224 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



So the amendment was rejected. 



An extended discussion ensued on the bill, 

 and it was put to vote, and resulted as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Allison, Bailey, Bayard, Beck, 

 Elaine, Booth, Cameron of Pennsylvania, Coke, 

 Dennis, Dorsey, Eaton, Eustis, Garland, Gordon, 

 Grover, Hereford, Jones of Nevada, Kirkwood, La- 

 mar, McDonald, McPherson, Maxey, Mitchell, Mor- 

 gan, Oglesby, Paddock, Patterson, Plumb, Ransom, 

 Sargent, Saunders, Sharon, Shields. Spencer, Teller, 

 Thurman, Voorhees, Wallace, Windom 39. 



NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Bruce, Burnside, Butler, 

 Cameron of Wisconsin. Conkling, Conover, Davis 

 of Illinois, Davis of West Virginia, Dawes, Ed- 

 munds, Ferry, Hamlin, Hill, Hoar, Howe, Ingalls, 

 Jones of Florida, Kellogg, Kernan, McCreery, Mc- 

 Millan, Matthews. Merrimon, Morrill, Eandolph, 

 Withers tf. 



ABSENT Messrs. Barnum, Chaffee, Cockrell, Har- 

 ris, Johnston, Rollins, Saulsbury, Wadieigh, Whyte 9. 



So the bill was passed. 



In the House, on March 1st, the following 

 veto message from the President was received: 



To the House of Representatives : 



After a very careful consideration of House bill No. 

 2423, entitled " An act to restrict the immigration of 

 Chinese to the United States," I herewith return it to 

 the House of Representatives, in which it originated, 

 with my objections to its passage. 



The bill, as it was sent to the Senate from the House 

 of Representatives, was confined in its provisions to 

 the object named in its title, which is that of " An act 

 to restrict the immigration of Chinese to the United 

 States." The only means adopted to secure the pro- 

 posed object was the limitation on the number of Chi- 

 nese passengers which might be brought to this coun- 

 try by any one vessel to fifteen ; and^ as this number 

 was not fixed in any proportion to the size or tonnage 

 of the vessel or by any consideration of the safety or 

 accommodation of these passengers, the simple pur- 

 pose and effect of the enactment were to repress this 

 immigration to an extent falling but little short of its 

 absolute exclusion. 



The bill, as amended in the Senate and now pre- 

 sented to me, includes an independent and additional 

 provision which aims at, and in terms requires, the 

 abrogation by this Government of Articles V. and VI. 

 of the treaty with China, commonly called the Bur- 

 lingame treaty, through the action of the Executive 

 en Coined by this provision of the act. 



The Burlingame treaty, of which the ratifications 

 were exchanged at Peking, November 2B } 1869, recites 

 as the occasion and motive of its negotiation by the 

 two governments that "since the conclusion of the 

 treaty between the United States of America and the 

 Ta Tsing Empire (China) of the 18th of June, 1858. 

 circumstances have arisen showing the necessity or 

 additional articles thereto," and proceeds to an agree- 

 ment as to said additional articles. These negotia- 

 tions, therefore, ending by the signature of the addi- 

 tional articles July 28, 1868, had for their object the 

 completion of our treaty rights and obligations toward 

 the Government of China by the incorporation of these 

 new articles as, thenceforth, parts of the principal 

 treaty to which they are made supplemental. Upon 

 the settled rules of interpretation applicable to such 

 supplemental negotiations the text of the principal 

 treaty and of these " additional articles thereto" con- 

 stitute one treaty, from the conclusion of the new ne- 

 gotiations, in all parts of equal and concurrent force 

 and obligation between the two governments, and to 

 all intents and purposes as if embraced in one instru- 

 ment. 



The principal treaty, of which the ratifications were 

 exchanged August 16, 1859, recites that "the United 

 States of America and the Ta Tsing Empire, desiring 

 to maintain firm, lasting, and sincere friendship, have 



resolved to renew, in a manner clear and positive, by 

 means of a treaty or general convention of peace, am- 

 ity, and commerce, the rules of which shall in future 

 be mutually observed in the intercourse of their re- 

 spective countries," and proceeds, in its thirty arti- 

 cles, to lay out a careful and comprehensive system 

 for the commercial relations of our people with China. 

 The main substance of all the provisions of this treaty 

 is to define and secure the rights of our people in re- 

 spect of access to, residence and protection in, and 

 trade with China. The actual provisions in our favor, 

 in these respects, were framed to be, and have been 

 found to be, adequate and appropriate to the interests 

 of our commerce, and by the concluding article we re- 

 ceive the important guarantee, "that should at any 

 time the Ta Tsing Empire grant to any nation, or the 

 merchants or citizens of any nation, any right, privi- 

 lege, or favor connected cither with navigation, com- 

 merce, political or other intercourse, which is not con- 

 ferred by this treaty, such right, privilege, and favor 

 shall at once freely inure to the benefit of the United 

 States, its public officers, merchants, and citizens." 

 Against this body of stipulations in our favor, and 

 this permanent engagement of equality in respect of 

 all future concessions to foreign nations, the general 

 promise of permanent peace and good offices on our 

 part seems to be the only equivalent. For this the 

 first article undertakes as follows : " There shall be, 

 as there have always been, peace and friendship be- 

 tween the United States of America and the Ta Tsing 

 Empire, and between their people respectively. They 

 shall not insult or oppress each other for any trifling 

 cause, so as to produce an estrangement between them ; 

 and. if any other nation should act unjustly or oppres- 

 sively, the United States will exert their good ollices, 

 on being informed of the case, to bring about an ami- 

 cable arrangement of the question, thus showing their 

 friendly feelings." 



At the date of the negotiation of this treaty our Pa- 

 cific posessions had attracted a considerable Chinese 

 emigration, and the advantages and the inconveniences 

 felt or feared therefrom had become more or less mani- 

 fest, but they dictated no stipulations on the subject to 

 be incorporated in the treaty. The year 1868 was 

 marked by the striking event of a spontaneous embas- 

 sy from the Chinese Empire, headed by an American 

 citizen, Anson Burlingame, who had relinquished his 

 diplomatic representation of his own country in China 

 to assume that of the Chinese Empire to the United 

 States and the European nations. By this tune the 

 facts of the Chinese immigration and its nature and 

 influences, present and prospective, had become more 

 noticeable and were more observed by the population 

 immediately affected and by this Government. The 

 principal feature of the Burlingame treaty was its at- 

 tention to and its treatment of the Chinese immigration 

 and the Chinese as forming, or as they should form, a 

 part of our population. Up to this time our uncove- 

 nanted hospitality to immigration, our fearless liber- 

 ality of citizenship, our equal and comprehensive jus- 

 tice to all inhabitants, whether they abjured their for- 

 eign nationality or not, our civil freedom and our re- 

 ligious toleration, had made all comers welcome, and 

 under these protections the Chinese in considerable 

 numbers had made their lodgment upon our soil. 



The Burlingame treaty undertakes to deal with this 

 situation, and its fifth and sixth articles embrace its 

 most important provisions in this regard and the main 

 stipulations in wnich the Chinese Government has se- 

 cured an obligatory protection of its subjects within 

 our territory. They read as follows : 



" ART. V. The United States of America and the 

 Emperor of China cordially recognize the inherent 

 and inalienable right of man to change his home and 

 allegiance, and also the mutual advantage of the free 

 migration and emigration of their citizens and subjects 

 respectively from the one country to the other for the 

 purpose of curiosity, of trade, or as permanent residents. 

 The high contracting parties, therefore, join in repro- 

 bating any other than an entirely voluntary emigration 

 for these purposes. They consequently agree to pass 



