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extent that the charge of underbidding can no longer be made against them. They have even availed themselves of the western method of strikes, and as they are highly organized they usually win the point for which they are contending.

When due consideration is given to the enforced segregation of the majority of the Japanese in America, it can readily be seen that they have made considerable progress in their attempts to compete with American workmen. Probably no other people, handicapped as the Japanese have been by race prejudice, could have surpassed them in making so large a place for themselves in American economic life.

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CHAPTER VIII

ORGANIZATION AND SOLIDARITY OF JAPANESE

IMMIGRANTS

NE of the striking characteristics of the Japanese in America is the thoroughness of their organization. Practically all the Japanese immigrants are bound together in groups of some kind, ranging in size and importance from laborers' gangs and local guilds to a national association. In their tendency to organize and in their ready response to group control, the Japanese have been equaled by few, if any, of the European immigrant groups. Probably the only immigrants who have surpassed them in this respect are the Chinese, whose marked leaning toward exclusiveness has served to bind them very closely together.

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Among the various Japanese organizations, the one that is most helpful to the mass of the Japanese immigrants, who belong to the laboring class, is the gang" system, or the organization of laborers into groups under a Japanese boss or contractor. When a Japanese laborer wishes to secure work, he does not usually apply to employers directly. If this were necessary, language difficulties together with his ignorance of local conditions and rates of wages would seriously handicap him and result in dissatisfaction for both parties concerned. The simplest method for him to

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follow is to join a group of his countrymen under a Japanese boss who takes entire charge of all negotiations with the employers. These contractors usually have full supervision and control of their men, not only paying their wages and overseeing their work but conducting lodging houses where the men live on the cooperative plan. Some of these bosses have under them small groups consisting of about a dozen men, while others control hundreds of laborers. These organized gangs of Japanese have proved very acceptable to employers because it offers them an adequate labor supply with the least amount of trouble on their part. In the report of the Immigration Commission this fact was forcibly brought out in these words:

The convenience to ranchers of this organization of Asiatics has been one of the most important things in helping the Asiatics to displace white men where the latter were formerly employed, and to prevent the employment of white men where Asiatics were already established in the industry. This "gang" system has greatly appealed to employers in all agricultural communities requiring large numbers of hand workers, and in some industries where the work is especially disagreeable and especially large numbers are required, as in the beet fields and vineyards, it has come to be looked upon as absolutely essential to the continuation of the industry.1

The success of this "gang" system in promoting the interests of both employers and Japanese laborers has been largely brought about by the efficiency of the

1 Report of Immigration Commission, 24: 18.

Japanese contractors. These men watch very carefully the state of the labor market and make a survey of the important places where there is likely to be a demand for Japanese labor. They keep themselves fully informed of the number of acres under cultivation and of the probable yield of the different crops. They also make it their business to keep in touch with the large ranch owners in order that they may take advantage of every opportunity to get control of the labor supply.1

This organization of Japanese labor is even carried out to the extent of eliminating competition between the different groups of Japanese laborers. Each gang has its territory assigned to it and is not allowed to invade a district belonging to another group. Efforts have been made by different bosses to get together at the opening of the season and agree upon a scale of prices so as to avoid underbidding. This thoroughness of their organization has frequently enabled the Japanese to drive out of a community competing laborers of other nationalities. The usual method followed was to secure contracts by underbidding the laborers already in the field and then later to raise the price to its normal level. Within recent years the Japanese contractors have found it increasingly difficult to secure enough laborers to maintain effective organizations. The exclusion agreement has cut short the supply of new laborers while thousands of the old immigrants have either gone into business for themselves or have 1 American-Japanese Relations, p. 350.

secured steady employment on Japanese farms. But in spite of these handicaps, organized Japanese labor is still an important factor in many of the agricultural communities in California.1

Another phase of the organization of Japanese laborers is seen in their arrangements for cooperative housekeeping. As board is seldom given them by their white employers on the large ranches, they are compelled to provide for their own subsistence. In case the Japanese contractor does not furnish their board at a fixed rate, they buy their own supplies, appoint members of the group to do different tasks, and all share equally in the actual cost. A recent writer gives the following description of this kind of housekeeping as carried on by Japanese laborers:

One of the best samples of housekeeping I have ever seen was done by the 140 Japanese who lived in the House of the Good Shepherd in South Omaha. A board of managers had charge of the affairs of the group. The secretary of the group kept all accounts and transacted all business with outsiders; the commissary had charge of the feeding of the group; the cooking, washing, and scrubbing were systematized; and each member was bound by a set of rules that secured peace and order. The men were constantly changing, some going and others coming; but the total number of the colony remained about the same. Whatever differences and difficulties arose, they were settled within the group. If any member got into trouble, the colony was back of him to the fullest extent. It was the most perfect organization on the communal basis I have seen, and, as far as I know, nothing like it is 1 Report of Immigration Commission, 24: 591-94.

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