Japan and the California Problem Part 6

Another reason for the high birth rate of the j.a.panese in California is the high percentage of married people. The rate of married people among the j.a.panese in California suddenly rose since some ten years ago when a great number (between 400 and 900 per annum) of wives began to come in under the popular name, _picture brides_. The ratio maintained between male and female among the j.a.panese in California was one to six ten years ago, but at present, it is one to two.[23] Since it is estimated that there are 16,195 j.a.panese wives in California,[24] it is obvious that there are double that number, or 32,390 married j.a.panese, in California, which means that 46 per cent. of the total population are married. This is apparently a high rate, since it is 17 per cent. in j.a.pan, 36 per cent. in Great Britain, 37 per cent. in Italy. Although exact data is lacking, judging from the fact that only less than a half of California's white population are of ages above twenty-one,[25] it may not be too far-fetched to estimate the percentage of married people at 25 per cent. of the total population.

From the foregoing considerations we can deduce this, that the j.a.panese are mostly at the prime of life, and that the percentage of married people is exceedingly high. Now, in comparing the birth rates of two groups such as those of the j.a.panese and of the Californians in general, a mere comparison of rates without taking into consideration the difference in age distribution and marital conditions is not only useless, but it is absolutely misleading. California has only 20 per cent. of people between the ages of eighteen to forty-four,[26] while the j.a.panese group has 59 per cent.; California has about 25 per cent. or less of married population, including those who have pa.s.sed the fertile period; while the j.a.panese community has 46 per cent. of married population, all of whom are in the zenith of productivity. No wonder, then, that the j.a.panese in California have three times as high a birth rate as that of California as a whole.

There is another factor which accounts for the high birth rate of the j.a.panese. It is the sudden rise of the standard of living. It is an established principle of immigration that when immigrants settle in a new country and attain a much higher standard of living than they were accustomed to at home they tend to multiply very rapidly through high birth rate. Among the European immigrants in this country, a birth rate of fifty per thousand is not rare.[27] In the careful researches made in Rhode Island concerning the fertility of the immigrant population,[28] it was found that their birth rate was invariably high, 72 per cent. of the married women each having upwards of three children, with an average of 4.5 children for each one of them. This fact holds equally good for the j.a.panese immigrants, most of whom came from the poor quarters of the agricultural communities, where not only economic handicaps but customs and social fetters operate to check their multiplication. When, therefore, they come to California, where food is abundant, work easy, climate salubrious, and personal freedom is incomparably greater, they naturally tend to multiply.

What we May Expect in the Future.

We have seen, then, that the high birth rate among the j.a.panese settlers in California is due primarily to the facts that the largest portion of them are in the prime of life; that the percentage of married people is remarkably high, the larger part of them, especially the women, being at the zenith of productivity, and that their standard of living suddenly improves when they settle in California. The question naturally arises as to what will be the future development of j.a.panese nativity. Remembering that a prediction, however scientific, cannot at best be more than a possibility, we shall venture to forecast the future of the j.a.panese birth rate in California.

In doing so, the proper way would be to examine any possible future change in the causes which const.i.tute the present high birth rate. How, then, about the age distribution of the j.a.panese? It has been shown that 59 per cent. of them are between the ages of seventeen and forty, and that 15 per cent. of them are above forty. In other words, 74 per cent. of the j.a.panese are mature, while only 26 per cent. are minors. Now, we are all mortals, and grow old as time pa.s.ses; even the j.a.panese do not have magical power to retain perennial juvenility, as some agitators seem to think. They grow old, the j.a.panese in California, as years come and go, pa.s.sing gradually into the age when childbearing is no longer possible.

Therefore, if fresh immigration is checked, which we have already indicated is desirable, it is manifest that a large portion of the present j.a.panese in California will die out without being reinforced by youths save those who are born in America, and hence are citizens thereof. That this tendency has already set in may be seen from the increase of the death rate among the j.a.panese in California, as the following table indicates:

DEATH RATE OF j.a.pANESE IN CALIFORNIA.

======================== Year. Number. Percentage of Death per 1000.

----- ------- ---------- 1910 440 10.64% 1911 472 .....

1912 524 .....

1913 613 .....

1914 628 .....

1915 663 .....

1916 739 .....

1917 910 .....

1918 1150 .....

1919 1360 20.00% ========================

The rate of death per one thousand population increased twice during the past ten years.

When the age distribution becomes normal by the pa.s.sing away of the middle-aged group which const.i.tutes the majority at present, rendering the population evenly distributed among the children, middle-aged, and the old, the present high percentage of married people also will disappear, descending to the normal rate ruling in the ordinary communities, which is but half as high as that now prevailing among the j.a.panese living in California. When the number of young people relatively lessens, and that of married people also decreases, what other result can we expect but the marked fall in numbers born?

Improved standards of living as a cause of the high birth rate will also cease to operate as new immigrants will no longer enter; and the American-born generations will gradually take their parents' place. The younger generations of j.a.panese are as a rule higher in culture and ideals than their parents. Accordingly, it is unthinkable, other things being equal, that they should go on multiplying themselves as their parents did.

It is an established principle proved conclusively by the thoroughgoing Congressional researches in Rhode Island,[29] that the birth rate among foreign-born immigrants is exceedingly high, and that it steadily decreases in successive generations, reaching the normal American rate within a few generations. We are, then, on a safe ground in inferring that a similar tendency will also manifest itself among the j.a.panese in the United States.

Our discussions concerning future birth rate then, seem to point decidedly to the conclusion that since the present high percentage of the middle-age group and the married group is bound to diminish as time pa.s.ses, and since the fertility of the future generations is not likely to be as high as that of their parents, it will decrease markedly by the time the present generation pa.s.ses away. It is, therefore, only a question of time. The present is a transitional period, a turning-point, in the history of the j.a.panese in America. It is surely unwise, then, to become unduly excited over the pa.s.sing phenomenon, and thereby defeat the working of a natural process which promises to bring about a satisfactory solution in the not distant future.

CHAPTER VIII

FACTS ABOUT THE j.a.pANESE IN CALIFORNIA--FARMERS AND ALIEN LAND LAWS

Agriculture is by far the most important occupation of the j.a.panese in California. Out of the total j.a.panese population of 70,196 in California, 38,000 belong to the farming cla.s.ses including those who are sustained by breadwinners. Besides, there are thousands of laborers who seek farm work during the summer. Perhaps owing to the facts that most of the j.a.panese immigrants are drawn from the agricultural communities in j.a.pan, that the climate and soil of California are especially suited to the kinds of farming in which the j.a.panese are skilled--such as garden-trucking and berry-farming--the j.a.panese in California have been markedly successful in agricultural pursuits.

History of j.a.panese Agriculture in California.

The history of j.a.panese farming in California dates back to the time when the Chinese Exclusion Law was enacted in 1882. A number of j.a.panese laborers were employed in the Vaca Valley and another group in the vineyards of Fresno as early as 1887-1888. Since that time the number of j.a.panese farm laborers has steadily increased. They have distributed themselves widely in the lower Sacramento, San Joaquin River, Marysville, and Suisun districts. Later many j.a.panese settled in Southern California.

During that early period the j.a.panese farm laborers were warmly welcomed by the California farmers because of the dearth of farm hands and because of their skill and industry in farming.

But the j.a.panese were not satisfied at remaining mere farm hands. They saved their wages and attempted to start independent farming. In many cases independent farming was not as profitable as wage labor, since the former involved risk and responsibility. Yet because of the incalculable pleasure which independence brings, because of the ease with which leases could be obtained, and because of the social prestige attached to the "independent farmers," the j.a.panese developed a distinct tendency to lease or buy land and to take up farming by themselves rather than be employed as wage earners.

This tendency, however, did not manifest itself distinctly until some time later, when they had saved sufficient sums of money to launch such undertakings. Thus the census of 1900 records only 29 farms, covering 4698 acres, which were operated by j.a.panese. The number steadily increased during the following ten years. According to the census of 1910 they operated 1816 farms, covering 99,254 acres of land. At present it is reported that they own some 600 farms covering 74,769 acres and operate some 6000 farms embracing 383,287 acres under lease or crop contract, bringing the total farm acreage under j.a.panese control to 458,056 acres.

The brilliant success of the j.a.panese farmers in California may be better appreciated when the amount and value of the crops turned out by them every year are considered. Governor Stephens, in his letter to Secretary of State Colby, quotes in part the report prepared by the State Board of Control, and states:

... At the present time, between 80 and 90 per cent. of most of our vegetable and berry products are those of the j.a.panese farms.

Approximately, 80 per cent. of the tomato crop of the State is produced by j.a.panese; from 80 to 100 per cent. of the spinach crop; a greater part of our potato and asparagus crops, and so on.

In another part of the letter he remarks:

... In productive values--that is to say, in the market value of crops produced by them--our figures show that as against $6,235,856 worth of produce marketed in 1909, the increase has been to $67,145,730, approximately ten-fold.

Causes of Progress.

There are many causes for this rapid development. In the first place, the j.a.panese as a rule are ambitious. They do not rest satisfied, like the Chinese and the Mexicans, with being employed as farm laborers. They save money or form partners.h.i.+ps with well-to-do friends, and start independent farms. This is made easy by a form of tenancy which prevails in California. That is, the landowner advances the required sum of money to a tenant, offers him tools and shelter, and in return receives rent from the sale of the crops. This is a modified form of crop contract, but it is decidedly more secure for the owner, because he a.s.sumes less risk. It is more profitable to the tenant because he gets a due reward for his effort.

On account of the ease with which this kind of lease is obtained, ambitious j.a.panese farm laborers soon become tenants, and when successful--and usually they are--they buy a piece of land with the intention of making a permanent settlement.

That j.a.panese farmers are usually favorably regarded by landowners is an important factor in their success. Although there have been cases in which the j.a.panese provoked the hatred of landowners by not observing promises or failing to carry out contracts, on the whole, the j.a.panese are preferred to other races, because they are more peaceful, take better care of the land, and pay higher rent.[30]

The reason why j.a.panese take better care of the land and can pay higher rent than ordinary farmers may be found in their previous agricultural training in j.a.pan. There the farming is conducted on the basis of intensive cultivation. Moreover, in order to prevent exhaustion of land the farmers are accustomed to taking minute care that the soil's fertility be retained. This habit of intensive cultivation and the minute care of the soil, which are really inseparable, are maintained by the j.a.panese farmers when they undertake agriculture in California. Furthermore, it so happens that the climate and soil of California are especially suited for intensive cultivation. Such products as vegetables and berries, which grow so abundantly in California, are precisely the kinds of crops which demand careful and intensive cultivation. The notable success of j.a.panese farmers in this form of production, therefore, is not an accident. By the introduction of methods of intensive cultivation they have been able to take good care of the land and to pay high rent to the landowners.

That the j.a.panese are good farmers is attested by the fact that they actually produce more per acre than the other farmers. The j.a.panese-American Year Book of 1918 has the following comment to make regarding the efficiency of j.a.panese farmers in California:

In the year 1917 there were 12,000,000 acres of irrigated farm lands in California. From this, California produced crops valued at $500,000,000; that is to say, the value of the product turned out per acre was about $42. j.a.panese cultivated 390,000 acres and produced $55,000,000 worth of farm products, or $141 per acre. The value of the j.a.panese farms turned out per acre was, therefore, three and a half times as much as that obtained by California farms in general.

Perhaps the patience and industry with which the j.a.panese have developed some of the "raw" land of California into productive farm land accounts for their prosperity in such localities as Florin, New Castle, the Sacramento district, and the Imperial Valley.

j.a.panese Farm Labor.

We may now inquire to what extent the j.a.panese farmers const.i.tute a menace to the California farmers and to the State of California. In considering this question, it is useful to distinguish between the j.a.panese farm laborers and the regular farmers.

There are in California at present about fifteen thousand j.a.panese who are employed in various kinds of agriculture. The number varies according to season. In the summer months it increases considerably, while in the winter it greatly decreases. When the seasonal work is over in a locality, the men seek other jobs in other localities. There is work for them throughout the year, since the climatic conditions of California are such that some crop is raised in some part of the State in almost all months.

The agency which adjusts the demand and supply of farm labor is known as a "j.a.panese Employment Office." There are over three hundred, at least, of such agencies facilitating the supply of labor.

The chief advantage which the employment of j.a.panese farm laborers offers to employers is, in the first place, their highly transitory character.

Most of the j.a.panese laborers, being men of middle age with no settled homes, go to any place where wages are high. The convenience which the farmers receive from this rapid supply of necessary labor is immense, since the crops handled by the j.a.panese are perishables demanding immediate harvesting. The transitory facility of j.a.panese labor is one thing which California farmers cannot easily dispense with and is a thing which the white laborers with families cannot very well subst.i.tute.

Another convenience derived from the employment of j.a.panese farm labor is the "boss system." It is a form of contract labor in which a farmer employs workers on his farm as a united body through its representative or boss. This frees the farmer from the care of overseeing the work, of arranging the wages with the workers, and of taking other troubles.

Although this system has given rise to many regrettable complications through the occasional failure of the j.a.panese to observe their contracts, which leads to the general belief that the j.a.panese are unreliable and dishonest; nevertheless, this "boss system" remains as the one distinct feature of j.a.panese farm labor which is welcomed by the California farmers.

There is one more characteristic of the j.a.panese farm laborers which is unique and extremely important. They are by habit and const.i.tution adapted to the garden farming which prevails in California. Fruit and berry picking, tr.i.m.m.i.n.g and hoeing, transplanting and nursery work, which require manual dexterity, quick action, and stooping over or squatting, are singularly suited to the j.a.panese. No other race, save possibly the Chinese, can compete with the j.a.panese in this sort of field labor. With their training in intensive cultivation, with physical adaptation to the important agricultural industries of California, and with the rapid transitory capacity and advantageous system of contract labor, the j.a.panese farm laborers const.i.tute an important a.s.set to the agriculture of California.

There are, however, serious charges made against this cla.s.s of j.a.panese.

Perhaps the most pertinent criticism of them is that they do not observe contracts or promises. This question was very ably discussed by Professor Millis in his valuable book, _The j.a.panese Problem in the United States_, as follows: