ANTI-JAP CALIFORNIA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13070, 9 May 1913, Page 6

ANTI-JAP CALIFORNIA.

GOVERNOR'S VIGOROUS SPEECH. XONDON, May 2. Mr W. J. Bryan, the United States Secretary of State, who is in Sacramento with the object of trying to smooth over the -difficulty that has arisen out of the passing of anti-Japanese legislation in California, has had a series of secret conferences with tlie Californian legislators.

Tho attitude of the Governor, Mr Hiram Johnson, remained defiant, despite all Mr Bryan's appeals, and at a session of the State Congress he violently attacked those who are opposing the Bill.

Mr Bryan thereupon appealed for a cessation of the discussion until ho liad time to communicate with the President.

Although Japanese official circles are optimistic as to the ultimate issue of the affair, public opinion in Japan is insistant that the present is the most suitable opportunity for settling the whole question. Both political parties in Japan are despatching representatives to California to inquire into the issues on the spot. The Californian Alien Land Bill is expected to pass in its amended form. It provides that only those aliens eligible for citizenship in tlie United States may own real property, and contains an assumption tliat Japanese, though entitled by their treaty with America to own land, cannot own agricultural lands. It is doubted whether Japan will acquiesce in this interpretation.