The Racial and Economic Tensions of the Pacific Coast

The Asiatic problem which confronts the white race on the North American continent, and particularly that part bordering on the Pacific, has many viewpoints. Stretching twelve hundred miles from the region of San Francisco to the shores of Prince Rupert, this area is where the common man finds his last chance. But through these cities flit Chinese, Japanese, and Hindu laborers. While Japanese businessmen move into residential districts, Japanese workers from the rice fields move into Seattle factories, where their low wages make them a menace to the homes and heads of the white men. Chinese river boatmen seek the jobs of longshoremen in Vancouver, leading to riots in defense of the high-wage system. The white man eyed the yellow with pleasant curiosity until the latter threatened his stomach; then he wanted to employ the big stick to ensure a rapid solution. The author argues that laws and treaties are secondary to the underlying reality that the stronger race will eventually triumph, and suggests that the presence of these groups in the West is an economic consequence of capital seeking low-wage labor to intimidate organized workers.