yourselves to be stampeded by that hoary shibboleth of strained
diplomatic relations with the Mikado's government. Pressure is brought
to bear on us from the seat of the national government; the President
sends us a message to proceed cautiously, and our loyalty to the
sisterhood of states is used as a club to beat our brains out. Once,
when we were all primed to settle this issue decisively, the immortal
Theodore Roosevelt--our two-fisted, non-bluffable President at that
time--made us call off our dogs. Later, when again we began to squirm
under our burden, the Secretary of State, pacific William J. Bryan,
hurried out to our state capital, held up both pious hands, and cried:
'Oh, no! Really, you mustn't! We insist that you consider the other
members of the family. Withhold this radical legislation until we can
settle this row amicably.' Well, we were dutiful sons. We tried out
the gentleman's agreement imposed on us in 1907, but when, in 1913, we
knew it for a failure, we passed our Alien Land Bill, which hampered
but did not prevent, although we knew from experience that the class of
Japs who have a strangle-hold on California are not gentlemen but
coolies, and never respect an agreement they can break if, in the
breaking, they are financially benefited."

"Well," the girl queried, a little subdued by his vehemence, "how has
that law worked out?"

"Fine--for the Japs. The Japanese population of California has doubled
in five years; the area of fertile lands under their domination has
increased a thousand-fold, until eighty-five per cent. of the
vegetables raised in this state are controlled by Japs. They are not a
dull people, and they know how to make that control yield rich
dividends--at the expense of the white race. That man Okada is called
the 'potato baron' because presently he will actually control the