BRIEF Resolved, That the present Chinese exclusion law should remain in force and that similar legislation should be enacted to apply to Japanese and other Asiatics. INTRODUCTION I. The facts in the case are these: A. The Chinese have been excluded since 1882. B. Japanese immigration has been held in check since 1907 by means of an international agreement. C. Other Asiatic immigration, Korean, East Indian, etc., is at present negligible but may increase. D. There is no national law restricting Asiatic immigration other than Chinese. E. States cannot enact restrictive legislation, but California has tried other means of discouraging Japanese immigration: I. Segregation of Japanese in schools, 1907. II. The Affirmative will stand for rigid exclusion of all Asiatics by means of a law enacted by Congress, and will show that in the absence of such legislation states are driven to take other measures in self-protection. III. The Negative will take a more liberal attitude toward Asiatics; show that fears concerning them are unfounded; that the present agreement between nations is satisfactory, and will take the stand that California has acted unwisely. AFFIRMATIVE I. Asiatic immigration brings with it all the evils of other immigration. A. Social. I. Lower standard of living. B. Economic. 1. Lowering of wages. 2. Displacement of American labor. 3. Appropriation of land that should be settled by white men. C. Political. I. Asiatics if admitted will demand naturalization rights, leading to even greater political corruption than at present. II. In addition it brings the evil of a complicated race problem. A. The United States already has one which it has been unable to settle. B. Race prejudice is real, not imaginary. I. race problem The white and yellow races dislike and distrust one another. 2. White men will not work with yellow. 3. Race riots are inevitable. III. Immediate congressional action is called for. A. A treaty or international agreement is not sufficient guarantee of strict exclusion. B. If Asiatics are allowed to come trouble will result involving serious international complications. I. The further apart the two races can be kept, the less likelihood there will be of friction. C. The present Chinese exclusion law has proved successful and could easily be applied to others. IV. Without action on the part of Congress certain states are driven to take measures in their own protection. NEGATIVE I. The evil effects of Asiatic immigration have been exaggerated. A. The Chinese and Japanese in this country have proved to be I. Industrious. 2. Temperate and of good habits. 3. Peace loving. B. They fill a distinct place in the community life. 1. They do work which white men will not do. 2. They are good farmers, in many cases having reclaimed land thought to be worthless. C. They have not lowered wages. II. Race prejudice is based on ignorance. A. Members of different races can live side by side peaceably. B. Race feeling is stirred up by unwise agitation. III. Congressional action is not called for. A. The present arrangement is satisfactory. B. Rigid exclusion would lead to bad feeling on the part of Japan and to possible international trouble. C. An international agreement is the best means of preserving friendly relations. IV. Action on the part of states is unwise and unnecessary. A. California's action stirred up unnecessary ill feeling. B. Conditions at the time did not call for such action. BIBLIOGRAPHY GENERAL REFERENCES Bibliographies, Briefs, etc. Bulletin of Bibliography. 8:94-8. O. '14. Japanese in the United States. Ina T. Firkins. Cowan, R. E., and Dunlap, B., comps. Bibliography of the Chinese Question in the United States. *$1.40. Robertson. Independent. 76: 141. O. 16, '13. California Anti-Alien Land Brief and bibliog. Edith M. Phelps. 1909. Law; Shurter, E. D., and Taylor, C. C. Chinese Immigration; Brief Books, Pamphlets, etc. Adams, T. S., and Sumner, H. L. Chinese and Japanese Immigration, in Labor Problems, pp. 99-111. Macmillan. 1908. Atherton, Gertrude. Chinese in California, in California: an Intimate History, pp. 282-307. Harper. 1914. Blakeslee, G. H., ed. Japan and Japanese-American Relations. G. E. Stechert & Co. 1912. Bancroft, Hubert H. Chinese, the Labor Agitators and Politics, 1868-77, in History of California, v. 7 pp. 335-62. History Co., San Francisco. 1884-90. Bancroft, Hubert H. Race Problems, in New Pacific, pp. 403-35. new ed. Bancroft Co. 1912. Bancroft, Hubert H. Two Sides of a Vexed Question; Mongolianism in America, in Essays and Miscellany, pp. 235-79, 309-418. History Co., San Francisco. 1890. |