Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-08-11
THE CHINESE CURSE.
AN A9LE REVIEW BY SENATOR
STEWART.
The Democratic Mask Stripped OF
and the Bccord of Senator
Harrison indicated.


bill for the exclusion of Chinese and to
carry into effect the new treaty as amended
| by the Senate, the bill to take effect upon
the ratification of the Senate amendments
to the treaty by the Chinese Government.
Senator Morgan, of Alabama, spoke about
three hours upon this bill, reading from
the speeches of Senators Hoar, Dawes,
Sherman, Hawley, and others, made years
ago, for the purpose of showing that the
| Republican party was responsible for the
presence of Chinese in the United States
This speech was extremely partisan and
unfair and was manifest effort to manu-
faeture political capital.
At the conclusion of Morgan's speech
! Senator Stewart took the floor and made
very spirited reply. He stated that in
early times in California the labor of the
Chinese was principally confined to work
/ ing over old mining gulches that had pre-
viously been worked by the whites, and
there being ample room in California in
those days for everybody, the evil effects of
the presence of Chinese was not appre-
ciated. The Democratic party of Califor-
MIA was not at the time opposed to the
coming of Chinese but on the contrary,
many leading Democrats advocated appro-
priations o, money by the State to import
Chinese for the purpose of reclaiming the
swamp lands of the State This scheme
was opposed by the Republicans and the
free-soil Democrats. He denied that any
| Democrat had ever prepared and intro
duced bill at any time previous to the
: present session of Congress looking to the
exclusion of Chinese, except a bill intro
duced by Mr.. Henley in 1884, and the bill
prepared and introduced in the House by
Mr.. Morrow, which was afterward intro
duced in the Senate by Senator Fair of
Nevada.
Senator Stewart read from the journal
Of executive sessions of the Senate, which
were recently made public, the proceed
ings which took place in the Senate on
the ratification of the Burlingame treaty
in 1868, from which it appeared that the
treaty, as presented to the Senate, author
lied the naturalization Of Chinese, but
that it was amended on motion of Mr..
Conness a Republican Senator from Cali
fornia, so as to prohibit such naturaliza-
ton. He called the attention of the SEN
ate to a report of the proceedings of the
grand banquet given to Burlingame and
the Chinese Embassy on their return to
San Francisco after the ratification of the
treaty, in which the leading politicians of
both parties participated, vieing with each
other in doing honor to the embassy, and
over which the then Democratic Governor
of California, II. II. Haight, presided, and
at which ex-senator Hager, the present
Collector of the Port of San Francisco,
was a conspicuous and honored guest.
He then called attention to the great de-
bate Of July, 1870, in which the Repub-
lican Senate, after discussion, decided that
no Chinese should be naturalized in the
United States. He criticised the conduct
of Senator Thurman on that occasion in
attempting to stille debate and secure the
naturalization Of Chinese by the Republi-
can party against the apparent bat not real
opposition of the Democratic party. He
showed that the bill under consideration
at the time was House bill amending the
naturalization laws relating to white per-
sons. By unanimous consent Of the SEN
ate it was agreed that a vote on this bill
should be taken without further debate at
$50 o'clock on July 2, 1870.
When the time arrived and no further
debate was in order on the bill, Mr.. Sum-
ner of Massachusetts, offered an amend
ment extending the right of naturaliza-
tion to Africans and Chinese Senator
Stewart protested that Summers amend
ment was not germane to the bill or within
the terms of the agreement, and that he
would not allow vote to be taken on it
without debate. Senator Trumbull, of H.
linois, Chairman of the Judiciary Com
mittee, and Senator Thurman, a member of
that committee, contended with Mr.. Sum
ner and others that Senator Stewart was
bound by the agreement to keep silent
while Senators Conkling and Edmunds of
the same committee maintained that Sen
ator Stewart had a right to be heard on
the new proposition to extend naturaliza-
tion to the Chinese. Senator Morton was
of the same opinion. Great excitement
prevailed.
Finally Senator Edmunds suggested to
Senator Stewart TO allow a vote to be
taken, and if the amendment was adopted
he would certainly be absolved from the
agreement on a motion to reconsider or
after the bill was reported to the Senate.
The vote was taken and the amendment
adopted by q TO %, and the most inter
esting and remarkable debate followed
| blAdt las ONCulISN III lic o6llilc IOr MANY
years, continuing until about midnight of
the 4th of July, when the motion to re-
consider the vote by which the amend
ment was adopted was carried in favor of
reconsideration by vote of q to IA.
twenty Republicans and seven Democrats
voting for reconsideration and against the
naturalization of Chinese
Senator Stewart stated that Mr. Tbur
! ma voted
Chinese and was opposed to extending the
naturalization laws to either Africans or
Chinese, but he complained of him more
on that account than any other, and said
that he would not have alluded to the
matter if the Senator from Alabama had
not read a speech of Senator Thurman
against Chinese suffrage. He said it was
very well to talk against Chinese suffrage,
but the sincerity of Judge Thurman was
impeached by his coalition with Sumner
and Trumbull to choke off debate, the in
eyitable result of which would have been
the adoption of Summers amendment, as
shown by the vote first taken
| Senator Stewart then stated that after
naturalization was denied the Chinese by
the Republicans it soon became evident
that their immigration to this country was
an unmitigated calamity, and Senators
Sargent and Miller and other representa-
tives of the Pacific Coast demanded the
passage of laws for their exclusion. The
Republican administration and leading
; Republican Senators were opposed to any
violation of the Burlingame treaty, and
some argued that the coming of Chinese
was not injurious to our country He
stated that treaty was finally negotiated
under President Hayes administration
for the restriction, OF Chinese immigra-
tion, and law was passed in pursuance
thereof, mainly by the exertions of Senator
Miller and other Republican representa-
tives of the Pacific coast, which he showed
was evaded by the Chinese and whites en-
gagged in the infamous business of SNUG
Cling Chinese laborers into the United
States.
In 1886 bill was prepared and intro
duced in the House by Morrow, which he
! said was the most restrictive measure
ever suggested. The same bill was after
ward introduced in the Senate by Fair,
and referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations, of which Senators Sherman.
1 E1p,unJu E-va -