WESTERN LAWMAKERS SEEK TO BAN JAPANESE IMMIGRANTS
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On April 20, 1921, senators and representatives of eleven Far Western states convened in an organizational meeting with the goal of banning Japanese immigration to the United States.
Senator Hiram W. Johnson* (R-California), chairman of the group, announced he would be naming one senator and one representative from each state in the coming week.
Members of the group voiced the need for action because of "threatening conditions" in their respective states and districts.
V.S. McLatchy, representing the Japanese Exclusion League** of California, said...
"The Japanese today control one-eighth of all the rich irrigated lands of California. They will not and cannot make American citizens."
*Hiram Warren Johnson (1866-1945) was born in Sacramento, CA & graduated from the University of California Berkeley. HWJ served in the US Senate 1917-1945. He was a leading isolationist.
**Asiatic Exclusion League was founded in Canada in 1905 & headquartered in San Francisco. Its aim was to stop immigration of peoples of Asian origin.
SOURCE
"Eleven Western States Unite to Ban Japanese," The New York Tribune, April 21, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
