FRICTION OF PACIFIC POWERS RELIEVED

To avoid friction among the Pacific powers by mutual understanding of their various points of view is the purpose of the recently founded Institute of Pacific Relations, according to Professor G. G. Wilson of the Law School, an active member of the Institute.

Founded a year ago, the Institute is essentially a conference involving consideration of the questions arising from the contact of Eastern and Western civilizations. Professor Wilson, who travelled to Honolulu last summer with 40 other delegates from the United States, explained the function of the organization to a CRIMSON reporter yesterday.

"Members from ten different countries, numbering 135 in all, gathered at the 'cross-roads of the Pacific'," said Professor Wilson. "Everything from finances, resources and the tariff, to religion and race was considered. Members or groups of members drew up reports on problems with which they were familiar. These reports, were read to the assembly and were followed by a discussion."

Immigration Laws Discussed

The subject set forth by Professor Wilson was "Laws on Immigration for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Japan." It is a detailed treatise on the technical problems which confront the various nations, and sets forth the influences of race, population, resources, and climate which each of them has to consider in enacting immigration laws. It then goes on to offer criticisms and suggestions for the purpose of improving these laws.

When questioned concerning some of the more important questions which were raised at the conference Professor Wilson quoted from an article which appeared in the New Republic on October 5, by Herbert Croly, editor of that magazine. "A case in point was the attitude of the conference toward the question of feeding the inhabitants of an island like Japan, who are increasing at the rate of almost 900,000 a year and who cannot, because of the policy of other Pacific nations, export in sufficient quantities either population or goods. The conference did not, of course, explicitly recommend any way of dealing with this problem, but the various speakers tended to indorse the Japanese contention that the other Pacific peoples ought to modify their own policies in order to take care of the Japanese increase in population. If they were unwilling to accept Japanese immigrants, it was their duty to provide Japan with raw materials and to buy from her more and more manufactured products, and so help her to support her increasing population."

China Presented Difficulties

"Perhaps the central problem this year was that of China," continued Professor Wilson. "The exclusion of foreigners, the Shanghai incident, the struggles of contending generals, taxes and tariffs, were discussed, as well as the aspirations and ideals of the Japanese people.

"The problems of Australia, a country with a Pacific civilization but a place in the British Commonwealth, were shown to be of a very difficult and internal nature when one takes into consideration the fact that her civilized area is nothing but a narrow strip encircling an area of waste land comparable in size to the United States.

When asked about the powers which the institute exercises, Professor Wilson said, again quoting Mr. Croly. "The institute is, if you please, a lily in the farm yard of politics." He went on to explain that the sole purpose of the institute was to investigate and to discuss, but that no resolutions were passed and no formal decisions were made.

"I don't know," Professor Wilson continued, "how long the lily will last, but we can only hope that without any actual rights or powers, our discussions will interest and knit together the people and governments of our nations to a friendly understanding based on mutual good-will."