70 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ? CONVENTION. 



nity. In Vaca Valley and in the tokay and strawberry districts around 

 Florin, not only do they lease orchards, vineyards, and gardens, but 

 they are gradually acquiring ownership. The Japanese do not like to 

 work by the day, but insist on contract work, and as a rule the work is- 

 slighted and there is continual bickering and trouble about the remu- 

 neration. 



In the harvest season the Japanese earn as high as $2.50 to $5 in a 

 day in the different districts*, commencing with work in the strawberry 

 gardens, and ending with work in the olive and orange groves. This 

 shows absolutely that their labor can not be classed as cheap labor, and 

 on this account very little objection could be urged against them if it 

 were not for their tricky dealings, deplorable commercial unreliability, 

 and their lack of honest business methods. Under these conditions the 

 American employer can not help but contrast his business dealings 

 with the Japanese with those that he had with his Chinese help. 



Chinese are barred by the exclusion laws, but the plentiful opportu- 

 nity for employment at remunerative wages and the mild climate of the 

 Pacific Slope are inducing another Oriental race, the Hindus, to immi- 

 grate in ever-increasing numbers, and at the present moment it looks 

 as if they will prove likely to be the most serious menace that has 

 threatened American labor, or disturbed the relations between employer 

 and employe. They are introducing among us a most pernicious caste 

 system. The Hindu has fixed, irrevocable ideas and customs which we 

 do not understand and will not tolerate. They are coming by the hun- 

 dreds at the present time, and they are likely to increase to thousands 

 in the future. 



Both the Hindu and Japanese immigrants are likely to remain her& 

 permanently. Their presence is certain to incite race prejudice and 

 may often incite race war, and will be a constant menace to the peace 

 of the country. It is certain that neither of them can ever satisfacto- 

 rily supply the demand of the American employer of agricultural labor. 

 The supply of available white labor is and always will be insufficient,, 

 for the reasons above stated. Hindus and Japs are both unsatisfactory 

 and undesirable. What, then, is the Pacific Coast producer to do? It 

 seems that he must either limit his product to what he and the few 

 white men he can afford to employ the year round can harvest, or else, 

 look to some source not now available for the extra labor that is' 

 required at certain periods of the season. 



The solution is not an easy one. The country can not prosper, old 

 industries can not grow, and new ones can not develop unless confi- 

 dence and satisfactory relations are maintained between employer and 

 employe. In our anxiety to maintain these relations and protect. 

 American white labor from the encroachments of the aliens of other- 

 countries, with which we can not compete, it is difficult to convince the- 



