The chauffeur parked the car on the outside of
the turn to give his passengers a long, unobstructed view.
"Looks like a green checker-board with tiny squares," Parker remarked
presently.
"Little Japanese farms."
"There must be a thousand of them, Farrel."
"That means not less than five thousand Japanese, Mr. Parker. It means
that literally a slice of Japan has been transplanted in La Questa
Valley, perhaps the fairest and most fruitful valley in the fairest and
most fruitful state in the fairest and most fruitful country God ever
made. And it is lost to white men!"
"Serves them right. Why didn't they retain their lands?"
"Why doesn't water run up hill? A few Japs came in and leased or
bought lands long before we Californians suspected a 'yellow peril.'
They paid good prices to inefficient white farmers who were glad to get
out at a price in excess of what any white man could afford to pay.
After we passed our land law in 1913, white men continued to buy the
lands for a corporation owned by Japanese with white dummy directors,
or a majority of the stock of the corporation ostensibly owned by white
men. Thousands of patriotic Californians have sold their farms to
Japanese without knowing it. The law provides that a Japanese cannot
lease land longer than three years, so when their leases expire they
conform to our foolish law by merely shifting the tenants from one farm
to another.
Pages:
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330