170 CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



CONNECTICUT. 



The bill, upon being reconsidered with the 

 President's objections by the Senate, on April 

 5th, failed to pass. 



Subsequently, on April 17th, a bill "to exe- 

 cute certain treaty stipulations relating to the 

 Chinese " was reported from the Committee on 

 Education in the House. 



Mr. Bragg, of Wisconsin : "I desire to know 

 how and why, under the rules of this House, a 

 bill entitled a bill to execute certain treaty 

 stipulations, prescribing intercourse between 

 this Government and a foreign nation, making 

 regulations concerning immigration, and affect- 

 ing the naturalization laws, comes from the 

 Committee on Education and Labor." 



The Speaker : " Because the subject was re- 

 ferred to that committee." 



Mr. Willis, of Kentucky: "Mr. Speaker, I 

 intend to vote for this bill ; and I hope every 

 one who voted for the vetoed bill will vote for 

 this bill. But, sir, I reserved to myself the 

 right in committee, and I exercise that right 

 now, to utter my solemn protest against the 

 action of the committee in placing before us a 

 bill which makes a hasty and unnecessary if 

 not a cowardly surrender of all our rights both 

 under this treaty and under natural and con- 

 stitutional law. 



" I object to the bill not only on account of 

 the absence of the penalty clause, but because 

 the whole system of registration is cut out. 

 Every bill on this subject that has been thus 

 far presented to Congress has recognized the ne- 

 cessity for some system of registration. With- 

 out such a system it will be as difficult to know 

 and to protect the 105,000 Chinese now here 

 as it will be impossible to prevent the unlaw- 

 ful coming and residence of those who are now 

 in China. You first strike out the penalty by 

 which Chinamen are punished for coming here 

 unlawfully, and then you cut out the provision 

 for registration, thus rendering it utterly im- 

 possible to distinguish or identify the lawful 

 from the unlawful residents. Could the door 

 for Chinese immigration be more widely and 

 safely opened ? 



" But, sir, the last and the principal objection 

 which we, the minority of the committee, urge 

 against this bill is the ten-year clause. For 

 over twenty-five years the Pacific States have 

 been cursed with the evils of Chinese immigra- 

 tion ; the peace and order of society have been 

 disturbed ; the interests of good government 

 jeopardized ; the rights and comforts of hon- 

 orable labor have been overthrown, and its 

 worthy representatives driven into poverty 

 and exile by an invading race, self-determined 

 upon alien, sordid, and unrepublican habits. 

 Will such a bill as this bring back peace and 

 order to those burdened and excited communi- 

 ties? Will it restore their social and industrial 

 interests to their safe and normal condition ? 

 Will not the people of the invaded States re- 

 gard a ten-year suspension as a mere temporiz- 

 ing expedient ; a brief and restless respite ; and 

 not a substantial, permanent relief against the 



evils which beset them? After twelve years 

 of urgent appeal will they accept this as the 

 finality; the full and satisfactory reward of 

 their long, patient, and hopeful waiting? " 



Mr. Page, of California: " Mr. Speaker, I do 

 not believe the gentleman from Kentucky has 

 a right to complain. There has been no at- 

 tempt on this side of the House or by myself 

 to deprive any member of the House of the 

 right to debate this question. 



" All I ask is, and I earnestly appeal to all 

 the members upon this floor, to relieve the 

 people of the Pacific coast by giving them some 

 legislation. Let this be placed upon the stat- 

 ute-books of the nation. Let that people to-day 

 be relieved of this terrible evil of which they 

 complain. And if it shall fall to the lot of 

 either side of this House to gain political ad- 

 vantage, let tbat be so. I am not here to urge 

 this as a party measure, but to accept it as be- 

 ing the best thing we can do. 



" While the gentleman from Kentucky stated 

 that he spoke for the Pacific coast, and that 

 this bill was practically better than nothing, I 

 believe, Mr. Speaker, and I know I speak both 

 my own sentiment and the sentiment of a large 

 portion of that people when I say that some of 

 the sections included in this bill are far better 

 for our people than the sections contained in 

 the vetoed bill. 



" We have reduced the limitation of suspen- 

 sion from twenty years to ten. While we voted, 

 some of us for twenty years, if there had been 

 a reasonable chance for fifteen years I would 

 have voted for that. But my judgment is we 

 can not afford to place the President in the 

 position of being compelled to sign or veto a 

 fifteen years' bill after having vetoed a twenty 

 years' bill. I believe ten years will give us 

 relief. I ask the members of this House to 

 give us this bill of ten years ; and before the 

 expiration of those ten years I trust there will 

 be a public sentiment in this country that will 

 unanimously extend the term of limitation." 



This modified bill passed both Houses, and 

 was approved by the President. 



The session closed on August 8th. 



CONNECTICUT. The State officers during 

 1882 were: Governor, Hobart B. Bigelow; 

 Lieutenant-Governor, William H. Bulkeley; 

 Secretary of State, Charles E. Searls ; Treas- 

 urer, David P. Nichols ; Comptroller, Whee- 

 lock T. Bachellor. 



THE LEGISLATURE. The members of the 

 Legislature convened at the Capitol for the 

 biennial session of 1882, on January 4th, and 

 both Houses were speedily organized. In the 

 Senate, Robert Colt, from the Ninth District, 

 was elected President pro tempore, over his 

 competitor, Rial Strickland, from the Second 

 District, on a vote of 16 to 7; and, in the 

 Lower House, John M. Hall, of Windham, was 

 elected Speaker over George G. Sill, of Hart- 

 ford, upon a vote of 138 to 89. 



A few hours later Governor Bigelow sent 

 his message on public affairs through the Ex- 



