Chapter 14

LABOUR

One cannot leave a thing alone if it is thrust under the nose at every
turn. I had not quitted the Quebec steamer three minutes when I was
asked point-blank: 'What do you think of the question of Asiatic
Exclusion which is Agitating our Community?'

The Second Sign-Post on the Great Main Road says: 'If a Community is
agitated by a Question--inquire politely after the health of the
Agitator,' This I did, without success; and had to temporise all across
the Continent till I could find some one to help me to acceptable
answers. The Question appears to be confined to British Columbia. There,
after a while, the men who had their own reasons for not wishing to talk
referred me to others who explained, and on the acutest understanding
that no names were to be published (it is sweet to see engineers afraid
of being hoist by their own petards) one got more or less at something
like facts.

The Chinaman has always been in the habit of coming to British Columbia,
where he makes, as he does elsewhere, the finest servant in the world.
No one, I was assured on all hands, objects to the biddable Chinaman.
He takes work which no white man in a new country will handle, and when
kicked by the mean white will not grossly retaliate. He has always paid
for the privilege of making his fortune on this wonderful coast, but
with singular forethought and statesmanship, the popular Will, some few
years ago, decided to double the head-tax on his entry. Strange as it
may appear, the Chinaman now charges double for his services, and is
scarce at that. This is said to be one of the reasons why overworked
white women die or go off their heads; and why in new cities you can see
blocks of flats being built to minimise the inconveniences of
housekeeping without help. The birth-rate will fall later in exact
proportion to those flats.

Since the Russo-Japanese War the Japanese have taken to coming over to
British Columbia. They also do work which no white man will; such as
hauling wet logs for lumber mills out of cold water at from eight to ten
shillings a day. They supply the service in hotels and dining-rooms and
keep small shops. The trouble with them is that they are just a little
too good, and when attacked defend themselves with asperity.

A fair sprinkling of Punjabis--ex-soldiers, Sikhs, Muzbis, and Jats--are
coming in on the boats. The plague at home seems to have made them
restless, but I could not gather why so many of them come from Shahpur,
Phillour, and Jullundur way. These men do not, of course, offer for
house-service, but work in the lumber mills, and with the least little
care and attention could be made most valuable. Some one ought to tell
them not to bring their old men with them, and better