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new law. Under the earlier statute, steamship companies were compelled to pay a fine of $100 for bringing to the United States an immigrant afflicted with a loathsome or dan gerous contagious disease. This provision in the law of 1903 resulted in turning back many diseased persons at the ports of embarkation, but the law of 1907 extends this provision to include idiots, imbeciles, epileptics and persons afflicted with tuberculosis, provided, of course, that such disease or disability might have been detected at the port of embarkation.

Furthermore, Congress has extended from two years to three years the time within which an alien who becomes a public charge may be deported, and has placed half of the entire cost of removal to the port of deportation upon the person or persons who induced the undesirable immigrant to cross the ocean. If this is not practicable, it is charged to the immigration fund.

Surgeons may be sent to those foreign countries which will permit inspection of emigrants prior to sailing. This will prevent many persons suffering from diseases which would bar them from entering the United States from making a futile voyage. It will also save many others who now contract diseases en route from the danger of infection. This system is now, with the consent of the Italian Government, successfully in use at various ports in Italy.

Weak provisions in the former immigration act relating to the place of entry of aliens and the separation of families have been strengthened, and a bureau has been established to encourage immigrants to go to those sections of the country in which labor is most needed, and thus, if possible, to avoid the congestion resulting from large numbers of newly arrived persons remaining in the populous seaport cities of the East. Rigid

inspection of child immigrants has been provided to prevent the virtual slavery which has heretofore often occurred, and greater space per immigrant on shipboard has been required.

This last provision (which does not take effect until January 1, 1909) will not affect the larger and newer steamers, and will not materially affect the older ones. Out of 175 steamers bringing immigrants last year to the port of New York, more than half would not have violated this law had it been in effect, and the worst case of violation would have been an excess of but sixty-seven immigrants.

Finally, the law provides for the appointment of a commission of nine,-three Senators, three Representatives, and three persons to be named by the President,—who are directed to make a careful and exhaustive study of the whole question of immigration, and to report to Congress at the earliest practicable date, with recommendations for any future legislation which may seem to be necessary.

Those who are best informed emphatically approve of the new law. It is unquestionably a wise, intelligent, humane statute, far more likely to prove a success than if it included more radical provisions, likely to excite opposition. Supplemented by such additional legislation as may be suggested by the report of the commission, the law of 1907 should prove adequate to deal with conditions as they at present exist.

Immigrants are now arriving in the United States in so great numbers that they affect the social, physical, financial, and moral welfare of the nation. The judgment of Congress that no investigation or legislation should be spared in order to deal effectively with this great problem will surely be approved by every thoughtful American.

THE AMERICAN WAGE-EARNER ?

RECENTLY the

BY HARRIS WEINSTOCK.

statement went the rounds of the American press that a movement was on foot in Japan to nationalize not only all public utilities, but also all great industrial undertakings in that empire. At once a cry arose that great danger threatened Occidental industries, that the future of the white wage-earner was likely to be imperiled, and that the success of the movement in Japan meant an inevitable lowering of the living of the white wage-worker to the Asiatic standard, carrying with it a consequential setback to modern progress and to higher civilization.

It was pointed out that by placing western labor-saving machinery in the hands of the wage-earners of the Orient, with their low wage scale, and placing behind this combination the great intelligence and farreaching power of the Japanese Government, Asiatic industrial supremacy must result.

It was held that so long as modern methods were adopted by Japan and retained in private hands, something, but not a great deal, was to be feared. When, however, the machinery and the credit of the Japanese Government, with its high intelligence, its progressive and aggressive spirit, and its thoroughness of methods, as demonstrated in the recent war with Russia, is applied industrially, then there will be everything to fear, making the industrial future of the white man far from reassuring.

Some months ago the writer was invited to deliver an address to the students of the College of Commerce of the University of California, and was surprised to note the many Japanese students in that body, learning further that they were among the most earnest and industrious workers. Japanese commercial and industrial students are now to be found scattered in many American and doubtless in English colleges as well. As a rule, these come from the better Japanese families, and many are sent abroad at government expense. All this means that when these students return to Japan they will tend to revolutionize the spirit and the practices of Japanese trade and industry. They will introduce Occidental standards of trade,

and in time the commercial and industrial ethics of Japan will equal, if not become better than those of Occidental lands.

JAPANESE COMMERCIAL PROGRESS.

Hence, those who fear Japanese commercial and industrial competition, but who lull themselves into a sleep of fancied security because of the lack of character on the part of the Japanese merchant, are destined to keen disappointment. The evolution in his character is likely to keep pace with his evolution in war and in politics. Surely, from a moral point of view, the Japanese did not suffer in the late war in contrast with his white Russian opponent. His conduct and his treatment of the enemy, of non-combatants, of his prisoners, and of the neutrals through whose territory he passed were in accord with the highest standard of the highestminded nations.

The question, then, presents itself, assuming that the government of Japan will absorb its great industrial enterprises, assuming that its buyers and sellers and producers will adopt the western standard of ethics in all commercial relations, how serious a menace is all this likely to prove to the white wage-earner?

Here are some of the things she has already done and some of the things she hopes to do. It is a fine record, according to Mr. Raymond F. Crist, special agent of the Department of Commerce and Labor. In his report to Congress Mr. Crist says:

The evident aim of the government is to place Japanese manufactures on an independent footing. That this object has long been entertained is shown by the persistent efforts made during the reign of the present Emperor to develop the manufactures which now flourish throughout the empire. The manufacture of almost every commodity now made in Japan was begun under government supervision and expense. Goods that were essential to the welfare of the natives in 1890 and were among its leading imports are no longer purchased abroad, but instead are manufactured in such quantities that the surplus is exported to other parts of the from which they were previously purchased. world, and in many instances to the countries Thus, instead of occupying the position of a buyer of her necessaries from other countries,

Japan has entered the ranks as a competitor for a share in the world's markets.

Model factories and plants were installed by the government in many industrial branches, such as for the manufacture of cottons, silks, and woolens, cement-making, shipbuilding, various ironworking plants, glass, brick, match, and paper factories.

In 1890 the value of exports of manufactured commodities was $19,382,000; in 1900 this amount had increased to $28,000,000; in 1904 this had still further increased to $120,000,000. In addition to the establishment of model factories, the government purchased abroad complete equipment for spinning and weaving mills and turned it over to individuals desiring to enter upon those lines of manufacture, with the privilege of using the machinery and paying for it on a long-time and small-installment basis; on the other hand, to those who were desirous of initiating a new system of manufacture but were deficient in capital, the government loaned necessary funds; others were granted financial assistance by the state for terms sufficiently long to place them on a sound financial and industrial basis. In many in stances within ten years the factories had been turned over to individual enterprise and state aid was no longer required. Great enlarge ments of cotton-spinning and weaving mills are projected for the near future in view of the past ready market found for their outputs in Japan, China, and Korea, and the expectations which the Japanese may very properly have of larger sales in the fields of Manchuria and Korea.

An analysis of trade statistics for the last two years is significant: In 1904 Japan sold to Tientsin, China, gray sheeting amounting to $184,000, and for 1905 the sales amounted to $500,000. What does this mean?

It is pointed out that with the Japanese Government marine subsidies, with the facilities offered the cotton-goods manufacturer for placing as much of his products as he may desire throughout the Chinese market, Japanese trade and influence in China in the near future are likely to exceed those of any other country. In 1902 Japan imported cotton fabrics amounting to $1,301,016, while for the year 1904 they fell to $266,045, the difference being supplied by home production.

HEAVY SHIP SUBSIDIES.

Shipbuilding companies of Japan are building new vessels, repairing old ones, altering captured craft, and in every way preparing to adapt everything they have afloat to the new field of Japanese endeavor. If the half that is told of Japanese intentions is true, then an activity will soon ensue on the Pacific Ocean which will astonish the west ern world.

On December 31, 1904, Japan owned

1209 steamers of 789,494 tons, and 3523 sailing vessels of 321,024 tons. Nine months later her steamers had increased to 1360, and her sailing vessels to 3598, with a collective increased tonnage of 141,036. In 1896 Japan's foreign trade was $144,758,617, and in 1905, $405,028,501.

The establishment of new industries on a large scale is almost of daily occurrence in Japan. One day we read of a great paper mill being started; the next day of a colliery company with a capital of $7,500,000, and again of a great steel foundry.

The Anglo-Japanese Gazette maintains that each year indicates that Japan's future lies in her manufactures. The results of the past two years were attained in the face of almost overwhelming difficulties, nearly a million of able-bodied men being absent on the battlefield, and yet in spite of this, and the fact that the people of Japan had to furnish supplies for the army and navy, they were able to send larger quantities of foods abroad.

OUR TRADE WITH JAPAN.

With the United States Japanese trade has steadily increased. If in 1876, when Japan exported goods amounting to $22,293,473, and imported from the United States wares amounting to but $1,702,418, some one could have pictured the industrial conditions of Japan as they are to-day, with her modern mills and foundries, the astonishing number of her factories and workshops, and foretold that in 1905 her exports would amount to $160,700,000, an increase of over 700 per cent., it would have seemed alarming. Many would have assumed that our imports to Japan would now be practically nil and that she would be invading our own ports in competition with our own products, and yet, despite the growth of the cotton-goods industry in Japan, there has in recent years been an increasing Japanese demand for the products of American looms, as indicated by the following reports: Cotton-goods exports to Japan: 1903, $28,000; 1904, $561,800; 1905, $828,000.

Doubtless the Russo-Japanese War had something to do with the abnormal demand for American cotton fabrics, but, even granting this, the future Japanese demand is likely to be far greater than it was before 1904.

Despite the wonderful industrial growth of Japan, however, there is little to be feared from her as a world-industrial power. With all her growth the net annual value

IS INDUSTRIAL JAPAN LIKELY TO MENACE THE AMERICAN WAGE-EARNER?

RECENTLY the

BY HARRIS WEINSTOCK.

statement went the rounds of the American press that a movement was on foot in Japan to nationalize not only all public utilities, but also all great industrial undertakings in that empire. At once a cry arose that great danger threatened Occidental industries, that the future of the white wage-earner was likely to be imperiled, and that the success of the movement in Japan meant an inevitable lowering of the living of the white wage-worker to the Asiatic standard, carrying with it a consequential setback to modern progress and to higher civilization.

It was pointed out that by placing western labor-saving machinery in the hands of the wage-earners of the Orient, with their low wage scale, and placing behind this combination the great intelligence and farreaching power of the Japanese Government, Asiatic industrial supremacy must result.

It was held that so long as modern methods were adopted by Japan and retained in private hands, something, but not a great deal, was to be feared. When, however, the machinery and the credit of the Japanese Government, with its high intelligence, its progressive and aggressive spirit, and its thoroughness of methods, as demonstrated in the recent war with Russia, is applied industrially, then there will be everything to fear, making the industrial future of the white man far from reassuring.

Some months ago the writer was invited to deliver an address to the students of the College of Commerce of the University of California, and was surprised to note the many Japanese students in that body, learning further that they were among the most earnest and industrious workers. Japanese commercial and industrial students are now to be found scattered in many American and doubtless in English colleges as well. As a rule, these come from the better Japanese families, and many are sent abroad at government expense. All this means that when these students return to Japan they will tend to revolutionize the spirit and the practices of Japanese trade and industry. They will introduce Occidental standards of trade,

and in time the commercial and industrial ethics of Japan will equal, if not become better than those of Occidental lands.

JAPANESE COMMERCIAL PROGRESS. Hence, those who fear Japanese commercial and industrial competition, but who lull themselves into a sleep of fancied security because of the lack of character on the part of the Japanese merchant, are destined to keen disappointment. The evolution in his character is likely to keep pace with his evolution in war and in politics. Surely, from a moral point of view, the Japanese did not suffer in the late war in contrast with his white Russian opponent. His conduct and his treatment of the enemy, of non-combatants, of his prisoners, and of the neutrals through whose territory he passed were in accord with the highest standard of the highestminded nations.

The question, then, presents itself, assuming that the government of Japan will absorb its great industrial enterprises, assuming that its buyers and sellers and producers will adopt the western standard of ethics in all commercial relations, how serious a menace is all this likely to prove to the white wage-earner?

Here are some of the things she has already done and some of the things she hopes to do. It is a fine record, according to Mr. Raymond F. Crist, special agent of the Department of Commerce and Labor. report to Congress Mr. Crist says:

In his

The evident aim of the government is to place Japanese manufactures on an independent footing. That this object has long been entertained is shown by the persistent efforts made during the reign of the present Emperor to develop the manufactures which now flourish throughout the empire. The manufacture of almost every commodity now made in Japan was begun under government supervision and expense. Goods that were essential to the welfare of the natives in 1890 and were among its leading imports are no longer purchased abroad, but instead are manufactured in such quantities that the surplus is exported to other parts of the from which they were previously purchased. world, and in many instances to the countries Thus, instead of occupying the position of a buyer of her necessaries from other countries,

Japan has entered the ranks as a competitor

for a share in the world's markets.

Model factories and plants were installed by the government in many industrial branches, such as for the manufacture of cottons, silks, and woolens, cement-making, shipbuilding, various ironworking plants, glass, brick, match, and paper factories.

In 1890 the value of exports of manufactured commodities was $19,382,000; in 1900 this amount had increased to $28,000,000; in 1904 this had still further increased to $120,000,000. In addition to the establishment of model factories, the government purchased abroad complete equipment for spinning and weaving mills and turned it over to individuals desiring to enter upon those lines of manufacture, with the privilege of using the machinery and paying for it on a long-time and small-installment basis; on the other hand, to those who were desirous of initiating a new system of manufacture but were deficient in capital, the government loaned necessary funds; others were granted financial assistance by the state for terms sufficiently long to place them on a sound financial and industrial basis. In many in stances within ten years the factories had been turned over to individual enterprise and state aid was no longer required. Great enlargements of cotton-spinning and weaving mills are projected for the near future in view of the past ready market found for their outputs in Japan, China, and Korea, and the expectations which the Japanese may very properly have of larger sales in the fields of Manchuria and

Korea.

An analysis of trade statistics for the last two years is significant: In 1904 Japan sold to Tientsin, China, gray sheeting amounting to $184,000, and for 1905 the sales amounted to $500,000. What does this mean?

It is pointed out that with the Japanese Government marine subsidies, with the facilities offered the cotton-goods manufacturer for placing as much of his products as he may desire throughout the Chinese market, Japanese trade and influence in China in the near future are likely to exceed those of any other country. In 1902 Japan imported cotton fabrics amounting to $1,301,016, while for the year 1904 they fell to $266,045, the difference being supplied by home production.

HEAVY SHIP SUBSIDIES.

Shipbuilding companies of Japan are building new vessels, repairing old ones, altering captured craft, and in every way preparing to adapt everything they have afloat to the new field of Japanese endeavor. If the half that is told of Japanese intentions is true, then an activity will soon ensue on the Pacific Ocean which will astonish the western world.

1209 steamers of 789,494 tons, and 3523 later her steamers had increased to 1360, and sailing vessels of 321,024 tons. Nine months her sailing vessels to 3598, with a collective increased tonnage of 141,036. In 1896 Japan's foreign trade was $144,758,617, and in 1905, $405,028,501.

The establishment of new industries on a large scale is almost of daily occurrence in Japan. One day we read of a great paper mill being started; the next day of a colliery company with a capital of $7,500,000, and again of a great steel foundry.

The Anglo-Japanese Gazette maintains that each year indicates that Japan's future lies in her manufactures. The results of the past two years were attained in the face of almost overwhelming difficulties, nearly a million of able-bodied men being absent on the battlefield, and yet in spite of this, and the fact that the people of Japan had to furnish supplies for the army and navy, they were able to send larger quantities of foods abroad.

OUR TRADE WITH JAPAN.

With the United States Japanese trade has steadily increased. If in 1876, when Japan exported goods amounting to $22,293,473, and imported from the United States wares amounting to but $1,702,418, some one could have pictured the industrial conditions of Japan as they are to-day, with her modern mills and foundries, the astonishing number of her factories and workshops, and foretold that in 1905 her exports would amount to $160,700,000, an increase of over 700 per cent., it would have seemed alarming. Many would have assumed that our imports to Japan would now be practically nil and that she would be invading our own ports in competition with our own products, and yet, despite the growth of the cotton-goods industry in Japan, there has in recent years been an increasing Japanese demand for the products of American looms, as indicated by the following reports: Cotton-goods exports to Japan: 1903, $28,000; 1904, $561,800; 1905, $828,000.

Doubtless the Russo-Japanese War had something to do with the abnormal demand. for American cotton fabrics, but, even granting this, the future Japanese demand is likely to be far greater than it was before 1904.

Despite the wonderful industrial growth of Japan, however, there is little to be feared from her as a world-industrial power. On December 31, 1904, Japan owned With all her growth the net annual value

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