These Chinese and Japanese immigrants arriving on the Kumeric at Vancouver in 1907 heightened tensions. One in four adult males in the province was Asian. Whites were convinced that the beginning of a flood from the Orient was hitting the province. The increased influx occurred during a time of business decline and heavy unemployment. The upshot was the growth in Vancouver of an Asiatic Exclusion League modeled after similar leagues in Seattle and San Francisco. On September 5, 1907, rioters in Bellingham, Washington, attacked and injured a number of East Indians. A group of 750 fled to Canada. On September 6, as that band of dispirited refugees approached Vancouver, the steamer Charmer landed 500 Japanese in the city. On September 7, the Asiatic Exclusion League paraded, burnt an effigy of Dunsmuir, and rioted in the Chinese and Japanese quarters of the town.
