168 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



and was in all respects reciprocal as to citizens of the 

 United States in China. It gave to the voluntary 

 emigrant coming to the United States the right to 

 travel there or to reside there, with all the privileges, 

 immunities, or exemptions enjoyed by the citizens or 

 subjects of the most favored nation. 



Under the operation of this treaty it was found that 

 the institutions of the United States and the character 



alleviate this condition by legislation, but the act 

 which it passed proved to be in violation of our treaty 

 obligations, and, being returned by tho President with 

 his objections, failed to become a law. 



Diplomatic relief was then sought. A new treaty 

 was concluded with China. Without abrogating the 

 Burlingame treaty, it was agreed to modify it so far 

 that the Government of the United States might regu- 

 late, limit, or suspend the coming of Chinese laborers 

 to the United States or their residence therein, but 

 that it should not absolutely prohibit them, and that 

 the limitation or suspension should be reasonable and 

 should apply only to Chinese who might go to the 

 United States as laborers, other classes not being in- 

 cluded in the limitations. This treaty is unilateral, 

 not reciprocal. It is a concession from China to the 

 United States in limitation of the rights which she 

 was enjoying under the Burlingame treaty. It leaves 

 us by our own act to determine when and how we 

 will enforce those limitations. China may, therefore, 

 fairly have a right to expect that in enforcing them 

 we will take good care not to overstep the grant, and 

 take more than has been conceded to us. 



It is but a year since this new treaty, under the 

 operation of the Constitution, became part of the su- 

 preme law of the land ; and the present act is the first 

 attempt to exercise the more enlarged powers which 

 it relinquishes to the United States. 



In its first article the United States is empowered 

 to decide whether the coming of Chinese laborers to 

 the United States, or their residence therein, affects 

 or threatens to affect our interests, or to endanger 

 good order either within the whole country or in any 

 part of it. The act recites that, " in the opinion of 

 the Government of the United States, the coming of 

 Chinese laborers to this countrv endangers the good 

 order of certain localities thereof." But the act itself 

 is much broader than the recital. It acts upon resi- 

 dence as well as immigration, and its provisions are 

 effective throughout the United States. I think it 

 may fairly be accepted as an expression of the opin- 

 ion of Congress that the coming of such laborers to 

 the United States, or their residence here, affects our 

 interests and endangers good order throughout the 

 country. On this point I should feel it my duty to 

 accept the views of Congress. 



The first article further confers the power upon this 

 Government to regulate, limit, or suspend, but not 

 actually to prohibit the coming of such laborers to, 

 or their residence in, the United States. The nego- 

 tiators of the treaty have recorded with unusual full- 

 ness their understanding of the sense and meaning 

 with which these words were used. 



As to the class of persons to be affected by the 

 treaty, the Americans inserted in their draft a pro- 

 vision that the words " Chinese laborers " signify all 

 immigration other than that for "teaching, trade, 

 travej, study, and curiosity." The Chinese objected 

 to this that it operated to include artisans in the class 

 of laborers whose immigration might be forbidden. 

 The Americans replied that they ''could" not con- 

 sent that artisans shall be excluded from the class of 

 Chinese laborers, for it is this very competition of 

 skilled labor, in the cities where the Chinese labor 

 immigration concentrates, which has caused the em- 

 barrassment and popular discontent. In the subse- 

 quent negotiations this definition dropped out, and 

 does not appear in the treaty. Article II of the treaty 

 confers the rights, privileges, immunities, and exemp- 

 tions which are accordea to citizens and subjects of 



the most favored nation upon Chinese subjects pro- 

 ceeding to the United States as teachers, students, 

 merchants, or from curiosity. The American commis- 

 sioners report that the Chinese Government claimed 

 that in this article they did, by exclusion, provide that 

 nobody should be entitled to claim the benefit of the 

 general provisions of the Burlingame treaty but those 



of its people and their means of obtaining a livelihood 

 might be seriously affected by the unrestricted intro- 

 duction of Chinese labor. Congress attempted to treaty 



who might go to the United States hi those capacities 

 or for those purposes. I accept this as the defi- 

 nition of the word "laborers" as used in the 



As to the power of legislating respecting this class 

 of persons, the new treaty provides that we u may 

 not absolutely prohibit" their coming or their resi- 

 dence. The Chinese commissioners gave notice in 

 the outset that they would never agree to prohibition 

 of voluntary emigration. Notwithstanding this the 

 United States commissioners submitted a draft in 

 which it was provided that the United States might 

 " regulate, limit, suspend, or prohibit " it. The Chi- 

 nese refused to accept this. The Americans replied 

 that they were " willing to consult the wishes of the 

 Chinese Government in preserving the principle of 

 free intercourse between the people of the two coun- 

 tries, as established by existing treaties, provided that 

 the right of the United States Government to use its 

 discretion hi guarding against any possible evils of im- 

 migration of Chinese laborers is distinctly recognized. 

 Therefore, if such concession removes all difficulty on 

 the part of the Chinese commissioners (but only La 

 that case), the United States commissioners will agree 

 to remove the word "prohibit" from their article, 

 and to use the words "regulate, limit, or suspend." 

 The Chinese reply to this can only be inferred from 

 the fact that in the place of an agreement, as proposed 

 by our commissioners, that we might prohibit the com- 

 ing or residence of Chinese laborers, there was in- 

 serted in the treaty an agreement that we might not 

 doit. 



The remaining words, " regulate, limit, and sus- 

 pend," first appear in the American draft. When it 

 was submitted to the Chinese they said : " We infer 

 that of the phrases regulate, limit, suspend, or pro- 

 hibit, the first is a general expression referring to the 

 others. We are entirely ready to negotiate with your 

 excellencies to the end that a limitation either in point 

 of time or of numbers may be fixed upon the emigration 

 of Chinese laborers to the United States." At a subse- 

 quent interview they said that " by limitation in num- 

 ber they meant, for example, that the United States 

 having, as they supposed, a record of the number of 

 immigrants in each year, as well as the total number 

 of Chinese now there, that no more should be allowed 

 to go in any one year in future than either the great- 

 est number whicn had gone in any year in the past, 

 or that the total number should never be allowed to 

 exceed the number now there. As to limitation of 

 time they meant, for example, that Chinese should be 

 allowed to go in alternate years, or every third year, 

 or, for example, that they should not be allowed to go 

 for two, three, or five years." At a subsequent con- 

 ference the Americans said : " The Chinese commis- 

 sioners have in their project explicitly recognized the 

 right of the United States to use some discretion, and 

 have proposed a limitation as to time and number. 

 This is the right to regulate, limit, or suspend." 



In one of the conferences the Chinese asked the 

 Americans whether they could give them any idea of 

 the laws which would be passed to carry the powers 

 into execution. The Americans answered that this 

 could hardly be done ; that " the United States Gov- 

 ernment might never deem it necessary to exercise 

 this power. It would depend upon circumstances. 

 If Chinese immigration concentrated in cities where 

 it threatened public order, or if it confined itself to 

 localities where it was an injury to the interests of 

 the American people, the Government of the United 

 States would undoubtedly take steps to prevent such 

 accumulations of Chinese. If, on the contrary, there 

 was no large immigration, or if there were sections 

 of the country where such immigration was clearly 



