THE SHUT DOOR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1407, 6 April 1912, Page 12

THE SHUT DOOR.

BLOCKING THE JAPANESE. HOW CANADA ACTED. Mr. J. Gordon Mngee, C.E., of Vancouver, H.C., is a. much-tiravellcd Englishman who talks most interesting'}' °" many things. Tho presence in Wellington on Monday Inst of tho Japanese Antarctic ship Kainan Mam leil him to refer to the very aggressive emigration policy that is being pursued by Japaw, and when it was mentioned that Iho Kainan oouid havo only boen down at the ieo lor Jour or live weeks altogether, tho visitor mtwl his eyebrows, and recalled tho fact that tho expedition had spent a good deal pt time in New Zealand, several months m Sydney, and only a few weeks in Amarctioa, and, further, that tho expedition was in charge of a naval man who had won honours in tho recent war against ltussia. "You may remember, said Sir. ilagee, "that that somewhat orralic \kkoii Winston Churchill nmdo somo sort ot treaty with Japan, which gave her leave to dump emigrants in CaaSiik. . A few weeks alter this came, about a steamer arrived in Vancouver with 1100 Japanese. Tho authorities held her up, and would not allow tho strangers to land. The incident caused an immense stir throughout America. Mr. Churchill cabled to Sir Wilfrid Laurier that he was imperilling international relations with Japan by' tacitly affrce:ng to tiro hold-up, to which Laurier rcphwl that it was a. domestic affair in wliici) they could brook no interference, iho end of the affair was that tho Japanese were not permitted to land and had to bo taken back to Honolulu whence they came. Before this definite action was taken the Japanese had captured nearly tho whole of tho western fishing trade, bmco then the Borden Government lias enacted that no fishing license shall bo issued to a Japanese, and none are permitted to land if their intention is to settle m the. country. Canada is very much ahvo altogether on the alien immigration. No foreigner is now permitted into Canada from tho United States, ar.d a very active look-out is maintained all along tho border for such ponplo. The result of that enactment was that tho immigrants from Europe were all arriving at St. John s or Quebec by Canadian steamers. "To ensuro a decent class of settler who will not become a burden on tho State each immigrant has to bo possessed of the equivalent in money to .£lO if he arrives in tho summer, and -C2O if he arrives in the winter. This is a step towards getting tho thrifty hard-working class who are likely to benefit the country." And what of the States? "Oh, the States has no definite policy worth anything. They only look for immediate benefits in their pursuit of tho almighty dollar and there aro few big men who havo national ideals and interests which one can respect. Monopolies exist everywhere, and corruption is rife; it is shocking. One effect of tin's deplorable slalo of things is that thousands of American farmers with plenty of capital are pouring into Canada lured by tho prospect of the benefits of settling in a country where such a pernicious system of government as that of the Slates does not obtain. Tho proposed reciprocal treaty with the United States roused the country from end to end with a fighting spirit against the proposal, and as you arc aware the last elections made a clean sweep of those who were or who wero thought to be in favour of tho proposal. It was the. Dominion's answer to a proposal which would surely havo meant tho thin end of the wedgo of separation from England."