1902 - Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Subject of Chinese and Japanese Immigration into the Province of British Columbia

Pete Lum working monitor nozzle, Wild Horse Creek. (1925) Image courtesy of Fort Steele Heritage Town Archives, FS.5.465.

The 1902 Royal Commission was more a result of a large increase in the Japanese population than continued dissatisfaction with the "Chinese Problem". Fear that the entire Asian population was going to overtake the European population, and dislike and fear of Chinese culture and traditions were instrumental in driving this Royal Commission. The Commission was appointed to investigate the reason why so many Japanese were arriving in the country. The Chinese and Japanese were lumped together under the title of 'Orientals', as both groups were seen to be equally detrimental to the European way of life.

The following are excerpts from the 1902 Commission and reveal some of the attitudes people held in 1902.

William S. Newman of Revelstoke - page 330

"It will take 5 Chinese or Japanese anyway to do the work of 3 Britishers".

Robert Bruce Farwell of Revelstoke - pages 356/357

"[T]hey [Chinese and Japanese] are in every sense a most undesirable class of immigrants; they retard the progress of the country, and keep good immigrants from coming in here; if they were not here, white men would take their places".

Smith Curtis of Revelstoke - page 417

"[T]he Orientals are physically and mentally an inferior race, and if allowed to come into the country without restriction,… the white race would be driven our [sic] or be degenerated and degraded".

Buckinghams and Chang, the cook at the bunkhouse. Buchanan is standing on the steps. image courtesy of Trail City Archives, BC. 1253

Webster Bullock of Nelson - page 498

"A certain class wants them excluded, and others want a restriction put on further immigration; the workingmen of the District want them excluded altogether; persons who have to hire Chinese Cooks and have to get their washing done by them, do not wish them to be totally excluded".

Excerpts from the Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Subject of Chinese and Japanese Immigration into the Province of British Columbia

The following individuals gave evidence of Chinese and Japanese immigration. Each represented certain sectors of society, and a link between all is the fact that they thought Chinese were not a valuable part of Canadian society.

Dr. Robert Fraser, Medical Health Officer of Victoria - page 44

"I think the Chinese are more unhealthy as a class than the same class of white people; I think the places they live in, with the vitiated atmosphere they breathe".

Reverend W. Leslie Clay, Minister of the Presbyterian Church at Victoria - page 71

"I would say Canada would be strengthened by exclusion of the Chinese race. It has a tendency to deter white immigration. They depress wages, which tends to lower the standard of living. They reduce the ability of others to purchase. They ignore our religions [sic] services. They create a laxity of sentiment and feeling and the social evil is likely to increase. I think they are injurious in present numbers".

William James Brandrith, Secretary of Fruit Growers Association for the Province - page 198

"The Chinese are a menace to health from the way they use human excrement in their market gardens".

Summary of Chapter IX, Coal Mining Industry - page 206

The present supply of Chinese labour is sufficient to meet the demand for the present and for years to come.

The evidence of those principally concerned justifies the conclusion that further restriction, or even exclusion, of Chinese labour, will not cause any appreciable inconvenience or loss to this industry.

Chapter XVI, Domestic Servants; Benjamin T. Rogers, Manager of the Sugar Refinery, Vancouver - page 493

Glacier House staff, Glacier Park. (August 16, 1899) image courtesy of Whyte Museum of the Canadain Rockies, Banff, Alberta. NG4-585

"I think Chinese domestic servants are a perfect Godsend to the country. I have had women cooks, much to my sorrow. I have two Chinese servants, and two white servants. I would not have white girls to take the place of Chinese, if they worked for nothing, if they wanted to work. The Chinese does not waste anything and the white cook will waste more than his salary is worth in a month. I would not favour exclusion because we need them as cooks. I think there are enough Chinese in the Province today for domestic purposes".

Railway Construction - page 581

Chinese are not employed in railway construction at the present time, and have not been, with some unimportant exceptions, since the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Railway charters granted by the Legislature of British Columbia in recent years prohibit the employment of Chinese and Japanese in their construction or operation, a number of Acts containing a clause attacking a penalty of $5 a day for each and every Chinese or Japanese person employed in the construction or operation of the undertaking authorized by the Acts. Contractors much prefer white labour for railway construction.

Summary - page 692

1. That the Chinese do not assimilate with the white race in British Columbia, and it would not be desirable if they did.

2. That it is not desirable to give them the franchise, as they are not and will not become citizens in the proper sense of the term or an integral part of the nation.

Commissioners' Conclusions - page 806

Chin Lum Kee, Fort Steele, BC. (nd) image courtesy of Fort Steele Heritage Town Archives. FS 455.9

"Your Commissioners are of opinion that the further immigration of Chinese labourers into Canada ought to be prohibited:

That the most desirable and effective means of attaining this end is by treaty supported by suitable legislation:

That in the meantime and until this can be obtained the capitation tax should be raised to $500."

Two years following the conclusion of this Royal Commission, the Head Tax was raised to $500, so a portion of the Commission's findings and recommendations came to fruition. Some Chinese were still exempt from the tax, but most Chinese people coming to work in the Kootenays had paid $500 which was a large sum of money in 1904.

During this era in British Columbia history, Chinese people were, on the whole, disliked and mistrusted and it was thought that their way of life did not suit mainstream society. Such feelings were common among white settlers in the Kootenays as well, with Chinese people thought to be outsiders who did not belong.