196 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. (CHINESE IMMIGRATION.) 



the United States 'of their own free will and 

 accord, as the subjects of the other and more 

 favored nations.' So that and I want the 

 representatives of the Pacific coast to correct 

 me if I make any inisstatement, or fall into 

 error anywhere ; they shall have time enough 

 to do it so that this supplemental treaty pro- 

 vides only for restriction as to laborers, and 

 permits all other Chinese subjects to come and 

 go of their own free will and accord into this 

 country as ours into theirs. 



" The Forty-seventh Congress, after the rati- 

 fication of this supplemental treaty under the 

 lead of these Pacific coast representatives, 

 passed a bill which was vetoed by President 

 Arthur, because it violated even the modified 

 and supplemental treaty, in that it prohibited 

 the importation of all Chinese laborers into 

 this country absolutely for the term of twenty 

 years. It was held by the President that that 

 was a violation even of the modified treaty, 

 and therefore he vetoed it, and the veto was 

 sustained. 



" Still the cry came up for relief, and the 

 Forty-seventh Congress was held by the throat 

 until it passed the act which it is attempted 

 here to-day to amend. That act was passed 

 May 6, 1882, and went into efi'ect August 4th 

 of the same year. That act was passed, signed, 

 and approved, and has now been in operation 

 for nearly two years. I say it has produced 

 the result which it was intended to effect, and 

 the proposed amendatory act will add nothing 

 to it within the scope of the treaty which we 

 have made with China." 



Mr. Henley, of California, summed up the 

 case for the bill in a few words : "It contains 

 no idea, no doctrine, that is novel, or strange, 

 or dangerous, or that has not been fully and 

 exhaustively considered in a bill heretofore 

 passed by an antecedent Congress, and of 

 which this is amendatory. It has simply been 

 found, through the practical operations of the 

 prior act, that these Chinese, with that cun- 

 ning and persistence which no one will deny 

 them, have adopted methods and means to 

 evade its provisions ; and the only function of 

 this bill is simply to strenghten and effectuate 

 the purpose contemplated by the original act. 



"The minority report, unintentionally, no 

 doubt, is calculated to mislead the casual ob- 

 server in this respect, and I pray gentlemen to 

 understand that a preceding Congress, on the 

 passage of the first act, has settled every prin- 

 ciple that is touched upon in the present act. 

 Hence the only question now presented is, Shall 

 we make effectual a law and 'a policy heretofore 

 determined upon, or shall we let that policy go 

 for want of proper executory power?" 



The measure was read by sections in Com- 

 mittee of the Whole, amended, and passed as 



it ** * 



follows: 



That section 1 of the act entitled " An act to execute 

 certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese," ap- 

 proved May 6, 1882, is hereby amended so as to read 

 as follows: 



" Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of th 

 United States, the coining of Chinese laborers to this 

 country endangers the good order of certain localities 

 within the territory thereof: Therefore, 



"Be it enacted^ by the Senate and House of Represent- 

 atives of the United States of America in Congress as- 

 sembled, That from and after the passage of this act, 

 and until the expiration of ten years next, after the 

 passage of this act, the coming of Chinese laborers to 

 the United States be and the same is hereby sus- 

 pended, and during such suspension it shall not be 

 lawful for any Chinese laborer to come from any for- 

 eign port or place, or having so come after the expira- 

 tion of said ninety days, to remain within the United 

 States." 



Section 2 of said act is hereby amended so as to read 

 as follows : 



" SEC. 2. That the master of any vessel who shall 

 knowingly bring within the United States on such 

 vessel, and land, or attempt to land, or permit to be 

 landed any Chinese laborer, from any foreign port or 

 place, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 

 on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of 

 not more than $500 for each and every such Chinese 

 laborer so brought, and may also bo imprisoned for a 

 term not exceeding one year." 



Section 3 of said act is hereby amended so as to read 

 as follows : 



" SEC. 3. That the two foregoing sections shall not 

 apply to Chinese laborers who were in the United 

 States on the 17th day of November, 1880, or who shall 

 have come into the same before the expiration of 

 ninety days next after the passage of the act to which 

 this act is amendatory ; nor shall said section apply to 

 Chinese laborers who shall produce to such master be- 

 fore going on board such vessel, and shall produce to 

 the collector of the ports 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 laborers brought on such vessel shall not 

 be permitted to land except in case of absolute neces- 

 sity, and must depart with the vessel on leaving port." 



Section 4 of said act is hereby amended so as to 

 read as follows : 



" SEO. 4. Tlmt for the purpose of properly identifying 

 Chinese laborers who were in the United States on the 

 17th day of November, 1880, or who shall have come 

 into the same before the expiration of ninety days 

 next after the passage of the act to which this act is 

 amendatory, and in order to furnish them with the 

 proper evidence of their right to go from and come to 

 the United States as provided by the said act and the 

 treaty between the United States and China dated 

 Nov. 17. 1880, the collector of customs of the district 

 from which any such Chinese laborer 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 laborers, which shall be en- 

 tered in registry -books to be kept for that purpose, in 

 which shall be stated the individual, family, and tribal 

 name in full, the age, occupation, when and where 

 followed, last place of residence, physical marks or 

 peculiarities, and all facts necessary for the identifica- 

 tion of each of such Chinese laborers, which books 

 shall be safely kept in the custom-house ; and every 

 such Chinese laborer so departing from the United 

 States shall be entitled to and shall receive, free of 

 any charge or cost, upon application therefor, from 

 the collector or his deputy, in the name of said collect- 

 or and attested by said collector's seal of office, at the 

 time such list is taken, a certificate, signed by the 





