IMMIGRATION, CHINESE. 



387 



non, Republican; Sixteenth District, Aaron 

 Shaw, Democrat ; Seventeenth District, Sam- 

 uel W. Moulton, Democrat; Eighteenth Dis- 

 trict, William R. Morrison, Democrat; Nine- 

 teenth District, Richard W. Townshend, Dem- 

 ocrat; Twentieth District, John R. Thomas, 

 Republican. 



IMMIGRATION, CHINESE. The " Bur- 

 lingame treaty," concluded between the United 

 States and China in 1868, secured to Chinese 

 the right of immigration into the United States, 

 and stipulated that " Chinese subjects visiting 

 or residing in the United States shall enjoy the 

 same privileges, immunities, and exemptions in 

 respect to travel or residence as may there be 

 enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of the most 

 favored nation." The right of naturalization 

 was excepted from the privileges guaranteed 

 by the treaty. The provisions of this treaty 

 relating to immigration were modified by the 

 treaty concluded between the two govern- 

 ments November IT, 1880. The first two arti- 

 cles of this compact are as follow : 



ARTICLE I. Whenever in the opinion of the Gov- 

 ernment of the United States the coming of Chinese 

 laborers to the United States, or their residence 

 therein, affects or threatens to affect the interests ot 

 that country, or to endanger the good order of the 

 said country or of any locality within the territory 

 thereof, the Government of China agrees that the 

 Government of the United States may regulate, limit, 

 or suspend such coming or residence, but may not ab- 

 solutely prohibit it. The limitation or suspension 

 shall be reasonable, and shall apply only to Chinese 

 who may go to the United States as laborers, other 

 classes not being included in the limitations. Legis- 

 lation taken in regard to Chinese laborers will be of 

 such a character only as is necessary to enforce the 

 regulation, limitation, or suspension of immigration, 

 and immigrants shall not be subject to personal mal- 

 treatment or abuse. 



ART. II. Chinese subjects, whether proceeding to 

 the United States as teachers, students, merchants, or 

 from curiosity, together witn their body and house- 

 hold servants, and Chinese laborers who are now in 

 the United States, shall be allowed to go and come of 

 their own free will and accord, and shall be accorded 

 all the rights, privileges, immunities, and exemptions 

 which are accorded to the citizens and subjects of the 

 most favored nations. 



ACTION OF CONGKESS. Early in 1882 an act 

 was passed by Congress suspending Chinese 

 immigration to the United States for the period 

 of twenty years. The representative of the 

 Chinese Government, at Washington, protested 

 against the provisions of this measure, and 

 President Arthur vetoed it, mainly on the 

 ground that prohibition for twenty years was 

 not a " reasonable " suspension within the 

 meaning of the first article of the treaty of 

 November, 1880. The President also pointed 

 out other objections to the bill, among others 

 one mentioned in the protest of the Chinese 

 representative that the act prohibited Chinese 

 from passing through the United States on 

 their way from one foreign country to another. 

 This act originated in the Senate. Another 

 bill was then brought forward in the House, 

 fixing the period of suspension at ten years, 

 but in other respects being substantially the 



same as the first one. The second bill was 

 signed by the President May 6th. 



THE SECOND ACT. This law is entitled " An 

 act to execute certain treaty stipulations relat- 

 ing to Chinese." The preamble recites that 

 "in the opinion of the Government of the 

 United States the coming of Chinese laborers 

 to this country endangers the good order of 

 certain localities within the territory thereof." 

 Section 1 enacts that after the expiration of 

 ninety days after the passage of the act the 

 coming of Chinese laborers to the United States 

 shall be suspended for ten years, and that dur- 

 ing such suspension it shall not be lawful for 

 any Chinese laborer to come to the United 

 States, or, having come after the act takes ef- 

 fect, to remain here. The ninety days expired 

 August 4th, and the law went into operation 

 August 5th. Section 2 declares that the mas- 

 ter of any vessel, knowingly bringing within 

 the United States and landing or permitting to 

 be landed any Chinese laborer from any for- 

 eign port or place, shall be deemed guilty of a 

 misdemeanor, and punishable by a fine of not 

 more than $500 for every Chinese laborer so 

 brought, and may be also imprisoned not ex- 

 ceeding one year. Section 3 provides that the 

 two foregoing sections shall not apply to Chi- 

 nese laborers who were in the United States 

 November 17, 1880, the date of the amended 

 treaty with China or who shall have come 

 here before the act takes effect, "and who 

 shall produce to such master before going on 

 board such vessel, and who shall produce to 

 the collector of the port in the United States 

 at which such vessel shall arrive, the evidence 

 hereinafter in this act required of his being one 

 of the laborers in this section mentioned ; nor 

 shall the two foregoing sections apply to the 

 case of any master whose vessel, being bound 

 to a port not within the United States, shall 

 come within the jurisdiction of the United 

 States by reason of being in distress or in 

 stress of weather, or touching at any port of 

 the United States on its voyage to any foreign 

 port or place; provided that all Chinese la- 

 borers brought on such vessel shall depart 

 with the vessel on leaving port." 



Section 4 is as follows : 



That for the purpose of properly identifying Chinese 

 laborers who were in the United States. on the 17th 

 of November, 1880, or who shall have come into the 

 same before the expiration of ninety days next after 

 the passage of this act, and 'in order to furnish them 

 with the proper evidence of their right to go from and 

 come to the United States of their free will and ac- 

 cord, as provided by the treaty between the United 

 States and China, dated November 17, 1880, the col- 

 lector of customs of the district from which any such 

 Chinese shall depart from the United States shall, in 

 person or by deputy, go on board each vessel having 

 on board any such Chinese laborer and cleared or 

 about to sail from his district for a foreign port, and 

 on such vessel make a list of all such Chinese labor- 

 ers, which shall be entered in registry-books to be 

 kept for that purpose, in which shall be stated the 

 name, age, occupation, last place of residence, physical 

 marks. or peculiarities, and all facts necessary for the 

 identification of each of such Chinese laborers, which 



