556 The National Geographic Magazine 



their detailed negotiations, which were 

 fully reported to their government, will 

 show that they made no other demands. 

 After receiving most sacred assurances 

 that the restriction shall be " reason- 

 able, and not absolute prohibition," the 

 Chinese government gave consent to the 

 American government's demands. This 

 was considered at the time by the Amer- 

 ican Commissioners, as their official 

 reports show, as a concession from the 

 Chinese government without any quid 

 pro quo. The Chinese government had 

 good reason to believe that the question 

 would be handled with due leniency, and 

 that the American people would not take 

 advantage of their good nature. 



Fourteen years elapsed, and the Amer- 

 ican government by resolution of the 

 Senate again sought to negotiate a modi- 

 fication of the treaty with the Chinese 

 government. The treaty of 1 894, which 

 expired December last by limitation, 

 containing a provision that no Chinese 

 laborer shall enter the United States, 

 was the result. It should be stated that 

 there is no indication in this resolution 

 that the Senate desired the exclusion of 

 an}' other class of Chinese than laborers. 

 It is evident that the object of the Amer- 

 ican government was to secure, and the 

 consent of the Chinese government was 

 given to, the prohibition of Chinese la- 

 borers only, and no other class. During 

 more than a score of years of restriction 

 and prohibition, abuses have sprung up 

 on both sides. Time will not permit me 

 to enumerate the numerous cases of 

 hardship and unjust treatment of which 

 the exempt classes of Chinese have been 

 made the victims because of the over- 

 zealousness of some United States gov- 

 ernment officials in discharging their 

 duty in keeping out the prohibited class 

 ■of Chinese. Suffice it to say that prior 

 to the President's order of last June it 

 had so stirred up the feeling of the 

 Chinese people that the boycott against 

 American goods was the regrettable con- 

 sequence. 



In compliance with the wishes of the 

 American government, the Chinese gov- 

 ernment has issued an imperial decree, 

 warning the people to respect every 

 treaty stipulation under penalty of se- 

 vere punishment, and urging them to 

 suppress the boycott pending action of 

 Congress to relieve the situation, and 

 the provincial authorities have issued 

 similar proclamations. The Chinese 

 government, while viewing with con- 

 cern the exclusion of Chinese laborers 

 under undue discrimination is, never- 

 theless, not unwilling to take into con- 

 sideration the condition of things al- 

 leged to exist in this country. But aside 

 from the laboring class, all other classes 

 should be admitted, and should receive 

 the same treatment as is accorded to 

 similar classes of Europeans entering 

 this "land of freedom." As the laws 

 and the immigration regulations stand 

 today, aside from the five classes named 

 in the expired treaty of 1894, namely, 

 students, merchants, teachers, travelers, 

 and officials, the following classes of 

 Chinese cannot enter the United States, 

 to wit, bankers, lawyers, journalists, 

 priests and the clergy, physicians, den- 

 tists, insurance agents, brokers, and 

 traveling commercial agents. Nothing 

 was farther than this from the thought 

 of the original negotiators. 



In fact, the laws on the subject seem 

 to be in such a state of hopeless con- 

 fusion that different attorneys-general 

 have rendered conflicting opinions as to 

 the meaning of certain vital require- 

 ments, with the result that the regula- 

 tions, which should be intended merely 

 to carry into effect the provisions of the 

 laws, impose conditions additional to 

 the laws and unwarranted requirements, 

 which have the force of legal enact- 

 ments. In consequence Chinese sub- 

 jects have been made to suffer great 

 hardship in their attempt to land in the 

 United States, and after being admitted 

 they have been incessantly harassed by 

 immigration agents of the government 



