always been a strong feeling in California against the immigration
of Asiatic laborers, whether these are wage-workers or men who occupy
and till the soil. I believe this to be fundamentally a sound and proper
attitude, an attitude which must be insisted upon, and yet which can be
insisted upon in such a manner and with such courtesy and such sense of
mutual fairness and reciprocal obligation and respect as not to give any
just cause of offense to Asiatic peoples. In the present state of
the world's progress it is highly inadvisable that peoples in wholly
different stages of civilization, or of wholly different types of
civilization even although both equally high, shall be thrown into
intimate contact. This is especially undesirable when there is a
difference of both race and standard of living. In California the
question became acute in connection with the admission of the Japanese.
I then had and now have a hearty admiration for the Japanese people.
I believe in them; I respect their great qualities; I wish that our
American people had many of these qualities. Japanese and American
students, travelers, scientific and literary men, merchants engaged in
international trade, and the like can meet on terms of entire equality
and should be given the freest access each to the country of the other.
But the Japanese themselves would not tolerate the intrusion into
their country of a mass of Americans who would displace Japanese in the
business of the land. I think they are entirely right in this position.
I would be the first to admit that Japan has the absolute right to
declare on what terms foreigners shall be admitted to work in her
country, or to own land in her country, or to become citizens of her
country. America has and must insist upon the same right. The people
of California were right in insisting that the Japanese should not
come thither in mass, that there should be no influx of laborers, of
agricultural workers, or small tradesmen--in short, no mass settlement
or immigration.

Unfortunately, during the latter part of my term as President certain
unwise and demagogic agitators in California, to show their disapproval
of the Japanese coming into the State, adopted the very foolish
procedure of trying to provide by law that the Japanese children should
not be allowed to attend the schools with the white children, and
offensive and injurious language was used in connection with the
proposal. The Federal Administrat