CHINESE AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION. 119 



The Japanese has never been placed under the ban to which his 

 Mongol brother, the Chinese, is subjected, because not until recently 

 did Japanese immigration reach proportions of alarming size. The 

 rapid increase of Japanese immigration is shown by the table given 

 below. 



Years. Japanese Arrived. 

 1S9S 2,230 



1899 2,844 



1900 12,635 



1901 5,269 



1902 14,270 



1903 19,968 



The Japanese coolie labor is (according to some observers who have 

 made a special study of them) more undesirable than the Chinese. 

 There are thousands of these Japanese working in the orchards, vine- 

 3 r ards, gardens, hop and sugar-beet fields of California. 



The investigations of the California State Labor Bureau show that 

 the Japanese usually come here in gangs of twenty-five or more, and 

 are controlled by Japanese boarding-house keepers in San Francisco, 

 Seattle and other Pacific ports, the system resembling the ' padrone 

 system ' of the Italians. These Japanese boarding-house keepers or 

 bosses are in touch with so-called ' Immigration companies ' in Japan. 

 Mr. Thos. F. Turner, in his able report upon Chinese and Japanese 

 labor in the mountain and Pacific states, prepared for the Industrial 

 Commission, and presented by it to Congress, December 5, 1901, says: 



A contract is entered into by one of these immigration companies with every 

 Japanese immigrant coming to the United States By the terms of the contract 

 it is provided that the immigration company shall secure passage for the immi- 

 grant to the United States, with necessary j}assport, and that it shall provide for 

 all his creature comforts while en route, and return him to Japan in case of sick- 

 ness. Fully SO per cent, of all the Japanese who come to the United States are 

 classified, as shown by the reports of the immigration office, as farmers. The 

 wages of farm hands in Japan are 3 to 4 yen per month, or about $1.50 American 

 money, without board or lodging; yet every one of this class of immigrants, after 

 paying passage to the United States, is able to show to the immigration officer 

 $30 in gold. It is understood by the immigrants that they must have at least 

 this amount in order to secure landing in the United States. 



It is a fact full of significance that of the hundreds of coolies who are con- 

 stantly coming into the United States every one produces just $30 in gold; no 

 more, and no less. 



That the entire system of immigration companies, boarding-house keepers 

 and Japanese bosses is but an elaborate and ingenious method of avoiding our 

 contract labor laws, no one who has investigated the subject can doubt. 



The following is an exact translation of one of the immigrant contracts 

 referred to : 



Contract 



The Nippon Imin Goshi Company will contract, accepting the request for 

 transportation, of Yoshida Ichitaro, who is a free emigrant, having the purpose 

 to land in San Francisco, North America, and to secure for him work there, 

 within the limitations prescribed by the immigration laws. 



