobacco monopoly was abolished, there were ver}' few Chinese, and their action in business was insignifi- cant, and the Spanish Government paid the owners of the tobacco crops punctually. Nevertheless, a time came in which the Spanish administration was behind in nearly all of its payments — principally in the most important ones — and the planters of these provinces were among the many victims of these delays. The Chinese then took advantage of the precarious situationby making usurious loans to those who lacked the means of realizing on their crops, thus securing the bu-iness of those fertile provinces, both by means of the capital which they advanced, and in the han ling and monopoly of tobacco. Their commercial supremacy reached such a point that once they had monopolized tobacco, almost every leaf which came to Manilla from Cagayan and Isabella was their property, and they stored it in warehouses and sold it later to the factories already established in the capital at a good profit. They were not contented with the sale of tobacco in the leaf alone, but they also established factories to manufacture it, thus cau.sing other factories which had been in operation to close up bv the ruinous competition which the Chinese raised against As they had monopolized tobacco in the leaf, they raised the price of that commodity to a fabulous height, thus insuring the ruin of the other manufacturers, their commer- cial adversaries. , , ^, . f, ^ ■ Nevertheless, it must be mentioned that cigars made by Chinese factories soon lost credit in foreign markets through the poor workmanship and the detestable manner in which they mixed the different classes of leaves. , ^ , , ^ The Chinese were not discouraged bv this, and although the sales of the products of their factories did not gain them the profits which they expected, they continued acquiring lands in the provinces mentioned, both by loaning on mortgages and by making contracts of sale in advance. , ^, . i , i • • i In the provinces of Hocos and Pangasman the Chinese, by their commercial influence, succeeded in paralyzing to a certain extent the progress which ^vas noticeable .some years before in the product on of said provinces. , , ^, j u fi fv,„f All the interior trade of Canarines Sur is monopolized by them, and both that province and Hocos Sur seem, for this reason, to be stationary as rega ds the ordinary march of commerce and industry. .u +• Jv, <-l,w In Batano-as the Chinese have not been able to overcome the natives in tins unequal struggle for life, for alth ugh the inhabitants ,.f Batangas were beaten in the trad^of the interior they did not lose heart on this account, and devoted themselve with .xreat diligence to the production of coffee and sugar, and to the breeding of beef cattle "and swine, and the Chinese were not able to outdo them. 54— 20i 308 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 In Albay, also, the Chine e extended their business, especially in hemp, and were the cause, as some merchants assert, of the discredit which that valuable fibre suifered from in the markets of America and Europe by the bad faith with which they separated the different classes for which there was a demand iti the foreign markets. Since 1860 the Chinese have been prosperous in Iloilo and the island of Negros, which islands have always been of great commercial and agricultural importance, even before he Chinese came here. In Jolo, Cottabato and Zamboanga the Chinese have also done business both in trading with the natives of said islands and with the Philippine and Spanish troops in garrison there, and in dealing with the Moros in shells, pearls and other valuable products. ' The town of Taal merits special mention, for the natives there have not allowed the Chinese to establish themselves in that town, in spite of their ^■igou^ous persistence. The Chinese were assassinated there and the criminals were never detected, for which reason the Chinese decided not to oppose the determination of the people of Taal, who carry on a comparatively prosperous ci immercial life without necessity for foreigners to trade in the products. We can now judge how it is that the Chinese were always successful in the com- mercial competition which they raised in the Philippines. To put it in one word, they were successful because there exists among them a cooperative protection incapable of being destroyed either by law or by any measures which may be taken to counteract it. In fact, they succeed ev erywhere in obtaining a monopoly of wholesale and retail trade, becoming by the unity of purpo.se which they possess the proprietors of mechanic arts and trades in the country. They lend each other cooperative aid and all work together for the sariie end, thus forming a vast commercial society with which it is impossible for other merchants who work separately to compete. Some foreign business houses established in Manilla import dry goods from Europe and turn them ov-er for prompt and certain sale to a small number of Chinese merchants, in whose power to collect the value of the merchandise they have confidence. These merchants divide the articles received among the shops of their countrymen and also send quantities of the goods to their principal agents in the provinces, who in turn distribute them among the different Chinese who have open shops in the towns and provincial capitals. .They previously mark the prices on the articles and the shopkeepers are not allowed to reduce them under any pretext. Under this system the result is that although there may be many Chinese establish- ments in one town, the same article exists or may be secui'ed in all of them, and the price is uniform in high and low alike and only follows a general rule whether the article is plenty or scarce in the place. When a Chinese immigrant lands in Manilla he comes under the management of a headman, who lends him •'ifSO or more and to whom the future merchant is directly responsible. He then begins to work in the most laborious and humble employment, but in spite of his small compensation he is able, by force of self-denial, to save a quantity sufficient to free him from the power of the headman, to whom he returns the quantity advanced to him. From that time on he works on his own account, protecting and being protected by his countrymen, until he accumulates sufficient capital to return to his country and there enjoy his savings for the rest of his life. The principle of political economy is well known which lays down the rule that in order for a country to obtain advantages from immigration the immigrants should bring in capital, new industries, or superior knowledge to perfect industries already in exist- ence, or at least that said immigrants should apply their energies to pursuits productive of gain, not only to the immigrants themselves, but to society in general in the country in which they have established themselves, or that they finally become assimilated with the people of the country, thus giving, although indirectly, stimulus to certain professions and industries, whose progress is a consequence of the increase of the number of the ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 309 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 inhabitants of the town. Chinese, on coming to the PhiHppines, do not comply with any of the conditions of this well-known principle of political economy, which are desir- able points to be looked for in immigrants. Why, then, should they be allowed to immigrate in such great numbers, when their presence in the Philippines is not a guarantee of prosperity and progress for the rest of the inhabitants of the Archipelago ? According to a census which was published in 1876, there were 30,797 Chinese in this Archipelago. In ten years this number grew to 99,1-52 In every society there is an unfailing Isalance establisherl between services and remuneration by the economic laws of supply and demand as well as by professional necessities. The harmonious application of this balance brings about public order and general prosperity. The deficiency or excess in any of the number of either employers or employees disturbs this balance, which, under proper conditions, makes the social edifice symmetrical. In a people like the Filipino people, whose wholesale business is almost entirely in the hands of the Chinese, one cannot hope for the creation of small capitals, which, being- Added to by labour and economy, serves as a means of improving city property, and for the extension of agriculture and many useful undertakings which are not known in the Philippines as yet, and ^^•hich, undoubtedly, will never be known through steps taken by the Chinese capitalists. Those who devote themselves to retail business are, in all countries of the world, those who are stockholders in small enterprises which promise profits to small capitals when associated, and here this class of merchants is almost entirely Chinese, and conse- quently hostile to the most useful projects for the material progress and general improvement of these islands. The Chinese are one of the principal causes of the commercial and industrial backwardness of the Archipelago. It is impossible here, on account of the competition which they make, to attain a position in the middle class of society. This class is the protector and promoter of great enterprises which do not promise immediate dividends, and which must be perfected by means of shares which represent a great capital, that is to say, by the collection of the funds of many contributors. After having read what we have set forth in reference to what was formerly called ' the Chinese problem,' the following conclusions, briefly, may be deduced: (1.) The Chinese were protected here with undue liberality by the Spanish Government to the prejudice of Spain herself and of the Philippines. (2.) Furthermore, the losses which the Philippines suffer are considerable, because it is the custom of the Chinese to consume, as far as the necessaries of life are concerned, the food, clothing and other articles which thev import from their own country for this purpo.se. ' The first of these conclusions is now a matter of histoi y, for the American Govern- ment, on taking the place of the Spanish Government here, will not allow the Chinese or their attorneys to bid upon contracts with the State, nor will it tolerate frauds upon the administration, which the Chinese commit by concealing their industries or their numbers. The second conclusion which refers to the losses which the country suffers by the spirit of monopoly of the Chinese, which is shown by their use of imported arti- cles from their own nation, must also be taken into account, and these losses may be counteracted bv the following means : (1) To make all articles coming from China, which are designed for the individual consumption of these Asiatics, such as fresh or preserved provisions, fruit, clothing, shoes, and others, pay heavy duties in the custom house. (2) To raise the customs duty on opium to a very high rate, m order that the smoker of this extract may pay the country indirectly for the use of it. Opium smokers will be done away with in this manner. (3) To prevent the Chinese from engaging in agriculture, which the Spanish desired them to do, for they would not perceive that apart from the cultivation of the soil it is the surest guarantee of the future of the ir-hil- ippines, since the sovereignty of Spain and the absorption of the colony by the triars has ceased to exist. Horticulture and floriculture alone should be allowed to the Chinese. 310 REPUUT or ROYA L COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 THE HONOURABLE OLIVER P. MORTON'S VIEWS ON THE CHARACTER, EXTENT AND EFFECT OF CHINESE IMMIGRATION TO THIS COUNTRY. Note. — ~Siv. Morton was Chairman of the Commission appointed in 1S96 to inquire into Chinese and Japanese Immigration and it would appear made a minority report, of which the following is all that can be found, a portion having been lost or mislaid. (Section A missing.) B. A discussion of the effect of Chinese immigration upon the country involves many considerations, and any proposition looking to its prohibition or limitation would require us to consider some of the fundamental principles of the theory and practice of our gov- ernment. It is our jiroudest boast that American institutions are not arbitrary in their character ; are not the simple creations of force and circumstance, but based upon great and eternal doctrines of the equality and natural rights of men. The foundation-stone in our political edifice is the declaration that all men are equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with - inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that to obtain these, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. We profess to believe that God has given to all men the same rights, without regard to race or color. While this doctrine is beautiful and simple in its enunciation, it has taken one hundred j'ears to establish it by legal formula in our system of government ; while there are still large numbers who practically ng step m r denial of the brotherhood of man, and the broad humanitarian pohcy inaugurated by ""m'limitationof the right to become naturalized to white V^^^^^^^ .the law when slavery was a controlling influence m our government, was maintained bj 312 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 the jMiwer of tliat institution, and is now retained by the lingering prejudices growing out of it. After having abolished slavery, a;nd hj amendments to our constitution and the enactment of \-arious statutes establishing the equal ci\il and political rights of all men, without regard to race or colour, and, at a time when we are endeavouring to over- come the ju-ejudices of education and of race and to secure to coloured men the equal enjoyment of their rights, it would be inconsistent and unsound policy to renew and re- assert the prejudices against race and another form of civilization Isy excluding the copjier-coloured people of Asia from our shores. It would be again to recognize the distincticjns of race and to establish a new governmental policy upon the basis of colour and a different form of ciA'ilization and i-eli,i4i(.m. In California the antipathy to the Mongolian race is etiual to that which was formerly entertained in the older states against the negi( i ; and although the reasons given for this antipathy are not the same, and the circumstances of its exhibition are different, still it belongs to the family of antipathies springing from i-ace and religicm. As Americans, standing ujxin the great doctrine to which I ha\e referred, and seeking to educate the masses into their belief, and charged A\-ith the administration of the laws by which equal rights and protection shall be extended to all races and conditions, we cannot now safely take a new departure, which, in another form, shall resurrect and reestablish those odious distinctions of race which brought upon us the late ci\-il war, and from which we fondly hoped that God in his providence had deli\ered us fore\er. If the Chinese in California were white people, liping in all other respects what they are, I do not believe that the complaints and war- fai-c made against them would ha^'e existed to any considerable extent. Their difference in cohair, in dress, manners and religion have, in ray judgment, more to do with this hostility thaji their alleged Alices or an}- actual injury to the white people in California. The in(|uiry which the committee were instructed to make does not involve the political riglits or pri\ ile,i;es of the Chinese. As the law stands, they cannot be naturalized and become citizens ; and I do not know that any movement or proposition has been made in anv quarter recentl}' to change the law-. But the (piestion is, whether they shall be permitted to come ti> our countrv to work, to engage in trade, to acquire property, or to follow any [jursuit. But before entering upon the discussion of any othei' principles, I may be permitted to observe that in mv judgment the Chinese cannot be protected in the Pacific States while remaining in their alien condition. Without repre.sentation in the legislature or Congress, without a voice in the selection of officers, and surrounded by fierce and, in manv respects, unscrupulous enemies, the law will be found insufiicient to screen them from persecution. Ciiniplete protection can be given them only by allowing them to become citizens and acquire the right of suffrage, when their \otes would become important in elections, and their persecutions, in great part, converted into kindly solicitation. In considering anv pi'oposition to prohibit Chinese immigration, or to limit it, we must bear in mind the fact, fully established by the e^ idence, that the Chinese landing upon our Pacific coast comes entirelv from the British port of Hong Kt)ng. Though subjects of the Chinese Empire, they embark at a British port, and in that respect are invested with the rights of British subjects, and in aiiy legislation or treaty by which we would projiose to limit or to forbid the landing upon our shores of Chinamen, or any other class of people embarking at a British port, we must deal with the British gov- ernment, and not that of China. With the laws of England, or the marine regulations by which the people of China aie permitted to enter a British province and to embark from a British port, we have nothing whatever to do; but it is quite clear that any legislation of ours which would intei'fere with the landing upon our shores of any class of people embarking at a British port, whether they be Chinese or Japanese subjects, would be an interference with the trade and commei'ce of that port. It may be an important commercial matter to Great Britain that the port of Hong Kong shall be open to the reception of people from China or any other part of the world who propose to emigrate to the United States or any other country, and if we cut off such emigration, in whole or in part, it is not an interference with the government of China, for which we should answer to that !;-o\'ernment, but with the government of England. Our OxV CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 313 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 refusal to permit a Chinaman to land, wh„ had embarked at a British- port upon a British vessel, would certainly be a question with the English government, and not with that of China ; and the fact that the person thus forbidden to land was a China- man, who had never sworn allegiance to the English government, would not in the least A-ary the question. C. Tn dealing with this que.stion, we should c< insider and act upon general principles, and should hesitate before adopting a new policv which would be at "variance with the genius of our institutions, and enable the world" to say that the principles upon which we professed to establish our government in the beginning and upon which we took our place among the nations, ha\-e yielded to considerations of doubtful expedi- ency, ii; conflict with our general professions and character. As before stated, our strength as a republic consists in our faithful adherence to the doctrines upon which it was established, and to the education of our people in their truth, without regard to any temporary interest or condition. The most of the Chinese were labouring men, who came from the rural districts in China, and were accusti mied to agricultural pursuits. A few of them were scholars in their own country, some of them were merchants, and a very few mechanics. As a rule, they are industrious, temperate and honest in their dealings. 8ome thousands of them are employefl as household servants in the cities and in the country. In this capacity the testimony generally concurs in giving them a high character. They very readily learn to perfoi'm all kinds of household duty, are devoted to their employment, and soon become exceedingly skilful. The testimonj^ proved that they went to all parts of the 8tate to serve in that capacity, when otheV servants or help of that kind could not be obtained from the cities, and that if thev were banished it would be very hard, in fact, as many of the witnesses said, impossible to supply their places. As labourers upon the farms and in the gardens and vineyards, nearly all the witnesses speak of them in the highest terms. Colonel Hollister, one of the largest farmers in California and a man of great intelligence, testified that without the Chinese the wheat and other crops in Califoi'nia could not be harvested and taken to market ; that white labour could not be obtained for prices that would enable the farmer to carry on his business ; that any considerable increase in the price of labour would render the production of wheat and almost every othei' agricultural product unprofitable, and the}^ would have to be abandoned. In the construction of railroads and other public works of Califoi-nia, the Chinese have been of the greatest service and have performed the largest part of the labour. Several distinguished gentlemen connected with railroads testified that without Chinese labour they could not have been constructed, and that if the companies had been com- pelled to rely upon white labour, it would ha^e been so difficult to procure and so costly that the works must have been abandoned, and in fact would not have been undertaken. As labourers upon the public works they were entirely reliable ; worked more hours than white men ; were not given to strikes ; and never undertook, by combinations, to control the price of labour. The chief point against the Chinese, and that which was put forth as the ground of movements against them, was, that they worked for less wages than white people, and thus took their labour, or compelled them to M'ork for wages upon which they could not subsist and maintain their families and educate their children. That Chinamen work for lower wages and perform the same amount of labour for less money than white people is unquestionably true. They have largely performed the hardest and lowest kind of labour in the §tate, such as the construction of railroads, reclaiming the tule lands, and every form of drudgery and unskilled labour ; but that they have injuriously inter- fered with the white people of California or have done them a serious injury may well be doubted. The great fact is, that there is to-day, and always has been, n scarcity of labour on the Pacific coast. There is work for all who are there, both white and Mongo- lian, and the State would undoubtedly develop much more rapidly were there more and cheaper labour. There was much intelligent testimony to the fact that the Chinese, by 314 REPORT OF ROYAL OOMMI and sees that the settlement is just. We refused to take fish from a fi.sherman who had made arrangements with another cannery, and owed them. In one case the Japanese who ran the house owned the gearing. In another case there were several brothers who owned all the gearing in the house. Both Japan- ese houses salt fish. One crew moved up to the cannery in the fall and salted fish there, buying from white fishermen and others on the river. Lee Soom, a Chinese merchant, of New Westminster, with a capital of .^SOjOOO in- vested in the cannery business, employs 100 hands, says : The fishermen say there are too many boats, — I think not tijo many boats, but too many canneries. 2XD. THE FISHEI!51AN's VIEWS. Charles Kilby, of Nanaimo, who has fished on the Fraser for many years, says : It is almost impossible for a white man to make anything at fishing on account of the ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 343 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Japanese employed, The Japanese obtain the licenses illegally. The i-i\'er is over- crowded with boats and nets. There are altogether too many. The unsanitary condition of Japanese and Chinese in Steveston has been the cause of a large number of deaths among the Japanese from typhoid, and other diseases pecu- liar to themselves called berri-berri. They are also doing the work of the white fisher- men which we used to do during the winter months, when the salmon fishing was over. The white fishermen used to supply cordwood to the canneries, and clear the land and cut shingle bolts. The Japanese do that now, and in fact they have almost monopolized the unskilled labour that the white fisherman used to work at during the winter. Japanese have also gone largely into boat building on the Fraser river. I have tried to obtain work outside of the mines, and I found that in almost everything I tried I had to compete with the Japanese. During the fishing season the river is over- crowded with nets. There are altogether too many licenses issued, and the great majority of them are issued to Japanese. I was one of the delegates from the Fisher- men's Union to the Canneries Association, and in that interview it was admitted it would«be better for the canners and for the fishermen if the number of licenses were restricted. Alfred Tetterman, of Vancouver, fisherman, said : In the early days when there were no Japanese the whites could make a good living, but they occupying the space in the waters it lessens our catch, or even if we caught as many, the canneries cannot get away with them. Four years ago we were limited by the canneries to 100 fish a day, and we had to throw 500 overboard for ten days. The number of fish is divided among so many, there are only a few for each, and when we have a big run the canners can't take care of them. I could not fish last season, so many Japanese, I thought I could not come out even. It is aggravating to a man to be pushed out by Japanese. We don't want so many, and the canners don't want them. I'd rather starve together with my own race. John L. Anderson, "Vancouver, engaged in fishing for eleven years, said : The fish- ing in the river is overdone by an over-supply of fishermen of different nationalities. Thei'e are too many. "\Ve have to set our nets too near together. The Japanese take the place of white fishermen. The French-Canadians would come in. They would help to populate the country. Thev live well, too. I say our government issues too many licenses by one-half. \Ve can't set half the number of nets within the space allowed. The nets are set within fifty feet of each other on the Fraser river. I think there are white men and Indians to fill all the space. From a fisherman's standpoint the govern- ment issues too many licenses for the Fraser river. I think the nearest that nets should be set to each other should be 1,500 feet. It would be better for this country and for the fisheries at large if there were not more than one-half of the present licenses issued. Japanese are fairly good fishermen from what I could see of them. I do not believe that the market has much to do with reduction in the price that is paid for the fish to the fishermen. It is just the canners' action. Last year they simply starved the men into their prices, at least they finally star\ed the Japanese into or drove them into it, between them and the militia. On Puget Sound canners generally own the traps. The fish caught in the traps do not cost them as much as the fish caught by net fishing. They pay a higher price foi- fish on Puget Sound than they do on the Fraser River. If there were a reasona})le number of fishermen here, I would be satisfied with fifteen cents all through the season. There are fully as many white fi.shermen here now as there were in years past, but they are divided up among the canneries more. I say that instead of the Japanese, the government or someone should bring in ^^•hite men, and the country will be benefitted all over. I belong to the Fishermen's Union. The cannerymen do not appear to manifest any disposition to prevent the over- crowdino- of nets on the river, because every year they are taking more boats to the canneries. They rather encourage than discourage the increase. I do not thinl-c it will last five years more before there will be very few white men fishing tm the river. They are fast decreasing in numbers now. I consider a white man at .?1.50 a day as cheap as a Japanese at .$1 'to work in the lumber mills or any other industry except the fishing. In fishing the Japanese are just as able to catch as many as the white man if he pays 344 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 attention to it. They ought to be excluded altogether. They are certainly a greater menace than the Chinese. They build boats and sell them to the canneries for $60, such a boat as I have got $150 for some time ago. John McCarthy, contractor and foreman for Stevedore, says : I fish every year. The Japanese have oveiTun the fishing business. They are so thick you cannot get your nets out. There are too many licenses. I believe there are enough whites and Indians. I have a family here. There is little encouragement to rear a family here, because there is no place for boys. I think the whites are badly treated. Peter Smith, for fourteen years a fisherman on the Fraser, a half-breed of Indian descent, says ; In the first place British subjects are driven out into the deep water. The Japanese are taking the white man's place in fishing. I was born here, married and have three children. My complaint is the Japanese have more rights than whites and Indians. I went to get a license, and he asked me if I was British born. A white man has to attend personally, but a Japanese can send a boss, and my own brother could not get it through me. There are too many fishermen on the Fraser River. It is overcrowded with Japanese. It has been that way for the last three years, because there is not space enough between the nets. The best fishing ground.s are crowded. I fish the year round. If any more Japanese come in there will be bloodshed. I used to get five cents a pound for smelts and three cents a pound for herrings. Now the Japanese cut that down to two cents for smelts and one cent a pound for herring. I have been driven out of the business. I cannot make my living out of it. John Ibbotson, fisherman, New Westminster, said : There are too many licenses and too many Japanese. Limit the licenses, and give the preference to the settlers. John Scott, farmer and fisherman for fifteen years, has a wife and three children, said : The longer I have been here the harder I have been pushed. I used to think this was a white man's country, and one of the best under the sun. I am discouraged on the fishing question. In gardening they have me to do what the Chinaman can't. I want to see the country prosper, but I don't want to feel that I am being squeezed out of my inheritance. I am an Englishman, and I came out when I was 17 years old. George Henry West, fisherman. New Westminster, since 1894 on the Fraser, said : There are too many fishermen on the river. There were sulEcient whites and Indians. Hezekiah Stead,- New Westminster, followed fishing for nine years until the last two seasons, puts it in this way : I think there are too many fishermen on the river. The fewer the fisherman, the more fish they could catch, and the cheaper they could sell the fish to the canners, and be more successful all round. John Kendall, New Westminster, says : I am supposed to be a fisherman, and try very hard to be, and it is a failure. The trade is monopolized hy the Mongolians. There are too many fishermen on the river. I am a Newfoundlander by birth ; am married and have five children, four boys and one girl, oldest 12. I am over $200 behind what I was last year this time. If the Japanese and Chinese still continue to come I have got to leave or starve. I am British to the backbone. I wish to stay under the British flag. When the fishing season is over I find it the hardest task I ever had in my life. I find these Mongolians have me coralled, the same as they have in fishing. I apply at various places, sawmills and factories, and I may say every place, seeking employment. In three years I have worked about four months outside of fish- ing. I got a little work outside the city. Last year I tried the same means of cutting shingle bolts or cord wood. I found I could get no job. I saw shingle bolts and wood being cut by Chinese and Japanese. I applied to Mr. Jardine and Mr. Scott to buy shingle bolts, but they refused-. There were Japanese working there. A dozen people asked me to write them in Montreal. I wrote one or two and told them not to come. Nicholas John Coulter, the vice-president of the Grand Lodge of the British Col- umbia Fishermen's Union, born in Jersey, Channel Islands, says : With a smaller num- ber of licenses the whites and Indians could catch more each, and be able to supply the canneries. They can take every fish out of the river that ought to be taken out, and could afford to sell them less, and both would prosper. Patrick Cain, New Westminster, a fisherman from New Brunswick, says : I think white men and Indians could catch all that could be handled. Half tha_boats would catch as many as are caught now. Oy CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 345 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Thomas Sheaves, New Westminster, says : I have been fishing here for twelve years. Till the last three years I could make a living, and a good living. Since that I can't do it. I can't pay for the gear and make any wages at all ; cannot catch the fish ; too many fishing. There are too many Japanese got in here the last two or three years. I came from Newfoundland. Have a wife and three children ; live here ; ha\-e a house and lot of my own. I like the country. It is just this way, either the Japanese have got to get out or we have got to get out. George Mackie, New Westminster, said : The presence of the Mongohans not only prevents immigration of white people, but it drives many who are here out of the country. Men who came from Scotland and Canada are returning to where they came from. A floating population that used to come here only come now in small numbers. We were not in love with them and they stopped coming. The restriction of licenses was objected to by some fishermen who were not citizens of the country and who wished to fish here. Since the department made a rule that only British subjects could get a license to fish, subjects who were bona fide fishermen, they have evaded it by manufacturing orientals into British subjects so that they might get licenses. A bona fide fisherman is a man who has had some experience in fishing. The license stipulates he should have his own boats and nets. Most decidedly he should have one to be a bona fide fisherman. I believe a great majority of the Japanese do not use their own boats and nets. The majority of resident fishermen own their boats and their gearing. The Japanese bosses owji the boats that are fished in by Japanese, in the majority of cases. Many other fishermen gave evidence to the same effect ; in short, it was their uannimous opinion that the river was overcrowded, and that the white men were being driven out. .3rd, PROTESTS OF IXDIAX CHIEFS. The chiefs of the different Indian ti'ibes made request to the Commission that they might be heard upon the question of Chinese and Japanese immigration. This request was readily granted, and as Nanaimo and Vancouver were the more convenient points it was arranged that they might be heard there A number of the head men. Chiefs of the tribes, attended, and they selected from among themselves certain chiefs by whom they desired to have their grievances presented. Z. Hilton, Chief of the Quamachin tribe in the Cowichan district, said : When first the white people came they took up lands and asked the Indians to work at $2 a day. I was much pleased to get work and get that wage for' myself and my family. I had something to depend on, and I bought everything I wanted, and I was pleased at the white people living where I could get the work. When the Chinese came here first they came with nothing at all. They brought no family with them and they broke up everything. In a little while the Japanese came, and they were worse than the Chinese, and it seems they have no right to stay in the place at all. I ask for something to be done for my people. I cannot get work for my people on account of these being so thick around my place. The reason I have not better clothes is I cannot get work. I have four acres in my farm and cattle and horses. If my people do go fishing the Japanese are always ahead of them. Indians do get work at the canneries, but not as much as they used to get. It used to be 2-5 cents each for salmon about eight years ago. Last year they got about 20 cents for a short time, and when the run was good the Japanese sent the price down. Before the Japanese came I used to get money and get paid for my work ; now I have no show at all to get a living. 300 belong to my tribe of grown up people — about 400 in all. I favour keeping Chinese and Japanese out of the country. T hold the Japanese are the worst of the two. When my friends go to fish the Japanese have hurt them. The settlers employ the Chinese and Japanese and do not employ the Indians at all. For four years I have got nothmg from the farmers. Joe Kuketh, Indian Chief, gave evidence to the same effect. Edward Halbertson said he was much pleased to meet the Commission ; that when he used to work on the farm he had steady work all the time and now he cannot get 346 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 regular employment as he vised to do because the Japanese and Chinese cause all this trouble, because the Japanese and Chinese put the wages down awful low and that is the reason he cannot get work. Therefore, he brings the complaint to see if the govern- ment can do anything for his people. He wants to get his work back. He wants to keep the Japanese and Chinese out of the place. He spends his money here when he -earns the money. He feels bad because the Japanese just bring their clothes with them, while he has a wife and family to keep. If this goes on the Indians and whites get no money. He has the same mind towards the Japanese and Chinese as whites have. He makes the same complaint as to the fisheries as Chief Hilton. The Japanese put down wages. No advances this year from the canneries ; can't get it now like we used to get it. That's the fault of the Chinese and Japanese. Our people are not willing to work for the price Japanese do. There are plenty of Indians to do all the work if there were no Japanese and Chinese. They used to work in mills but the mills are full of Japanese and Chinese. Jacob Kaksulatza, Indian Chief, said : I go to the Fraser to fish. One time the Fraser River was reserved. We had a piece of land where they used to camp. Lots of white people then and they used to help us. I want the Chinese and Japanese kept out. All the Indians are hard up. There are lots of Indians here. Chief James Harry, of the Squamish Indians, represented seven Indian Chiefs, namely, Chief James Harry, Chief Tom, Chief Harry, Chief Joe, all of the Squamish Indians ; Chief Joseph, Capaline River, Chief Casino, Laugley, and Chief James Isaac, Port Hammond. He says : The Japanese come to this country, they come too thick altogether. It don't matter where you go you see Japanese. You go to the Fraser Ri\ er you see Japanese, hundreds in the summer time. You go to Howe Sound, nothing but Japanese. You go to Indian River, just the same, nothing but Japanese. In fish- ing time we had no chance to fish ourselves, and when we begin to fish we put our net in the boat and \vb go out to fish. Two or three nights we lost our nets. I lost mine ; the Japanese cut it ; I saw it \\a.s cut ; I saw the Japanese cut it ; I caught the man. The Japanese thick on Pi )int Gray ; I have no chance to fish, so I can't fish. There are too many Japanese. Yi lu see boats three miles out from the coast, nothing but Japanese, and s( I we cannot make a living. The Japanese kill us : the}- are killing Indians, killing whites. ]\ly people have no chance to make a living. Can't make bread and butter; no chance to g( i to work ; they are all (iver ; they work for nothing. They began about ten 3-ears agij and g(5t thicker, thicker, thicker all the time, and last year too thick alto- gether. M'e used to catch 200, 300 ; we don't now. We used to get 6 cents and 7 cents, but no limit ; now canneries pay 18 and 20 cents, but as soon as they are beginning to run they put a limit — first day 200, second day 1.50 ; that is the lowest limit. Each boat would not get so many. I^ast summer the highest I got was 150 fish. There are too many fishing on the river. I think you can get any amount of Indians and whites to supply the canneries if you look that ^^'ay. 5ly people, my father, my grandfather fished on the Squamish River and Fraser River. The Japanese are cutting all the wood we have here in British Columbia and bolts on the north ai'ni, Howe Sound, and here in Yancou-ver on the west side, and our people have no chance to go to work and cut the cedar. They used to cut the cedar and bolts and wood. The Japanese cut wood for too little — just like for nothing. My people woi-ked in the mills ; now have no chance. The Japanese work for about i'jlS a month — not enough to buy clothes and keep wife and family. I h-Axe a wife and three child- ren. Thirteen and fourteen years ago the Indians got •'?1.50 and .91.25 working in the mills ; now they get no chance to go to work. The Japanese can live on a tablespoonful of rice and a little perch. "We are not the same. I think the Indians and whites as gi.Kjd as the Japanese. The Japanese build boats cheap and make oars. We make sails, boats and oai's and everything. Our women get work in the canneries; they get SI, •SI. 2-5, .SI. 15, .91.10, depends on what tliey do. Bovs and girls get work when plenty of fish. We do lumd-logging in winter, ^^'e do stevedoring, make good wages but not steady. I think you tould get enough whites and Indians to do the work. There are a little moi-e than 10,000 Indians, iijen, women and children, engaged in fishing. Can- neries take flshernieu just as they come along. Just as many fish now but too many ON CHINESE! AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 347 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 boats and not as many fish to the boat. I should say that 2,000 Hcenses should be granted, but not over 3,000. Good way if government says not so many licenses The Japanese work for nothing. The Indians want to get fair wages. This is our country, not a Japanese country. Chief Casimil, of Langley Tribe, said : I ask that you should have compassion on me for whatever I tell you. We belong to this country ; it is our country. I was born in this country. My fathers have been here long before ; that is I am a citizen of this country ; I am here to ask you people to look after this country for us. AVe are being driven out of the country, as we cannot make a living as we used to do. I wish you to vemember whatever I tell you now. The Japanese are getting too many. We cannot get work and cannot get any money because of the Japanese. Very few of us can "get any food because of the Japanese. I am very glad that you are all taking stock of this, and that you will take it to Ottawa before the head man. That is all I have to say. I wish to express my sorrow ; if the government does not look after them they will soon control the land. We got our land from the government, and we should have a right to fish, but we can- not fish and make a living. Joseph Isaacs, chief at Port Hammond, was satisfied with what was said, and was not sworn. Chief Joseph, Capilano Creek, said : The Japanese come in so numerous it cheapens labour. They bring down the fish to 3 cents. The Japanese know they don't belong to this country. They make their country good on pur money. That is why our country does not improve any. Can't get a good house or make a good living. Twenty years ago we could go out fishing and bring home 200 or 300. There were two canneries. It" was good then. A great many canneries now and Japanese came in numerously and things not good. I tell the truth and wish you (the Commissioners) to tell at Ottawa that they take the money out of the country. I am glad to be able to speak. Chief John gave e-v-idence to the same effect. 4tII. OPINIONS OF OFFICIALS. Colin B. Sword, Dominion Government inspector of fisheries for British Columbia, said : The relative number of Indians and whites would be difficult to estimate. The Indians go under white men's names in many cases. Prior to 1889 there were I believe twenty licenses allow-ed to each cannery. In the first instance I think there was no restriction. *In 1889 the number was reduced to ten to canners and traders. In 1900 the regulation was, in respect to ten licenses granted to canners, that the fishermen would have to be registered, and were recjuired to take out licenses in theii- own names. In 1 900 the licenses were still limited to ten to a oanner^^. Licensees must all be British subjects. The number of licenses given represents the number issued for the whole province. Canners are not permitted to turn over their licenses to Japanese who are not citizens. The fisherman must be a man who is (|ualified to take out a license in his own name. The Indian does not require to have his name registered. Every one else does. The half breefl is treated the same as a white man. I have no means of account- ing for the enormous increase in the number of Japanese in 1900. Each one of these licenses respresents a fisherman, and they usually have a boat puller. At present some of them are fishing alone, but in the height of the season they generally have a boat puller. To register, the fishermen ha^■e to attend before the officer appointed to receive them. Fishery guardians are authorized t(j take registratioji of fishermen and some others. The personal appearance of the applicant is required in evei-y case. One of the officers last year was under a wrong impression as to that point. In issuing licenses we have no authority to go beyond the certificate of the court that they are naturalized citizens. In several cases we found an attempt was lieing made to obtain a license on a, certificate issued to another man, a Japanese ; in all such cases we refused to issue the license. There did not seem to be any intention to defraud. 348 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 I should think we have too many licenses issued for the necessity of fisheries. I think myself there should be only about one-half the licenses for the Fraser river. I think it is in the interest of the canneries and of the fishermen, and of the fish, that only one-half the number of nets should be used on the river. I say from Point Roberts to Point Gray, if there had been half the numbei- of licenses issued the fishermen would have made more for themselves at a small price for the fish. I have not solved the question as to how that limitation could be had with convenience to all parties. The limitation of the number of licenses was attempted before I had anything to do with the office. If the number of Japanese licenses issued last year (1,892 licenses) is deducted from the whole number there would be 3,000 licenses left. I think that would have been a sufficient number to have done all the fishing with the best results to the canners and the fishermen. I think that the number of white men and Indians that can be employed now would be sufficient to take all the fish that would be required. The ex- clusion or limitation of the Japanese would not detrimentally affect the fishing interest, if the white fisherman and Indians can be obtained in the different localities in sufficient number, in the localities required. All the fishermen personally known to me are men who have settled in the vicinity, but they are a comparatively small proportion of whom I can speak of from personal knowledi^e. I cannot sav if a large proportion of them are men with families. I cannot suggest any arrangement that could be made by the government by which the number of fishermen could be limited. The regulation that drift nets shall not be used to obstruct more that one-third of any river, and kept at least 250 yards apart has never been enforced. The regulation seems to be in regard to set or fixed nets. It had not been enforced before I took the office, and I did not attempt to enforce it. They use drift nets here for salmon. I think the Japanese fishermen generally have a Japanese as a boat puller. It might be possible for the number of boat pullers to become qualified as British subjects and account for an increase of licensed fishermen from 930 to 1892 last year. I have no record cjf licenses issued to Japanese prior to 1896. To reduce the licenses I do not see how it can be enforced as a matter of legislation or regulation by the gover-nment. No, we could not enforce the regulation in respect to the 2.50 yards. The nets do not drift at the same rate. The quantity of salted dog-salmon exported Ijy the Chinese or Japanese would be shown bv the reports. These are mostly taken from the custom house records. There were 39 seining licenses issued. None were issued to Japanese. All such licenses are dealt with by the department at Ottawa. Seining licenses at present are supposed to be issued where drift nets cannot be employed. I have no information on the subject. Only one trap license is issued. One for Boundary Bay. I understand the department consider that traps w(5uld result in the depletion of fish, and undoubtedly their use would dispense with labour if the traps were in proper places. If you want to employ the men of the country it will be better with gill nets. If y(5u want simply to develop the industry, then it is different. It is very difficult to say ; the fishing industry might be developed in such a way as to place men who now make their living at fishing at a great disadvantage. There would not be so many employed. If the number of fish taken now would be sufficient to pre- vent the depletion of fish it would be no advantage to set traps. I have been a member of the Local Legislature for some years. I would not care to express an opinion as to Chinese immigration. Licenses have to be renewed e\ei'y year. The objection to the traps is it would leave no fish for the drift men to catch. If you used traps in addition to the present system ; if you adopt set nets and traps you could regulate the catch much better. The fish caught by gill nets on this side must have escaped the traps on the American side. Purse seines are illegal in this country. I think this country- can be developed in time without this alien race. I think this country would suffer if it lost the canning industry. If cannery men say that the industry cannot be carried on at a profit without oiiental labour I would accept it with an allowance. There is jealousy over the Japanese coming into the fishing business. As regards individual feeling I have not seen anything but what it is friendly enough. iSi_ime parts ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 349 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 of the river are more favourable for drift nets than others. AVhere there are snao-s the nets will not drift, and the nets are liable to be torn by the snags. Every fisherman pays ten dollars for a license. There were something like three thousand boats fishing on the Fraser River last season, covering about sixty or seventy miles. When a Japan- ese comes to get a license he has to produce naturalization papers, and to prevent fraud the officer here puts his initials and the year on the naturalization certificate. If it is left to the cannerymen and the fishermen to reduce the number of licenses, and at the same time Japanese immigration ig permitted to pour in here, the result would be an increase of Japanese fishermen, and the white fishermen would be driven out. Thomas Robinson, assistant to the inspector of fisheries, New Westminster, said : Up to last year all the licenses were issued in New Westminster. Licenses are issued for the whole province. Some fishermen fish up north and then go south as well. I should think about 75 per cent is a fair estimate of those issued for the Fraser River. The number of licenses issued to canners in 1900 on the Fraser River was 397 ; Rivers Inlet, 50 ; Skeena River, 75 ; Naas River, 20 ; total. 542. In 1899, 157 Hcenses were issued to canners ; in 1900 the restrictions were relaxed somewhat. The endorsement of the fisherman's name on the license was abolished, making them transferable to any registered British subject. If there is anything in the name of an applicant for a license, or in their speech, which would lead me to suspect that they were of foreign birth, I would demand the production of citizens papers, and I would do the same if I was not personally acquainted with the man. It is very difficult to tell an American citizen. If he denys his citizenship we have no means of proving otherwise. People from the old country do not generally apply until they have been here for some time. They cannot fish until they get citizen's papers. The object is to keep the industiy in the hands of our own people. If a fresh immigrant he would first engage in boat pulling until he had the proper qualifications. I had four years' experience on the river as a fisherman. I think on the river the fish- ing industry is overdone. If there were two-thirds the number of boats it would be better. There are not necessarily too many canneries. With fewer boats they would be able to get as many fish, and it would pay the fishermen better as the canners could take more fish from each boat. In a large run it becomes a question not of how many fish you can catch, but of how many fish you can dispose of. I am not prepared to say that canneries compete among themselves. When there are few fish running, and there is a demand for canned salmon, of course better prices will rule. The fish are not all caught in the river ; a good many are caught outside the river. The American traps "et a larger toll out of our fish than most people have any conception of. There is no room for the number of nets inside the river that are at present licensed, and men are forced outside. The conditions at present make it almost impossible to carry out the fishinw regulations as to the distance of nets being apart and one-third of the river beinMeft free. A little more than two days in the week for protection would not hurt the fish. The catch has not shown any sensible diminution. Fishing is more or less a game of chance. The permanence of the industry should be of first consideration. I have not seen any particular advantage in the Japanese as fishermen over any other fishermen. Their equipment is practically the same. The objection of white fishermen to them is that they have crowded the people of the country out of their own grounds. The development of the canning industry on Puget Sound has made the conditions on the Fraser River, both for fishermen and canners, more hazardous. I believe their sock -eye type is somewhat larger than ours. The sock-eye type is made up of Fraser River salmon. They use traps ' and purse-seines. They have no close season until the fish are gone. The waters there are regarded as territorial waters. Within the last seven or eio-ht years the canning industry there has developed more largely. Even with those traps^on the other side, I think two-thirds of the number of boats on the Fraser River would be equal to handle the run of fish. The traps nearest the Pacific Ocean generally get the sock-eves, before they are caught on the Fraser River. In round 350 REPORT OF ROYAL CQM MISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 numbers, at the end of last month (April), 800 licenses were issued to Japanese, and 200 to whites. I think it was because of some rumour that got abroad among the Japanese that there was going to be some restriction in regard to issuing licenses to them. The government would be justified in discriminating between citizens in issuing licenses if the preservation of the fish was concerned. The preservation of the fisheries in their full strength depends a good deal on the regulation as to the number of fisher- men, and I think the American regulations are very important to be considered in that matter. They allow more machinery to be used there. Too many fishermen will result in an injury to the fish, injury to the canneries, and injury to the fishermen. In good runs fewer boats and fewer nets would supply the demand. In the case of the limita- tion of the number of fish to canneries in a heavy run, a great number of fish are thrown away. If there were a less number of boats last year they would have got more than the number of fish which would have been warranted. The canners' pack is not the first object. The less the run, the less should be taken out of it. To have 3,000 or 4,000 men who are employed only for a short time, and then looking for odd work, is not in the interest of the communitj'. It tends to keep white settlers out. W. L. Fagan, Provincial assessor and collector for the City of Vancouver, said : There is but one way to drive the Japanese out of the river, and that is by the immig- ration of some fishing races from Ireland, Scotland and the Baltic ; bring those men here and give them fifty acres each to cultivate. If white men were brought here and given land to cultivate, say fifty acres each, they would soon be able to compete with the orientals. Do not allow them to preempt for some time, charge them but a nominal rent. They would then have small holdings of their own, and in the fishing season they would go on the river. At present there is no room for immigration ; there is nothing for them to do. If they had land, that would occupy at least two-thirds of their time. I do not think any more orientals would come here as the contractors know the market and will only import sufficient to supply the demand. Those white people are not well off in their own country, and would only be too glad to come here. I would sooner see the white labourer here, even although it took a longer time to develop the country. Fishermen from Ireland, Scotland or the Baltic cannot come in here unless the government assists them. The Japanese have got their places and they keep them as long as they can ; we would have to help the whites to come here. Certainly the government ought to protect our own people If white men can come here and get land and settle on it, it will soon solve the problem of the Japanese on the river. The Japanese do not seem to care about making homes here ; they do not take up land ; they do not seem to care about settling here. They come hei'e and make a few hundred dollars and then go back to Japan when the}' can get away. There is no contractor, either' Japanese or Chinese, will go over to China and Japan and spend money to bring labourers here without there is a market for them. At the time of the rush to the Klondike a great many white fishermen left this country, and the Japanese were here. I do not know how they knew .to come here at that time ; what happened to bring them here I will never tell you, but they saw there was an opening here and they came. If you had something to put in their place I would restrict more of the Japanese coming here. I think you could easilj' get enough fisher- men to come here if there were inducements for them to come, which do not exist at present. They wont emigrate here on chance. You cannot show them anything to induce them to come here. It would require the government to take an interest in them and show that interest by restriction of Chinese and Japanese immigration. Most undoubtedly it would be a good regulation to make the Japanese prove that they were British subjects before they got their licenses. I have no doubt many of them have been illegally naturalized. The Japanese ought to be compelled to appear personally to get their licenses, and they ought to be able to prove that they have been legally naturalized. I would have everything arranged that the fishermen of British Columbia would have proper protection against aliens. A great many of the Japanese fish all the year round. OjV CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 351 SEPSIONAL PAPER No. 54 FRAUDULENT NATURALIZATION PAPERS. The nataral irritation caused by tiiis large and sudden influx of .Japanese as fisher- men was much aggravated by the fact that there was grave irregularity, if not actual fraud, in obtaining certificates of naturalization by very many of the Japanese. It appears that the fare from Japan to Briti.sh Columbia, being very low, large numbers of Japanese have been in the habit of coming out for the fishing season, arriving in April and May, and returning after the fishing season is over. Many of these were engaged as boat pullers for the Japanese fishermen, the regulations not requiring for this service that they should be British subjects. It appears that these boat pullers were naturalized. It is certain that many of them never resided in Canada for one full year. Some of them may have resided here during the fishing season only for three years, and yet hundreds of these men, who had never in any way complied with the requirements of the law, were naturalized. The Commission took sufficient evidence to establish these facts. It was impossible for them to inquire into every case. A short reference to some of the evidence will suflice. E. W. McLean, notary public, of Vancouver, says : I naturalized quite a number ■of them (Japanese). My commission was revoked. There was never a Japanese but what was accompanied by another Japanese who vouched for him. I swore the Japanese who vouched. There was no case within my knowledge where there were any naturalized "before they were her-e three years. I naturalized about 208 Japanese between Maj^ and July, 1900. They came before the fishing season. They came three, four or five at a time, not ten in a batch. They were accompanied b}^ an interpreter. Half signed their names in English characters, others wrote their names in Japanese. I could not tell that was his name. The oath was read to them by an interpreter, and there was an interpreter's jurat. I had known about a dozen of them for over two years. I took the interpreter's word for it. It did occur to me there might be a fraud on me. I satisfied myself beyond a doubt that they were entitled to be naturalized. I don't now think they committed a fraud. I had not naturalized any before this. Most of these • people were boat pullers and had gone to Japan, and were now returning so that they ■could get naturalization papers and go fishing. I had the naturalization forms there. I never had any instructions or orders in council affecting that. A great many go to Japan and return in the spring. The mass of the other affidavits that were taken were of the same class. I knew in the fall of 1899 a number went to Japan. Nearly every steamer that went was loaded. The passage was about $30. Gin Kanga, smoking room steward on the Umpress of China, says : I work on the Umpress of China. My run is from Vancouver to Yokohama. I remember that by the Empress 200 Japanese came out for fishing in April, 150 of them returned in September. The fare is about $25 from Yokohama, and .$50 to go back, and sometimes $35. I know by the number of tickets that they are fishermen. Just fishermen and farmers emigrate here. Robert T. Burtwell, dominion fisheries guardian, said : "When I received my appointment as fishery guardian, I had to go to Captain McFadden's office ; he was the fishery inspector ; I copied the entries in his book into my book ; I noticed there ^\'ere a o-reat number of Japanese and others entered as fishermen, who could only have been a very short time in the country ; and I noticed them there in the office that many mere children were coming over and presenting certificates claiming to obtain fishing licenses as British subjects. They were not old enough, many of them ; I called Captain McFadden's attention to that ; I called the attention of the fishermen's union to that fact and I went to Mr. Bremner, the dominion labour commissioner, and called his attention to it. "With reference to the Japanese who came into the office when I was there, I used to go and fetch Mr. Bremner up. He used to interrogate the Japanese ; he would take them up before the Japanese Consul, and there he would elicit the infor- mation. In a great number of cases they had only been a short time in the country, that they had been in all probability prompted by others to come there and perjure in order to obtain these certificates to get licenses. In my presence Mr. Bremner elicited the information that Japanese who had been here for some little time were in the habit 352 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION.. 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 of personating other Japanese for the purpose of obtaining licenses to fish ; in this way the matter was brought before Mr. 8himizu, the Japanese Consul. I went to a certain notary public here in Vancouver, Mr. Thicke, I went there with the purpose of getting naturalization papers myself to find out how the thing was done. Q. To examine into the method ? — A. To get at the way the thing was done ; to find out the way that naturalization papers were secured, and how the certificates came to be granted. I told Mr. Thicke it was imperative I should have my paper in very short order. He said he could manage that very easily, that he had secured a great number, and he showed me quite a pile of Japanese applications that he had on the table. He said he was going to put these throi^gh, and he would put mine through at the same time. He asked me if I knew of any others who wanted naturalization certificates ; I told him I knew of several Italians who wished to become naturalized. He said if I introduced any trade to him, he would put them through for the sum of f 2, and he would give me a rake-olF of 50 cents. So from that I came to the conclusion that the system of naturalizing Japanese and others in British Columbia was perfectly rotten. I may say in reference to my duties as fishery guardian, that I found the Japanese were more prone to fish illegally than the white people or white fishermen. Q. What do you mean by that ? — A. They would fish with nets longer than aie permitted by law, and they would stake nets in violation of the law, and they would fish during illegal hours ; and I came to the conclusion as a fact, though it was very difficult to trace it, that the Japanese had transferred licenses. The Japanese are very hard to identify. I considered that the number of nets fishing around the Fraser River was far too many ; that there being so many nets around the mouth of the river they drive the fish back and prevent them entering the river, their natural spawning ground ; the result of that was, I have seen salmon go past tlie river and go into some of the little inlets that were dropping ripe spawn in salt water. (.^). Now, what was it that lead you to think that there was illegal naturalization of .Japanese 1 — A. From the manner in which I found that the Japanese were being represented by others. One man would come to the notary public and say that a number of Japanese desired t(j take out naturalization papers ; the notary public would swear him, and then the process would go on ; but other irregularities I have no doubt crept in. jMr. Thicke forgot to swear me until I jogged his memory that I had not been sworn. The notary public will then ask the party if he had been three years in the country, and his name and address ; he would then make out a form, and he would attend to the rest of it. Q. Is the person you refer to still a notary public i — A. No, sir. Q. Why ? — A. His authority was cancelled by the provincial government after the in^'estigation. Q. Have you ascertained how many of those naturalization certificates were issued to men who were not entitled to them ? — A. There were five parties brought up in one of the courts here, brought before the court by Provincial Constable Campbell, and it was proved that they were not entitled to certificates, that they had not been in the country. The investigation was not a sweeping one, it simply embraced the men brought into court. Mr. Bremner, the dominion labour commissioner, had a list of those who went before the Japanese Consul, and who it was found out were not entitled to be naturalized. A great- many of those cases I brought to his notice. Edward Bremner, labour commissioner for Bi'itish Columbia, said : I was asked by some of the fishermen to make some inquiries at the office where licenses were issued. On questioning some Japanese who appeared with naturalization papers and asked for licenses, I discovered that many of them had not been the required time in the country to get those papers legally. In one case a Japanese had papers where he had only been three weeks in the ccjuntry. I know personally of three different cases. Out of thirty Japanese who applied one afternoon, not more than foui- could make any attempt of understanding English. E\en those four could speak v-ery little English. I had to employ an interpreter, and not\\-ithstanding the disadvantage, one of them admitted that he had been only two and a-half years in the country at the time, and yet his naturalization cei-tificate was granted the v-ear before. On another occasion out of about O.V CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGBATION 353 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 fifteen questioned through the secretary of the Japanese Consul, two acrused of fraud were prosecuted, one was accused of impersonation ; the excuse he gave was that the man whose papers he presented was sick. This was last year, 1900 These were the only cases I investigated In the case of Sayo Tario Mokogama, I understand from the secretary of the consul that he could neither read nor write in his own language even He admitted that he had only been in the country three weeks. This w.,uld "seem to show that the man was not perhaps as much to blame as those who had brou^^ht him there, ihe impression I got was that there were a great many cases of fraud I ..ot possession of this naturalization paper as it was left at the office pending the decisiiiirof the fishery officer, whether he would grant the party applying a license or not, and the party never ca,lled for it again, that is the original. The name here is Nakakama, and that was handed m, and a certificate applied for by a man who gave his name as Soy,, Tario Nakagama. It would seem there was some mistake made by the notary puUic" Thomas Robinson, assistant inspector of fisheries, New Westminster, says ■ Last year it occurred to me that a great many had secured their citizen papers without com- plying with lawful conditions. My experience with the Japanese is that when they have been here two years they ha^'e some knowledge of our language, whereas last year numbers of them did not understand the meaning of ' yes ' or ' no ' but their papers being in proper form as issued by the court, I had no alternative but to recognize them. There were several cases of personation, one last week where a man presented papers as his own, which I proved to be false. He was a Japanese. I took jjossession of the papers until the proper party applied for them. The papers had been drawn from a bunch. I have had cases of this kind before, but found there was no provision for which action could be taken. They never seem to have taken our fishery reiiulations very seriously. Mr. A. E. Back, of Vancouver, district registrar of the Supreme Court, since its establishment there, presented a carefully prepared statement on this subject, fiom which the following extracts are taken : In respect to Naturalization Acts, Naturalization Act, 1870, United Kiiindom, provides that : An alien who has resided in the United Kin;;dom for a'- a term of not less than five years may apply to one of Her ^Majesty's principal secretaries of state for a certificate of naturalization. The applicant shall adduce in support of his application such evidence of his resi- dence or service, and intention to reside or serve, as such secretary of state may require. The said secretary of state, if satisfied with the evidence adduced, shall take the case of the applicant into consideration, and may, with or without assigning any reason, give or withhold a certificate as he thinks most conducive to the public good, and no appeal shall lie from his decision, but such certificate shall not take effect until the applicant has taken the oath of allegiance. (Sec. 7, Naturalization Act, 1870. United Kingdom.) Re. North-ii-eiit Territork'^. — Section 2, Order in Council, January 29, 1899, pro- vides : His Excellency in Council has been pleased to make the following regulations : Section 2. ^In the North-west Territories the certificate mentioned in the twelfth section of the said Act shall be presented to a judge of the Supreme Court of the North- west Territories, who shall take such measures to satisfy himself that the facts stated in the certificates are true, as shall in each case appear to him to be necessary : and when satisfied that the facts stated in the certificate are true, he shall grant to the alien a certificate of naturalization, authenticated under his hand and seal of the Court. This law in my strong opinion should be applied to British Columbia. In theory the general Act of Canada hereinafter referred to is a proper measure, taking into con- sideration the need of immigration, but a condition has arisen on this coast which needs the protection of above section 2, giving the judge to whom the J. P.'s or Notary's cer- tificate is presented, the power to take such measures to satisfy himself that the facts stated in the'certificate are true ; and here I see no reason why, as in the English Act, 54—2.3 354 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 power should not be given to the Judge to give or withhold a certificate as he thinks most conducive to the public good, with or without assigning any reason. On July 30 last, I inquired of the registrar ef the Supreme Court, at Regina, what measures as a matter of fact the judge did take to satisfy himself. It appears that in addition to the J. P.'s or Notary's certificates an afladavit of .some other respon- sible person as to the good character of the applicant is required. Now, regarding the Naturalization Act of Canada, after consideration in the light of my experience, I see little to complain of. I suspect that there exists an improper and incomplete method of carrying out the Act by the persons entrusted, either through ignorance or inadvertence. I refer to the persons mentioned in section 9, particularly the J. P.'s and Notaries, and in doing so I wish here to say that these persons are possessed of all the skill and intelligence expecte i by the statute delegat- ing the power. I respectfully submit and earnestly recommend the following observations to the Commissioners : Naturalization forms should have marginal notes ; directions to the notarj' that in the case of a marksman, that the aifidavit was first read over and explained to the deponent, and that he appeared perfectly to understand the same ; and in ease an interpreter is required that the notary first swear the interpreter to truly interpret. By section 8, the alien must take the oaths of residence and allegiance. By section 10, the alien shall adduce such evidence, itc, as the person before whom he appears requires, and such person on being satisfied with such evidence andthat the alien is of good character, shall grant the certificate. Section 8 having alread}' provided for the taking of the oaths of residence and allegiance, section 10 surely requires some additional, evidence, it may be much or little, but some must be adduced, without casting any imputation on the honesty of the justices of the peace or notaries. I venture the opinion that no evidence whatever other than the taking of above-mentioned oaths is ever adduced. Now, if I am right in this conjecture, it follows that by last paragraph ef section 11, the certificate referred to in section 10, form B, was not properly before the court, and all things had not been done to entitle the certificate to be presented, read and filed of record in the court, and it therefore follows that any certificate of naturalization issued on the evidence of an uncorroborated aflidavit has been improvi- dently issued and may be cancelled. The justice of peace or notary's certificate as presented to the court is in appearance proper and valid, and the court would hardly on a mere conjecture direct the Justice of peace or notary to be cross-examined, admitting the power to do so. A stop should be put to trafBcing naturalization certificates. EXPORT OF FISH TO JAPAN. Ewen W. McLean, Chinese interpreter, said : I was asked to ascertain the quantity of dog fish — what are called dog salmon — shipped last year. I find that in the year 1900 the shipments to Japan of that salted fish amounted to some 2,200 tons. I got the information from the Japanese exporter, a man named Koronaga. He made the contracts for the Japanese shipping the salmon. He tells me there were 16,000 tons shipped through Dodwell ct Co., and 600 tons by the ship Alpha, which was lost upon the coast. They did not ship by the Canadian Pacific Railway. They could not get freight by the Canadian Pacific Railway boats. They shipped mostly from Victoria, by the American line, for which Dodwell & Co. are the agents. Q. Why wasn't any of the doj; salmon shipped by the Canadian Pacific Railway I — A. The Canadian Pacific Railway does not care to ship any of that kind of freight. Q. Why ? — A. Because there is quite a difference I understand in their through freight. I understand most of the fish is put up by Chinese contractors in the canneries. They generally occupy a part of the cannery after the genei'al fishing season is over. I understand that each fish costs about 1 6 cents ; that includes catching and packing. There is no reason why the business should not grow to large proportions. The business should be large here, but last year, on account of the war, they could not get ON CHINEtiE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 355 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 freight from here. I know that quite a number of Japanese went home from here to join their army, and I know that freight was difficult to get from here. They have been shipping that class of salmon three or four years. They are caught after the regular fishing season is over, by the Japanese. They are an inferior fish. Q. Are the steamers that carry the freight not controlled by the Canadian Pacific Railway 1 — A. No, they are under the control of the Northern Pacific, I understand. Their headquarters are at Victoria, and their general agents or general managers are Dodwell & Co. They run in connection with the Northern Pacific. It is an American line of boats. Q. So that this trade, whatever it amounts to, is carried in American waters and the fish are caught and packed by Japanese ? — A. Yes. Q. What benefit do we get from that? — A. Only the small freight to Victoria, ^\ a ton. The salt comes principally from Liverpool and Australia. The fish are salted and put up in boxes. They are made at the lumber mills. I cannot tell the value of the- fish. That is a new industry ; it was started as an experiment by the Japanese some years ago. During the big run of 1897 they salted a good deal of the sock-eye salmon not required by the canneries ; they salt them in big tubs or tanks that they have for the purpose. I think it is an industry likely to grow to large dimensions. The canneries do not seem to have facilities for salting sock-eye salmon as the Japanese. I think Japan is a big market for fish. Fish going from here would have to compete with fish caught in Japan by cheap labour. I don't think there is a great deal of deep-sea fishing in Japan. A great part of the fishing i« coast fishing. Where we have one fishing boat they have thousands. There are so many fish easily caught on the coast there that there is little or no necessity for deep-sea fishing. They catch fish with lines there generally. They have no such thing as bur large runs of salmon. There is abundance of fish in Japan but not of the kind we have here. Thomas Robinson, assistant to the fishery inspector, said ; In 1898 the value of dry salted dog salmon amounted to $160,000. In 1899 the value was $120,000, and in 1900 the value was $298,000. I think that covers the ground. The value is reckoned at three or four cents a pound, I cannot recall which. We have no information as to the number engaged in that business. The export of fish and fish products to Japan since 1896, is as follows : — 1896..' $ 2 1897 1,069 1898... 17,986 1899 40,270 1900 47,773 (See the Report of the Department of Trade and Commerce, 1900, page 614.) SUMMARY. Prior to 1896 comparatively few Japanese engaged in fishing, and a record of licenses issued to them was not kept. In that year 452 fishing licenses out of a total of 3,533 were granted to Japane.se. This number has increased until in 1900 out of a total of 4,892 fishing licenses, 1892 were granted to Japanese, and in 1901 out of a total 4,722 licenses, 1,958 were granted to Japanese. The increase in the number of licenses is in direct proportion and corresponds to the increased number taken out by Japanese. Each canner receives a certain number of licenses, and a number of these are given to Japanese ; so that about two thousand licenses werg held by the Japanese. for the year 1900, and over that number for the year 1901. For each boat there is at least one additional puller, making over four thousand Japanese directly engaged in the fishing business, and many more indirectly connected therewith. The Japanese are expert fishermen, having followed that calling in their own land, and unless something is done it is perfectly evident that they will in a few years supersede the white fishermen and control this business. Not one in twenty can 54—231' 356 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 speak English beyond a few words. Numbers of them return to their own land after the fishing season is over, and the rest are thrown upon the labour market to find employnfent where they can, to the great detriment of the white working man and the incoming settler It is manifest that Japanese become naturalized not for the purpose of becoming citizens of the country in the ordinary sense of that term, but for the express purpose of qualifying themselves for fishermen's licenses. The following table will show the rate of increa.se and the danger apprehended : — (Prior to 1890 there is no record of any Japanese having been naturalized in Bi'itish Columbia.) JAPANESE NATURALIZED IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. Year. Victoria. "Vancouver. New West- minster. 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 . . 1 1 7 14 38 85 37 144 238 36 2 4 5 47 72 197 230 93 94 437 182 ' 16 60 59 9 15 6 9 140 231 1901 to August 29 3 601 1,363 545 Total . . . . . . ' Nanaimo Chiliwaok (for year 1900). Nelson (for year 1897) 2,509 3 179 1 2,692 During the same period the returns show that 1,156. Chinese were naturalized in British Columbia. At Vancouver the total number of Japanese naturalized is 1,363, while all other nationalities, including Chinese, that took out naturalization papers amounted 734, exclusive of whites naturalized during the year 1901, which would probably make the total nnmber of whites naturalized about 900. Nearly 1,700 Japanese have been naturalized during the last three years. The great increase in the number of licenses granted on the Eraser has had the effect of overcrowding, forcing many of the fishermen to leave the Eraser for the open water, which requires a large sea-going boat at two or three times the cost of the smaller one formerly used on the Eraser River. This overcrowding also decreases the individual catch and forces the fishermen to demand more foir their fish than formerly, and receive less remuneration for their work, both the canner and the fisherman losing thereby. It has created serious irritation between the white fisherman and Japanese, the former complaining that they are forced out of an industry which they helped to develop, and that after the fishing season is over they are met by large numbers of Japanese in every industry where unskilled labour is employed, who work at very low wages, have no family to support and send or take most of their earnings out of the country. The natural irritation caused by this large and sudden influx of Japanese as fisher- men was much aggravated by the fact that there were grave irregularities if not actual fraud in obtaining certificates of naturalization by many of the Japanese. It appears that ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 357 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 the fare from Japan to British Columbia being very low, large numbers of Japanese have been in the habit of coming out for the fishing season, arriving in April and May and many of them returning after the fishing season is over. Many of these were engaged as boat pullers for the Japanese fishermen, the regulations not requiring for this service that they should be British subjects. It appears that these boat pullers were afterwards naturalized. It is certain that many who were naturalized never resided in Canada for one full year, some of them may have resided here during the fishing season only for a part of three years, and yet hundreds of these men who had not complied with the requirements of the law, were granted naturalization papers and received their license to fish. The naturalization certificate being regular in form the officer considered he was bound to recognize the holder as entitled to a license. The Commission took suificient evidence to establish these facts. It was impossible for them to inquire into every case. When we visited Steveston at the mouth of the Fraser in May, and therefore before the fishing season had commenced, we found a busy hive of men almost exclusively Chinese and Japanese, except the overseers. The Chinese engaged in making cans in the canneries and the Japanese in boat building and otherwise getting ready for the opening of the fishing season. What was particularly noticeable in this busy throng was the absence of white men. This class of Japanese almost without exception come without their families and are rapidly taking possession of an industry which for national as well as economic reasons should be retained in the hands of the white population, the actual settlers. What is wanted and is essential to the welfare of the country is to establish a perman- ent class of fishermen, householders, who, owning small holdings, may be assisted in earning their livelihood by having an opportunity of making a few hundred dollars additional during the fishing season. As long as the fishing is profitable to the fishermen so long will the white men be willing to engage in it. As the margin of profit grows less, they will drop out, and the Japanese who can obtain licenses, who live on less, and are content with .smaller remuneration, will occupy their places. This diplacement is evidenced by the number of licenses issued. Whether that margin of profit grows less by I'eason of overcrowding, depletion of the fisheries, or for any other reason, the tendency is towardsthe complete occupation of salmon fishing by Japanese while they continue to be Hcensed. Prac- tically none of the Japanese of the fishing class bring their families with them. They have shown no signs of settling permanently in the country or of becoming merged amongst our people as all the various classes of white men do who are engaged in the fishing here. They have contributed in part to the present abnormal development of the industry. The opinions stated by those most interested was that white men are preferable and that thev would not desire to see the industry get under the control of the Japanese. It is not right that this important industry should fall into the hands of a class who are foreigners and who do not assist in settling the country with a permanent class of citizens. PAET II. BOAT BUILDINfi. Boat building is and always will be an important industry in British Columbia. Until a few years ago it was entirely in the hands of Canadians. It has passed largely into the hands of Japanese, except in the "case of one large manufacturmg firm where the work is chiefly done by machinery, and high class pleasure boats, which are chiefly built by whites. The Japanese make not only their own fishing boats, but also large numbers for the white fishermen. Formerly small boats were used almost exclusively on the Fraser, but within the last few years by reason of the arge fnrease in the numbers of fishermen crowding on the Fraser, has resulted m large numbei^ fishing at the mouth of the Fraser and in the Gulf, for which larger and sea- ,,rrt^+}i,T Vinn+q are reouired These of course are more expensive. ""% £ is thTthe Japanese practically control this branch of the business excep as above mentioned. Along the shores and bays from Port Moody to the mouth of the Fraser many hundreds are engaged in this business. 358 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Boat building is an important adjunct to the fisheries and both are rapidly passing out of the hands of Canadians and into the hands of Japanese. This cannot but be regarded as a very serious matter. Andrew Linton says : I am a boat builder. I came here in 1884. I learned to be a shipwright and boat builder in New Brunswick and State of Maine. I was born in New Brunswick. The Japanese have interfered with my business. In the first place I used to build flat-bottom boats and boats used for logging work and around booms. The Japanese commenced on those first. I could not compete and had to quit. I then built a higher class of pleasure boats. They did not affect me there so much. There were seven or eight firms employing a number of men, I can't say how many. I also built fishing boats. The reduction in price drove me out. I think the boat business would be better if the Japanese were out of it and we could start apprentices, but now it is hard to get young people to take up the trade. They fear competition with Japanese. The fishermen get their boats for less than they did before, about one-quarter less cost. We never feared competition from outside, that is from a white man's country. Henry Mundon says ; I am a boat builder. I have been here four years. I only employ one man now. I did employ as high as ten. The boat building is being done too cheaply now and I am not taking fishing boats to build. I can't get my price. Lots come to me to buy and ask the price. My price is $S5, and they say they can get them from •'JGO to §65. The Japanese sell to the whites. I know > they have built for the canneries at $65. When I had ten men employed I paid .f 2'..50 to $3.00 a day. I am married and have three children. The Japanese get their help cheaper. There is one shack where they all live together. The boats I build ought to last seven or eight vears. I could have built a lot of boats for fishermen and cannerymen too, but I would not take them. I built a few for .$75 for cannerymen and lost mone}^ on them. I could have employed ten men if I had taken contracts of those who spoke to me. There are 100 being built (by .Japanese) near where I am. Last year more were built than this year. I employed six men last year. The material in my boats cost $47 and 1 8 days' work. The Japanese used poorer material. They put in maple ribs. I have seen them whip sawing lumber. The Japanese can build as good a boat as a white man can for fishing. They build a cheap boat. I favour the exclusion of Japanese and Chinese. It was the year before last I employed ten men. Other witnesses gave evidence to the same effect. Alfred Wallace carries on boat building on a large scale. His evidence presents many important features. He says : I run a ship and boat>building establishment and employ 64 hands. The only way they (the Japanese) affect our business is they (the cannerymen) give them the boats to build, and they (the Japanese) guarantee to furnish them the number of men to fish the boats that year. The canners themselves told me. There is not more than 3 per cent for private individuals. I don't think my trade has been affected any. We buy the lumber in the rough and manufacture everything our- selves. We manufacture cheaper than formerly. I have been in business eight years. They ha\-e cheaper labour ; that reduces the price of boats. Last year we built 392 boats ; of these 80 per cent were for the canneries. We run a union yard exclusively and pay union wages, $3 to $4 and nine hours per day for skilled men. We hire boys from $1.25 to $2.50 — twelve boys altogether. About 50 per cent of the boats are built by Japanese. The Japanese have offered their services to me 'for 10 and 11 cents per hour ; 24 of the men and boys are employed in boat-building ; 33^cents per houris the lowest wage I pay to skilled workmen. I think the Japanese are very good mechanics, but very slow. You can get all the men you want, of good skilled men. There is no trouble about getting white labour. I have never had Japanese working for me. We may have to have them after awhile — get cheaper men to turn out cheaper articles. By machinery we can compete. We could not compete if the Japanese had machinery. We employ the men the year round. We have few unskilled labourers. It don't make much differ- ence to me whether they come or not. My principal customers are the canneries so far as fishing boats are concerned. We can do the work about 15 per cent cheaper by machinery. No one building by hand can compete with machinery. We keep the staff steady. We build stock boats in winter. All round from Port Moody to the Fraser ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIORATION 359 SpSIONAL PAPER No. 54 River, that is 35 or 40 miles, you will find shacks where boats are built by Japanese all along the shoi'e. They cut the timber and rip-saw it and build boats wherever you see a shack. We build many for the Skeena trade. \ boat will last eight years. The canneries buy new boats to replace the skiffs. I don't want to do anything to interfere with the fishing business. My principal patrons are cannerymen. I think there are just as many men building boats to-day as four years ago. It is a different class of boats to-day. We can compete with them at a profit. I don't say a good profit. If a company started who employed them we would have to cut wages or shufr down. If prices are reduced as much in the next four years as in the last four years, we could not compete at the same wages and cost of material. I think we have enough Japanese here now. The arrangement with the Japanese and canneryman gives them an advantage. I can't get any of my boat builders to go fishing. The canners are our best customers. You will find the Japanese boat-builders everywhere. The men who build the boats do the fishing. They work from daylight till dark. One Japanese takes the contract and he is the responsible party. They are an intelligent race. They may go into this business and if they do we will have to get cheap labour, and then I would be opposed to further immigration. They live in boat houses. Two-thirds of my men are married men. I would not like to hurt the cannerj' business. They are my best customers ; but I think we have enough here now. The opinion of canners will not alter my opinion. SUMMARY. The following facts are made clear by the evidence : Boat builders working without machinery have been driven out of the employment of building fishing boats. " The wages formerly paid for this class of work was from $2.50 to $3 a day. The Wallace factory employs 24 hands in boat building of this class, exclusively white labour, and pay union wages,— men from .^?3.00 to $4.00 a day for skilled labour, and boys $1.25 to $2.50 per day, and is able to compete by using machinery. The manager declares that he could not compete if Japanese employed machinery. If a company started who employed Japanese he would have to cut wages or shut down. If the sellino- price was reduced in the next four years as much as in the last four years this factory could not compete at the same wages and cost of material. All whites engaged in this business are opposed to further immigration of Japanese. The fishermen get cheaper fishing boats but lose more than they gain by competition of Japanese fishermen. , This industry is a good illustration of the effect of oriental labour. It grew up to meet the requirements of the trade exclusively by white labour and so flourished, giving employment to large numbers of men at prices that would enable them to live and sup- port their families. The Japanese was not a necessity. When he comes, by reason of his low standard of living, he is able and has driven out all but the large machmery- suppiied factory. This factory would not now compete if another started employing Japanese labour, or if the Japanese employed machinery. That this will take place in a short time if they continue to come can scarcely be doubted ; and then the same argu- ment might be presented as is now made in respect of other industries ;— it cannot be successfully carried on without cheap labour. Of course it cannot if the competition of cheap labour brings down the price. The cure is to remove the cause ; not more cheap labour, but less. While cheap labour continues to come m it creates the conditions whicli it is said make it necessary. 360 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 CHAPTER III.— THE LUMBER INDUSTRY. PART I. SAWMILLS. The .Japanese are employed to a very considerable extent in the lumbering business. Their proportion to \yhites and Chinese employed will appear from the following table : — Mill. Whites. Chemainus Jlill ' 5S If (in camp) 12s Hastings Mill 164 11 (in camp) ! 245 Royal City Mills, New Westminster j liSO The Moodieville Sawmill Co ! 60 Say w.ird Mills, \'ieturia i 30-40 Muiisie MilU, Victoria . . . i 10 Haslam Mills, Nanaimo \ 39 North Pacific L. Co , i 45 Robertson & Hackett, Vancouver 81) Royal City Mills, Vancouver 9H Brunette Jl ill, near Vancouver 1C8 Shields' Mill, Kamloops ........; SO Yale Mill Company — Head office at Rossland controlling mills at Ro^sland, Ruli>on, Nakusp, Cascade, Roche Creek, Deadwoodj 200 Hillyer's Mill, NelM.n I 40 BuchanauV Mill, Kaslo I 10-50 Chinese. 56 19 10 57 10 60-70 17 13 11 10 3 3-4 as cooks. Japanese. 56 30 93 29 40 9 46 20 60 Probably the l)est idea as to whether the Japanese are necessary for this business, and as to whetlier there are sufficient in the country to meet the demand, may be gathered t'rum the evidence of the employers. As most of these witnesses have been quoted from at length, in dealing with this question as it affects Chinese immigration reference may be had to that evidence. Edmund James Palmer, manager of the Victoria Manufacturing Company's mill at Chemainus, that exports nearly as much as all the other mills at British Columbia, says : We first employed Japanese about a year ago last February. I never employed them in the mill except three months ago. I let them a contract for grading the road. I know the Port Blakelej- mill on Puget Sound, Washington, employs Japanese. All the other mills there employ whites. Q. What do j'ou say as to the Japanese ] — A. I think there are plenty of them here. I would say that all further immigration of Chinese or Japanese should be prohibited. What we have here now I think quite sufficient, and f think we can graduall}' work white labour in until we would soon have sufficient white labour in the country to answer all demands. The Japanese are more inclined to adopt our mode of living and more inclined to spend money in doing so. Richard H. Alexander, manager of Hastings Mill, Vancouver, says : We employ ninety -three Japanese, in tracking and piling lumber. They are paid from 90 cents to 81.25 a day. The Japanese are all in inferior positions, with the exception of the lath mill, at which there are six or seven of them at the cut-off saws and trimmer. We first engaged them twehe j'ears ago. (The evidence of this witness is fully given in Part I, Chap. XII. Robert Charles Ferguson, manager of the Royal City Mills, Vancouver, which forms one of the three mills under the control of the British Columbia ilills and Trad- ing Company ; the other two being the Hastings Mill and the Royal City Mills of New OiV CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 361 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Westminster, says: We employ 150 men, of whom GO are Japanese. (Jxer half the Japanese are paid 90 cents a day. Three Japanese have charge of saws They are satisfactory. We get as much done as if run by a white man. We pay a Japanese sawyer yl.-Jo a day. \\'e pay white labour of the same class (sawyers) .f;2.2o If no more Chinese and Japanese were admitted I would be satisfied for the present time but I don't think we could do in the future because the Japanese are spreading out more That is they are going over the country and going into business for themsehes and are employed more largely. I don't think we could get white labour to take their place at present. I don't see why Japanese should not be able to run the higher 'class of machines. I would not care to run my mill with Japanese altogether. Certainly I would employ cheap labour all through if competition made it necessary. In handling the machines the J apanese can handle as much as the white man. If it came to heavy work the white man might be worth a little more, not over 15 per cent. White men could not live on the same wages we pay Chinese and Japanese. .Our firm tried to take a couple of carloads of people from the east at one time. " AVe brought them out by rail with the usual result, they tried to beat their fares and left the employ- ment of the company. They were bushmen and loggers. The lumber industry is languishing here at the present time, partly because of the foreign trade being dull and a dullness in the North-west market. Our trade last year was hurt by the labour unions here demanding higher prices for labour in the first part of the year. I should judge the emplojmient of Chinese and Japanese have an effect on labour associations. We have a great deal of ditijculty getting men to work during the fishing season. I would sooner employ all white labour if I could get it. Eobert Jardine, the local manager of the Royal City Planing Mills at New A\'est- minster, who employs 29 Japanese out of a total of 266 men, says : The Japanese came in in 1897 ; prior to that Chinese were used. In 1897 we had a number of white men employed that filled the positions now held by Japanese, and they left and went fishing and we were compelled to get whatever labour we could. Probably eight or ten left and moi-e left gradually. I would as soon employ white men at |37 or $38 a month as Japanese at f 1 a day. It is not because of the difference in wages, but the difficulty in getting men, that we employ Japanese. We require cheap labour and the Chinese is the kind we have. We have to have cheap labour or shut our business down, because two- thirds _pf our cut is shipped east, to the North-west Territories, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and as far east as Halifax. If we had to employ all white labour at from $35 to iSiO a month, it would amount to a thousand dollars a month or over. We would have to pay 60 per cent more. We don't feel the competition so much. We have a price list between the different owners. It is not always adhered to. We only use 29 Japanese. I suppose the emplojmient of Chinese and Japanese, and that white labour has to compete with them, does keep white labour out to a certain extent. {S^1.25 a day. 362 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 John G. Woods, supferintendent of the Moodyville Sawmill Compaii}', which employs 110 men, of whom 40 are Japanese, says: We pay white men from S30 a month and board up to JjliO for foremen ; Japanese 90 cents and board to 81.25 and board. Board costs 35 cents a day. In most positions they are as good as whites. They are behind machines and keep the machines clear. The Japanese run machines, namely, the edger and trimmer ; one edger and five trimmers run by .Japanese. We formerly had white men do it. He runs the machine as well as a white man and we keep him there. I don't see why a Japanese should not do anything there is t« do aboufr a sawmill. I very much prefer white men if other conditions are equal. The competition is as keen as the mills can stand and keep afloat I guess we could fill the positions with white men if the Japanese were out — get them here in the country, but would have to pay them more. We would have to pay whites .$15 a month more. If we had to pay $700 or .?800 more than we do now we would have to shut down. I would close down so far as I am concerned rather than employ Asiatic labour. I have had large experience here in mills. For the last five years the Moodyville Mill has just about held level without the owners getting one cent interest or dividends. The pro- perty has been kept up. Our position is good for foreign markets but not for local trade. We do simply a foreign trade. We ship to China and Japan". James W. Hackett, of the firm of Robertson ife Haokett, that have a sawmill and sash and door factory. They employ 100 men in and about the mill and factory, of whom 20 are Japanese. Only white men are employed in the camps. Their market is local and east. He says : We tried to run our mill without Japanese. We found that it was necessary to have a certain amount of cheap labour. We had to compete with others who had cheap labour ; besides cheap white labour is very unsteady. You can get white labour for .81.50 a day, but they won't stay with you. If others had employed excktsively white labour we would. We don't employ Chinese. The export mills have a good deal to do in fixing the local price. What they do not export they sell cheap. The local market would be better without the export mills. The more there is shipped for foreign markets the worse it is for local trade, because every million feet leaves a lot rejected which comes in competition with the local trade. Our white men are a very sober class of men. Some kinds of work Japanese will do as well as whites. I think it would take as many whites to do the work of Japanese. It would make a difierence (if 824 a day. The greater portion of our labour is skilled labour. Public opinion on the Chinese and Japanese question is very strong. Last 3'ear I paid out .$50,282 in and about the mill and factory. Of this 83,282 was paid to .Japanese and 847,000 to whites. I also paid to whites in the camp 824,125. I would have had to pay .$1,640 more to whites if I had employed all whites and no Japanese. Our realty and plant is worth about 8100,000. We have a good class of labour in this country, better than in most countries. Andrew Haslam, sawmill owner at JSTanaimo, said : I think the Japanese are stronger physically than the Chinese. Japanese can do harder work than the Chinese. I am certainly in favour of employing white men. I think myself the Japanese will finally be the keener competitors of the white men. I do not think anyone will denj' that the Japanese are a progressive people and have advanced more rapidly of late years than anj^ othei' nation ; but on the other hand their wants are so few and their habits so simple they can live very well for a small sum of money, for such a sum that a white person could not possibly live on ; and to bring an unlimited number of these people here to enter into competition with our white people, I do not think is in the interests of the country by any means. It is a question to my mind whether it is wise to encourage immigration beyond what can find profitable employment in the country. I have heard ver}' little of the Japanese question here. I do not think it would be wise to persist in any regulation that would tend to irritate the Japanese people at the present time. As far as I know of the business of British Columbia, and I have had an opportunity of studying it for 35 years, all I can say is that the white men got less wages before the .Japanese and Chinese were in the country than they did after they were in hei'e. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 363; SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Lewis A. Lewis, manager of the Brunette Sawmill Company, New Westminster pays out m wages m connection with his sawmill, planing mill and logging camp annu- ally $141,937 ; for white labour, $119,773, and the balance to Japanese and Chinese • that IS about S5 per cent to whites and 15 per cent to orientals. He employs in all 168 white men, 78 Japanese and 10 Chinese, He says: The average wage of the Japanese is $1.00, Chinese, 90 cents, and white labour .'$3.5 to .¥100 a month. Have had Japanese four or five years, but not as many as now. Had 10 or 12 more last year than the year before, using more men in 1900 than in 1899. The business has increased, but the number of white men is about the same. The increase has been 10 or 12 additional Japanese. The Japanese have gradually taken the place of white ' men— in some places they have. Some of our tally men are Japanese. He could do it as well as white. The Japanese have taken the place of white men in piling lumber. We paid $35 to $40 a month. We now pay Japanese .?1 a day of 26 days. That is instead of $35 to $40, we pay $26. I don't think a Japanese will do as much work as a white man. They don't understand. The Japanese don't understand English. I would as soon pay a white man $35 a month as a Japanese s^SG in certain kinds of work. There was no advantage in taking on Japanese instead of white men as to that work. In trucking rough lumber out of the yard, Japanese are cheaper. As far as I can recollect when the Japanese did not do it, the Chinese did. Our market is all the way from here to Quebec. Our principal market is the North-west Territory, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. When it goes east of Winnipeg it is large special timber for bridge building. We export to Glasgow, Scotland and to Japan. It is not regular, it is incidental. It would not be a tenth of our business. The Chinese are engaged in piling lumber in the yard. No Chinese work in the mill ; some of the Japanese do. They work behind the edger. None run the edger. None of the Japanese do any skilled work ; one of them uses a trimmer saw for cutting off, for the last year or so. We formerly paid a white man $40 a month, and we pay the Japane.se .51.35 per day, say $32.50 per month. He can't do the work as well. He can do as much. The man at !j40 could get his job back at the price. I have resided here fourteen years. ' Japanese were not in the saw- mills then ; white men and Chinamen did the work. I don't know of any .Japanese or Chinese with families. The white men are, I think, mostly married. We give preference to married men. I don't think we could get along without the .Japanese in the lumber business. We could get along without the Chinese. I am speaking from the lumberman's standpoint. Labour is short during the summer time till after the fishing season is over. White labour is short during these months. There is abundance of white labour during the winter months. If you give Japanese employment in winter they will stay in summer. Our white men stay with us in summer. We supply lumber and boxes to the canneries. This year it may be $50,000 if a big run. Last year it was ."JSOjOOO to .'$40,000. Two other mills also supply the canneries. The business is in a fair condition, but it could be better. The last three years have been better. For eight previous years we did not make money. W?2 a day for unskilled labour. It ranges from •'$1.75 to 62.25 or §2.50 a day. Sawyers are paid from 63.50 to 64 a day. W. H. Perry, the assistant general manager of Moran Brothers, who operate a sawmill at Seattle and employ about 100 men, stated that the average wage paid to common labour was 62 a day, that being the minimum. The men who operate the planers they are to a certain degree skilled labour and are paid 62.25, 62.50 and 62.75. Theodore Ludgate, a Canadian, who has recently engaged in the sawmill business at Seattle, and employs 150 men in and about the mill, says : Q. ^^'■hat is the average wage for unskilled labour ? — A. The lowest wage we pay is 61.75 a day to roustabouts, men who are here to-day and are to be found some place else next week. A great many men we pay 62 a day to ; 61.75 a day is our cheapest labour and it runs from that up to |5 for our filers and sawyers. The filers get 65 a day. The planer foremen get 63.50 a day and the planer feeders get $2.25 a day. No mills in the city or neighbourhood employ Japanese labour. The only mill employing Japanese labour is the Port Blakeley mill, nine or ten miles across the Sound from here. A. S. Martin, secretary of the Puget Sound Sawmill and Shingle Company, Fair- ha^-en, Washington, said ; A\'e are employing 265 hands. We ha^e 110 men employed in logging camps. We never employ Chinese or Japanese. They are onlv employed at one mill, at Port Blakeley. Minimum wages for unskilled labour is 61.50 per diem. There are about ten men working here for that wage. At present 62 is our minimum. Wages run up to 65 and 66 ; average, 63.33.^ per diem. We make a specialty of cedar shingles, having the largest cut of any mill in the world. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 36& SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 W. T. Hai'ris, of Whatcom Fall Mill Company, at Whatcom, Washington, says : We employ about 75 men. No Chinese or Japanese. We buy our logs. I think no Japanese or Chinese are employed in the logging camps, "^^'ages for ordinary labour are as low as $1.50 per day, but for skilled labour run up as high as $150 per month. Board is worth from $4 to $4.50 a week. The proportion of unskilled labour employed by us is two-thirds, including some machine attendants. We ship some of our product into Canada. Our chief market is in the east. We experience no difficulty in getting common or skilled labour. Chinese are not employed in Whatcom at all. Don't see them here at all. The population of Whatcom is about 10,000. The principal industry of Whatcom is lumbering. There are no canneries. The coal mines are several miles out from town. They employ all white labour. W. Sherman, of the Bellingham Bay Improvement Company, Washington, said : We employ about 350 men. No Chinese or Japanese. We engage in export lumber business to South America, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, and also ship to San Francisco and east of the Rockies. There are no Chinese or Japanese employed on the Bellingham Bay and British Columbia railway. The average wage paid to unskilled labour is from $1.75 to $2 per day, and to skilled labour up to $4 per day; average, .$2.50 to $3.75. There is no difficulty in getting labour. We buy our logs. WAGES ON THE AMERICAN AND CANADIAN SIDE COMPARED. CANADIAN MILLS. Ghemainus Mills {Chemainus, B.C.). Japanese — $1 to .$1.25. Chinese — $1 to $1.25 and one at $1.50. Whites — $2 for unskilled labour, and from $2.25 up for skilled labour. Japanese — 90 cents to $1.25. "Whites $40 to $45 a month, and in the woods the whites received from $2.25 to The Hastings Mill (Vancouver). se — 90 cents to —$40 to $45 a $2.50 a day. The Royal City Mills ( Vancouver). Japanese— From 90 cents to $1 for common labour; sawyers, $1.25 to $1.50. Whites— Labour : unskilled, from $1.75 to $2.50 ; skilled, $2.50 to $3.50. The Brunette Sawmill Company (New Westminster). Japanese— 95 cents to $1.25 ; average $1. Chinese — 90 cents. White labour— $35 to $100 a month. The Royal City Planing Mills at New Westminster. Japanese— 8^ cents to $1.40 ; average $1. Chinese— 85 cents to $1.35 per day ; average $1. , ■„ , i u Whites— $35 to $125 per month, and $1.75 to $3.40 a day for skilled labour. AMEEICAN MILLS. The Stetson and Post Mill Company, Seattle. feTs-iffru'nSdlabour. It ranges from $1.75 to $2.50 a day. Sawyers are paid from $3.50 to $4 a day. 366 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Moran Brothers, Seattle. Japanese — None employed. Whites — Average wage for common labour $2 a day, that being the minimum. Th/'urlore Ludgate, Seattle. Whites — !i?1.75 is the cheapest labour employed, and up to $5 for filers and sawyers. Planer foreman iif3..50, planer feeders $2.50. A great many of the common labourers .are paid .^2 a day. Japanese — None employed. Puget Sound Siurmill and Shingle Company, Fairhaven, Washington. Japanese — None employed. Whites — Minimum wage for unskilled labour .§1.50 per diem to S?2. This company employs 26.5 hands. At pre.sent $2 is their minimum. 2'he Whatcom Falls Mill Company, Whatcom, Wash%i%gton. Japanese — None emplo3-ed. Whites — Lowest -SI. -30 per day ; for skilled labour as high as §150 a month. Tlf Belliiigliam Bay Impiroveynent Company. Japanese — None employed. Whites — Ayerage unskilled labour .$1.75 to $2 a day. For skilled labour up to 84 a day. SUMMARY. In dealing with this industry' it was found impossible to limit the e'i'idence and :summary to the Chinese and Japanese respectively, and for a fuller statement of facts and evidence reference may be had to a former chapter where the bearing of Chinese immigration upon this industry is dealt with, which in connection with what is here said will give a fair idea of the present condition of the industry. In 1900 there was exported from British Columbia eighty-four million feet of lumber by six mills, the Chemainus -38,365,000 ; Hastings 23,873,000; Moodvville 19,312,000 ; The Royal City Planing Milk of New Westminster 1,312,000 ; The" Northern Pacific Xumber Company 659,000, and the Canadian Pacific Lumber Company 687,000. It will be seen that of the total export the first three mills exported 91| millions of the 84 millions. The following statement shows the destination ■ Destination. '^""^^^ ^^^?r^-^. ^'""^ is. C. Mills. Great Britain and Continent 25,043,613 Australia 33,936,773 Africa 5,887,385 Peru 4,554,350 ChiU 3,858,830 Other South American Ports 327,995 China and Japan 9,463,501 U.S. Atlantic Port 1,061,405 Mexico 76,701 Total 84,210,553 The exporting mills compete ^^^th the other mills in the local market. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 367 SE&SIONAL PAPER No. 54 The Chemainus Mill exports nearly as much as all the other mills together, and employs 56 Japanese about the mill and 30 in the camp. The manager of" this large concern stated that they had never employed Japanese in the mills until three months ago. In the camps they are employed for grading. He thought there were plenty of them here now, and stated that in his opinion all further immigration of Chinese or Japanese should be prohibited. He said : What we have here now I think quite suffi- cient, and I think we can gradually work white labour in until we. would soon have sufficient white labour in the country to answer all demands. The manager ot the next largest exporting mill, the Hastings Mill, that employs 164 whites and 93 Japanese, explained that they had always had in a mill a certain proportion of cheap labour ; in the earlier days Indians ; they gradually got off from working in the mill and were replaced by Chinese ; and on the other hand, on account of the strong feeling against Chinese, they discontinued them, and have since been using Japanese. It was ten or twelve years since Japanese were first employed. He further stated that the Indians were not crowded out by either the Chinese or Japanese. The Indian camp was removed. They lived on the other side of the inlet, and it was diffi- cult for them to go over to the mill in time, and during the construction of the railway got more profitable work with the contractors. The Indians were paid 75 cents a day and board, equal to §1 a day. The Chinamen will go along like a machine and do the same work every day until night at the same work, but the Japanese has got more spirit, and if he sees the machine crowding him he will put on a spurt and keep the machine clear, whereas the Chinaman will let the machine block uj), and he will want another man to help him. The Japanese may not work as steadily but he works quicker, and is better for the work than the Chinaman in that way. Neither Chinese nor Japanese are used in the woods. They are not suited for it. This witness declined to express an opinion as to restriction on Japanese immigration. He further stated that he desired to confine himself to its effect on the lumber trade, and said : The question is this, — we have always had a certain amount of cheap labour in connection with the operation of the lumber industry. It is quite possible that white labour would be generally profitable if we could get it under the same con- ditions. If the Japanese are to be replaced with white labour it will mean an increase in our expenses, — an increase in the cost of production of the lumber, but as it is at present the white men cannot work at the rate of wages that the Japanese do. Now, if the Japanese is replaced by white labour at a higher rate of wages on the industry on the manufacture of lumber, there can be but one result, — we would either have to raise the price of the article produced, or shut down the manufacture altogether. In our ease the article manufactured has to be exported ; it has to meet competition in the markets of the world with the same conmiodities from other places. The superintendent of the Moodyville Sawmill, the next largest exporter, stated that they employed 40 Japanese out of a total of 410 men. This mill is situated across Burrard Inlet from Vancouver. They are paid from 90 cents to $1.25 and board. The hoard costs 35 cents a day. In most positions they are declared to be as good as whites. White men are paid from $30 to $140 a month. This would make a difference of about $600 per month in wages if whites were employed instead of Japanese, and the witness stated if, they had to pay 1700 or .$800 per month more then they do now, they would have to shut down, but that so far as he was concerned rather than employ Japanese m responsible positions he would close down. This mill exports over four millions to China and Japan, out of a total of nine and a half millions. The Hastings Mill, and the Royal City Planing Mill of New Westmmster, under the same general management as the Hastings Mill, exported the balance of the nme and a half millions that went to Japan and China in 1900. The local manager of the Royal City Mills of New Westminster says that the Japanese came in in 1897, but prior to that Chinese were used, but it is not because ot the difference in wages but the difficulty in getting men that they employ Japanese ; that they require cheap labour and the Chinese is the kind they have. They employ 57 Chinese and 29 Japanese and 180 white men. He further stated that they have to have cheap labour or shut down their business, and the reason given is that two-thirds ot the cut 368 RKPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 is shipped to the North-west Territories, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and as far east as Halifax ; that if they had to employ all white labour at from §35 to 840 a month it would amount to over a thousand dollars a month, and would be 60 per cent more than the cost of the labour of Chinese and Japanese now employed. He stated that he would as soon pay a, white man .$37 or 638 a month as a Japanese $1 a day. He further stated that they did not feel the competition so much because they had a price list between the different owners. . He thought that the employment of Chinese and Japanese kept white labour out to some extent. The manager of the Brunette Saw-mill Commany at New ^Vestminster that employs 78 Japanese, being the largest number employed by any mill except the Hastings mill, stated that they had employed Japanese for the last four or five years but not in such large numbers as at present. That the Japanese had gradually taken the place of the white men. They pay the Japanese .SI a day or .$26 a month, instead of .53-5 or Mo a month formerly paid to white men. He did not think that the Japanese did as much work as the white man, and stated that he would as soon pay a white man .*3.5 a month as a Japanese .Si 6 in certain clas.ses of work, but that in certain other classes of work the Japanese was cheaper, and finally added that he did not think they could get along without the Japanese in the lumber business, but that they could get along without the Chinese. This gentlemen spoke purely from the lumberman's standpoint. The next largest emplo3'er of Japanese labour is the Royal Citj' mills of Vancouver who employ 60 Japanese, 11 Chinese and 90 white men. This case affords a fair illustration of what applies to nearly all the mills wheie Japanese are employed. The proportion given must not be understood as indicating the number of Japanese and unskilled white labour employed, the fact being that very little if any unskilled white labour is employed at these mills. The Chinese and Japanese practically fill all the positions of unskilled labour and have almost entirely displaced white men and Indians in these positions. The manager of this mill stated that they paid the Japanese 90 cents a day as common labourers and .'Jl.'2.5 a day as sawyers, three Japanese being employed in that capacity. It should be noticed here that the Japanese receive 90 cents a day without board whereas at the Moodyville mill they are paid 90 cents a day and boarded. . The manager stated that he would be satisfied for the present if no more Chinese or Japanese ^\-ere admitted, but thought that there might be difficulty in future because the Japanese are spreading out over the country and are going into business for them- selves and are employed more largely. He did not think that white labour could be got to take their places at present. He thought that the Japanese would in time be able to run a higher class of machine, and declared that he would employ cheap labour all through if he found it necessarj'. The Northern Pacific Lumber Company employ 46 Japanese and 45 whites, no Chinese. The manager stated that they employed Japanese because out of the total number 1 6 do as much as white men. In other classes of work two white men will do as much work as three Japanese. He preferred white men and thought there were enough Japanese here now. The Robinson and Hackett Compan}' of Vancouver einplov 20 Japanese. The manager stated that they tried to run the mill without Japanese, but found that they had to have a certain amount of cheap laljour to compete with others who had cheap labour, and that if others would employ white labour exclusively, their company was willing to do so. They do not employ Chinese. The proprietor of the lumber mill at Nanaimo, employs 9 Japanese, 13 Chinese and 39 white men. He pays a total monthly wage of .f4,350, of which f 140 only is paid to Japanese, .S368 to Chinese and $3,845 to whites. This gentleman ran his mill for 17 years with white labour exclusively, until two years ago. The cause of the change as stated by him was that the profits were getting so small that he could not afford to pay the white men for outside work, that is work apart from handling the machines ; that there was an increased cost of everything that enters into the production of lumber, and that the selling price has remained the same for the last four or five years, and that owing to American lumber coming in free, they could only raise the price so tliat the American lumber could not be sold. The market is purely local, Nanaimo and vicinity. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 369 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 He said that American lumber did not come to Nanaimo, but that it competed with other mills, and those mills took the trade that he otherwise would have got The remedy he suggested was the admission of mill supplies free of duty and in that case he would only employ white men. He was in favour of employing white men and in the interests of the country, would choose them. He spoke very favourably of the Swedes and Norwegians as a desirable class of immigrants for mill work, and expressed the opinion that we had a sufficient supply of Japanese and Chinese here now, and did not think any serious inconvenience would accrue to his business if no more were allowed to come in. He thought there were enough in the country for some time to come. He further stated that he thought the Japanese were the keenest competitors of the white man ; that a few years ago white men were getting out timber for Mexico ; that is now done by Japanese. They contract for it themselves, several cargoes each year ; that they more readily fall into our methods and habits ; they are not as steady as the Chinese, and he did not know if they would make better citizens. He added that as long as the timber is in the country it is an asset, and unless we got out of it something commensurate with its value we lose it. He added that mills on the Sound employ white labour exclusively, except the Blakeley mill which employs 300 .Japanese. At the Kamloops sawmill, 9 Japanese out of a total of 42 men are employed. The manager thought Japanese more desirable as a class than the Chinese, but did not think any serious loss would result if no more came in. No Japanese are employed at the Sayward mills and Munsie mills at Victoria, nor by the Yale mill company, which controls the mills at Robson, Nakusp, Cascade, Roche Creek, Deadwood and Rossland, employing 200 men, all whites, with three or four Chinese as cooks ; no Japanese are employed at Hillyer's mill, at Nelson, or at Buchan- an's mill at Kaslo. The result of the examination of this industry shows that about .500 Japanese, as far as we can ascertain, are employed therein. These have largely taken the place of Chinese within the last few years. In some employments in and about the mill it is said that they will do as much work as a white man. One manager stated that 16 Japanese out of the 40 employed would do as much work as an equal number of white men, and that the balance was in the proportion of about 2 white to 3 Japanese. It will be seen, therefore, that the difference in cost between the employment of white labour and Japanese is not the difference in wages paid to each, but the difference in the value of their work. This latter sum it is diificult to estimate with accuracy, but approxima- tely it may be stated to be from two-fifths to a half of the difference in wages ; that is, that there is a saving to the mill owner of from two-fifths to one-half of the difference in wages between what is paid to a Japanese and what would have to be paid to white men. If only white men were employed in the above instance the saving would be $8, not $20. This probably expresses the view of the majority who favour cheap labour, but it must not be forgotten that some managers of large experience insist that white labour is as cheap in the long run as Japanese or Chinese, but it is not to be had at the present time, and that the reason of scarcity of white labour is because of the presence of the Chinese and Japanese, which has a tendency to keep out the desired class of white labour. An examination of the conditions of this industry on the American side shows that no Japanese are employed in the mills there, with one exception, and that is at Port Blakeley where they were first employed last year. The average wage paid for unskilled labour is from .f 1.75 to $2. In one instance a few men were employed at |1.50 per day, but the largest proportion are paid .$2, and from that up to $3.50 and $4 for skilled labour. There is no difficulty there as far as we could ascertain in obtaining abundance of white labour at these wages. There is a large export trade from the Sound, amounting to over 156,000,000 feet last year, and a still larger cut for local and eastern trade. It is proper to observe that the only mill that employs Japanese labour is a large exporting mill. We are of opinion that if no more Japanese come in, having regard to the numlser that are now in the country, that there are sufficient for the present requirements, and for some years to come, and that the change from Japanese to white labour would take 54—24 370 .lEPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 place gradually and without any serious loss to the business. As this industry is one of the few that gives employment the year round, it is of great importance that it should give emplo3'ment to white labour, and so build up a permanent community. PART II. SHINGLE BOLTS, MINIXf! TIMBER AND CORDWOOD. While the Japanese are not engaged to any extent in the shingle mills as the Chinese are, they have crowded out the Chinese, the white men and the Indians to a ■^cry large extent as labourers in getting out shingle bolts, mining timber and cordwood ; although as yet they are nut employed to any large extent in the lumber camps. John Murray, provincial timber agent, sa3's that on the coast the larger percentage of cutting shingle bolts is now done by Mongolians. Ten years ago they did very little. The same thing applies to cordwood. The Mongolians monopolize it now. The wood business is done by the Chinese and the bolt business by Japanese. It is difficult to say how many are engaged in the business. It would run up into the hundreds. W. H. Exlis, provincial immigration agent, says : I visited the cordwood camps on Main Island in the latter part of February. Several hundreds of Japanese are engaged in cutting cordwood on this and adjacent islands, chiefly for canneries and steamer companies. It is delivered f.o.b. on the scows at .fl-SO to $2 a cord. I am informed that the contractors make little profit at these figures, and wages paid employees must be \ ery small. The Japanese engaged in the work are principally from the Fraser River and owing to the small run of salmon last year they were in destitute circumstances at the close of the .season. On their arrival at Main Island to commence work, they were without supplies and subsisted for some time on clams and thistle roots and whatever rame and fish they could secure. The frequent heavy rains during the winter prevents continuous work. It would be impossible for white men to cut cordwood at the price and make very ordinary wages. The Japanese live in cedar shacks, sleep in bunks, ranged in tiers, and altogether have a wretched existence. Andrew Haslam, carrying on a large lumber business at Nanaimo, said : I think myself that the Japanese will be the keenest competitors of the white men. A few yeirs ago white men were getting out timber for Mexico and that is now done by Japanese. They contract f jr it themselves, — several cargoes each year. C. Uchida, a Japanese contractor for shingle bolts, says : I contract to get out bolts, .§2.05 per cord delivered on the scows. I pay !ip2 per cord and get 5 cents and what I make on supplies. The men do not have to buy in my store ; they can buy in any other place. I take out about three thousand cords a year. We employ all Japanese, 36 men in the camp. There is only one family out there. Japanese have wi vcs and children in Japan to whom they send money. Single men send very little money home. I buy groceries at the wholesale stores. I keep store and buy $2,000 a month ; $360 a month goes into camp. I supply them with overalls and working clothes. I buy some from white men and some from Chinese. The white men do not get out shingle bolts. The 36 men in camp are not naturalized. I am not a British subject. Edward H. Heaps, a shingle manufacturer, says : We employ in camps on contract about 80 getting out bolts. We let contracts to Japanese, Chinese and whites. The Japanese contractors employ Japanese, the Chinese employ Chinese, and the whites employ Japanese and Chinese. Ninety per cent would be Japanese and Chinese. We pay out .$5,000 a month for eight months, $40,000 besides the factory wages. The di\ision of wages would be the following : — To Chinese and Japanese for bolts $36,000 Japanese and Chinese in the mill 8,000 Total iS4I,000 Whites in the mill $10,000 For bolts 4,000 Total to whites $14,000 ON CBINESS! AJSTD JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 371 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 The Japanese and Chinese are paid $3 to $1 paid tn the whites. Robert Jardine, the manager of the Royal City Planing Mills at New "Westminster, who manufactures also a large quantity of shingles, says : We don't use shingle bolts. We cut them from the log and so we can carry on the shingle business without Japanese, because we get out ours all by white men. HOW THIS AFFECTS FAEJIEES AND OTHERS. James Thomas Smith, a farmer from New Brunswick, fourteen years in British Columbia, has 170 acres, sa)'s ; We had 20 acres of heavy wood. AVe generally had white men to cut it, for a small figure. Always had a hundred cords cut, but owing to the Chinese and Japanese we have half on our hands yet. We could not sell tu cleai' ourselves on it. We cannot compete. John Kendall, fisherman, says : Last year I tried to get a job cutting timber bolts or cordwood. I found I could get no job. I saw shingle bolts and wood being cut b}- Chinese and Japanese. Much other evidence was to the same effect. SUMMARY. The Japanese have gradually driven oat the white man and to a large extent have taken the place of Chinese in getting out shingle bolts and cordwood, and seem now to ha\'e the exclusive trade for mining timber for Mexico, for which they contract and employ exclusively Japanese labour. The Japanese contractors pay the Japanese the contract p-ice within a few cents and make their profits on their supplies. One manufacturer, out of a total expenditure of $44,000, stated that he paid to Chinese and Japanese for bolts S36,000, and that he paid to whites for bolts $4,000. Some of the manufacturers engaged in the shingle business purchase their bolts, which are gotten out chiefly by Japanese, and at first it appeared as if this were the cheaper method, but the manager of one of the largest mills stated that they do not use shingle bolts, but get out the material in the log, exclusively by white men, and so do not employ the Japanese at all for this purpose. In the largest shingle mill in the world, situate at Fairhaven, Washington State, the material out of which the shingles are made is brought to the mill in log lengths. Shingle bolts are not used, and neither Japanese nor Chinese are employed in connection with the business. The Japanese are only employed in connection with the shingle business in getting out the bolts ; and as it would appear that this is not the only or the cheapest method of procuring material for shingles— even from the point of cheapness the Japanese do not seem to be esential to the success of this business. There are a great many shingle mills in Washington State, and the output is enor- mous and yet Japanese are not employed. The effect of the employment of so many Japanese in getting out shingle bolts, cordwood and mining timber is very serious upon the white settler. i i <. . i It is clear that the shingle business does not depend upon Japanese labour tor the supply of the raw material. Their monopoly of this branch of the business handicaps the settler in disposing of his timber while clearing the land, and deprives him of an avenue of employment necessary to success until his holding becomes sufficiently pro- ductive to be self-sustaining. {See Part I, Chapter VII, Land Clearing, and Chapter XIV, Shingle Business.) CHAPTER IV.— OTHER OCCUPATIONS. The advent of the Japanese is comparatively recent, but for the time since they have commenced to come into the country in considerable numbers their employment m the different industries and callings has been very rapid. Particular mention has been 54—241 372 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 made of those trades and callings wherein they are most largely employed, and only a short reference is necessary with respect to the others. — (1.) The Mining industry. (2.) Railways. (3.) Sealing. (4.) Domestic servants. (.5.) Farming, land clearing and market gardening. (6.) Tailors, etc. I. THE MINING INDUSTEY. Colli Mini'f!. — It is only within recent years that Japanese have been employed at all in connection with the coal mines, and even now to only a limited extent. They are not employed at the Fernie mines nor by the New Vancouver Coal Company, Nanaimo. Japanese t" the number of 102 are employed at the Union Mines, as miners, helpers^, runners, drivers, labourers, timbei-ing, blacksmiths, and labourers above ground, — 77 beino- employed under-ground and 2.5 above ground. Only one Japanese is employed at the Extension mine and he above ground. It is manifest that the Japanese are not essential to this important industi-y. Metaliffroim 2Iinrx. — The Japanese have not been employed in any of the metali- ferous mines in the Kootenay district or elsewhere on the mainland, but they have been employed in mines near Victoria and on Texada Island. Henrv Croft, -who is engaged in mining at Mount Sicker, 45 miles from Victoria, says ; We employ both white labour and Japanese labour at the mines. White labour only in the mines and Japanese only in sorting of the ore. We employ from 30 to 35 Japanese in sorting the ore. We had previously tried to get white labour for that pur- pose. We tried to get bo^'s from 15 to 20 years of age. We paid them !?1.50 a da.j. We had the greatest difficulty in securing boys even in the city or in the country. The boys from the town would come up and work for three or four days and then leave us suddenly. The ci )usequence was we had to look for other labour, either we had to look for other labour or shut down. I thought about securing Japanese from 16 to 21 years of ao-e. We secured the Japanese for that labour. We found them perfectly satisfac- tory in every way. We pay them 90 cents a day. We cannot employ white men, white labour, for the simple reason that trade prices will not allow it. If we were to employ labour at 82.75 a day, which is what I understand to be paid in the Kootenay, it would make a difference to us in profi.t of over .$19,000 a year. That profit enables me to employ more white miners than I otherwise would do. I am adverse to Chinese and Japanese immigration, but I consider that in new countries like South Africa and Australia you must have cheap labour, and for instance in our own country we require cheap labour to run the saw mills. I hope that Norway and Sweden where they have cheap labour, they will ship some of it to us. There, cheap labour works in the sawmills, and the markets for their products are the same as ours. Unless we have some cheap labour, the lower grades of labour to do the lower class of labour in mines and lumbering camps, we cannot bring this country into the state of development we would wish. I think there are sufficient numbers of Japanese here now to meet the demand and also of Chinese. I do not think it necessary to permit any more Chinese to come into the country. I think there are enough of the Chinese and •lapanese here at the present time. No serious inconvenience would arise to our business if no more were allowed to come in. Q. Is there any industry with which you are familiar that you think would suffer any inconvenience, or tp which any inconvenience would arisa if no Chinese or Japanese were permitted to come in ? — A. No, I believe it is now like a tap, when you want water you turn it on and when you have enough you turn it off. All you have got to do is to put a per capita tax on the Chinese high enough to exclude them. Alfred Piaper said : The Japanese have been employed as miners in one mine. Only the shift foremen and three white men. There must have been between 40 and 60. They were discharged. They worked in the mine and above ground. They did black- J A PA NESE IMMIOEA TION 373 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 smithing. There are only 30 or 40 Japanese on the island now all told. There were about 150 before they were discharged. There are 175 whites. White miners were paid $3 on hand drills and |3.50 for machine men. Muckers and shovellers $2.50. The Japanese miners and muckers were paid |1.25 per day. The cause of dismissal was that it cost too much. The output was too small. It did not pay. The manager said he had taken the Japanese out for good. The number of Japanese employed in the metaliferous mines as a whole is insigni- ficant, and it cannot be said that this industry is dependent upon their labour. HYDRAULIC MINING. The Japanese have displaced Chinese labour in the Cariboo Consolidated, where about 100 are now employed. {See Part I, Chaps. IX, X and XI.) II. UAILWAYS. The Japanese are not employed as yet to any great extent upon the railways ; in- deed with the exception of the Canadian Pacific Railway they are not employed at all. The general superintendent of the pacific division of the Canadian Pacific Railway states that only seventy are employed in that division (main line) steadily. At certain sea- sons of the year as many as 300 or more are employed. Of the sevent)^, thirty are engaged as section men and forty on extra gang work from time to time. The Japanese are paid from %\ to $1.10 and white men $1.25 to ^1.50. This out of a total number of nearly five thousand is comparatively small and it is manifest that this great overland railway has not hitherto been dependent upon this class of labour to any considerable extent. The numbers employed as compared with the whole number of employees on this divis- ion is so small, that it would be idle to urge that this class of labour is essential to the success of that great enterprise. It is said that Japanese labour is largely employed on American Trans-Continental and other coast railways. We were informed, however, at Seattle, that the railways are letting them go, that one or two of the railways have already ceased to employ them, and that the Great Northern is getting rid of them as fast as it can. , The superintendent of the pacific division of the Canadian Pacific Railway stated : This company is not interested in employing a. single oriental if we can get white labour. I don't desire to express any opinion on the question of immigration. I don't think white men with families could live on what we pay Japanese. We do not encourage white men with families. If the government had brought in whites to build the road it would have been better. More was lost than gained (that is by bringing in Chinese). The Japanese is a better man than the Italian. {See Part I, Chap. XIX, 8ecs. 8 and 10, Railways.) III. SEALING. Wm Munsie, Victoria, engaged in the sealing business, says : The Japanese make excellent sailors. I have been employing them for several years in the seahiig vessels ; I usually employ two, three or four to each vessel, but just now the seahng busmess is amalgamated into one company and there are quite a number of Japanese out this yeais but I cannot say how many. No difi'erence is made between the white men and Japanese as sailors. The principal reason of my employing them is, as sailors they are handy and sometimes white sailors are scarce. u u + ^ +v„.o» A vessel usually carries 24 men all told, and among those there would be two or th. ee Japanese ; some vessels have no Japanese at all, and some have four or 6;^ Japanese^ All vessels should carry Indians ; the Indians are the hunters. Half of the number on WdToulf be In^^^^^ and sometimes a larger proportion. The Japanese do not hunt thev aresailor men ; where the Japanese are employed on schooners they are boat mlers The Indian schooners always carry a crew of about seven white men at least o man the vessel, and sometimes one or two Japanese are employed on them as sailors. 374 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Sometimes we ship four distinct races, — the fourth a coloured man. The hunters and boat pullers eat forward and the mate and sailors take their food in the cabin. The captain and white men live together and have their food together, they live aft, and the Indians live in the forecastle. In such a case the Japanese lives aft and eats with the white men. When there are sailors or schooners carrying white hunters the sailors and Japanese eat in the forecastle, the white hunters and the captain and mate live aft. The reason is that the cabin would be too small for a crew of 24 men and the sailors go forward to suit the accommodation. We have no Japanese overseers or superintendents. We only employ them as sailors, they are good sailor men, and' trustworthy ; there is not anything aboard the ship they cannot do. If no more came to this country I think we would not be incon- venienced. They are not hunters ; they are only fit for sailors, boat pullers and boat steerers. There are some Japanese hunters on the Japanese coast, but not on this coast, not even on Japanese schooners, and these vessels are even officered by white men. I think there are not as many of them employed now as there were five years ago. There is such a small percentage of them in the business that if none but white men were employed it would make no practical difference. There has never been an attempt to fill our vessels with Japanese. We seek white sailors first and then we pick up, if we require them, two or three Japanese. I do not know that there is any objection to them in limited numbers. T would be in favour of their exclusion. IV. DOMESTIC SERVANTS. What has been said under this heading in dealing with Chinese immigration applies in many particulars to the Japanese, and reference may be had to the discussion of the question there for a fuller statement of the views of the Commissioners upon this im- portant subject. A large number of Japanese are emploved as domestic servants and chore boys, but thev are not emploved nearly tii the same extent that Chinese are, nor are their wages as a rule as high, nur do they give the same satisfaction. In some few cases they were highly spoken of, but thev seem rather to have accepted .situations on their first coming to the country as a means of livelihood until they could find some other occupation. In Victoria out of a total of 1.39 males, 57 found employment as domestic servants. They seem to be emplo3'ed where less wages are paid than are usually paid to the Chinese domestic servants. V. FAEMIXG, LAND CLEARING AND MARKET GARDENING. The Japanese are employed to a limited extent on the farm and in land clearing and market gardening, and while in a few instances they are favourably spoken of as affording cheap labour, yet the great mass of the farmers, fruit growers, and those interested in agriculture regard them as undesirable immigrants and are strongly in favour of the view that no more of that class should be permitted to come in. VI. TAILORS. A few carry on business as merchant tailors, and in some cases Japanese tailors are employed by Chinese, but they have not yet encroached upon this or other trades to any considerable extent. CHAPTER v.— HOW JAPANESE ARE REGARDED. The Japanese are regarded as likely to prove keener competitors with white labour than the Chinese. With few exceptions this was the opinion generally expressed both ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 375 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 by employers and employees. It was also generally stated that they were more ready to adopt our mode of dress and habit of living than the Chinese are. A reference to the evidence will more clearly indicate the views held in re^rard to them. "^ .v ^.f ^?![^' ^'''*^^'™' government agent at Atlin : The Japanese are a little cheaper than the Chinese. I would rather deal with them. They are a more manly class of people, ihey purchase goods from our ordinary tradesmen. They have got more of the western method about them. Everybody has his own idea. " ' - speak a race. Dr. Roderick Fraser, medical health officer for the city of Victoria : The Japanese live in any part of the city and wear European dress and occupy ordinary houses. I do not think they adopt the manners, customs and liabits of our own people except in the matter of dress. They do not adopt our food, and the labouring Japanese does not sleep in the same kind of bed, but on a hard bed, like the Chinese, with a wooden pillow. They live close together. Dr. Alfred T. Watt, superintendent of quarantine for British Columbia ; I consider they are apparently more like our ovm people. They dress in English clothing ; but you find in the boarding houses where they live — there are three or four Japanese boarding houses in the city — there they will put on the Japanese costumes in sitting around in their own houses and eat food prepared much in the same way as it is prepared in Japan ; live on rice and fish principally. The Japanese do not crowd together in the same sense the Chinese are crowded. They do not all live in the same quarter. They are congregated in large boarding houses. Large numbers sleep in one room. I think they are scarcely crowded in that respect as much as the Chinese. The Japanese in Victoria is more of a floating population. William P. Winsby, Tax Collector for the City of Victoria : The Japanese assume our dress more generally. They live in boarding houses. I think they buy most of their food here. In some instances it ci)mes from China ; in some instances they use chopsticks, but a great many of them use knives and forks. They assimilate with "the white man as far as they know how, and I should say the .Japanese is a more dangerous competitor than the Chinese, because he is more adapted to white men's labour. He does not confine himself to one or two things. He does not seem to be so domesticated. He will work at any kind of work. A Japanese will take less wages than a Chinese will. As soon as they come here they open schools. E^•ery man goes in to learn English. James Andrew Grant, merchant tailor, of Victoria : The Japanese dress in Euro- pean clothes and they are a better class of men taking them all around. They are small but they would be more likely to conform to our institutions, but the effect of their presence here on white labour would be just the same as that of the Chinese. I would favour their exclusion on the gi-ound that they endanger the welfare of the labouring class the same as the Chinese do. I say they are a detriment to the country. Our country ought to be for our own people first. Self-preservation is the first law of nature. Olive P. WoUey, formerly executive officer of the sanitary commission for the province : I have had very little experience as to Japanese. I am very much prejudiced in their favour. I do not want them, but I think better to have them than the Chinese, if we Jiave to have either of them, for the reason that he seems to be willing to live more or less the white man's life. He will live as a white man does, and he is cleaner in his surroundings. He is more like our own people in assimilating to our manners and customs and mode of living, and he is more civilized— he is more manly and gentlemanly. I would rather have him because he buys our produce and dresses like ourselves and seems to be willing to adopt our habits and customs. He is a more dangerous competi- tor with the white man. He adapts himself more easily to our civilization than the Chinese. The Chinese will do the lowest kind of labour and stick to it. The Japanese 376 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 will get higher if he can, and he has brains enough to rise into any of the mechanical pursuits. It would certainly be better for all concerned if there was either a free im- portation of cheap labour or else that there should be a law enacted to keep out the Chinese and Japanese altogether. Thomas B. iSmith, of Victoria, general merchant, also engaged in salmon canning and general agent : They are not of the same class as the Chinese. The Chinese are sober. I do not think the Japanese are always sober. I do not think they are as law- abi ^ing as tlie Chinese. I should say that of the two the Chinese is more desirable I 1 hink. If I made restriction against the Chinese I would make restriction against the Japanese. I do not say that the Japanese are preferable to the Chinese. William John Taylor, of Victoria, barrister-at-law, who has resided fifteen years in the province says : I believe there is a great inclination on the part of the Japanese to become a citizen and he spends more of his earnings in the community. I think in some cases he will be a keen competitor with white labour. He can do more work than the average Chinese. Taking the average run of the Japanese they are more muscular. I think it would be advisable to exclude Japanese labour also, purely from industrial reasons ; that they do not make for the benefit of the community so much as an equal number of whites would. Charles F. Todd, who has resided in Victoria for over thirty years, wholesale grocer and salmon canner, says : Chinese and Japanese are much the same. My experience is that the Chinese are more trustworthy than the Japanese. I think restriction is quite as necessary with the Japanese as with the Chinese. I should say as much as on the Chinese. Albert E. ilcPhillips, who has resided in Victoria since 1891 and is a member of the local legislature for the city of Victoria, says : I have had very little to do with, and I have observed the Japanese less than the Chinese. There are ver}- few in Victoria. Those I lia-i'e ol)ser\"ed and my knowledge of the work performed by them is to the effect that they often work for less wages and compete more strongly against our labouring people than the Chinese. Q. Do yiiu think they are more inclined to adopt our habits and customs than the Chinese ? — A. I think they do on the surface, but I wouldn't like to say more than that. As at present advised I do not put one race above the other. I think they are equally objectionable. I would like tcj see the national government in some wa^y meet the question as a whole to exclude these people from our shores ; both races if possible ; and in such a reasonable way as not to cause any disturbance of the relations between the Imperial government and Japan, because I admit that should have some weight with us. I still think it would be against the best interests of this country to have that race here in any appreciable numbers. Joseph A. Suvward, of Victoria, manufacturer of finished and dressed lumber, and I large employer of Chinese labour, says : I am opposed to further immigration of Chine.se in the interest of the country at large. I think the Japanese are pretty much of the same class. I do not know there is any difference. The same objections would apply to the Japanese. Robert George Tatlow, member of the local legislature for Vancouver city, real estate and general brokerage business, savs : Mv view is for prohibition of the labour- ing class. I may say I am in favour of prohibition as far as it can be got as to both Chinese and Japanese, with due regard to the existing treaty. I think they are equally dangerous to the future welfare of this country. William Munsie ,of Victoria, who is interested in several lines of business, sawmill- ing, sealing, ifec, and employs Chinese in his lumber business and Japanese in the sealing business, says : In I'egard to Chinese immigration I prefer to exclude them — to exclude any further immigration. I do not like our country to be invaded with foreigners of the type of Chinese and .Japanese. I do not think they will ever become Canadians in the proper sense of the term. II. Would that apply with the same force to the Japanese 1 — A. I think it would. OA^ CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 377 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 William H. Ellis, provincial immigration officer for Vancouver Island, says : I consider Japanese cleanly in habits, industrious and intelligent ; believe them more dangerous competitors in the business of the country than the Chinese. They adopt European dress and food and conform as much as possible to the customs of the country. As a race they believe they are capable of taking an equal place among the civilized nations of the world. They are more aggressive than the Chinese, and if permitted to enter this country without restriction, would in course of time become a considerable portion of our business and working community and would undoubtedly insist on becom- ing enfranchised. I do not consider them desirable as citizens from the fact that they do not or cannot assimilate with the white race. At present they, like the Chinese, occupy a special place in the community. They furnish labour at which a white man cannot compete. They do not support families, and they trade almost altogether among themselves. They are meagre contributors to the general .welfare and are a positive detriment to the white labourers. Their advantage is altogether from the standpoint of capital. Edmund J. Palmer, manager of the Chemainus mills (exporters of lumber), that employ both Chinese and Japanese labour, says : Q. I notice that you seem in the lumber business to employ more Japanese than Chinese ? — A. It is the same class of labour, but the Japanese are better than the Chinese. The Japanese spend a large part of their money here. They will never settle our country up. Q. What you mean is a great many of them have not brought their wives over here? — A. Not that altogether, but it is just like this, — if you want to improve the stock in the country you import good stock from the east or from other countries. The same thing applies to a country as to stock. If you want to settle it up and have a thriving community you import good men and their families, but here if you are figuring up to settle up the community and open up the country the Japanese are no good. Henry Croft, engaged in mining near Victoria, where from 30 to 35 Japanese are employed in selecting ore, says : — Q. Do you think there are a sufficient number of Japanese here now to meet the demand ? — A. I think so. I think there are enough of the Chinese and Japanese here at the present time. I do not think the Japanese will become permanent residents. AVhite labour will not come in 'while the Chinese and Japanese are occupying the place in cheap labour that they are doing at present. That with restriction on immigration, white labour will gradually come in here, and the Japanese will leave the country. I favour restriction - to a certain extent. We do not require any more Chinese or Japanese here at present. I favour a restriction, and that might be relaxed to a certain extent, as they are required from time to time. Edward Musgrave, of Cowichan, retired farmer, says : I do not see any necessity for restriction as far as it has gone, and I look upon the state of afi'airs as temporary, and if there was any great volume of these people coming into the country I would be in favour of pressing the home government to do something, with a view to limiting the number of Chinese and Japanese to a certain number in the twelve months or something of the kind. , . , . Edwari Berkley, retired captain in the Royal Navy, who is now ranching near Victoria, is postmaster, magistrate, &c., says : The Chinese are good men but the Japanese is rather better on the ranch. I would have cheap labour regardless of colour. Michael Finerty, farmer, Victoria, says : I never had any Japanese working tor me As far as I can see about them they are quick and active, but still I want white people to come into the country and make homes for themselves, people of our own race who would make good citizens, or people of any white race who would make good Christians and good citizens. We ought to have good citizens and good protection for the country in the immigrants that are allowed to come m. ^ , ,, • , James Wilson, sanitary inspector for the City of Victoria says .1 do not thmk there is much difference between Chinese and -Japanese. I thmk the Japanese do a great deal more harm than the Chinese. They will work cheaper than the Chinese and 378 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 they get. into the white man's ways quicker. I consider them a greater menace to the interests of labour than the Chinese. I favour their exclusion. John Legg, journeyman tailor, Victoria, says : Most of the objectionable features mentioned in connection with the Chinese apply to the Japanese. I favour their exclusion. A. M. Sandell, cutter for Lenz & Leizer, manufacturing tailors, Victoria, says : I think the Japanese are a preferable race to the Chinese. They are not as desirable as Europeans in this country. I do not think the Japanese will assimilate with our people ; it would not be desirable if they were inclined to. George A. Shade, shoemaker, Victoria, says : The Japanese will come among us and learn our language. He will work for very little when he comes here in order to get an opportunity of learning our language, our habits and customs. He is more dangerous in competition than the Chinese. I do not think they are better men than the Chinese. They are an oriental race and their habits are about the same. I do not think the Japanese will make a better British subject than the Chinese. Even if they became naturalized citizens of this country I do not think they would be likely to take a stand in opposition to Japan. I do not approve of the Natal Act. There will have to be some other protection. Some of the Japanese learn to read, write and speak English before they come here. The law would have to be prohibitory to keep those people out. William Smj^the, shoe dealer, Victoria, says ; I do not think the Japanese are good citizens of this country. I think they would be more dangerous competitors if they remained in the country. Andrew Strachan, market gardener, Victoria, says : I do not think there is much difference between the Chinese and Japanese. I think they both retard the progress of agriculture in the counti-y, for the simple reason that they are in the way with their cheap labour, or so-called cheap labour, and have driven but of the country white men who would have become actual settlers and developed the country. I think the Japa- nese are more inclined to adopt European methods tlian the Chinese. I think the Japanese are more liable to assimilitate to our manners and customs. Whether that would continue for long I do not know. The Japanese here only adopt our dress ; that is all. Robert H. Johnson, seedsman and nurseryman, Victoria, says : I would say the Japanese are a greater menace to the country than the Chinese. They will not only compete with the labourer, but they will soon compete with the proprietor in my opinion. I do not think the Japanese will assimilate with us. Frederick S. Hussev, superintendent of provincial police, Victoria, says : I think the Japanese will be more injurious to the interests of white labour than the Chinese. They engage in many more pursuits. They are ambitious, and get into more avenues of labour in this country. I think it would be better if their immigration were restricted, if they come in as they have been coming for the last two years. They keep to them- selves. They wear our clothes, but they do not do anything to help us, and they do not assimilate with our people. The Japanese are more vicious than the Chinese, I should say inclined to fight and use weapons. The Chinese do not do that. 1 think it would be better for white people if we had no Japanese at all here. William M. Wilson, printer, Victoria, says : I would favour restriction of the immi- gration of Japanese. I would favour the strict appli 'ation of the Natal Act. I believe the Japanese will be more likely to assimilate with us, to live like our own people, adopt our habits and mode of living, and live with us like other people. J. W. Balmain, civil engineer and architect, Victoria, says : What I have said in regard to the Chinese refers in a great measure to the Japanese. {St-e evidence of this witness, Chap. XXII, Part I.) This witness stated that it was not desirable that these people should assimilate with ours. He favoured restriction of their immigration. Alexander Pv. Milne, C.B., collector of customs for Victoria, says : — The Japanese are more dangerous competitors than the Chinese, because they labour for lower wages. I think a restriction on immigration would only excite the Japanese, because they are very sensitive as to their status as a people and a nation. I think the Japanese nation ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 379 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 has reached the stage in which they want the same privileges and amenities as are given to a first-class power. A. S. Emory, carpenter and joiner, Victoria, says : I think the Chinese and Japanese are equally detrimental. Of course there is a difierence between the two races ; one has the advantage of the other in some respects, but I consider that they are both equally detrimental to the interests and the development of our province. I think some measure should be adopted to prevent them coming into the country. The educational test, as under the Natal Act, would, I think, be a great force if it was sufficiently stringent. I do not think any Imperial interests would be in the slightest degree in danger by dealing directly with the Japanese government in arranging for a mutual re- striction. Let the Japanese government restrict the immigration of white labour, unskilled white labour, into their country, and let the same rule apply as against Japanese labour here. William George Cameron, retail clothier, Victoria, says : I think the Japanese are a better class of people than the Chinese. As far as labour is concerned I think them as dangerous as the Chinese. Samuel L. Reid, retail clothier, Victoria, says ; The Japanese are not a desirable class of citizens. I do not think it would be desirable for them to intermarry with our people. I think it would be disastrous if they were permitted to come in in great num- bers. The feeling does not seem to be as strong against the Japanese because they seem to be more inclined to adopt European customs and seem more inclined to make them- selves at home. I am in favour of prohibiting any fjjrthei' immigration of the Asiatic races. John Piercy, wholesale dry goods merchant, Victoria, says : I maintain that with the present number of Japanese in the country there is quite enough to supply all demands. I think there should be restriction on them. If there were no restriction I think they would be in a short time worse than the Chinese, flooding the country on the same principle as the Chinese do. I do not know whether we are affected by any treaty with Britain or not. International law is something I do not know anything about. That would have to be discussed in Ottawa. They will have to discover some means there, either by treaty or otherwise, of restricting the Japanese. George Gawley, fish and poultry dealer, &c., Victoria, says : The Japanese are an injury to the white and Indian fishermen. I do not think they are the right class of people for this country. Alexander Gilmour McCandless, retail clothier, Victoria, says : I favour exclusion of the Chinese and Japanese. There may be difficulties in the way as to the Japanese, but I favour the exclusion of both. I consider the Japanese superior to the Chinese. I consider there are enough Japanese here now to do all the work required for years to come, for those people who want cheap labour. Joseph Shaw, market gardener, Victoria, says : I think the Japanese are worse than the Chinese. The\' work for much lower wages ; when they first come they go out and work at farming for .|-5 or •'^T a month, and when they get used to the work they get up to about $10. Robert Erskine, retail grocer, Victoria, says : The Japanese are a race that do to a certain extent ape the white race. They fall more in line with the methods of white people. Those in the province for a number of years are better than the Chmese. They compete as keenly as Chinese. , . , , t Arthur L. Belyea, barrister-at-law, Victoria, says: I do not thmk the Japanese are more desirable than the Chinese. I qualify that only by saying that the Japanese catch on to our manners and customs faster than the Chinese. They nmtate as tar as they possibly can European civilization, but when it comes to be a question whether they will be' European or Japanese, they are Japanese all the time. ' Q Would you say our race would receive benefit by asBimilation with the Japanese?— A. I would not say. I do not like to express an opinion on that, but i would rather see no such thing as assimilation. , ., • , . 1 j Hugh Gilmour, M.L.A. for Vancouver, says : The country and its interests would be better developed by white men. The country is a good place to live m. I think the 380 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 country is good enough for anybody to live in if we only had the Chinese and Japanese out. Charles F. Dupont, capitalist, Victoria, says : I think the Chinese are better in their habits than the Japanese. The Japanese conform more to the manners and cus- toms of the European nations. I think the danger of the Japanese assimilating is greater, but we do not wish them to assimilate. I am opposed to anything like assimila- tion between any of these races. Dr. O. M. Jones, Victoria, says ; As to cleanliness the Chinese and Japanese are about the same. I think they are both objectionable. I would prefer the Chinese to the Japanese if I had any preference. I think the Japanese coolie immigration ought certainly to be restricted. Q. Would you take the chances of prejudicing the Japanese Government? — A. They look upon themselves as a great power. That is a diplomatic question ; but I cer- tainly think the Japanese coolie is not desirable as a part of our population any more than the Chinese. Rev. Leslie Clay, Presbyterian minister, Victoria, says : The current idea is simply this, that the Japanese with the Chinese will not and cannot assimilate with us. I do not think the Japanese will ever assimilate with us. I do not think the Japanese will ever assinjiilate and become an integral part of our race. Joseph Hunter, Superintendent of E. i N. Railway, Victoria, says : — I prefer the Chinese to the Japanese as far as ability is concerned for workmen. I think the immi- gration of Japanese ought to be restricted. If you restrict the Chinese I do not think you should allow the Japanese tjj come in As far as my knowledge goes I do not think there is a great deal of difference between the Chinese and Japanese. David Spenrei', merchant, Victoria, says : Further immigration into the country of this class of people (Chinese and Japanese) will be very detrimental. I think the Japanese \\ould assimilate with Europeans. They would bring their families here and get homes here more readily. Robert F. Green, M.L.A. for Slocan, says ; The Japanese will never become an integral part of the race that will develop Canada. As long as the Japanese are here we will be unable to induce the better class of immigrants to come into our province. Re\ . Canon Beanlands, Victoria, says : I think there is a greater danger from the Japanese than the Chinese, and 1 believe there should be some restriction. I think the morality of the Japanese is much lower than that of the English labourer. I think you are certainly running a risk of danger in introducing the Japanese ideas of the race relations and of the marital relations in British Columbia. I think the Chinese are preferable to the Japanese because they are non-assunilating. If there were many Japanese coming into this country it would be desirable to restrict the immigration. I think they are a more dangerous element in the country than the Chinese. William McAllan, coal miner, Nanaimo, says : I am opposed to any further im- migration of Japanese. William Woodman, locomotive engineer, Nanaimo, says : I cannot detect any superiority at all between the Chinese and Japanese. I would pass legislation in the direction of fixing a minimum wage, and I am certain that would have the effect of putting both classes out. John Knowles Hickman, locomotive engineer, Xanaimo, says : I would say pro- hibit both the Chinese and Japanese. If the Chinese and Japanese were excluded we would have plenty of white labour, and it would not be compulsory on our young boys to walk about the streets without employment. I do not think the Japanese will ever assimilate with us. John C. McGregor, secretary of Trades and Labour Council, Xanaimo, says : The Japanese cojne here, do not bring their families, purchase land, or anything of the kind. They live in Uttle old shacks and they compete with white people and work for much lower wages. In case of trouble I should think they would be more dangerous than the Chinese. They work for lower wages than the Chinese. James Cartwright, coal miner, Nanaimo, says : I think the Japanese compete worse than the Chinese, by working for less wages. All my objections to the Chinese apply to the Japanese. OiV CHINESE A ND J A PANE8E IMMIORA TION 381 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Andrew Haslam, mill owner Nanaimo .says : I think the Japanese will finally be a keener competitor with the white man than the Chinaman. I do not know of anv thing objectionable about the Japanese. I do not think anyone will deny that the Japanese are a progressive people, and have advanced more rapidly of late than anv other nation, but on tne other hand their wants are so few and their habits so simple they can live well for a very small sum of money, for a such sum that a white person could not possibly live on ; and to bring an unlimited number of these people here to enter into competition with our own white people I do not think is in the interests of the country by any means. I do not think it would be wise to persist in any regulation that would tend to irritate the Japanese people. I think the people in this province should b3 prepared to sacrifice something for the sake of Imperial interests. Marshall .Bray, Government agent, Nanaimo says : I am in favour of the total exclusion of the Japanese. Samuel M. Robins, superintendent of the New Vancouver Coal Company, Nanaimo says : I never employed but one Japanese either for the company or for myself since I have been in the province. Dr. W. W. Walkeiu, Nanaimo says : The Japanese are a better class of people I think than the Chinese. They may after a long time become settlers, but at the present time and under the present circumstances they are not desirable as settlers. Great Britain is well able to take care of herself. I do not thinlr that any legislation in regard to tlie Japanese will hurt the friendly feeling between Japan and Britain a bit. A power like the Japanese would not like to see a class of citizens come here to represent their power who from their social conditions were not desirable, and who would come into competition with the working classes here, and that therefore the government here would be called upon to legislate against them. No doubt the Japanese g( )vernment would assent to that if proper representations were made to it. Andrew Brydon, manager of the Extension Colliery, near, Nanaimo says : If the Japanese were permitted to come in here and the Chinese were prohibited, they would be just as great a menace to the various trades and callings in this country and to the country at large as the Chinese. I do not see any difierence. Chavles Edward Stevenson, presdent of the Board of Trade of Nanaimo says : I have the pleasure to present to the Commissioners a petition from the Board of Trade of Nanaimo. It is against any further immigration of either Chinese or Japanese. It is in favour of the prohibition of further Chinese immigration and of the restriction of the Japanese by the application of the Natal Act. The Japanese are as undesirable as the Chinese, and I think something should be done in the waj' of coming to an understand- ing with the government of Japan, if it could not bs done in any other way. Edward Quenell, butcher, Naniamo, saysj We can get along very well without Japanese. I lived here when there were none of the Chinese or Japanese at all and we got along all right. Francis Deans Little, general manager of the Wellington colliery company union, says : The Chinese and Japanese are pretty much alike. I think the Chinese are stronger workers. James Abrams, stipendiary magistrate for Comox district, says : I think the Japan- ese should be placed in the same position as the Chinese in the matter of further immi- gration. John Murray, government timber inspector, Vancouver, says : I think there are . enough Japanese here now. We do not want any more. The Japanese is a keener competitor in labour with the white man. Robert J. Skinner, provincial timber inspector, Vancouver, says : I favour the total prohibition of both Chinese and Japanese. Robert Marrion, health inspector for the city of Vancouver, says : I feel that the Japanese immigration is a greater menace to the country than the Chinese. The Jap- anese as he improves by the contact with civilization in this country becomes a very dangerous competitor. Joseph Wright, assistant health inspector, Vancouver, says : I favour the exclusion of the Japanese from this country. I look upon them as great a menace to labour as j.i,„ ni-; 382 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Robert T. Burtwell, I )ominion fishery guardian, Vancouver, says : I think it T.\'ould be better for the country if there were fewer Chinese and Japanese here. Albert E. Beck, district registrar of the Supreme court, Vancouver, says : I think it is a serious thing in many ways introducing a class (Chinese and Japanese coolie labour) of the kind into the country. It affects everj'one. I think it a proper exercise of our authority to exclude from our shores people who will not inter-marry. The Jap- anese are a M(jngolian race who will not assimilate with our people like the Swedes and Norwegians. If the British nation was subjected to the same conditions we are sub- jected to on our coast I do not think they would stand it for a moment. It is a most serious question, this naturalization of Japanese. I do not know of any law more free and easy than the Canadian Naturalization Act. The Japanese should be restricted. Richard H. Alexander, manager of the Hastings saw-mill, Vancouver, says . Q. Di I you favour any further restriction on Japanese 1 — A. Well, gentlemen, if you will allow me to demur from answering such a question as that, I would like to confine mvself to its effect on the lumber trade. The Japanese supplies the want of the propor- tion of cheap labour that is necessary to compete in the markets of the world. I submit that there is great necessity that they should be here to supply that proportion of cheap labour in order that we may employ a larger number of whites. The point is this : AVe have always had a certain proportion of cheap labour, and in order to operate success- fully we must have it yet, and having that cheap labour we are enabled to employ white men in the higher branches of industry. Robert C. Ferguson, manager of the Royal city mills, Vancouver, says : I do not find Chinese or Japanese assimilate with our people at all. The only difference I see is that the Japanese are always trying to pick up English. I do not know whether I would be in favour of the restriction of those people coming in or not. It may be well to restrict for a time, but a man has to be governed bj^ the wants of his business. John Valentine Cook, tallyman and lumber rater, Vancouver, says : I favour restriction of both Chinese and Japanese. My idea is that the Japanese are more dangerous than the Chinese. I would exclude any more coming in of the working class. Stephen Ramage, saw-filer, Vancouver, says : The Japanese are fast becoming to be a greater menace to the white population than the Chinese will ever get to be. They are more able-bodied and they are quicker to adapt themselves to their surroundings. Very few of them have families here. My principal objection to them is that they do not assimilate, cannot assimilate, with our race, and that our country should be for men of our own race, instead of being overrun by an alien race. Arthur C. Gordon, shingle manufacturer, Vancouver, says : I favour the restriction of Chinese and Japanese immigration. That applies more to the Japanese than to the Chinese. William C. Dickson, bookkeeper and mill yard foreman, Vancouver, says : I favour restriction being put on Japanese immigration to the extent to keep them out entirely. I think the presence of the Japanese here injures the labouring man fully as bad, if not worse, than the Chinese. John L. Anderson, fisherman, Vancouver, says : The Japanese show no indications of becoming citizens except in an illegal way. There are a large number of Japanese who ha-\-e naturalization certificates who ought not to have them if that subject were gone into. The Japanese are certainly a greater menace than the Chinese. If there cannot be an exclusion law my idea would be to try and get by some diplomacy the Japanese Government to agree to limit the emigration from Japan to a certain number each year, and that number should not be increased under any circumstances. Peter Smith, fisherman, Vancouver, says : My complaint is that the Japanese have more rights in this province than the whites and Indians as far as I can see. I com- plain that people who are born in this country are being driven out of it by the Chinese and Japanese. As far as I can see there is no use or benefit to the country in allowing Japanese immigration into this country. We do not want to see any more of them hei'e. I think if there are any more Japanese allowed to come to this countiy that there will be bloodshed. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRA TIOiV 383 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 amont^tt^W.o ^^.Tt""'''''' ^^"1"""' '''^'' ' ''^ "^^^ ^^ ^hat the svste.n of living among the Chinese and Japanese does harm to white men. I would say have exclusion I do not see that there is any difference between the Chinese and .Japanese Francis Wilhams, journeyman tailor, Vancouver, says : The Japanese are a verv objectionable class of people to come into our countiy Japanese aie a veiy Angus M. Stewart, clothing manufacturer, Vancouver, says : I would be in favour of keeping the Japanese out just the same as I am in favou; of keeping out the Ch nTe because if they are not restricted they will very soon become as great an evil as tS Chinese, as far as I can make out. William Lawrence Pagan, provincial assessor and collector for the c.junty of Van- couver, says: The Japanese do not seem to care about making homes here. " They do not take up land They do not seem to care about settling here. Thev come here and make a few; hundred dollars and then go back to Japan if they can grt away. If you •had something to put in their places I would restrict more of them comino- here John M. Bowell, collector of customs, Vancouver, says : I am in favour of the i.N flt/cll .A_ctj. Benjamin F. Rogers, manager of the sugar refinery, Vancouver, says : It would be impossible to exclude the Japanese. The Imperial Government would never agree to that. " Truman S. Baxter, law student, Vancouver, says : I am in favour of prohibition of further immigration of Chinese and Japanese. I think that either by enactment or by treaty With the Japanese Government they can arrange to either restrict immigration or prohibit immigration altogether from Japan. There would be no objection whatever m passing an Act similar to the Natal Act. Mr. Joseph Chamberlain has said so much. Andrew Linton, boat builder, Vancouver, says : I put the Japanese on the same basis as the Chinese, if not worse. I think they are more dangerous to the country than the Chinese. Henry Mundon, boat builder, Vancouver, says : I would favour the exclusion of Japanese from this country. Alfred Wallace, boat builder, Vancouver, says : I think we have enough here at the present time of the Japanese. I would be opposed to further immigration of either Chinese or Japanese. Richard Marpole, superintendent of the Pacific Division Canadian Pacific Railway, Vancouver, says : Japanese labour in my opinion is fully equal to Italian labour. Alfred Raper, miner, Texada Island, says : I think it would be much better for the island and much better for the province at large if we had fewer Chinese and Jap- anese here. I favour the exclusion of these people from the country. Rev. Edmund E. Scott, Methodist minister, Vancouver, says : They are awaken- ing to the fact in Japan now that too many of their people have emigrated here, and I have no doubt there will be little difliculty in arranging the whole matter with the Jap- anese government. I think .Japanese immigration is not desirable. Rev. R. G. McBeth, Presbyterian minister, Vancouver, says : I have formed a more favourable opinion of the Japanese as a class. I am satisfied the Japanese I have come in contact with are brighter and more liable to assimilate with the Anglo-Sax Qn -race than the Chinese. They take more kindly to our institutions and customs because they are not under the same superstition as the Chinese from a religious standpoint. John Morton, secretary of the parliamentary committee of the trades and Labour Council, Vancouver, says : The skilled trades claim that the Japanese are worse than the Chinese because they are a class of people more likely to enter the skilled trades than the Chinese. I do not want them on any consideration at all. If the Japanese will associate with me and live in the same way as I do I would not object to him, but he wont do it ; he simply refuses to do it. Walter Taylor, fruit canner, Vancouver, says ; I think we have got too many Japanese here now. I think in a great many cases if the Japanese were not here white labour would take their places. Sufficient white labour could be found to take their places. 384 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Frank Burnett, canner, Vancouver, says : I think there are enough Japanese here now. As far as the Japanese are concerned I think the Japanese are no more objection- able immigrants than the slavs from Europe. I think the desired further restriction of Japanese could be obtained by negotiations. Henry O. Bell-Irving, canner, Vancouver, says : I am rather in for free trade in labour for some time to come. I believe it will be the best policy. I consider that the restriction of labour will act very detrimentally to the prosperity of the country. For the development of this country we must have cheaper labour than we have now ; otherwise development will be retarded and the population will increase very slowly. Take the mines for instance ; only mines that are exceedingly rich can be worked under present conditions, whereas with cheaper labour the miners will be steadily employed, the miners would work systematically, they would have steady work right through, but as at present the cost of working the mines being very high, and in consequence a large number of mines have had to close down. Samuel McPherson, merchant tailor, Vancouver, says : As far as this province is concerned I think it would be a good thing if they (Japanese) were I'estricted, because they work so cheap ; they work cheaper than a white man possibly can. Alexander McCallum, merchant tailor, of Vancouver, says : The Merchant Tailors' Association of Vancouver are opposed to furtlier immigration of the Japanese. Gordon W. Thomas, farmer, Vancouver, says : I think something should be done at once to stop the further flow of Chinese and Japanese into this country. The one is just as injurious to the settlement of the country as the other. The Emperor of Japan I belie\'e has expressed himself in favour of restriction. It would be impossible for a white man to maintain his family and to educate his children on .$15 a month, and that will soon be the A\age if these people are allowed to come in. N. C. Show, journalist, reeve of Burnaby, says : We are strongly in favour of res- triction of Japanese immigration by some kind of convention with Japan. It seems to me that this can be arranged on a fail' and equitable basis by arranging with the Japanese government that they uill not allow more than a small percentage of labour emigrants to come to Canada in proportion to our working population, the Japanese stipulating in return for the same restriction on Canadian labour immigration. Japan would thus assert her position as an equal sovereign power with Great Britain, by the restriction of Canadian immigration to Japan. Honourable James Reid, senator for Cariboo, says : I think as far as labour is concerned they (Japanese) are a greater danger than the Chinese. I think if restriction is applied to the Chinese it should be applied to the Japanese as well. If they are a detriment to the country, the restriction should be applied to them as well as to any others. I think that could be done through the Imperial Government. I think the Ja,panese immigration to this country could be arranged between Japan and the Imperial Government, and so many allowed to come in each year without there being any friction at all. John M. Duval, wood-turner, Vancouver, says : Japanese labour is more dangerous than the Chinese, and my objections to the Chinese apply equally to the Japanese with more so. James G. Scott, mayor of New Westminster, says: My objection to the Japanese is that they may invade other industries in the country and come into competition with our own people more keenly than the Chinese. James Anderson, canner. New Westminster, says : My opinion is to get rid of both the Chinese and Japanese, if the conditions will allow it. I think you can do better without the Japanese than you can without the Chinese. Henry T. Thrift, farmer, secretary of the Settlers' Association of British Columbia, New Westminster, says : Any distinction as far as I have been able to decide is that the Japanese are more dangerous than the Chinese, on account of their superior intelli- gence. The presence of the Chinese and Japanese here hinders the better class of people coming in here and settling up the vacant lands of the province. " William J. Brandrith, secretary of the British Columbia Fruit Growers' Association, New Westminster, says : I believe they (the association) are all in favour of total pro- . ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 385 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 hibition of any further immigration of that class here. It applies equally to the Chinese and Japanese. John Armstrong, farmer, reeve of Surrey, says : Farmers in my neighbourhood are in favour of prohibiting further immigration. They are distinctly against any more coming in. That applies fully as much to Japanese as to Chinese. Henry Haggaman, expressman, New Westminster, says : I am opposed to further immigration of the Japanese. George H. West, fisherman. New Westminster, says : I think the further restriction of Japanese immigiation is absolutely necessary. Hezekiah Stead, fisherman. New Westminster, says : I have nothing good to say about the Japanese. They are detrimental to our interests and to the interests of the country altogether. They are detrimental to the working man in every way. They work so low and they can live on so very little, that it is impossible for white labourers to live in the cities and pay taxes and pay rents for houses. I know that some of us have tried it and have failed. George Mackie, fisherman. New Westminster, says : If they (Chinese and .Japanese) continue to come m here I will either have to leave or to starve. Circumstances cannot better with these people here. The Mongolians have cut me out of everything as well as they have done in the fishing. I have applied at various places, at sawmills and factories, for employment, and cannot get it. During the three years I have been here I have only been able to secure work for four months outside of the fisheries. John Perry Bowell, Methodist minister. New Westminster, says : I consider the immigration of Chinese and Japanese to be detrimental to the labour interests of the country, mainly because a great many avenues of industry where white people used to be largely employed are now being monopolized by the Chinese and Japanese. I think the fact that the Japanese is better qualified to adapt himself to the conditions pre- vailing here makes him a greater menace than the Chinaman to our own labour people. N. J. Coulter, vice-president of the Grand Lodge of the Fishermen's Union of B.C., New" Westminster, says : I am opposed to further immigration of the Japanese ; firstly, because they cannot and never will assimilate and become amalgamated with the white citizens of this country ; secondly, because they labour cheaper than a white man can afford to work and live ; and thirdly, in the fishing industry they are not individual but contract labour, which in my opinion is not the standard of British Columbia or of the British Empire, and is contrary to all the traditions of British subjects. George Hargreaves, painter. New Westminster, says : I am strongly opposed to further immigration of Japanese. E. Goulet, Canadian Pacific Railway agent, Kamloops, says : I do not think the Japanese will ever assimilate with our people, and it would not be a good thing if they did. . , , , ^ M. P. Gordon, mayor of Kamloops, says : I think it would be beneficial to the country to restrict the Japanese coming in, to the same extent as the Chinese. I think the reason for excluding the Chinese would be greater than for excluding the Japanese. Albert Riordan, miner, Kamloops, says : Out here at the Glen Mine the foreman wanted me to work with the Japanese and I quit. I would not work with the Japanese. I favour absolute exclusion of both the Chinese and Japanese. Joseph McGee, secretary of the Labourers' union, Kamloops, says ; I represent the Labourers' Union of this town. They consider that the Chinese and Japanese are a detriment to white labour, and though the union are aware that the Chinese and Japanese are not as plentiful as at the coast cities, yet they feel that the effect of the invasion of the Chinese and Japanese has had on the coast is the same as it is here, and they express themselves that the union is decidedly in favour of the total exclusion of Chinese and Japanese from the Province of British Columbia Dr James W: Cross, health officer, Bevelstoke, says : We have no Japanese m this town except in railway work, but I would prefer to see prohibition of both Chinese and '^''''Tobert B. Far well, machinist, Revelstoke,-says : They are in every sense a most undesirable class of immigrants. They retard the progress of the country and keep good 54—25 386 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 immigrants from coming in here. If tliey were not here white men would take their places. I would favour preventing the Japanese coming into this country. James C. Tunstall, mining recorder, Vernon, says : The Japanese are just as bad as the Chinese. There is just as much opposition to the Japanese as to the Chinese, as far as the labour question is concerned. Joseph Harwood, expressman, Vernon, says : I favour total exclusion of Chinese and Japanese from the country. The Japanese are just as objectionable as the Chinese. J. B. McArthur, mine operator, Rossland, says : I do not think legislation for or against the Chinese or Japanese would interfere with the investment of capital in this section. Of course, there may be Imperial and State reasons for dealing with Japanese differently from the way in which you would deal with the Chinese. That is something I cannot say anything about, but I will say this, — we can help to solve the question by representing to the Imperial Government that these people are an injury to our own people. Honourable >?mith Curtis, M. L. A. for Rossland, says : I am strongly in favour not only of restriction, but of exclusion of all oriental races. The opinion throughout the country I believe is practicallj' unanimous. It is almost a unanimous opinion of all classes that there should be no immigration of this class of labour into British Columbia. If there are any reasons why it is inexpedient to adopt this course ($500 poll tax) against the Japanese for Imperial reasons, we ought to have restriction on the lines of what is known as the Natal Act, providing an educational test on emigrants, and that should be brought into force without delay. That is a method that has been suggested by the Colonial Secretary, the Bight Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, and can hardly be objected to by the Imperial authorities. John C. Egan, journalist, Rossland, says : What little I have seen of them (Japanese) I think they are as undesirable a class of citizens as the Chinese are in this country. Frank E. AVoodside, secretary of miners' union, Rossland, says : I think that the immigration of Japanese should be prevented entirely. Edmund B. Kerby, manager of the War Eagle and Centre Star, Rossland, says : I do not think that it is for the best interests of the community to have an unlimited supply of Chinese and Japanese labour coming into the country. Bernard Macdonald, manager of the British American Corporation, Rossland, says ; ]My knowledge of the Japanese is not extensive, but I think they are preferable to the ■Chinese because they are more progressive, and therefore more profitable. Thomas H. Long, sanitary inspector, Rossland, says : I think the Japanese should ibe excluded from the country. James Devine, miner, Rossland, says : I am in favour of exclusion of both Chinese and Japanese. Bullock Webster, provincial chief constable for West Kootenay, says : I find that the Japanese are honest, are better men than the Chinese, and their manner of living is more similar to that of white men.- I think that the restriction of Japanese immigra- tion is desirable. Charles Hillyer, sawmill proprietor, Nelson, says : I consider that if the Chinese and Japanese are allowed to come in freely, in 25 years the white man will be the slave and the Chinese or Japanese the boss. John Houston, M. L. A. for Nelson, says : They do not assimilate with English speaking people, and from my standpoint no race of people that cannot assimilate with ours is desirable, whether they be Chinese, Japanese or Europeans. I certainly would take the risk, if risk there is, of offending the Japanese nation. I do not know any good reason why our people should be degraded, and I do not see any reason why we should not be on good terms with the Japanese government, even if we did exclude the Japanese from the country. Self-preservation is the first law of nature and we cannot get over it. Gusta^e A. Carlson, mayor of Kaslo, says : Personally I don't think we should have any more here than we have. OxV CHINESE AND JAPANESE lilMIGEATlON 387 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 AMERICAN^ OPINIOX. W. H Perry, assistant general manager of Moran Ewthers, Seattle, says ; We have never employed Japanese If I had to choose between an immigration of the one or the other I would prefer the Chinese. J. W. Clise, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Seattle, says : There is no disposition at present to exclude the Japanese, but the people do not feel any more kindly inclined to the Japanese than to the Chinese. f^'- ^' ^''°?*' labour commissioner, Seattle, says : There is a distinction between the Chinese and Japanese. The average Japanese is more intelligent, adapts himself more readily to our ways, and to that extent is looked upon with more favour. There has been quite a little agitation against them in the last few years. Theodore Ludgate, mill owner, Seattle, formerly of Peterborough, says : If the Japanese come here in large numbers and conflict with white labour, the agitation would soon be acute, and the government would find some way of excluding them the same as the Chinese. W. H. Middleton, secretary of the Western Central Labour Bureau, Seattle, says : The Japanese are looked upon as a more serious danger to white labour than the Chinese. The people generally are in favour of the same exclusion being applied to the Japanese as has been applied to the Chinese. A strong effort will be made to make the laws the same with regard to the Japanese as it is now in regard to the Chinese. The Japanese are looked upon as a greater menace than the Chinese at the present time. A. S. Martin, secretary Puget Souud sawmill and shingle company, Pairhaven, Washington, says : The sentiment here is opposed to both Chinese and Japanese. If the matter were put to the popular vote not one would be allowed in town. E. B. Deming, manager Pacific American Fishing Company, Fairhaven, Wash., says ; Japanese are unsatisfactory. We would not think of employing them as Chinese are. I prefer white labour at higher wages to Japanese. S. E. Hasten, secretary of the Board of Trade, Portland, Oregon, says : We would rather not have the coolie class here. We would rather not have Japanese labour coming in here at all. H. S. Rowe, majror of Portland, Oregon, says : Very few of our people favour either the Chinese or the Japanese. The Japanese are getting more and more into domestic service here. They seem to take more to our ways and to be more inclined to settle here. I would aot like to see this class of people filling up the State of Oregon. W. J. Honeyman, merchant, Portland, Oregon, says : The Japanese do not appear to be satisfactoiy as servants, and they are not considered as good on railroad work. They are not as reliable in my experience. A. A. Bailey, secretary of the federated trades, Portland, Oregon, says : The objec- tion now is as great to the Japanese as it has ever been to the Chinese. J. M. Lawrence, city editor Oregonian, Portland, says : I do not think the Japa- nese are any better than the Chinese. There would be irritation here if large numbers of Japanese were coming in, but I do not anticipate any danger from that question now. I think we have sufficient numbers of Japanese here now. We do not require any more of them, and if it can be arranged by diplomatic means that there will be an exclusion of the Japanese as there is an exclusion of the Chinese, the country will be benefitted. T. M. Crawford, labour agent, Portland, says : The Chinese will not work for as low wages as the Japanese will. Here we get the worst class of the Japanese. It may be called the coolie class. They are a low type and an ignorant class. They answer all questions very nearly verbatim. They have been trained by the contractors who go to Japan. R. Ecclestone, immigration officer, San Francisco, says : The Japanese coming in here are of the very lowest class. They work cheaper than the Chinese. Very few families come in. If they come here in large numbers there will be a similar agitation to that against the Chinese twenty years ago. J. H. Barbour, immigration officer, San Francisco, says : People prefer the Chinese to the Japanese when they can get them. They are more reliable than the Japanese. The sentiment amongst the labour unions is that the Japanese is a stronger competitor. 54— 25i 388 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1932 H. F. Fortman, president of the Alaska Packers' Association, San Francisco, saj'S : I would apply the same restriction to the Japanese as to the Chinese ; in fact if I could I would double the tax on the Japanese, simply because they are not to be preferred to the Chinese. The Chinese are more reliable and law-abiding ; even the Japanese con- sider the Chinese more reliable and more honest in their acts. In every Japanese bank and in every large Japanese institution you will find a Chinese compadore as cashier or manager. I think the trade with China is increasing more rapidly than our trade with Japan. F. V. Meyers, commissioner of the bureau of labour statistics, San Francisco, says : The general feeling in the community is in favour of the continuance of the Exclusion Act in regard to the Chinese and to have the same measure of exclusion extended to the Japanese as well. The question of Japanese immigration is becoming acute. "When the agitation for the Exclusion Act is brought up again, there will be a very pronounced agitation to have the Exclusion Act extended to prevent the Japanese coming in. James D. Phelan, mayor of San Francisco, says : There is no preference here for the Japanese. They have the reputation of being less reliable. From our experience the Chinese observe the obligations of business more carefully, but the Japanese seem tii be more ambitious to advance themselves along the line of western civilization, but tliev do not assimilate. They keep themselves a good deal by themselves. TRADE ^vr^H japan. The following figures show that Canada's trade with Japan is very small. In 1900 the imports were valued at •$1,762, .534, of which §1,. 301, 215 were free, and !j461,319 dutiable. Of the goods admitted free of duty, tea amounted to §1,276,736. It may be noticed that settlers' effects amounted to $952, and for the previous year $97. The exports for 1900 were valued at $112,308, of which .$47,773 was fish and fish products, and $21,946 lumber and wood manufactures, breadstuffs $6,471, provisions, butter, cheese, ic, $3,049. The following table shows the imports and exports since 1S96 inclusive : — Imports Exports 1896. 1,648,232 8,253 1897. 1,329,980 141,946 1898. 1,458,233 148,728 1899. 2,009,747 135,265 1900. I,762,a34 112,:XIS The increase of American trade with Japan is largely made up of two items cotton and flour. Its development is indicated by the following table : — COTTON EXPORTS TO JAPAN FROM UNITED STATES. 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. Wheat Flour S 1,481,056 286,111 2,345,016 819,620 7,428,226 614,039 ■S 5,775,784 722,710 12,712,619 1,554,739 ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE lilMIOEA TION 389 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 CHAPTER VI.— PART I.— RESUME. CHAP. I. — JAPANESE IMMIGRATION. From fourteen to fifteen thousand Japanese have arii\'e(l in British Columbia withm the last five years. Of these over ten thousand arrived in one year, namely between July 1, 1899, and July 1, 1900. No record is kept of the number that have returned to Japan, Many have gone to the United States, leaving only 4,759 Japanese in Canada,— according to the last census,^of whom 4,.578 are in British Columbia, nearly all of whom are adult males of the labouring class. The total number of Japanese admitted through the ports of Washington State from July 1, 1898, to November 13, 1900, was 13,401, of whom 266 were rejected. 2,500 Japanese entered the States of Washington and California from Canada by card. Washington State has 4,532 Japanese males and 185 Japanese females; Oregon State, 2,405 males and 96 females. The number of JapaneSfevin the United States, as given by the last census, is 86,000, of whom 61,111 are in Hawaii, and 24,326 in the United States proper, of which number 23,376 are in the Western States. CAUSE OF THIS LARGE INFLUX. The most probable cause assigned for this large immigration of Japanese seems to be that the emigration agencies in Japan had booked a large number of emigrants for Honolulu, that about the time they were aboard ship the bubonic plague with its result- ing quarantine appeared at Honolulu, and prevented the emgrants being sent there. The aoencies rather than surrender their commissions induced the emigrants to go to the United States and Canada instead ; and that, owing to the American Alien Act, many came to British Columbia that were really destined for the United States. .In this connection it may also be mentioned, that six out of the twelve companies in Japan organized to promote emigration have agents in the United States and Canada, and, taking advantage of favourable conditions, fostered the emigration of Japanese to the United States and Canada as a matter of business for the sake of'the accruing commissions. Wages are very low in Japan, particularly of the class that come to Canada, namely, fishermen, domestic servants, farm and other labourers. Farm labourers are said to receive from 15 to 17 cents a day, fishermen 19 to 20 cents a. day, domestic servants ¥ 1.40 to ¥1.50 a month, and other servants 80 cents a month. THEIR HOMES. It is said by a high authority, that the wants of the people are few and easily sup- plied, their homes simple, their furniture limited and cheap, and their clothing scant and inexpensive. Their houses are of wood, light and airy and generally one storey high, the floors are covered with mats and serve at once for seats and for beds ; a Japanese simply folding himself in his outer coat and stretching himself on the matted floor ; the window frames are movable, filled with oil paper instead of glass, the furni- ture is on the same simple plan. E\-erywhere, however, it is said you will admire the cleanliness observed in these homes. One witness stated that an ordinary Japanese house would cost about .?20. THEIK EMPLOY.MENT IN BRITISH COLUJIBIA. On arrival, the Japanese immigrant seeks work wherever unskilled labour is employed,— as domestic servants, farm labourers, in getting out shingle bolts, wood. 390 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 cordwood, and in the mines to a limited extent. They are also employed on the rail- ways, in sawmills, shingle mills, boat building, and large numbers engage in fishing during the season. A few are employed as tailors and in other trades. Their average wage is from 90 cents to •$! day. Their competition is keenly felt in the fisheries, in the sawmills, and in getting out wood, shingle bolts and mining timber, in boat building and to a less extent in the mines and railways. They are generally regarded as more dangerous competitors than the Chinese. It is said he adapts himself more readily to our civilization, that the Chinese will do the lowest kind of labour and stick to it, while the Japanese will get higher if he can. They live at a cost that enables them to work for wages at which a white man cannot compete. Thev work under contract much as the Chinese do, and are hired by the boss Japanese who takes the contract. He is often a merchant or a regular contractor who makes his profits chiefly on the supplies furnished the men. In no case do their wages appear to be higher than that paid to the Chinese in the same calling, and in many places it is lower. SANITATION. On their first arrival there is the same difficulty in getting them to comply with sanitary regulations that there is with the Chinese, but after a few citations before the magistrate they are more attentive to the requirements of the law and give less trouble in this regard. They do not live in aggregations in a particular part of the town, as the Chinese do, but their boarding houses are frequently overcrowded to the same extent. CHAP. n. PART I. THE FISHERIES. Prior to 1896, comparatively few Japanese were engaged in the fisheries. In that year we find 452 licenses were issued to Japanese. In 1897 787 licenses. 1898 768 " 1899 , 930 " 1900 1,892 •' 1901 1,958 •' This does not show the total number of Japanese engaged in the fisheries. In 1900 542 licenses, and in 1901, 548 licenses were issued to canners ; of these a considerable number are given to Japanese ; about 2,000 licenses were held by the Japanese for the years 1900 and 1901 ; there are two men to a boat, so that between four' and five thou- sand Japanese are engaged in the fisheries. This number ought to represent, and would under normal conditions, represent, a population of from fifteen tu twenty thousand peo- ple, resident in the land, building up homes, supporting schools and churches, and form- ing an integral part of a .settled and civilized community. Nothing of this obtains among the Japanese engaged in this industry. Tery few indeed bring their wives with them. Many of them return to Japan after the fishing season is over, and the rest find employment where they can, in getting out M'ood and bolts, in mills, boat building and other employments, working at a wage upon which a white man cannot decently support himself and his family, and creating a feeling so pronounced and bitter among a large class of whites, as to endanger the peace and be a fruitful source of international irrita- tion. Thus this great industry, instead of bediming a source of strength, is a source of contention and weakness. It is essential to the well-being of the community that a permanent class of fisher- men be fostered, householders and residents upon the land, and, if possible, owners of small holdings, who may by this natural industry be assisted in making their livelihood and be enabled to support themselves and their families while clearing the land. The evidence made it clear that the larger number of Japanese become naturalized, not to become citizens of the country, but to enable them to obtain fishermen's licenses. ON CHIN£!SE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 391 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Nearly the entire number of Japanese who have become naturalized, take out fishing licenses, and but few of those who do not take out licenses become naturalized. THE NUMBER THAT HAVE TAKEN OUT NATURALIZATION PAPERS. Since 1896 over one thousand have become naturalized at Vancouver, as against 400 whites and 160 Chinese during the same period. TOO MANY FiSHERMEN ON THE RIVER. The total number of licenses has increased from 3,533 in 1896 to 4,722 in 1901, and this increase has occurred principally upon the Eraser River. While the licenses have increased by 1,189, the number of Japanese licenses has increased by 1,506. Owing to this overcrowding many fishermen stated that they had to leave the business. The bitter feeling among the fishermen, caused by their being crowded out by the Japanese, was much enhanced by the fact that grave irregularities, if not actual fraud, were practised in obtaining certificates of naturalization by the Japanese in very many cases. The fare is low, and many Japanese come over for the fishing season and return in the fall. Many of these are engaged as pullers by the Japanese fishermen, the regulations not requiring that boat pullers for fishermen should be British subjects. Many of these boat pullers who had not complied with the require- ments of the law as to residence received naturalization papers. A notary public, whose commission has since been revoked, referring to those who had been naturalized, said that most of these people were boat pullers and had gone to Japan and were now returning so that they could get naturalized to go fishing. He said that tlie mass of other afiidaA-its that were taken to obtain naturalization papers were of the same class. Other evidence established the fact beyond all doubt that naturalization papers were granted to Japanese that ought not to have been granted. The assistant inspector of Fisheries stated that it occurred to him last year that a great many Japanese had secured their citizen papers without complying with lawful conditions. A perusal of the evidence raises a strong presumption of fraud. WHITE FISHERMEN FORCED OUT. The fact that white fishermen are being forced out of this industry and that Japanese are taking their places was clearly estabUshed. It works out in this way : In a short season the fish caught are so few in proportion to the number of fishermen that it does not pay. When there is a big run so many fish are caught that the number received by the canner is limited, and thousands are thrown away, and a lesser number of fishermen could catch all the canneries can pack. In either case a lesser number of fishermen and a lesser number of canneries on the Fraser River would benefit both the the canners and the fishermen. f,SVe Summary of Evidence, Parti, Chap. XV, Canneries.) . „ , , ,, » • • i It was stated by the canners that the adoption of trap nets on the American side had greatly disturbed their business. The canning industry on Puget Sound is almost wholly dependent on the run of salmon that would otherwise enter the Fraser River, and not only do they deplete the supply, but place their pack m competition with the Fraser River canners in the markets of the world, although not to the same extent as the Alaska pack. ' It was further stated by the canners that the adoption of similar methods on the Canadian side would greatly lessen the number of Japanese fishermen. PROTEST BY INDIAN CHIEFS. The chiefs of the difi^erent tribes of coast Indians of southern British Columbia gave evidence before the Commission, and ^^^^^^ T^^f '^T 1 Lrandtok up Chinese and Japanese. They explained that when the white people came and took up 392 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 lands and asked the Indians to work they were much pleased to get work and get wages ; they had something to depend on, and were pleased that the white people were living where the Indians could get work. When the Chinese came they brought no family ; in a little while the Japanese came and they were worse than the Chinese, and it seemed as if the Indians had no right to stay in the place at all. Formerl}' they used •tf) get steady work all the time ; now they cannot get regular employment, because of .the Japanese and Chinese. The evidence quoted in Chapter II — Protests of Indian Chiefs — fairly represents the views of all. They favour keeping Chinese and Japanese out of the country, and say that the Japanese are the worse of the two. Probably one of the most important matters connected with this inquiry, is the rapid manner in which the Japanese are getting control of the salmon fisheries of British Columbia. The extent of the encroachment may be gathered from the fact that in 1896 there were less than a thousand Japanese engaged in this industry, while in 1901 the number had increased to over four thousand. Should Japanese be permitted to come into this country without I'estriction it cannot be, doubted that this encroach- ment will continue until the Japanese will have control of this business. The general consensus of opinion given by both the fishermen and the canners would indicate that this industry is not dependent for its existence upon the employment of these people. The fact that this industry has expanded to almost its present propor- tions, emploj'ing onlj' whites and Indians, would indicate that the presence of the Japanese is not essential to its successful operation. The fi.sheries should be utilized to promote the permanent settlement of the country, and at the same time create a hardy class from whom may be drawn recruits for the mercantile marine and navy. The in- creased numbers of the Japanese prevent this. They come for a temporary purpose ; they send a large proportion of their earnings to Japan ; they do not bring their families or make homes, or in a.nj sense become permanent settler.s, and an industiy which ought to be a source of strength to the country is rapidly falling into the hands of those who exploit it for a temporary purpose to the exclusion of our own people and to the permanent injury of the countr}'. In any event the rapid trend under existing conditions towards the monopolization of the fishing by Japanese, followed by the withdrawal of white men, on account of this OA-ercrowding and of the diminishing profits in the business, is a matter which deserves most careful consideration. Salmon fishing has always afibrded an opportunity for remuneration much greater than could be obtained in the same time from inside work which is done b}- the Chinese, and in this branch of the industry the Japanese are paid exactly the same as white men. Whatever necessity there may or may not be for Chin- ese to do the canning work, there is undoubtedly much less reason for the Japanese fish- ermen, who displace the white man at a white man's remuneration. It is bad enough to have one branch of the industry entirely in the hands of an alien race, who do not settle in the country, whose assimilation is impossible, and whose presence is accounted for simply for the exploitation of the opportunites of labour and its remuneration ; but when the other main branch of the industry — the one which is most profitable and natural for full grown men to occupy, and is also the natural and necessary help for the actual settler — is also filled by another alien people who, in so far as permanent settle- ment and the general interest of the country is concerned, is equally undesirable, the .seriousness of the situation can be understood. Of the twenty thousand engaged in the industry at present one half are either Chinese or Japanese. The number of Japanese is rapidly increasing. It is only a question of time, under existing conditions until the industry is wholly in their hands, and until it is only possible for our own people to be interested in occupations and employments incidental to the industry itself. PART II.— BOAT BUILDING. Boat building, especially that branch of the trade called into existence by the salmon industry, is closely identified with it. In the earlier' period fishermen came from ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 393 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 the Maritime Provinces, Newfoundland, Scotland and European countries and had been trained to the business, and many of them were boat builders as well as fishermen. As the salmon industry increased the boats were built exclusively by white men, some firms employing as many as ten boat builders paying good wages and their business thus form- ing an important adjunct to this great industry. The trade has now passed largely into the hands of the Japanese, except the boats built by the one large firm of ship- builders in Vancouver that employ 64 hands, exclusively union laboui-. The indivi- dual boat builder of this class has practically been driven out of the field. The Japan- ese who build the boats engage also in fishing. The evidence establishes the following facts : That the white man without expensive machinery cannot compete with the Japan- ese in building fishing boats, and have been driven out of the business. A large proportion of this class of boats are now built by the Japanese, many finding employment in this business ; the rest are built at a factory where union wages are paid. The Japanese do not employ machinery ; their boats are hand-built ; if they did use machinery the manager of the boat factory declared that he could not compete, and that if a company started who employed Japanese and used machinery he would have to cut wages or shut down. If the selling price were reduced in the next four years as in the last four years, the factory could not compete at the same wages and cost of material. While fishermen get cheaper fishing boats, they lose more than they gain by the competition of Japanese fishermen. All whites engaged in this business are opposed to further immigration of Japanese. The industry is a good illustration of the effect of oriental labour on white labour. It developed into a thriving trade exclusively by white labour, giving employment to large numbers of men that enabled them to live and support their families. The fisher- men paid good prices for their boats and did well in the fisheries. The Japanese came in, displaced to a large extent the labour employed in this industry and entered into competition with the fishermen. He has driven out all labour except that employed in the large machine fitted factory. Should the white men in the factories give place to the Japanese labour the same argument might be presented as is now made in respect of other industries, — the business cannot be carried on without cheap labour. Cheap labour creates the condition which afterwards is said to make it necessary. CHAP. Ill, PART I. THE LUMBER INDUSTRY. The Japanese are not employed in lumber camps, except a few in building roads, tl'c. There are employed in and about the mills on the coast, referred to in the fore- going table. -Whites 924 Japanese *"^ Chinese 263 In the upper country there are comparatively few employed ; in most of the mills none. For instance the Yale Mill Company, with its head office at Rossland, and con- trollino- the mills at Rossland, Nakusp, Cascade, Roche Creek and Deadwood, and emplo3°ing 200 men, employ no Japanese or Chinese in or about the mills. Neither Japanese'nor Chinese are employed in the mills at Nelson and Kaslo. The Japanese are paid from 90 cents to $1.00 a day and board themselves ; m a few instances they are paid as high as $1.2.5 a day. For un.skilled white labour the average isfrom$l 50 to $2 and for semi-skilled from $2 to $2.50, and skilled labour from $2 50 to $3.50, and in a few instances $4.50 and $5,— the fact being that nearly all of the strictly common labour in and about the mills and yards is performed by the Japanese and C^mese^^^^ that the mills upon the Sound with one exception employ only white labour, and the average paid for unskilled labour is from $1.75 to $2 a 394 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 day, the larger number being employed at S2 a day, and for skilled and semi-skilled labour the wages run up to $3.50 and even $4 and $5 a day. It was alleged by some that the employment of Japanese and Chinese enabled the mill owners to pay, and they did pay, higher wages to their white employees than are paid in the mills on the Sound, but a careful comparison of the wages paid by each does not sustain this view. They may vary a little, but upon the whole the wages paid to white labour appear to be rather higher on the Sound than are paid to white men in the Canadian mills, and when you take into account the fact that no Japanese or Chinese are employed on the Sound, the wages there paid are certainly higher than the wages paid in British Columbia. The Chinese are paid rather more than the J apanese, and for this, or some other reason, the Japanese have in a number of cases filled the places formerly occupied by Chinese. As a rule they only perform the work of unskilled labour, but in some cases they have taken the places of sawyers and do other work requiring more or le,ss skill. The mill owners differ as to the expediency of shutting them out. The manager of the largest exporting mill thinks we have plenty of them here now. Many of the other managers agree with him ; but others, whUe admitting that there are sufficient in the country to meet the present demand, fear that there might in the future be a scarcity if no more came in. The evidence establishes the following facts : That the Japanese are employed in the coast mills approximately in the proportion of one to four. That they have to a considerable extent taken the place of Chinese at a slightly less wage. That they are employed as unskilled labourers in and about the mills, and in some instances are employed as sawyers and for other skilled work. That their wages vary from 8.j cents to §1.25 per diem, the average being about ijl [lei' day, or a little less. That there is a sufficient supply to meet the demands at the present time and for some years to come. 'i'hat they work for a wage at which it would be impossible for a white man to support himself and his family with comfort, or even decency. That they are enabled to work for this low wage by their manner of living. Except in very few instances they do not bring their families with them. They frequently live together, somewhat similar to the Chinese, but have a reputation of being more cleanly. That they are more dangerous competitors to white labour than the Chinese, because they are more energetic and pushing, work at even a less wage, live as cheaply, and are said to be quicker at learning our language and picking' up our ways, &c. PART II SHINGLE BOLTS, MINING TIMBER AND CORDWOOD. At certain seasons of the year, when not engaged in fishing, there are approximately a thousand Japanese employed in getting out shingle bolts, cordwood and mining timber for Mexico. The whites and Indians ha\e been practically driven out of the business, and the Chinese have been largely superseded. Last February several hundreds of Japanese were engaged in cutting cordwood on ila3'ne Island. They delivered it free on board the scows at from $1.80 to 82 a cord. The Japanese contractors make little profit at these figures. Their profits are chiefly on supplies which they furnish their men. A few years ago white men got out all the timber for Mexico mines. This is now done by Japanese under Japanese contractors. Several cargoes are taken out each year. Shingle bolts are chiefly gotten out by Japanese under Japanese contractors, the contractor receiving 5 cents a cord as his profit and the profit on the supplies which he furnishes. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGBAT/ON 395. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 of whi^h ^^Tfi Z^^^^ '"^ *-^' f ^3^;^f*°t^^-e of shingles paid out .^44,000 for shin^^e bolts, whiL men "''' "^ ^^'''''^' '"""^ ^^P^""'"' '^''^y J^P'^"^^^' "^"^ .^,000 to out of ^h/jfill^'^ r°'^ T'' "ir^^y *^^° ^"^ ^^^"^^'^ '^"'^ ^'■e rapidly driving them of the OhTneli '''^"f '^^ "^^""^ ™^'^^'^'' °* ^^"^"S ^^ '^^^P^ i« very similar to that ot the Chinese and a white man cannot compete with them wonlf T.?ffi ''^fT'' °* '°"' ?l *^' '^^^^^ manufacturers it did seem at first that it would be difhcult to carry on the business except through the agency of this cheap labour, without cutting the prices of the white men who are still engaged in the busi- ness, but subsequent evidence from a large manufacturer of shingles, established the fact that it was cheaper to get out shingle bolts in the log, exclusively by white men, than to buy shingle bolts, even from Japanese, and this has been found to be so in the mills m Washington State. There are some places doubtless, where this method could not be advantageously adopted. 1 1, ^^'^ employment of so many Japanese in this business has largely displaced white labour and has further increased the difficulty which small landholders have in making a living. It practically prevents him from realizing something from his wood and timber and from utilizing his time to the best advantage and so assisting him in sup- porting his family during the tedious and expensive process of clearing the land. Formerly shingle bolts and cordwood were chiefly gotten out by white labour. All this IS being changed ; the white man is practically driven from this field, and its effect upon the settlement of the country is undoubtedly very serious. The condition of the Japanese sometimes is that of absolute want. The provincial immigration agent stated that on their arrival at Mayne Island last year to commence wood-cutting they were without supplies and subsisted for some time on clams and thistle roots and whatever game and fish they could secure, and altogether had a wretched existence. This perhaps may arise from the fact that after the fishing season is over, several thousands of Japanese are without employment at a season of the vear when there is least demand for labour, and if the fishing season happens to Ije short, as it was last year, it necessarily leaves many of them without employment and without means of subsistence. They work, therefore, in getting out shingle bolts, cordwood, mining timber, ifec, for what they can get. The normal condition between labour afld capital is deranged and will continue to be, if this large immigration of unskilled labour should continue. CHAP. IV. OTHER OCCUPATIONS. 1. 2'he Mining Industry. — At the Union mines 102 Japanese were emploved, as miners, helpers, runners, drivers, timbering men, blacksmiths and labourers, above and below ground. Seventy-seven are employed below ground and 25 above ground. Only three Japanese are employed at the Extension Mine. They are not emploved at the Fei'nie Mines, nor at the New Vancouver Coal Company's Mines at Nanaimo. As the}' are employed to only a limited extent in one coal mine, and under the same general management they are not employed in others, it is impossible to say that they are necessary for this industry, but if they are the supply is abundant. The Japanese have not been employed in these mines either in the Kootenay district or elsewhere on the mainland. From 40 to 60 were employed at Texada Island. They worked in the mine and above ground. They were discharged. The cause of dismissal alleged was an increased cost of production. The output was too small. It did not pay. The only mine in which they are now employed so far as we could learn was a mine at Mount Sicker, 45 miles from Victoria, where from 30 to 35 are employed in sorting ore. The manager of this mine saj's : I think there are sufficient numbers of Japanese here now to meet the demands. I think there are enough of the Chinese and Japanese here at the present time. No serious inconvenience would arise to our business if no more were allowed to come in. It is now like a tap ; when you want water you turn it on and when you have enough you turn it off". 396 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSIOX 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 The number of Japanese employed in the metaliferous mines is insignificant, and it cannot be said that this industry is dependent upon their labour to any considerable extent. The .Japanese have displaced Chinese labour in the Cariboo Consolidated hydraulic mine where, as the evidence shows, about 109 are employed. .'. Riiihvays. — Japanese are employed upon the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia to a limited extent. The number varies in different seasons of the year. Se\ entv are employed steadily ; 30 as section men and 40 on extra gang work. At certain seasons of the year as many as 300 more are employed. Nearly five thousand nuen are employed in this division. The general superintendent stated that the Company was not interested in employing Oriental labour if it could get white labour. He did not think, however, that a white man with a family could li^■e on what the Company paid the .Japanese. He stated that the Company did not encourage white men with families to come in for section work. He declared that the .Japanese is a better man than the Italian. It is plain that the numbers employed on the Canadian Pacific Railway in comparison with the whole number of employees on the western division is small, and it can scarcely be urged that the successful operation of the railway is dependent upon this cla.ss of labour. • ;. Si'riling. — Japanese are employed to a limited extent in this industry.; being n'oi id sailors, thev are shipped wlien white men are scarce as common seamen or boat pullers. Xo serious inconvenience could be occasioned this industry' by the restriction of further immigration of .Japanese. .I/.. Donifistir Service. — It maj' be here mentioned that while a considerable number of Japanese are employed as domestic servants and chore boys thej' are not employed nearlv to the same extent in that capacity as the Chinese are, and their wages as a rule are much lower. The extent to which Japanese are employed in farming, land clearing, and other minor industries is briefly referred to. in Chapter IV, 'Other Occupations,' but for a proper understanding of conditions in these industries reference may be made to the chapters on the subject in Part I, where they are fully dealt with. The opinions therein expressed regarding Chinese labour apply equally to Japanese, to the extent of their employment. EMIGRATION STOPPED. The emigration of .Japanese has for the present practically ceased, only 56 having arrived at Canadian ports in the last six months of 1901. This is doubtless owing to instructions given to local authorities b}' the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for Japan, instructing them to prohibit entirely the emigration of Japanese labourers destined for Canada or the United States. The Commission was favoured by a copy of these instructions, through the Japanese Consul at Vancouver, which is as follows : [No. 6.59]. Department of Foreign Affairs, ToKio, August 2, 1900. To the Govr.RxoRS of the Prefectures : You are herebj- instructed to prohibit entirely, for the time being, the emigration of .Japanese labourers for the Dominion of Canada or for the United States. VTSCOUNT AOKI, Minister of Foreign Affairs. 397 ON CHINESE AND JAJ\iNESE IMMIGRATION SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 PART TI— CONCLU.STON. In endeavouring to conxey an idea of the kind of emigrant the Japanese of the labouring class is, it will be convenient to point out first wherein he differs from the Chinese of the same class. He is more independent, energetic, apt, and ready and anxious to adopt, at least m appearance, the manners and mode of life of the white man He avails himself of every opportunity to learn English, and often makes it a condition of his contract of hiring that he may do so. It is said he is not as reliable in respect of contracts as the Chinese are, and that, while adopting to a certain extent our habits of life, he more readily falls into the vices of the white man than the Chinaman does. As we said of the Chinaman, he has a different standard of morals from ours, and what has been said of the one in this .regard applies to the other ; and except for breaches of the sanitary by-laws, the absence of convictions would indicate that he is law-abiding. He often works for less wages, and in some important industries driving out the Chinaman. He comes without wife or family, and on a passport which requires him to return within three years, for which he ;^has to give bonds before leaving. He does not contribute to the support of schools or chui'ohes or the building up of homes. He seeks employment in all kinds of unskilled labour, and works at a wage that all admit is wholly inadequate for the support of a white man and his family ; and while the Japanese do not live in one particular quartei' of the city or town, they are "iven to over-crowding in boarding houses, and the fact that they are adult males without family enables them to live in a manner and at a cost wholly incompatible with the home-life of a white working man who has a family. Coming as they do for a limited period, and very often only remaining a part of the year and returning again for the season when they can obtain employment, they carry away with them their earnings, are of the least possible value to the community, pay no fair proportion of the taxes of the country, and are a keener competitor in all the avenues of unskilled labour than the Chinese. Their presence in large numbers delays the settlement of the country and keeps out intending settlers ; and all that has been said in this regard with reference to the Chinese applies with equal, if not greater force, to the Japanese. There is a clear distinction to be drawn between immigrants who, if otherwise desirable, come with their families to make Canada their home, and that class of immigrants who come for a limited period only, intending to return within a short period and take their savings with them. They con- tribute in small degr°.e to that support and interdependence upon which the stability and prosperity of a community depends, and they withdraw to the extent of their savings the value of the product of the natural industries, and render it more difficult for the permanent settler of all classes, except possibly the employer, to obtain a living or to carry on his trade or calling with success. The consensus of opinion of the people of British Columbia is that they do not and cannot assimilate with white people, and that while in some respects they are less un- desirable than the Chinese, in that they adopt more readily our habits of life and spend more of their earnings in the country, yet in all that goes to make for the permanent settlement of the country they are quite as serious a menace as the Chinese and keener competitors against the working man, and as they have more energy, push and indepen- dence, more dangerous in this regard than the Chinese. As directly bearing upon this question we beg to refer to the following despatches from the Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Governor General of Canada : — Downing Street, July 20, 1898. Governor General, The Bight Honourable The Earl of Aberdeen, B.C., G.C.M.G. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatches of the numbers and dates noted in the margin, in which you forwarded copies of various communications received by you from the Japanese Consul for Canada respecting the anti-Japanese legislation recently passed by the legislature of British Columbia. 398 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 2. I shall be glad if you will lose no time in transmitting, in accordance with the request contained in my telegram of June 18, copies of the Acts to which M. Shimizu takes exception, together with the observations of your ministers thereon. 3. In the meantime I have to request that you will impress upon your ministers that restrictive legislation of the type of which the legislation in question appears to be, is extremely repugnant to the sentiments of the people and Government of Japan, and you should not fail to impress upon them the importance, if there is any real prospect of a large influx of Japanese labourers into Canada, of dealing with it by legislation of the Dominion Parliament on the lines of the accompanying Natal Act, which is likely to be ffpnerally adopted in Australia. J. CHAMBERLAIN. (.Sep Appendix for Qopy of Natal Act.) Downing Street, 2.3rd March, 1899. Governor General, The Right Honourable The Earl of MiXTO, G.C.M.G., &c., etc., &c. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 40, of Febru- ary 27, forwarding copy of a letter from the Japanese Consul at Vancouver in which he calls attention to certain measures which have been introduced -into the legislative assembly of British Columbia during its present session prohibiting the employment of Japanese and renewing with regard to these measures the objections which he urged against the legislation of the same nature passed by the legislature of that province last year. 2. Her iNIajesty's Government must regret to find the Government and Legisla- ture of British Columbia adopting a course which is justly regarded as offensive by a friendly power, and they hope that your ministers will be able to arrange for the can- cellation of the objectionable provisions and the substitution of a measure which, while it will secure the desired exclusion of undesirable immigrants, will obtain that result by means of some such general test as that already suggested in my despatch No. 214, of July 20, 1898. In any case, Her Majesty,s Government strongly deprecate the passing of exceptional legislation affecting Japanese already in the Province, J. CHAMBERLAIN. Colonial Office to the Governoe General. Downing Street, April 19, 1899. The Governor General, etc., &c., &c. I hS-ve the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 54, of March 16, forwarding copy of an approved minute of the Dominion Privy Council to which is appended an approved report of the Executive Council of British Columbia, expressing the concurrence of the Government of that province in a report drawn up by the Minister of Finance and Agriculture qn the subject of the Acts passed by the provin- cial legislature in 1898, containing provisions prohibiting the employment of Japanese on certain works. 2. The provincial government represent that these provisions are required by the economic conditions of British Columbia and they regret their inability to introduce legislation for their repeal. 3. Her Majesty's Government fully appreciate the motives which have induced the Government and legislature of British Columbia to pass the legislation under consi- deration, and recognize the importance of guarding against the possibility of the white labour in the province being swamped by the wholesale immigration of persons of Asiatic origin. They desire also to acknowledge the friendly spirit in which the repre- sentations they have felt compelled to make have been received by the Government of ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 399 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 British Columbia, and regret that after carefully considering the' minute of the Execu- tive Council they feel unable to withdraw the objections they have urged to the legisla- tion in question. 4. There is no difference between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of British Columbia as regards the object aimed at by these laws, namely, to ensure that the Pacific province of the Dominion shall be occupied by a large and thoroughly British population rather than by one in which the number of aliens largely predomin- ates, and many of the distinctive features of a settled British community are lacking. 5. The ground of the objection entertained by Her Majesty's Government is that the method employed by the British Columbia Legislature for securing this object, while admittedly only partial and ineffective, is such as to give legitimate offence to a power with which Her Majesty is, and earnestly desires to remain on friendly terms. It is not the practical exclusion of Japanese to which the Government of the Mikado objects but their exclusion nominatim, which specifically stamps the whole nation as undersirable perso' s. 6. The exclusion of Japanese subjects either from the province or from employment on public or quasi public works in the province by the operation of an educational test, such as is embodied in the Natal Immigration Law is not a measure to which the' government of Japan can take exception. If the particular test in that law is not regarded as sufiicient, there is no reason why a more stringent and effective one of a similar character should not be adopted, so long as the disqualification is not based specifically on distinction of race or colour. 7. Any attempt to restrict immigration or to impose disqualifications on such dis- tinctions besides being offensive to friendly powers is contrary to the general principles of equality which have been the guiding principle of British rule throughout the empire ; and, as your ministers are aware. Her Majesty's Government were unable to allow the Immigration Restriction Laws passed by some of the Australasian colonies in 1896 to come into operation for the same reasons as they are now urging against these laws in British Columbia. 8. Her Majesty's Government earnestly trust that on consideration of these explanations the Government of British Columbia will at once procure the repeal of the provisions complained of and the substitution of legislation on the lines indicated above. 9. If this is impossible, Her Majesty's Government feel compelled, however reluc- tant they may be to cause inconvenience to the province, to press upon your ministers the importance in the general interests of the empire of using the powers vested in them by the British North America Act, for cancelling these measures to which Her Majesty's Government object on grounds both of principle and policy. J. CHAMBERLAIN. Your Commissioners fully appreciate the action taken by the Government of Japan on Auo-ust 2, 1900, whereby the Governors of the Prefectures of Japan were instructed to prohibit entirely for the time being the emigration of Japanese labourers for the Dominion of Canada. It is stated in a pamphlet purporting to be published by the Japanese Consul at Vancouver : ' the principal reason for the measure thus taken was to avoid any friction that might occur by allowing them to come into British Columljia where their immigration was not desired by a certain element of that province,' and that ' the Government of Japan wholly stopped the issuance of passports to any intend- inc emio-rants for Canada since the first of August last (1900), and still continues to do so° under a provision of the Immigration Protection La^x'. (Law No. 70, 1896.)' ' The course adopted by the Japanese Government, if we may without presumption be permitted to say so, is most opportune, eliminating all cause of friction and irritation between Canada and Japan, and so favouring a freer trade and intercourse between the countries than could otherwise obtain. , r^ u .• « k • Nothino' further is needed to settle this most difficult question upon a firm basis than some assurance that the action already taken by the Government of Japan will not be revoked. 400 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 Your Gommissioners desire to express their earnest hope that in the continuance of this friendly policy, legislation on this subject by the Canadian Government may be I'endered unnecessary. Should, however, a change of policy be adopted in this regard by the Japanese Government whereby Japanese labourers may again be permitted to emigrate to Canada, the welfare of the Province of British Columbia imperatively demands that effective measures be adopted to take the place of the inhibition now imposed by the Japanese Government. Your Commissioners recommend that, in that event, an Act be passed by the Dominion Government on the lines of what is known as the Natal Act, made sufficiently stringent and effective to accomplish the desired result. R. C. CLUTE, Chairman, D. J. MANN, C. FOLEY. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRA TION 401 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 APPENDIX. Address of Mr. R. Cassidy, K. C. Report of United States Commissioner upon Japanese Immigration. Wages in Japan, 1897. The Natal Act. ADDRES8 OF MR. R. CASSIDY, K. C, ON BEHALF OF THE JAPANESE. Mr. Cassidy, K.C., in addressing the Commission, said ; Having to leave by boat to-day, I have to request to be heard first. I represent the Japanese in this commun- ity before this Royal Commission. The government of Japan, as it happens, is well represented in commercial matters by an able consul, Mr. Shimizu. Any remarks which I may make on the evidence will no doubt be received by the Commission in the same spirit as that in which they are offered, and in the same kindly spirit evinced by the Commission throughout this investigation. The Japanese desire to thank the Commis- sioners for the invariable courtesy we have received, whatever the result may be, what- ever the report may be, and whatever course parliament may see fit to take after the investigation upon receiving the report of the Commission. I feel that the report can- not be otherwise than just" to all of those concerned, and I am satisfied that the indus- trial interests of the country will receive great advantage from the evidence which has been placed before the Commission. The considerations upon which the Japanese rely, as rendering necessary the presence of this class of labour in the Province of British Columbia, have been fully and fairly put before the Commission. We all know that for some years past the presence of the Chinese here, and more recently the Japanese, has been the object of considerable agitation. While agitation is to be commended when it has for its aim the protection of the community at large, it very often happens that the circumstances on one side are very fully presented, while the considerations on the other side are paid little attention to ; that is to say, the views of those who are not m the habit of gathering together to exchange opinions are not presented as fully as those of members of organizations banded together for the purpose of the prdpagation of their peculiar views of labour, poHtical or economic questions. Business men, as a rule, are not in the habit of airing their views in public ; therefore, I say it cannot be considered otherwise than as fortunate, that the investigation should have taken place, and have been as wide in its scope as it has been made by this Commission- all parties having had the fullest opportunity of presenting their views and of giving the facts which they con- sidered went to support their different contentions. I also think it must be a matter of surprise to many people who have been accustomed to regard this question from one standpoint to find men who are in actual business, who are well acquamted with the country and its commercial life, who are deeply interested in the welfare and prosperity of the country, come forward and make such statements as they have done before this Commission; and, on the other hand, it is well to have had the opposing views presented, and Sie grounds stated upon which those who are opposed to the orientals base their "^■'"'itTeems to me necessary to take rather a wide view of the subject. The scope of the ComnSrsion is wide enough to consider the question m all its bearings. Parliament 54—26 402 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 will thus be enabled to take a comprehensive view of the whole matter and decide intelli- gentlj' what steps ought to be taken in the circumstances ; and take into consideration the effect of any legislation proposed to be applied. It is impossible therefore to get away from the international question, and the Imperial question which stands alongside of it. It is impossible to get away from considerations dictated by the comity of nations, or to be blind to the important considerations of international policy, which govern civilized nations in dealing with' each other. ' One of the first things Canada will have to consider is : What is the position which the British Empire takes with regard to matters of the sort ? We all know that Great Britain is the champion of the open door ; that the great empire of which we form a part has always made it her boast, that her territory is open to the citizens of every country ; that her territory has afforded a home and a livelihood to the people and even to the exiles of all other countries. We have also to take into consideration the questions that have more particular reference to the Jiipanese. As a people the Japanese have made great strides in civilization ; or rather, they have always been a civilized people, but have improved their civilization ; their ports have been opened to Europeans, and they have profited by the intercourse, and the}- have adopted the methods of European powers ; their course in the last few years has been one of extraordinary and gratifying progress ; they are accredited to all civilized powers. We all know that instead of clinging tenaciously to ancient laws they have adopted laws based on the laws of England and the civil laws of Rome. They have adopted a constitution ; their form of government is similai' to our owil. In international intercourse and courtesy they have been guided by high ideals, which I am free to say cannot be improved, being founded on the course adopted by our own great Empire. The course of events in the east is tending towards the civilization and the opening up of the great Empire of China ; any general Chinese war will inevitably be followed by the adoption of our industrial methods and the spread of our commerce in that country, and return commerce will be conducted in the near future on European methods. So far with regard to China. With regard to Japan, that has all taken place : Japanese merchants trade with our merchants ; not content with existing facili- ties by foreign vessels they have established a line of their own, as fine a line of steamers as runs on the Pacific Ocean, running from Seattle to Japanese ports. It is freely stated, liy men who know, that the great development of late of the Port of Seattle is very largely due to the trade with Japan ; and it is well known that the trade of our own province with Japan is very considerable, coming by the Canadian Pacific Railway steamers and other ships. We all know that in the recent crisis in China the presence of Japanese troops substantially sa\ed the situation. It was stated in the London Times that the missionaries recei\ed protection and assistance from the Japanese. And how did Japan act at a period when other people stood aloof or attacked us, not by force ■of arms, but in insidious ways exhibited their animosity. Japan truly exhibited a wise attitude of friendship towards us. And what was the spirit displayed by the Japanese in British Columbia at the time troops were being raised for South Africa ? They offered to raise and equip a corps from among their own people, and send them to >^outh Africa. It was considered by the Minister of Militia wise not to accept the propo- sition. Now, it is an understood principle of international comity that when one nation •opens its ports freely to the people of any other civilized nation, the other nation shall act on the same prmciple. It is a rule of practice, although it may not be an absolute obligation. No rule of international courtesy can be said to be an absolute oblio-a- tion. We all know that fair and even-handed reciprocity is not always dealt out; and that the directing principles in accordance with the doctrine of even-handed reci- procity are not always recognized, but we should assume that while as a nation we receive courtesy and friendly intercourse and welcome from another nation, that imposes .some obligation on us to refrain from legislation directed against its people. It seems to me necessary first to take a view of the condition of British Columbia. It IS the best of all the provinces in Canada. It is the' richest in material resources- forest, field and flood, its metaliferous ledges and mountains all contribute to its prosperity It is also a province in whicli the working man has a wide field for the application and development of his skill and energy. At the present moment the wages of workmen Oy CHINESE AXn JAPANESE IMMIQRATION 403 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 here are infinitely greater tlian in anj' other part of Canada. That arises from the condition that, besides employment to be found in all the great staple industries, there are hundreds of opportunities for individual effort, almost limitless opportunities for , improvement and advancement held out to e\m-y man who comes here. Because of the wonderful resources of the province, large sums of money have been spent in each year to bring skilled workmen from England and from eastern points. These men have invari- ably jumped at the tempting offers they received and the opportunities presented of bettering themselves ; but it has invariably been found they were not any too willing to fulfil their obligations. In the case of Mr. Dunsmuir the experiment was made at a cost of something like $1 -5,000 of substituting white men for Chinamen in his coal mines — not under pressure of laws or of public opinion, but because he wished to try the experiment. The men were brought here, and as the evidence shows, thinking they could do better on the other side, left, and left their obligations unfulfilled. The experi- ment was profitless to those who spent money upon it. That, of course, is an extraor- dinary condition of affairs. It is a fact that in this province there are vast undeveloped resources ; that, while apparently there is money to be made here, capital is very chary of investment ; it is a hard matter to get enough capital to keep the estabh,shed indus- tries afoot, owino- to the high cost of labour. It affords food for serious reflection. We all know there are highly valuable mines in the province, that if worked would average from i?10 t(j 115 a ton ; and we all know that, owing to the high price of labour, there are only one or two paying mines working to-day ; and the difficulty is accentuated owiny to the scarcity of labour. In the first place it is hard to get, when got it is extremely expensive— $3.50 a day in the mines, and the labour is of an unsatisfactory character owing to the extreme independence of the workmen. They have great advantages, and they are difficult to control. They are here to-day, and away to-morrow, and it is almost impossible to carry on the industry. , , , Now the Japanese at present are not very great m numbers accordmg to ttie best estimate I can make— something about 6,000 Japanese are now in the province ; but I do not put that as being very important, because it may be said, well Japanese will come in in the future ; it is possible more may come, most of whom— about 2,450— are en^'ao-ed in fishing, and the remainder are workers in mills, or m other mdustrial enter- prfses, a considerable number of farm labourers and coal miners, a small but mcreasmg number of domestic servants, also a sprinkling of merchants m the different cities, and a fe«- handicraftsmen, including tailors. Now, it has been suggested among other thino-s bv my learned friend, Mr. Wilson, that no industry has been called into existence by the presence of these people. Well, that may very well be. It is not every cay that an entirely new industry is discovered in the world Most of the industries m the province have been started years ago ; and the question is whether we have been able to develop those industries by cheap labour, which the Japanese offer ; and there is also a more important question, whether the industries which are at present m our midst could s ^d were we to withdr'aw that class of labour. If they could not stand it would be mo^t disastrous to the province, and to the country, to attempt its exclusion. Now, the ma n industries of the province are the lumbering and fishmg-mcluding the canneries, mineral minng and coal mining, the metaliferous miiiesbemg very rich-and the culti- vation of the land. What I am now arguing I am arguing solely from the standpoin flZ interest of the country. I am not at present considering the question ;vhether it ^bf fnterest of the whL workmen of the country who say the oriental should be IS in the i"ter«^^ot the wn t ^.^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^^ „p.^j^^ ^1^^^ the exc uded. .^P°^^ *^f J°^^,ld be distinctly detrimental to the white workman m the exclusion »« ^^e ™^1^^^^^ may be more competent judges than I am ?r'7nrnolTttal econom sts and the state.smen of the country to decide It does not at It IS tor political econom ^^^^j_^ regard to the all follow because o,e body on- ^,„ ,^, employed in^he lumber lumber industry it i« ^ ^™\^i,, them man for man, are better paid than men m industry m »«*! J Columbia, .^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ Washington. Now it similar places to th%^°3 °\^^t the reason of that is that it is an economic law that ^'''' 54— 26*'^ 404 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 thickly populated districts where there is plenty of labour ottering — where labour iis fluid. Wherever that i.s the case all you have to do i.s to find out, to ascei^ain the lowest possible cost at which men can live ; they compete with each other to that point, down to the starvation point ; but, however much that may apply in England and in some ports of the great nation to the south of us, we find that it does not apply in this province. AVe find there is not a single industry in which any class of labour in our province is forced to a living wage. We find, in other words, that the rate of wages for ordinary unskilled work- men in this province is about §2 a day. It is quite true there are in certain industries, certain classes of work which there is no necessity for the white man to do at all, which are undertaken cheaper by the oriental than the white man ; but even with regard to the orientals they are not for a moment forced down to a living wage. If the orientals were to work for what is to them a living wage, that might be an injury. We all know these men get from .$1.00 to .^l.SO a day. This province is always spoken of as a place where it is expensive to live. Ordinarily speaking, and in the proper sense, it is not expensive ; but it is a place where ordinary workmen are not content with ordinary, humble fare, but li\'e at greater expense than the same class in the east. Carpenters here get from §3.00 to 63. .50 a day ; they live up to their income, and live expensively. The staples of life are not, in a broad sense, more expensive here than anywhere else. I refer to that merely for the purpose of showing that while it is said that workmen are paid less in the State of Washington because they can live cheaper over there, my own view is that thev cannot live cheaper over there. With regard to the staples of life, such a place as .Seattle is more expensive ; while some things may be had cheaper others are a great deal dearer. To return to that, Mr. jMcNair, who was a witness of the greatest importance, because his firm has mills on both sides of the line, he is in a position to speak about the matter. He says they do not pay as much to their labour in the United States, where thev emplov only white labour, as they do here ; and he also said, if you will remember — and it was corroborated by every witness who spoke in the lumber trade — that it is the case here, that they ai'e enabled to employ a certain proportion of cheap labour, at a lower rate per month, manual labour in the mill — that therebv they are enabled, having the rciugh, unskilled labour at a cheap rate, to pay the white men who occupy the jiositions requiring superior skill in the mills, better wages. The white men exceed the orientals in numbers, and those white men are better paid than they would be if only white labour were employed in the mill. The whole question is, an economic and commercial one. There are large mills to the south of us who make of this province a slaughter market for their over-production. It is unfortunate our own lumbennen are not protected even in their own market. The result of that is, both with regard to the export and home trade, that they are driven into unequal and, there- fore, unfair competition with the mill owners to the south of us. The consequence of that is, in order to live, our men over here, our manufacturers, are of necessity compelled to keep their expenses down to the same figures as those of the manufactures tb the south of us. They point out that manufacturers of lumber in the United States have the advantage of us in several respects. They have a great home market, from 70,000,000 to 80,000,000 people, with no customs wall. Then they have the advantage of cheaper machinery-. We know that in practice as to machinery here, a great part of it is brought from the United States, and that almost everything that enters into the cost of production is cheaper over there, except logs. That being the state of affairs, it is necessary that we .should obtain, in some respect, advantage — and that one respect is the matter of labour, at least they would like to have it so ; but in point of fact they do not get that ; so really it is a wonder they can continue to live at all ; and we are not surprised to hear, one after the other, come up here and say they are not making money at all, that it was a hard matter even to keep the mills open until within the last year or so, when things have been a little better. Now, that is not the worst of it. They might manage to get along without the orientals if they had a class of white labour in such numbers that directly an opening offered it would fall in at a reasonable wage. Now, there has never been an offering in British Columbia of a body of white labour to fill the places as they become vacant, with the labour market in a fluid condition • so that, for instance, if a mill wanted 100 men they could get them. I am referring to the ON CHIXESE AND JAPANESE IMMWHATION 405 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 sort of labour which is recjuired from day to day, the lower class of labour which some exigency or rush of business may require in a larger number. Now, there is no fluid white labour offering in British Columbia to fill such an exigency as that. Then Mr. Alexander gave evidence, which you will remember. He put it strongly and clearly ; he said it was absolutely necessary that this cheap labour should be em- ployed in the mills here, so that the larger proportion of white labour should be kept busy. Then Mr. Hackett tells you that for two years he tried to run with white labour only, but he could not keep it up, and he had to get cheap labour of some sort. Then Mr. Heaps said — I still refer to the Report of the evidence in the newspaper — some of the machines at which a man could earn from three or four dollars a daj were idle because of inability to procure sufiicient white labour of the lowest kind. Now, every one of those manufacturers has pointed out to you that while the proportion of Japanese employed is relati\ely small compared to the white that the proportion of wages paid to them was still smaller in proportion to their numbers. Now, it seems to me to be clear then, if we are to accept the statement of the saw mill and shingle mill men, that under exist- ing conditions they are unable to get along without that class of labour ; and, taking into consideration that these men are not afforded protection even in their own market, by the government, that this is made a slaughter market for American over-production, I urge that it would be an exceedingly cruel thing, and one which ought not to be con- templated for a moment, to debar them from the employment of this cheap labour. Of course it is a question whether it would be any advantage to our own white workmen to make the alteration, when the conditions are such, when the competition in the market is such that these mill men cannot aiford to pay more wages. If that is true, if they are obliged to employ white men, who cannot be got for less than two dollars a day, and very few at that — the average white man cannot be got for less than .|2.50 a day, because of his peculiar position of independence here, owing to the great opportunities offered him because of prospecting and mining and other things, — I say if these mill men were compelled to hire white men for the lower class of unskilled labour at these wages, they would have to go out of existence. Isn't it better to have the mills here under such circumstances that they can exist and employ a large number of white men 1 Isn't the advantage largely in favour of leaving the thing as it is — and that is it not absolutely impossible, from an economic standpoint to alter it ; and is it not folly to suggest there is anything injurious to our own people in the condition as it exists? ^" Now, in regard to the cannery business, I am not interested in that, except in so far as it "relates to the fishing. The Japanese are fishermen. The cannery men say thev cannot get along without the Chinese inside the canneries. The suggestion is that there are too many fishermen, and that the keen competition among them renders it impossible for them to make a living. It is to be said that the parliament of Canada, and you gentlemen as its advisers, are going to report— and make a law in this wuntry ha^•ino■ a' wide international effect, because it will have the merely incidental ettect ot affectino- or benefitting a few fishermen on the Fraser River, resulting m antagonizing a friendly people and inviting retaliation by restrictions in our commerce with the east White fishermen complain there are too many fishermen on the river. Of course that is a matter which can be dealt with in the Fishery Regulations, supposing you come to the conclusion that it is true, that the interests of the province require that there should be fewer fishermen on the River— but that question is a debateable question-the can- nerymen say that is not so-they prefer to have a good many on the river because they can aet fish at a cheaper rate. What the fishermen say is that there are too many fish- mermen on the river. That is a matter to be dealt with in another way. It is a very ™ thine to think that the price of fish to the canners has kept up to a figure which renders it almost impossible for the canners to make money and that «ome of th have fened It is said the reason of that is there are too many canneries and tha hey con- tte with each other for the fish. I am not prepared to say that that is not to the ad- vantage of the country as a whole, their employing a great many fishermen and a great vantage ottnecou > ^^^^ fish-much better than if there were many people inside and pym^ » 1^ .^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^ complaint against £: Jaran™hatS;ClS sell boats. It'is quite true that they build and equip 406 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902" boats. It has been complained that they go into the woods and whip-saw logs and build and equip boats much cheaper than white boat builders. Now, that is an extraordinary complaint. These boats are sold to fishermen — they used to pay $150 for a boat which they can get now for $60 ; it is quite true that some boat builders may be injured, but look at the advantage to the fishermen who get a cheap boat. I point out that one boat builder from Vancouver, who has introduced up-to.date machinery, who builds boats by modern methods — stated that he was not afraid of Japanese competition, that he could build boats as good and as cheap as the Japanese ; so the only man who gets hurt is the white man who proposes to go on without any assistance at all from machinery and to build a boat. In the good old days, when they had not machinery or apparatus for doing that, in the good old days before the Japanese built boats, a man could go and buy lumber and build a boat costing $150. The answer to that is, that it is not a fair price, and everybody is benefitted by the price to.day ; a man can go and get a boat from the Japanese or from the modern manufacturer at a reasonable price. To say that the country is hurt by it, or that anybody is hurt by it, is simply absurd. Now, then there are the coal mines. We went up to Nanaimo and from there we went to Union. In Nanaimo we found that no orientals of any kind were employed below ground there. In Union, on the contrary, we found some pits with both Chinese and Japanese. Now, it was obseivable that if any pit were to start now on the basis of all white labour as at Nanaimo, nobody would make money on it. For some years the New Vancouver Coal Company operating in that way paid practically no dividends ; but last year it was screwed up to pay a dividend of three per cent ; an interest that is nothing at all here, so it may be taken for granted, that that industry, if conscientiously run, is being run on a plane that will not paj^, and certainly will not conduce to capital coming in to develop other coal fields. Chairman Clute. — Where did you get that from ? There is no evidence of that. Mr. Cassidy. — AVith regard to the orientals being a source of danger in coal mining, as that has reference rather to the Chinese I will pass that over. I do not know it was said that Japanese were a danger to the men underground : I know that was said in regard to the Chinese. Of course it may be argued there is danger under- ground but if it should be attempted to apply that to the Japanese it does appear to me to be rather disingenuous. We know, we liave been told, that the white men employ them underground thernsehes on contract work, and white men who can employ them never complain. It was shown in fact that in one mine, wliere they ran the whole mine exclusively with Chinese for some years, at Extension, they had no accidents. The oriental people are not more rlangerous than white men ; their instincts are such that they will carry on work with regularity and attention to safety much better than white men. The white man may have a wider range of thought, but it is possible he does not do his work with the same regularity and mechanical accuracy as of a machine as it is done by oriental people. That was their distinguishing characteristic, that if vou wanted the woi'k to be done Avith regularity and attention you could get the oriental to do it. Mr. Dunsmuir did his best to get white labour. It is within your knowledge that this question of whether he was to be allowed to employ oriental labour in his coal mines was determined by the Local Legislature in its wisdom saying orientals should not be employed underground. This was the subject of an appeal which was determined in Mr. Dunsinuir's favour by the British Privy Council. Having the principle determined in his favour, ]Mr. Dunsmuir turned around and said, I have shown you I am master of the situation, but notwithstanding that, I will voluntarily try the experiment, I will spend a great deal of money in doing it — for everybody knows that the real truth is when I turn the orientals out, instead of there being hundreds of white people about ready to work, there is nothing of the sort ; I have to go abroad. He did go abroad, and imported a number of white miners, with the same result as has followed everything of the kind in British Columbia. The conditions were such that the men, having been brought out here in place of fulfilling their moral obligations to their employers and allowances made to them, went off, find- ing other work to do and left him in the kirch. Tliere are so many good things in British Columbia that white labour is scarce here, extremely hard to get, and harder OxV CHINESE A ND J A PA NESE lilillGRA TION 407 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 still to be depended upon. At all events, that was the result of it. Now, the next question is the question of the land. We have in this province as rich land as is to be found anywhere in the world, that is timbered land. We have a moderate, equable climate. The soil and all conditions are favourable to the growth of all the ordinary foods. Notwithstanding that, we import more than we produce, and the reason of that is, that the cost of clearing the land is so great that it is cheaper to buy your vegetables; everything you can get out of the ground in this country, that can grow in this country, it is cheaper to buy it in the United States and pay duty on it. Now, that state of affairs is very unfortunate. Unless some economical mechanical method of clearing the land is invented this condition threatens to continue. Everything has to be viewed from an economic standpoint. It is necessary to the success of the settlers, and of the capitalists who have invested money here, that the land should be cleared by cheap labour ; and we know the Japanese offer their labour in that field not excessively cheap, but for $1 to $1.50 a day. The settlers cannot afford even to pay that. They go upon the land, which is heavily timbered ; they pick out a little bit and endeavour to clear it, and go on year after year until they are nearly heart-broken. That is the reason why agriculture does not show as much progress as other matters here. It is necessary we should have the Japanese to clear the land. Mr. Robins, of Nana'mo, although holding strong views against the orientals, said he could not see how the land could be cleared without them. He is in a peculiar position ; he has persuaded himself into the pleasant fiction or hallucination that he is master of the situation, and that the representations of the unions have no influence on him or are of little or no avail ; that he keeps on the even tenor of his way without reference to them. Mr. Robins is one of the most diplomatic of men, and he is living on terms of the greatest friendship with the Labour Unions ; they manage to get along nicely together. The labour union, substantially speaking, dictates to Mr. Robins what he has to do ; but he is very politic, and seeks as it were by passive means, by putting forward his own side of the case, to get along with the union ; but one thing he knows is that, considering the views and power of the union to which all his men belong, if he were to propose to employ cheap labour everything would be undone at once. Mr. Dunsmuir, on the other hand, is not troubled in that way ; he goes on with his own white miners and deals with them directly as individuals ; there is no union ; the coal is got out by contract, by the white miners, who get the contracts ; every one exercises his own opinion in the b isiness ; the white miner gets a c jntract to take out coal, he in practice usually employs an oriental to help him, and the two get along amicably and peaceably. Whether that is a good thing or bad, that is for the men to say. Chairman Clute — How can you say the union dictates to Mr. Robins ? Mr. Cassidy — They have a strong union there at Nanaimo ; and the attitude of Mr. Robins shows he is on such terms with the union that a certain consideration has to be given to their views ; they are to have opportunity for discussion ; and there will be no lockout until so many days elapse. I think it is practically manifest such a con- dition of affairs does exist. . Chaieman Clute — The agreement is they will not strike without consultation with each other. . , ^i , i Me Cassidv— We all know perfectly well who it was contrived that arrangement ; it was not Mr. Robins' Company at all ; but they have got into that position there Now my learned friend spoke of the economical and industrial questions, apd the national and political considerations. I have gone into the economic and commercial aspect of the investigation I think enough. Now, with regard to the national and political, I suppose he means the social. Political only comes in in c-onsidermg whether the Japanese should be allowed to become citizen.s of our country. That is with regard to the Dominion Elections ; they are controlled by the Dominion ; but not so with regard to the province. It is said they are a non-assimilable people. Now, it seems to me an entireVnew doctrine that any country should prohibit from entering on its shores, and should prohibit from enjoying in the fullest degree the benefits of citizenship al peo- Is with whom one would not like to intermarry. Now, if that were adopted generally by nations it would result in a Chinese wall all round : it would be a retrograde movement. 408 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 and would delay civilization. The Japanese are an oriental people, because they live in the orient. It may possibly be there is some other line of division, in sentiment, be- tween the peoples ; but I apprehend to the Japanese women for instance, the white man ■can be no more attractive than the Japanese can be to the Canadian. Many people think the .Japanese women are among the most charming of their sex. Some travellers in the east tell us that absolutely delightful is the courtesy and politeness of the Japan- lese women. If they came here and introduced many of their charming ideas among us, it cannot be said the Englishman would be against them. It would be disagreeable to find it necessary to exclude a people, to legislate in any way, with regard to a people •who throw their doors open to us and welcome us as they do ; it is contrary to the spirit ■with which one nation should regard another that a suggestion of the kind should be used as a pretext for turning away the citizens of a foreign country from our shores. That is not the true reason ; but that they are injured in the wage question, and they desire to use every argument they can against the stranger. When you use the word 'assimilation ' what do you mean? I say it Just means reasonable assimilation, adoption of our laws, and our ideas, turning to our laws and institutions, friendly sympathy with us, ready to advance with us along the line of civilization and development. Are not the Japanese doing all that? They come here to Canada, they acquire our language, they aim to become citizens of our country. It has been sug- gested they become citizens only in order to get fishing licenses. I say that is not the case. It has been said that but few of them have a wish to live here; but it seems to me there is no objection to them on that ground. It has also been suggested, principally against the Chinese — I propose to say it does not apply to the Japanese — that they send their earnings out of the country. It is perfectly true there is a considerable margin between the wages he gets and what he lives on. The Chinaman is more frugal than the representative of any other nation. I do not consider it as a disadvantage to the country that he is frugal and economical ; the result of the labour remains in the country. Has he got to spend all he earns in drinking whiskey, or indulging in any form of luxury ? I do not put the Japanese on the same plane. He is not a frugal man ; when he gets good pay he is like white men, he lives like white men. Rice is more expensive than potatoes. He eats meat and vegetables. I ain sorry to say that of the offences charged against them drunkenness is the common one. Although that may not be a c(jmpliinent to him, the result is that he spends his money in the country. It has never been suggested — I have asked the question over and over again — with regard to the fishermen, that there is any difference in cost between the equipment of the Japanese and that of the white fishermen. The only exception is that the white men eat potatoes and the .Japanese eat rice, all other supplies they use equally. It is a difference in point of taste, and that is all there is in it. Now, it is said that the presence of the Japanese in this province is keeping out of the province a desirable class of white settlers who would otherwise come in. Now, what is the flesirable class we desire to come in ? What we desire is cheap labour. This province can afford to pay high wages to all classes of skilled labour, and it does pay it. But, besides that, there is a large class upon the presence of which is dependent the development of our resources ; and we do know the resources will never be developed until we ha^•e more labour ; it is necessary there should be a, considerable body of cheap labour, or rather of the lower class of labour ; and that is the class it is desirable we should have come into the country. If it were so that we could get white men to come here and work for §1.00 or $1.2.5 a day we would welcome them with open arms, but you cannot ; the moment you bring into this province a man from Quebec, Montreal or Toronto, he immediately becomes a |2 or .§3 a day man. That is the lesson taught by the ex- perience of those who have imported labour. In cither words, he finds that, because of his equipment and intelligence, and being able to take advantage of the conditions out here, he can get more than at home. The fact of the matter is, if we could get into the province a large body of cheap labour, the effect would be to bring under cultivation a large part of the land, new industries would be started, and in the end we would be able to pay better wages than at present, and empli ly a great many more white men. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 409 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Now, it issaidthat itis important to consider whether we are not laying up for our.seheN a race question. In the United States there is the race question with the negro in that countiy. The reason of that is the negro settles down on the land ; they are a prolific people, and their numbers are growing more rapidly than those of the white people alongside of them. But the very thing that is charged against the oriental is the very thing that may be alluded to as preventing any such thing in this country. I grant you if they came here and settled on the land witl\ their families, and increased, it would be a serious matter for the white man ; but they come here and give us the advantage of their lab(.>ur at a reasonable rate ; the results of their labours are left with us ; but that they go back to their country again seems to me to be a great advantage instead of a disadvantage. Now, it is quite true that, from the standpoint of the statesman and the nation builder, it is very important we should have a large class of kindred people who will build up the country. I do not see that progress in that direction is retarded in any degree by the presence of the orientals. My ^'iew is that the population of the province is so small that we have a need for cheap labour, thus enabling industries to be developed ; the effect of that will be to afford a larger field for white men and their families, of such a class as will be most desirable. That we wish. Down in Quebec, where you pay $\ and $1.2-5 a day for work on the railway, where 3^ou find large gangs of white labourers earning a very small wage, do you find among them this better class who will best build up this province ? I think not. . In other words, where you find cheap white labour fluid in large masses, as in railway gangs, we generally find the men to be low class Europeans and not likely to settle down and build up the country. In other words, the settlement of this countrj' must always be by prosperous people who get their $3 and Snt a da}', and can keep wives and families. I mean to say the existence of cheap labour here, by opening up the resources of the country, very largely opens up situations for people of the sort we want to get here. The charge which appeared most att^acti^'e to the opponents of the Japanese, next to that of their competition, lowering the rate of wages, was that it is inadvisable to permit any considerable part of our working population to consist of an alien race, who cannot assimilate with our people," partake of our political and national life, or constitute a class of settlers which we would desire to become the parents of future generations of our people. If there was anything in the nature of a general substitution of Japanese for our cjwn people I think there would be a great deal in this argument, but it is really an academic question. It is entirely contrary to international usage for civilised nations to exclude foreigners, who come to their shores in order to contribute their labour, or skill, or enterprise to the country of their adoption, — I may perhaps except the United States and s(juie of the British colonies with reference to Chinese immigration. A\'hile there can be little doubt that a country which receives foreigners is benefitted there)])', it is questionable whether it would, in all instances, be an advantage to that country for the strangers to assimilate, either by intermarriage or by taking a share in the control of its affairs, by voting or otherwise. My own opinion is that an assimilation, m the «ense intended by the objectors, would be a disadvantage, and that the fact that the strangers for the most part elect to go home after a certain period, is an ad^-antage to both nations. . • o a <-• • j- i Now who are the men responsible for the oriental agitation I An anti-oriental ao-itation 'has been continuously kept up in this province for the last 1.5 or 20 years, originally directed against the Chinese ; but the Japanese, who have come to our shores in considerable numbers during recent years ha^-e been included as objects ot attack, and it mav be said, so far as the agitators are concerned, without any discrimination between the two peoples. It has become well understood by politicians and representa- tive men oenerally, in this province, that an attitude of hostility to oriental immigration of all kind, was essential to popularity. During all this period there was a large body of most influential business men in the province svho gave practical recognition to the ad^^nta.^es conferred upon industrial and commercial interests by the presence in the count^re ement which supplied forms of labour necessary to the development o some of our most important resources. This labour was not only cheaper, but m its 410 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSIO^ 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 class, bettei- and more reliable than that offered by our own people. As will be readily understood the anti-oriental point of ^■iew obtained copious and often violent expression on all hands : in the newspapers, on the hustings, and through the action of the legis- lature. It is more than doubtful whether these expressions did not outrun sincerity, as there is no cheaper method in this province of acquiring political capital than by abusing a non- voting class who are obnoxious to the labouring classes of our own people, who have the control of political power. The business men of the Province who directly or indirectly gain advantage from, or use, oriental labour, and also the large class of men who recognize its value to us as a community, ha\-e always kept silent, and the facts and arguments which would support their point of view have not been presented to the public, and these facts and arguments have been elicited by this Commission. The (jpportunity of discriminating the position of the Japanese from that of the Chinese in this discussion has been an unmixed advantage to the former. I do not mean that the distinction has not always been present and appreciated by the class to which such dis- tinctions appeal. The labour unions broadly speaking embrace the whole body of artizans and skilled workmen, and they put forward that their position is injured and gi ling to be destroyed by this cheap labour. That seems to me to be one of the most extraordinary views of the whole affair. The evidence is before you with I'egard to the skilled organizations. I have much sympathy with the organizations and their purpose. The artizan organization of Victoria includes all the trades. No oriental is permitted to be a member. In dealing with employers of labour they make it a ' sine qua non ' that no oriental should be employed. The result is they have the field entirely to themselves ; and we also find that they are better paid than any other artizans in the Dominion of Canada. The reason of that is not far to seek. A man who undertakes labour at the price of the oriental is ostracised, even although the employer is unable to pay more ; they fix the wages at as high a point as the thing will stand ; but to suggest that that is a disadvantageous situation to the artizans is absurd. The employment of the oi'iental in British Columbia is a distinct advantage to these men. We all know that this is largely a sentimental matter. AVe all know they have their leading lights, who formulate their opinions ; they have come tur shcires and enter into competition with our native born artists, buying their cloth frcmi our wholesale houses, should be prohibited. It is not a wage question. They are entering into competition in something they can manufacture. We have all heard there il^ not such a great difference in the cost. Perhaps they are satisfied with a little less profit ( m their product. The real reason why they can do that is, they are not controlled by the labour unions. All clothes are enormously expensive in Victoria ; you have to pay from S3.') to nf.'liS for an ordinary suit of clothes ; and a great many people, it is said, who ought to know better go to Japanese tailors.' The next thing that is subject of complaint is that the Japanese go into ladies' tailoring. Now, that is purely artistic. The humble and middle class of people do not indulge in ladies' tailoring ; it is j-our swell who wants to cut a little figure who goes in for that. Do you know why some lady is doing that l Is she doing it in order to save a dollar, or anything of the kind ? Xot at all. She goes to the Japanese because he is an artist. There is a great deal of the spirit of bigotry about. It is put forward by a great lot of people that the Japanese are coming in here and running awaj' with the trade. I do not think there is a word of truth in it. We all know that in England, when the Huguenots were turned out of France, and they snught refuge in Britain, it was felt to be a great advantage. I do not think myself there is anything serious in the complaint about the tailoring. Thanking you very much for the careful attention you have given to the evidence throughout, and to the views presented on behalf of the Japanese, I can only say in conclusion it seems to me utterly impossible, that it would be impossible for any com- niissii:>n to say that the presence of the Japanese is detrimental to the countrv, or that they are a menace to us in any way. The Japanese are a people who live like our- selves ; they do not hurt the country. And now, one thing before closing : and that is, that it is clear the Japanese gi.ivernnient is perfectly alive to every consideration that may be urged in this matter ; and, being (.me of the great nations now, their country being represented at the courts of the leading nations of the world, thev are ready to entertain any views that may be suggested with regard tt> the traffic between their country and ours, either with regard to immigration or anything else. It is impossible to suppose that on any such pretexts as are put forward, the parliament of Canada would pass an act against the Japanese — in other words, to alBrm that that would be the proper way of dealing with any diffi- culties there may be. It is impossible to suppose that that is the proper wav of dealing with it. I lea\ e the matter in your hands, (juite sensible that vou will take evervthing into ci.insideration in reporting your views to the government. REPORT OF THE UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO JAPANESE IMMIGRATION. (E.rliihitt! arerpuhJished only in U. >S. Report.) Sax Francisoo, Cal., April 24, Ls99. The Commissioner General of Immigration, Washington, D. C. J have the honour to report that in pursuance with instructions hx letter No. 172^>, hereto attaclied, directing me to proceed to Japan via California for the purpose of invpstigatini;- the suliject of Japanese immigration into the United States, that I sailed on the steamer Coi>tir on No\-ember 29, 1S98, and landed in Yokohama on December 18. I was emplo^'ed in Japan in pursuance of the duties assigned me for ninety-seven days. During that time I visited the provinces of Sagami, Mushi, 0«-ari, Yamashiro, Setsu, Kii, Bizen, Aki, and Suwo. Among the cities visited and where I pursued my investigatic.ms were Yokohama, Tokvo, Nagyoa, Kyoto, Osaki, Wakayama, Kolje, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yaraaguchi. I did not \isit Nagasaki for the reason that Aery few emigrants emV)ark at that port. After completing my inquiries, O.V CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIORA TION 413 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 I sailed from Yokohama on March 25, 1899, on the steamer Rio de Janeiro, and landed at this port on April 1 3. The provinces visited, with the addition of the province of Kyushu, eo\-eis the section of Japan in which the greatest activity in regard to emigration prevails. How- ever, emigrants come from every province in the Emphe. In connection with this report, I submit 34 exliibits as a part thereof, which, with the facts falling under my personal observation and imparted to me by reliable persons, form the basis of fact and argument herein and conclusions deducted therefrom. The government of Japan, until comparatively recent times, was feudal and pater- nal in its character, and it naturally followed that'after the Japanese renaissance, which period may be fixed as beginning with the reign of the present Emperor, the new insti- tutions of the country took on many features of the old, and among these relics >\i mediaeval times is the paternal principle that the subject cannot sever his allegiance from his sovereign. It naturally followed after the opening of Japan to foreifn" com- merce, which begat an idea among its people for foreign tra\'el, that the government provided regulations for the care and control of emigration abroad, which are charac- terized by many features of the feudal idea of allegiance or paternal duty on the part of the government in its relation to the subject, and which are now being used bv design- ing men for the promotion of money-making enterprises. This is due to the ignorance of the mass of coolie farmers and the complicated system of granting passports. Under the Japanese law every subject is registered in his native prefecture, which he may not leave without permission of the authorities and from which he, or she, must obtain their passports, when they desire to emigrate. {See the exhibit citing the regu- lations of several provinces in detail.) Inasmuch as the government claims the perpetual allegiance of its subject, it grants a passport, limited to three years, and I was informed that a large part of the emigrants who thus go abroad return to their native land sooner or later, and consequently few Japanese, and indeed I may say none, come to the United States with a view to remaining or making homes, the theory of their emigration system being for the promo- tion of emigration as an educational process and money-makinginvestment fora temporary period, the profits of which accrue jointly to the promoter and to the emigrant, the Japanese empire being the recipient of what may be described as the unearned incre- ment through its people that thus go abroad, through their contact with more enlight- ened people, and by reason of the accumulated capital, which they return to their native land. It is through the tenacious allegiance which the subjects of Japan yield to their sovei-eign that the promotion of emigration becomes a reasonablj^ safe business. It is a feature of the construction of the Japanese law regulating emigration (.SVf; Regulations, Exhibit No. 1) that in providing the same the government has acted upon the theory that the character of the Japanese abroad will be taken as an index of the character of the nation at home. Hence these regulations provide for the careful inquiry into the character of those going abroad and also requires that provision shall be made for the return of the emigrant, in the event that he becomes .sick, or a public charge in a foreign country, before passports are granted. These featui-es of the Japanese law, reculatino- emigration and the granting of passports, are very well in themselves provided they were honestly enforced, and provided the Japanese people stood on an equal footing with the people of the United States in a moral, economical and educational sense, especially as to the value of their labour, making the act of emigration, in the nature of things, purely voluntary they would be highly commendable. But there is an abundance of evidence going to show that the average Japanese village official and policeman, who practically pass on the qualifications of emigrants, is but little superior, if any, in point of morals tia Vancouver, B.C. At or in the neiglibourhood of \'ictoria, B.C. San Francisco, Cal., 529| Geary street. It II 260i Brannan street. These companies have ottices at all important emigration centers, but at the present time Hiroshima seems to be the chief center of operations. I have found nine branch O.V CHIXME AND JAPANESE IMMIGMTIOX 415 CESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 •offices in that city. (e ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 417 SBBSIONAL PAPER No. 54 also interview with the managers and stockholders of the Hiroshima Emigration Com- pany. (Exhibit No. HO.) Touching the question as to what extent the emigration companies supply emigrants with money and means for coming to this country, I have no other evidence than that referred to above : but taking the testimony all together, it seems to me that the circumstances go to show that the emigration companies engage in any feature of the business which may seem profitable. I have elsewhere in this report called attention to the blank forms of contracts issued for sending free emigrants to the United States and' Canada. Exhibits Nos. 2'2 and 2G afford a thorough understanding of the intricate system which is in force by the various prefectures in granting passports. The mass of coolie farmers of Japan are very ignorant, and in the very nature of things require assistance" in obtaining their passports under such a system. Touching the emigration to the United States through Canada, I am of the opinion, tlii'ough personal observation, that 90 per cent of the emigrants to Canada find their way to the United States within two weeks after landing at Victoria or Vancouver, and 90 per cent of those landing in British Columbia are assisted by emigration companies that maintain agents in British Columbia and in California. The records included in exhibit No. 27 were furnished me by the governors of the provinces of Wakayama and Hiroshima respectively, and are complete transcripts of papers on file, upon which passports were granted to nine Japanese — T. Yiyabe, T. Hamamoto, M. Nakate,. H. Nakate, T. Sumidi, Y. Omori, B. Yoshida, T. Narukawa, a,nd R. Shugite, who emigrated to Victoria, and thence via coast line steamers to San ■ Francisco (.SVc their affidavits taken from the port of San Francisco, at my request, and forwarded to me in Japan). These men went under what is known as the free contract- with the Kosei, Kyushiu, and Kobe emigration companies respectively. By referring tc exhibit No. 1, and the list of agents of the emigration companies in Victoria and San Francisco, it will be seen that a line of communication is thus established, by which this class of labour is introduced into the United States. This view is further confirmed by a transcript of the testimony in the matter of hearing of the case of ten Japanese steerage passengers from Victoria by the steamer Walla Walla, about the 10th day of April, 1899. See also the report by Inspector Geffeney (Exhibit No. 31), locating certain companies agents in San Francisco and at San Jose. I talked with many men of long experience in Japan, and found but one universal opinion, that not 10 per cent of the emigrants leaving that country could or would go unless they had assistance, or were helped or assisted by some person or in- fluence.'' Aside from the facts herein presented, the coolie class could find no proper sureties, such as are required by the government, unless some arrangement was provided by responsible parties for looking after this class of emigrants after they land in the United States. . , , . , ^ The magnitude of the capital invested, requirmg the utmost energy and most aggres- sive management to make it profitable, which, considered with the zeal, begotten of competition between the emigration companies and the mfluence of wealth and pohtical connection points to but one conclusion ; consequently I am forced to the conclusion that the Japanese system of granting passports for a limited period requiring surety for the welfare of the emigrant aboard, and in some cases for the care of his family while absent, and his return when sick or disabled, joined with the avarice of organized capital and influence of emigration companies, is the direct inducing cause of 90 per cent of the emigration from Japan to the United States. .,,-,■ Fxhibit No -79 which is a scheme devised by the managers of the emigration com- panies to evade whit they expected to be the law, as applied to the Hawaiian Islands, fllustrates the skill and willingness of those interested m emigration in Japan to boldly defy the law when it conflicts with their interests and serves as a key to the system I ^ » rorpir, described • this iustifies conclusions drawn therefrom. I find further, owing to the onditi^^^^^^^^^ described, that the objects and purposes of the laws of the T? ,A qt^tP. regulating immigration are largely defeated, so far as relates to immigra- United ^t^*^^Yn^ It may readily be perceived that such an organized system, having Sfeede" aXng tikeTb^rokers Ld h'otel keepers, Joined by ties of interest, and from .54—27 418 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 employment bureaus in Japan and on the Pacific coast, and by reason of its capital and power able to coerce the steamship companies into dividing their profits, with a perfect system of coaching immigrants as to the requirements of the immigration laws of the United States, that the immigration officers here are practically powerless to hold back the influx of pauper and contract labour from Japan, which is increasing year by year. In conclusion, I beg to acknowledge my obligation to his excellency Alfred E. Buck and Messrs. Miller and Herod, of the United States legation ; to Mr. G. Hayashi, assistant secretary of the Japanese foreign office ; to Consul-General Gowey and Messrs. McLean and McCance, of the American consulate at Yokohama ; to Consul Lyon, of the United States consulate at Kobe, and to Commissioner H. H. North and Inspector A. H. Geffeney, of San Francisco, for their zealous and unselfish co-operation, which has contributed largely to whatever success has attended this investigation. W. M. RICE, Commissioner of Immigration. Treasury Department, United States Immigration Service, Vancouveh, B. C, May 2, 1899. The Commissioner-General of Immigration, Washington, D. C. Supplemented to and in continuation of my report of the 24th ultimo, relating to the immigration of Japanese to the United States, I have the honour to report as follows on the morals of the coolie class, from which 99 per cent of the immigrants of the United States are drawn ; the condition of labour in Japan ; the movement of population ; and other features bearing upon the character of the Japanese people, their qualities as immigrants, and the encouragement of immigration from Japan to the United States and other countries by capitalists and officials. It is thirty-two years since Mitsuhito, the one hundred and twenty-third Mikado of Japan began his reign. The Japanese designate this period as Meiji, or the beginning of enlightened government, and no one will question the fact that Japan has made immense strides along the material side of modern civilization during these years. It may be admitted, but it may also be doubted, that in the matter of government great improvement has been made ; but in atttvining the essential elements of individual character, which makes far all that is best in western civilization, the Japanese have made but little progress. The first idea that occurs to a thoughtful observer in the Flowery Kingdom, after becoming more or less familiar with conditions there, is that the Japanese have hypnotized the balance of the world, or else a certain class of writers have terriblj' buncoed the reading public on this point. Mr. William E. Griffis, a writer of ability and a gentleman who has had great opportunities for observation, says, in a recent article contributed to the Outlook: ' It is very certain that, whether intending it or not, the average newspaper corres- pondent and hasty tourist wishing to please both the Japanese themselves (who love 'sugar and superlatives') and the occidental admirers of ' Japanism,' give what, when analyzed, are caricatures of truth. Thej- ignore Ijoth the men and the forces that have made the new Japan. Some of these literary ' impressionists ' seem to be so Japanese- mad in their rhapsodies as to suggest Titania before Bottom. In the name of all our inheritance, let us not cast away perspective or take a Japanese poster as the gauge and measure of reality.' The Japanese were never wealthy as a people. There are no rich men in Japan, who have acquired their wealth from Japan, unless it was through the conversion of landed estates or hy speculating upon the labour of other men. The country produces no inventor's, no original ideas, except along the line of its peculiar art in curios, silk, embroideries and potteij', and practicall}- has no literature. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRA TION 419 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Only the Sanmri or soldier class, or nobility have enjoyed the comfo.-t.s or culture of wealth until recent years and until this time 50 per cent of the population live n the most squalid poverty, and the remainder of the common people, to put it mildly are poor. It IS not surprising that such is the case. It is historical that the population of Japan had outgrown the capacity of the soil to furnish food thirty years aoo and thev have been enabled to live only bv the practice of fh« .f,.;.*-..^ J2„^.. .^R ^^a tnej , . T f ^- .-, ^'« O'^ly ^y tl^e practice of the strictest economy with food pro ■ducts. Infanticide was common ; no deformed was allowed to live, the girl babies were not popular. Famines were frequent and loathsome and immoral diseases were every ^here prevalent, which have left their imprint upon the people to the present day The people were habitual a-ambler.'s Tn mnaf r,f fK^ „,„.„-„;„„i;4-,-»„ n -^^ ., ,^ ., ,„ people were habitual gamblers. In most of the municipalities, forming a city by itself wa^a large colony of women for immoral purposes-a system recognized by usage ^nd law and which prevails to this day. In fact the decencies of life were unknown except among a very few. It is not possible that a generation and a half could regenerate such a people. There is it is true, a brighter side to new Japan, a regenerated section ot the population who have taken on European ideas, who are strugglino- for better things, but the future is still veiled in uncertainty. ° It is with Japan of to-day, however, that I have to deal, and with that class of people who emigrate. First, there are a few merchants and business men ; second a few students and young men, the sons of Japanese of the better professional and commercial •class ; third, the great mass of immigrants, say 95 per cent of the whole, who are coolie labourers and small farmers who class as coolies. The first proposition I desire to advance, and the conclusions reached from obser- vations and information otherwise obtained, is that Japan is now over-populated and her .soil worn out ; that her population is increasing by leaps and bounds. I need not enter upon a description of Japan, its barren aspect, its barren, treeless range of mountains -which are features with which all are familiar. It is only the valleys and hillsides and flat lands adjacent to the sea that are tillable. The soil upon these flats and hillsides is light and utterly lacking in strength. In contains but little vegetable mould iind receives no nourishment whatever from nature except through copious rains and washino- irom the wornout hillsides. Weeds and grass are unknown. The crops are dependent entirely upon artificial fertilizers, which are applied to the growing plant generally in a liquid form. Everything that can be made use of foi fertilizing being carefully saved up by the people. The husbandman must give to the soil as much as he expects in return. The best sources of information claim that from 10 to 15, per cent of the land of the empire, exclusive of Formosa, is tillable, and that probably not more than 2 per ■cent of undesirable lands remain to be put under plough. The area of the entire empire — and I will say here I do not in any case include Formosa — is 24,799 square ri, ■of vi^hich Professor Rein, an authority upon Japanese industry and agriculture, says 'but 12 per cent is tillable and that is under cultivation.' He, however, probably did not take into consideration a part of the lands on the island of Yezzo, and of course did not take into consideration Formosa. A native Writer says that among the evils coming with the new era of thing.s is the fact that land is being changed from the ownership of ^rnall proprietors to the hands of richer men. The following statistics, compiled by the home department, give the total popula- tion at the end of 1897 as follows : — 21,823,651 males and 21,405,21.3 females. Classified according to family status, there are 4,42.3 peers, 2,089,134 shizohu, and 41,135,206 o dinary citizens. The above figures show, when compared with those of the previous year (1896), an inciease of 520,599 in population. Births and deaths during 1897 were: Births, 1,335,125 — male.s, 684,941, and females, 650,184 ; deaths, 876,837 — males, 452,383, and females, 424,454. The number of marriages was 365,207, and divorce cases 124,075. The average percentage of annual increase, taken during ten years, is 1 -04. The population to the square mile is 293, the density being, of course, immeasurably greater in the inhabited sections, where, outside of the cities, the people live in small villages. The oreat mass of the people live by farming, which includes silk raising and fishings at which occupatiofas they earn from 100 to 150 yens per annum, which suttices to support 420 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 a family of about four, a man, a wife, and two or three children. In larger families the mother and older children work. The agricultural implements used are of the most primitive character, and the allotment of land to the family or individual is in most cases less than an acre. There are no division fences, each little tract being divided from its neighbour by a little ridge of dirt, from 1 i t > 3 feet wide. The value placed upon tillable land is suggested by the fact that the government is now trying to re-form the boundaries so as to reduce the width of these division lines and thus restore to cultivation, it is claimed, about 17-5,000 acres of land throughout the entire empire. There has been an effort to introduce, which, of course, is well known, various foreign manufactures. The success of these enterprises has not yet proved conspicuous, but the effort, with the fact that the agricultural land everywhere, except on the islands of Yezzo and Formosa, is all occupied, has tended to build up the cities toward which the influx of population is continuous. Factory employees earn from 1-5 to 20 sen per day. Investigations made by a representative of the Jiji (a leading vernacular paper in Tokio) show that the wages of operatives rose on an average of 30 per cent between 1895 and 1897, the comparative table being as follows : — Occupation. Carpenter Plasterer Painter Mason Sawyer Roofer(tile) 11 (brick)... ., Floor mat maker Jataguya (maker of doors, &c) Papering Cabinetmaker Cooper Wooden clog maker Shoemakers — First class Second class Third class Carriagemakers — First class Second class Third class Tailor — Japanese style Foreign style- First class Second class Third class Ribbon marker Fukuromonoya (maker of purses, tobacco pouches, First class Second class Dyer Cotton whipper Bli..cksmith Filemaker Tobacco cutter Ship carpenter — First class Second class Third class Gardtner Coolie Bookbinder Sculptor — First class Second class Third class August, 1897. August, 1895. Increase. Sen. ' Sen. Sen. CO 40 20 80 60 20 80 60 20 eo 50 30 70 60 10 70 50 20 5.5 40 15 80 tit 20 60 50 10 75 5C 25 70 .50 20 .^0 25 05 .30 25 05 1 211 90 30 11 80 60 20 50 40 10 (10 50 10 50 43 07 40 33 07 40 30 10 1 50 1 20 SO 1 00 80 20 80 60 20 1 30 1 00 30 1 00 80 20 70 50 20 35 20 15 30 25 05 CO 45 15 1 00 80 20 44 36 08 80 65 15 70 60 10 60 55 05 50 30 20 40 30 10 70 50 20 5 CO 3 00 2 00 1 .50 1 00 50 1 Oil 70 30 OK CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 421 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Farm labourers earn from fifteen to thirty sen per day, depending upon locality. Another reputable authority says that, while wa,i;es have incivasfd 4 t pei- cent, living has increased 64 per cent. Upon this point I beg to call vour attention to chapters 3 and ] 6 of the report on the commerce and industries of Japan, made under the direction of the National Association of Manufacturers of the United States by the Hon. Robert P. Porter. The labour which Japan sends abroad is pauper labour. My reasons for thus classing it are that the over-population of Japan has reduced the value of labour below a decent living- point, measured by a civilized standard, and, further, that this competition is increasing in such forc,e that it seems unreasonable to assume the probability of the value of labour approximating the cost of future products and living. The agricultural interests of Japan are practically incapable of expansion, whic^ forces all surplus labour into the employment of various manufactures and into fishing. Japan's market for manufactures is, and must for fifty years remain, very limited, if we except silk, pottery, curios, &c., and even the demand for the native products must find a limit. I was informed by Mr. that jMr. , a leading member of parlia- ment from the Province of Kyushu, told him that his province (Kyushu) was annually producing a thousand more labourers than they could find employment for at home. At the time this conversation occurred this Japanese member of parliament was on his way to one of the southern islands to see if arrangements could not be made to take labourers there. This member of parliament, in his conversation with Mr. , spoke of the situation as one which gave them great concern. The question naturally occurs, how do thev raise sufficient money to emigrate ? As I intimated in my report of the 24th ultimo, the emigration companies in certain instances furnish them money, sending a Banto along with the emigrants to look after their interest. I found, by inquiring among the people, that it requires from five to ten years for a Japanese farmer to save 200 yen. Some undoubtedly do this, but the majority secure money by selling their holdings and by borrowing from the emigration companies — friends and i-elatives, upon whom they are more or less dependent, going their seeuritv. The laws are very strict in Japan concerning the collection of debts. There are no exemptions, and hence in -view of the fact that ever}' emigrant to the United States is able to send money home, this is a safe business. Besides, the pickings of the emigration companies enable them to get back a large i^art of the funds loaned the emigrant before he sails. I cannot, of course, prove this state of facts, but all the circumstances concur in supporting this view. Concerning the physical conditions surrounding the factory operatives, the Jiji, wliich is the most influential and conservative paper in Japan, styles the spinning factories as ' hellish pits.' My observation leads me to credit this statement to the fullest extent. Child and girl labour is largely employed at rates running from four to ten sen per day. The best workers in Japan are considered to be those engaged in the building trades, blacksmithing, tailoring and printing. Apprentices in the most of these trades are required to give their employers many years of service, receiving as an acknowledgment of past favours only two to three yen per month as purse money. During the period of apprenticeship there is no opportunity of acquiring even a rudimentary education. It is not unreasonable to declare that the life of the Japanese labourer is largely, if not wholly, destitute of pleasure and comfort and full of hardships and misery. The Jinricksha men are a large and useful class, but their lot is far from enviable. The majority of them are married men and ha^-e from three to five children, but thev are nevertheless reputed to be a very dissolute, immoral and wasteful body of men ; their homes are ^ery inferior, their houses being built in a row of 10 x 50 feet, partitioned off, giving each' abode a space of 10 x 12 ft. The finishing of these houses is \-ery meagre. Farm houses are somewhat larger, but aside from their environments are but little better. The facilities for cooking are verv limited Rent for the houses of labouring men ranges from 40 sen t.) U per month accordino- to the location and condition of the house. Large numbers of the women and children of the working classes work at home, pasting match boxes, paper boxes &c and earning perhaps from 5 to 10 seii per day. A man as a worker m Japan is sociallv a doom'ed being, whether he be a mechanic of an advanced trade or a 422 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 waste-paper picker. The conspicuous characteristics of ^all classes of labourers and the majority of farmers are ignorance, and, in numerous cases, vulgarity. Large quantities of saki and Japanese beer are consumed by these classes, but their eifects are not per- ceptible to the casual observer. The reputation of the Japanese as a drunken man is that he is good natured and jolly, consequently there is but little brawling ; but, if I were called upon to point out a conspicuous national evil, I should say it was cigarette smoking, which prevails everywhere among men and women, and even the children are allowed to smoke unrebuked. Those women who do not smoke cigarettes smoke a small pipe. The first thing a Japanese does on getting into a railroad car is to light his cigarette,, and the fumes of tobacco fill the train from one end to the other. This habit prevails among all classes of people. Of course, the wealthier smoke ci.i;ars. Morally, the conditions of the lives of the coolie, farm and labouring classes are very low, and it is an unfortunate fact that, naturallv quick and imitative as well, the Japanese people are slow to take on new and reformed ideas of social morality and integrity with their new clothes and much-vaunted new enlightenment. Home life is, as a rule, devoid of the pleasures and associations of western civilization. The father is the great ' I am,' a selfish, petty tyrant, whose comfort requires that all shall bend to his will and pleasure % the mother, with rare exceptions, is a nonentity ; all others in the family are inferiors. The conjugal relation is exceedingly loose, concubinage being practiced bv those who can aiFord the luxury and is recognized by law. ^larriage is the simplest form of civil contract. ' Under the new code, which attempts to reform the old system, the married couple must appear, within three days after entering upon their new relation, before the mayor of the city or the head man of the village, and sign a document of marriage and place their seal thereon, which is then filed or registered. In this connection, I was informed by the officers of the various governors whom I \isited, that before granting passports to women as married, these records, or other evidence of max'riage, are carefully inquired into. It is a fact, hiiwever, believed by all the immigration officers with whom I have talked, that at least 75 per cent of the women who come to the United States are lewd, or at least of such a low quality of virtue that they are easily overcome b}' the conditions which they find in this country. Few immigrants bring their wives with them, and the excess of -Japanese men over women in this country renders it diflicult, if not impossible, for the majoritv of, Japanese women who obtain a landing here to avoid becoming promiscuous in their relations with men. An oflicer of the occidental and oriental steamer Bur'n: told me in conversation that he had witnessed immoral practices among Japanese emigrants aboard the steamer in plain \-iew of all the steerage passengers. E\-en when the steamers are provided with separate compartments fcjr women in the steerage tliey will not occupy them. Divorces are very numerous. Until recently the husband merely returned his wife to her family when he became tired of her or otherwise displeased. The new code, howevei-, abolishes that practice, and allows the wife tn make a defence in court. I find the average number of marriages for six years ti.i be .377,043 per year, and the average divorces during the same period to have been 113,93.5. The legitimate live births for 1896 were 84,s79, about 7 per cent of the total live births. The number of stillborn children for 1896 — not taken into consideration with the live births — was 127,213. Immature marriages are a serious evil which the go\ernment is trying to reform. In some of the provinces the usual age for marriage among women has been from 12 to IS years, and for boys the age was but little over. It is claimed, however, that a favour- able change is being brought about. Natui'ally, this has produced a dwarfed race. The Japanese are not a strong people, as a whole, their constant labour, exposure, their feet (many of them being in the water when employed upon tlie farm), having had a most injurious eflFect, although apparently they enjoy good health. They appear to have a tendency to disease of the lungs. This was particularly oVjser^ed among Jinricksha men. The people are cleanly, and their towns and streets are remarkably so, owing probably to the fact that all the garbage is carefully saved for fertilizing purposes. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 423 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 There are large numbers of lepers about the temples and on the I'oads leading thereto. No provision is made for their care, and the official statistics as to numbers 1.5,.525^ are unquestionably greatly underestimated. One of the most serious blemishes on the national character is lack of business integrity and disregard for the truth, which, it is claimed by Europeans, prevails among all classes. Without a single exception, every European with whom I conversed (which was many) confirmed this view. An eminent professor in the University of Tokio, whose name I may not mention, referring to the habitual indulgence of falsehood in Japanese people, said : — ' The Japanese idea of truth is like their idea of punctuality. They admit the desirability of punctuality, but if one is behind time they say what is the use of making a fuss about it. They respect a man who tells the truth, but they say one can not always tell the truth, and what of it I It is a desirable thing, but not always practicable.' The result of such a view of'veracity is that individually, with exceptions, they can not be trusted when they have interests involved. The standing of the Chinamen among business men in these respects is much better. The Japanese are ehdeavouring and are making commendable progress in perfect- ing their school system, but its efficiency, like everything else in the country, has been greatly exaggerated, and is largely on paper, which is equally true of the educational attainments of the mass of the people. To be able to read and write, with a limited knowledge of mathematics, does not indicate the same degree of mental culture which these attainments would in people of European origin, and with the mass of the people it indicates no moral culture whatever. In view of the limited resources of the country and the constantly increasing population, it is apparent that the government will have great difficulty in providing school facilities for all in the future, which fact forms a great incentive on the part of the economists and capitalists to encourage emigration abroad. The number of children who do not attend school is an unknown quantity, being vei'v large, and I am inclined to doubt the reliability of the statistics furnished upon this point. Many of the disadvantages under which these interesting people labour, are such as should not be charged up to a wilful blindness. Much may be attributed to misfortune and past conditions, and the more enlightened among them look forward with hopeful- ness to their correction ; but the crowning infamy of their social system, and for which no excuse can be offered in the present age, is the light in which they regard the social evil and the conditions resulting therefrom. Every city has its Yoshiwara, or section set apart for houses of ill-fame, which are authorized and protected by the police. These people, while isolated for sanitary reasons, are not regarded with shame, but form an important feature of all' the larger communities. The inmates of thpse places, or ' Joro,' as they are called, are replenished from the naturally depraved to some extent, but large numbers of innocent girls are unwittingly to themselves and sometimes with their knowledge of the consequences, sold by their natural protectors for various reasons into the Yoshiwara, from which there is no escape, unless some man buys them out for his own use. In the latter case, by marriage, they are restored to respectable society among the lower classes. j 4. j A gentleman (an Englishman) who had married a Japanese wife and been adopted into the^family, having taken the name of Kobayashi Beiki, and who has written a very large book on the Yoshiwara of Tokio, informed me that he had investigated the records of the Yoshiwara of that city and found that they show that about 1,.500,000 men had visited these houses during the year 1897, the law requiring that each visitor should be registered and reported to the police. The prices at which girls are so d into the Yoshi- wara ran.'e from .50 to 1.50 yen, and I was informed that they might be purchased out Tt nbout the same flexures. A small section of the press are beginning to denounce this Sstem but f™y years it must continue to poison the national morals and furnish a supSv of lewd women: who from time to time escape abroad, m spite of the vigilance of the authorities, who profess to be very strict about allowing unmarried women to go abroad It should be borne in mind that in this report I am treating exclusively of the ^ REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 immigrating class, which comes largely from the lower order. Naturally, there i.s a wide line of demarkation between this class and the better people, who may constitute one- fourth of the population more or less, but it is equally true that there is a sad lack of national integrity, character and conscience among all, but few of the moi-e cultured, and possibly excepting the higher official class. Christianity up to the present time has wielded but little influence, except in an educational way, in the ordinary meaning of the term education. Japan is yet a pagan nation and the present tendency, as they break away f '■om their ancient religion, is to drift into opportunism politically, and into agnosticism religiously, with the moral effects which follow such views among the ignorant and uneducated. The result is that the nation, as a whole, presents the aspect of being morally mad. There is apparently no sense of responsibility to society or to Deity. Among such a people and under such conditions the contract labour system is a logical outgrowth. The emigration companies, which prey upon these ignorant but ambitious and conceited people, are regarded by them, with now and then a rare exception, as a necessit}-, going with and belonging to the conditions with which nature and their industrial development has confronted them. While the government denies any responsibility nr desire to encourage emigration, the condition which are herein set forth lead up to but one conclusion. The emigration companies are indifferent to any consideration, except that of profit, while the govern- ment permits the system, if it does not encourage it, in which it has a selfish interest, because it assists in relieving the country of a troublesome and what might become a turbulent population. The limited resources of Japan, its lack of capital and markets for new manu- facture-, which is suggested by the facts I have herein detailed, considered with the fact that there is no land to which these people will go for agricultural expansion within the' Empire, seems to suggest the impossibility of the absorption of 250,000 male labourers annually, leaving out of consideration women to an equal number. It is true that there is unoccupied land in Formosa, but the Japanese are averse to emigrating there because of the hot, wet climate. There is also unoccupied land in Yezzo, but that island is covered with snow one-half the year, and abounds with mosquitoes during a verv hot summer, consequently it is doubtful whether the Japanese coolie can be hired to go there. The government has made, and is making, efforts to induce innnigration to these islands, but with little success. Aside from the climatic conditions described, which are displeasing to the Japanese, there are other reasons why the)- will not go. The Japanese lives in the present ; he is not, and never will be, an independent pioneer ; he wants immediate profits, or wages ; hence he desires to emigrate to civilized countries where he can earn good wages, and as he expresses it, ' learn English,' and how to farm and do other things as the more-favoured nations do, and, after he has achieved these results and made some 'money, place himself in a position to return to his native land in from three to five years : hence it is an easy matter for the agents of the emigration companies to persuade large nnmbers to come to the west. They are beguiled with rosy stories of high wages and immediate employment. The Pacific coast is a favoured localit_y with them, not only on account of the wages paid, but liecause of the climate, which is very similar to that in the neighbourhood of Nagasaki, Kobe, and Yokohama ; consequently there is a strong immigi-ation movement. At present immigrants, aside from those who come to the United States and Canada, are going to ^lexico, Peru, Brazil, Hawaii, Korea, and indeed to every country where contract labourers may be placed ; but it requires much persuasion to induce them to go to Mexico, Peru and Brazil. The foreign office furn'.shed me the following statistics, which I do not regard as of much value, of the actual number of Japanese residing in foreign countries at the end of 1897 : OxV CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 425 San Francisco and neighbourhood . Tacoma and neighbourhood Seattle, &o Portland, &c Idaho, &c Vancouver, &c Victoria Union coal mines Hong Kong . . . , Singapore Thursday Island Townsville Vladivostock Hawaii Seoul Chemulpo Gensan Fusan Shanghai Total. Males. Female.^. 212 T'.i 38/ 461 385 402 214 291 122 158 991 413 890 470 097 ,285 862 397 492 40,608 269 3 61 60 27 21 7 125 456 53 60 717 5,884 790 1,664 561 2,670 331 Total. 13,766 5,481 8J 448 521 412 423 221 298 217 614 1,044 1,473 1,607 27,354 1,887 6,949 1,423 6,067 823 54,374 In considering these statistics it should be borne in mind that nearly as man}- are returning to Japan from many of these countries as depart ; but the number that return from the United States does not, it seems to me from observation, appear to be as large in comparison with the number who come as those returning from other countries. The manner and extent of the encouragement given to emigration by public men, capitalists and other individuals, evidently interested financiallj' and from an economic standpoint in the emigration companies, may be inferred from Appendix A hereto attached, being references to the subject by the leading English and vernacular newspapers. It will be obserA-ed that nearly all of the clippings are translations from Japanese papers. The Japiiii Timi'f: is a government organ, edited by a Japanese and published in English. The Ji'p n MriU is an English paper but pro-Japanese, while the other papers from which extracts have been taken are independent English papers. This report would not be complete without a reference to the fact that Australia and Canada are both legislating against the Japanese, the formesr restricting the immi- gration and the latter limiting the opportunities for obtaining employment. This movement, if it goes on, will necessarily have an important effect upon the number who will try to obtain admission to the United States. During my stay in Japan I was much interested in the information obtained eon- cernino- the" light in which the immigration laws of the United States are regarded. I came to the conclusion that the average Japanese, by intelhgence, is incapable of appre- ciating the motive behind the policy of the United States. The friendliness of the mass of the" people for the United States and respect in which it is held is unmistakable ; but this sentiment is childlike in its character, and is not based upon knowledge or a familiaritv with the harmony between the principles upon which the Government of the United States is based and the laws carrying out those principles. Hence the immigra- tion laws of the United States irritate them, because the motive is to them mcomiire- hensible. All have an intense longing to visit the United States or to come for the purposes of labour. „ , . , , ■ i • j- ■ The wealthy class have little (..r no respect for their own laljouring class as mdm- duals and no sympathy with the toilers in the field and factory. Their condition is reo-arded as a decree of fate, and hence those who are capable rarely comprehend the dignity and rights of labour as it is regarded in this country In mv former report, I gave the facts as I gathered them touching the manner emi-rants"are sent to this and other countries. In this, I have endeavoured to give a brief l^ird's-eye view, superficial in sr.me respects, but, as a whole, I believe true to life of the motives which lie behind the system described and the conditions which make it possible There is much more that might be said, but I fear it might be deemed irre- 426 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 levant. I beg indulgence in expressing my opinion here, however, that the treaty which will go into effect in August between Japan and the United States is a great mistake for the people of Japan, as well as a great blunder on the part of the United States. My reasons in general for this view would not be appropriate in this report, but among them is the effect which it would have upon the power of the United States ta control immigration from Japan. I have been informed that the treaty between Japan and England, made at the same time, makes provision for the control of immigration by Canada, New Zealand, Australia and other English colonies in the Pacific. The Anglo- Saxon, Latin and Semitic races mix, and in time make respectable men and women,, even from the lowest conditions, but the oriental races do not mix well with the people of Europe, and the mixture, unless made among people in affluent circumstances, is always degrading to the European. Wealth and education may and does modify natural tendencies. Much trouble may, in my opinion, be expected from the results of this treaty, the difficulties in the way of regulating immigration being certain to be much greater than heretofore. The appendices hereto attached are evidences which sustain the views herein expressed, gathered by the way, and which might have been multiplied ad infinitum had I made these lines a special feature of my investigation. The special features of my investigation were set forth in part in my former report. The second special feature was the obtaining of information bearing directly upon individual emigrants and bodies of emigrants going to the United States, which might be used in excluding them on this side as contract labourers. To this end, I used ever)' practical method at my command, causing bodies of outgoing emigrants to be interviewed both at Kobe and Yokohama by the most trustworthy persons I could secure for that purpose, also causing the hotel keepers to be pumped. It was either that my agencies were unreliable or the emigrants, had been to^i well trained to give themselves away ; at least my efforts in that direction were unsuccessful. The most reliable man, as I thought, whom 1 secured for this pur- pose, threw up the job on the ad^'ice of an American missionary whom he went to con- sult. It may be possible to occasionally secure evidence of this character, but it is very difficult, and I did not succeed. The consular officers in Japan are, in my opinion, thoroughly efficient, and it is a matter of pride to a citizen of the United States to compare them with the consular representatives of other countries ; but under the present laws they are practically help- less in the matter of emigration. The character of their duties is such that they can not make a specialty of looking after emigrants, and if it were otherwise nothing could be accomplished without a secret service fund. Even an effort in' that direction, as a permanent benefit, would be an experiment. In conclusion, I wish briefly to refer to the difficulties under which I laboured, and yet I may not dare to enter into detail upon the limitations which surround one gathering information which is regarded by the Japanese as injurious to their interests. They are intensely patriotic, which sentiment extends to a sense of dutj^ not to know- ingly 'give each other away.' The educated and intelligent are shrewd and intuitive in their perceptions, and are what the English designate as ' clever,' the word being synonymous with tricky. Few Europeans speak Japanese sufficiently well to make good interpreters, and I found but one European who could both read and speak Japanese ; hence nearly all the work in the nature of translation must either be done by Japanese or by having a Japanese read to a European who speaks Japanese and writes in English as the Japanese reads. Then, again, all Europeans in Japan (which word in the orient includes citizens of the United States, are there for special and personal interest. They do not like to acquire the ill will of the people among whom they live, and consequently help from that source in all but two or three instances was half-hearted. Under these difficulties and many others,! did the best that I could, and the information transmitted, of what- ever value it may be, I belie"\'e to be reliable and accurate. Hoping that my labour herein may contribute something to the better enforcement of the immigration laws, W. M. RICE, United States Commissioner of Immigration. ON CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 427 WAGES IN JAPAN, 1897. (From the Report of the Bureau of Labour iStatistics of California). OCCDPATIONS. Blacksmiths Brickmakers Carpenters Compositors Confectioners Coopers Door and screen makers ........ Dyers Fishermen Gardeners Jewellers Joiners Labourers Labourers, agricultural (male). . Labourers agricultural (female) . Lacquered object makers Metal utensil makers Mine- workers Oil-pressers Papermakers Pasters, paper Plasterers Printers Roofers, shingle and thatch Roofers, tile Saddlers Sake-makers Sawyers Scutchers of cotton Servants, domestics Servants . Ship-carpenters Shoemakers Shoemakers, Japanese shoes Silkworm cultivators (male) Silkworm cultivators (female) Snuff box, purses, &c. makers of . Soy-makers Spinners, silk . , . Stonecutters Straw-matting weavers - Tailors, European clothing Tailors, Japanese clothing Tea- preparers Tobacco-cutters Weavers (male) Weaver'! (female) Wheelwrights Wages. Day. cts. 24 28 24i 18 19 23 ITA 19.V 23i 21' 2% 17 15 «i 22i 24" 24 isi 174 22A 25" n>~. 24" 27 23 Month. 25 174 25 23 19 Uh lOj 204 iii 29 184 224 21 134 9i 20j $ cts.. 4 824 4 95 1 41 794^ 4 184 428 BEPORT OF BOYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 THE NATAL ACT. Whereas it is desirable to place certain restrictions on immigration, Be it therefore enacted b)- the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, hj and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Natal, as follows : — 1. This Act may be known as "The Immigration Restriction Act, 1897." -*. This Act shall apply to : — (a) Any person possessed of a certificate in. the form set out in the schedule A to to this Act, annexed and signed by the Colonial Secretary or the Agent General of Natal, I ir any officer appointed by the Natal Government for the purposes of this Act whether in or out of Natal. (b) Any person of a class for whose immigration into Natal provision is made by law or by a scheme approved by Government. (c) Any person specially exempted from the operation of this Act by a writing under the hand of the Colonial Seoretar)-. (d) Her Majesty's land and sea forces. (e) The officers and crew of any ship of war of any government. (/) Any person duly accredited to Natal by or under the authority of the Imperial or any other "(ivernment. 3 The immigration into Natal, by land or sea, of any person of any of the classes defined in the following subsections, hereinafter called " prohibited immigrant," is pro- hibited, namely : — (a) Any person who, when asked to do so by an officer appointed under this Act, shall fail to (himself) write out and sign, in the characters of any language of Europe, an application to the Colonial Secretary in the form set out in Schedule B to this Act. (h) Any person being a pauper or likely to become a public charge. (c) Any idiot or insane person. (d) Any person suffering from a loathsome or a dangerous contagious disease. (e) Any person who, not having received a free pardon, has within two years been convicted of a felony or other infamous crimes or misdemeanour involving moral turpi- tude, and not being a mere political offence. (f) Any prostitute and any person living on the prostitution of others. 4. Any prohibited immigrant making his way into or being found within Natal, in disregard of the provisions of this Act, shall be deemed to have contravened this Act and shall be liable, in addition to any other penalty, to be removed from the colony and upon conviction may be sentenced to imprisonment not exceeding six months without hard labour. Provided that such imprisonment shall cease for the purpose of deporta- tion of the offender, or if he shall find two approved sureties each in the sum of fiftj' pounds sterling that he will leave the colony within one'month. 5. Any person appearing to be a prohibited immigrant within the meaning of section 3 of this Act and not coming within the meaning of an)^ of the subsections (c), {d), (e), {/), of the said section 3 shall be allowed to enter Natal upon the following condi- tions : — (a) He shall, before landing, deposit with an officer appointed under this Act the sum of one hundred pounds sterling. (h) If such person shall, within one M-eek after entering Natal, obtain from the Colonial Secretary, or a magistrate, a certificate that he does not come within the pro- hibition of this Act, the deposit of one hundred pounds sterling shall be returned. (r) If such person shall fail to obtain such certificate within one week, the deposit of one hundred pounds sterling may be forfeited, and he may be treated as a prohibited immigrant. OxV GHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIORA TlOy^ 429 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 54 Provided that, in the case of any person entering Natal under this section, no lia- bility shall attach to the vessel or to the owners of the vessel in which he may have arrived at any port of the colony. 6. Any person who shall satisfy au officer appointed under this Act that he has been formerly domiciled in Natal, and that he does not come within the meaning of any of the subsections (c), {d), (e), (/•), of section .3 of this Act, shall not be regarded as a prohibited immigrant. 7. The wife and any minor child of a person not being a prohibited immigrant shall be free from any prohibition imposed by this Act. 8. The master and owners of any vessel from which any prohibited immigrant may be landed shall be jointly and severally liable to a penalty of not less than one hundred pounds sterling, and such penalty may be increased up to five thousand pounds sterling by sums of one hundred pounds sterling, each for every five prohibited immigrants after the first five, and the vessel may be made executable by a decree of the Supreme Court in satisfaction of &,ny such penalty, and the vessel may be refused a clearance outwards until such penalty has been paid, and until provision has been made by the master to the satisfaction of an officer appointed under this Act for the conveyance out of the colony of each prohibited immigrant who may have been so landed. 9. A prohibited immigrant shall not be entitled to a license to carry on any trade or calling, nor shall he be entitled to acquire land in leasehold, freehold, or otherwise to exercise the franchise, or to be enrolled as a burgess of any borough or on the roll of any township ; and any license or franchise right which may have been acquired in contra- vention of this Act shall be void. 10. Any officer thereto authorized by government may make a contract with the master, owners, or agent of any vessel for the conveyance of any prohiliited immigrant found in Natal to a port in or near to such immigrant's country of birth, and any such immigrant with his personal effects may be placed by a police officer on board such vessel, and shall in such case, if destitute, be supplied with a sufficient sum of money to enable him to live for one month according to his circumstances in life after disembark- ins from such vessel. o 11. Any person who shall in any way wilfully assist any prohibited immigrant to contravene the provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have contravened this Act. ' 1 2. Any person who shall in any way wilfully assist the entry into Natal of any prohibited immigrant of the class (/) in section 3 of this Act shall be deemed to have contravened this Act, and shall upon conviction be liable to be imprisoned with hard labour for any period not exceeding twelve months. 13. Any person who shall be wilfully instrumental in bringing into Natal an idicjt or insane person without a written or printed authority, signed by the Colonial Secre- tary, shall be deemed to have contravened this Act, and in addition to any other penalty shall be liable for the cost of the maintenance of such idiot or insane person whilst in the colony. 14. Any police officer or other officer appointed therefor under this Act may, sub- ject to the provisions of section -5, prevent any prohibited immigrant from entering Natal by land or sea. 15. The Governor may from time to time appoint, and at pleasure remove officei's for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, and may define the duties of such officers, and such officers shall carry out the instructions from time to time given to them by the' ministerial head of their department. 16 The Governor in Council may, from time to time, make, amend and repeal rules and regulations for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Act. 17 The penalty for any contravention of this Act or any rule or regulation passed thereunder, where no higher penalty is expressly imposed, shall not exceed a fine of fifty Munds sterlin.:' or imprisonment with or without hard laboui-, until payment ot such fine or in addition to such fine, but not exceeding in any case three months. 430 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION 2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 18, All contraventions of this Act or of rules or regulations thereunder and suits for penalties or other moneys not exceeding one hundred pounds sterling shall be cog- nizable by magistrates. Colony of Natal. This is to certify that of aged by trade or calling a is a fit and proper person to be received as an immigrant in Natal. Dated at this day of (Signature.) SCHEDULE B. To the Colonial Secretary. I claim to be exempt from the operation of Act No. 1897. My full name is . My place of abode for the past twelve months has been My business or calling is I was born at in the year Given at Government House, Natal, this fifth day of May, 1897. By command of His Excellency the Governor. THOS. K. MURRAY, Colonial Secretary.