Chinese Prejudice

            The report of Mr. George Anderson, the special commissioner appointed by the Dominion Government to examine into and report upon the advantages offered by Japan as a market for Canadian produce, affords very interesting reading.  It demonstrates conclusively that the Japanese trade is worth looking after, and that British Columbia will find in the realm of the Mikado ready consumers for most of her products, fish, lumber, etc.  Investigation has also proved that the Chinese would be big consumers of Canadian produce, and that the Oriental trade generally is well worth catering to.  This may be very good news, or it might be accepted as quite the reverse.  If we cultivate a trade with the Orient, we cannot consistently refuse to patronize the Japs and Chinamen on our shores.  The question is, is this trade worth cultivating at such a price?  The Chinese are a curse to this country, and the Japs, so far, have not proved themselves much better than their pig-tailed cousins.  Time was when the fishing on the Frazier river and packing in the canneries gave employment to hundreds of white men every season.  Now the fishing is practically monopolized by the Japs and the packing by the Chinese.  Has the country benefited by the change?  When the whiteman did the work the money he earned was spent in the country; now that the work is done by the Chinese and Japanese the money goes out of the country.  The price of fish remains unchanged, or is somewhat higher than of yore.  The cannery men’s profits are no doubt increased to the extent of the difference in wages paid for the Oriental and that which white labor is worth.  The arrangement is beneficial to a few individuals but not to the country at large.  It is said that there is a great demand in Japan for such lumber as British Columbia can supply, but if the lumber camps are to be made up of Japanese, will the trade be of any benefit to the province?  The Orientals are every day crowding into British Columbia, which appears to be the popular dumping ground for the surplus coolie element of China and Japan, and if this influx be still further encouraged, it is only a matter of time when the province will have to be surrendered to these fellows.  It is a very doubtful if the trade with the Orient is worth the sacrifices which must be made in order to secure it.