, 1888-09-08
The Vote Of the Senate on the
Chinese Bill.
Blair Makes a Motion to Re.
consider the Vote.
The House to Vote on the Re
taliation Bill To-Day.
In the Senate.

sept. line CnlneSe
bill being taken up Mr.. Vest, referring to
Mr.. Dolph's denial that his statement
that seven Cinnamon had been natural
lied in Indianapolis in 1876 under the
superintendent Of Mr.. Miller, the law
partner of Harrison, and had voted the
Republican ticket, read a letter showing
that the only mistake was in giving the
date as 1876 instead of 1880. He also
sent to the clerks desk and had read cor
roborated afidavits. He added, that in
stead of it being a fact that no Cinnamon
had been naturalized in the United States,
twenty OF them had been n~aturalized in
the state courts of Connecticut, Massa-
chusetts and Indiana, and had been al
| lowed to vote.
Dolph made the point hat the records
and documents were not evidence of the
%naturalizlng of Cinnamon, but only of
their declaration of intention. The act OF
naturalization was one to be performed by
a court, while a declaration of intention
might be made before a clerk or notary.
Vest admitted as a lawyer that the acts
4 referred to did not constitute naturaliza-
ton in a legal sense, but he said in In
diana a declaration of intention conferred
the right of suffrage.
Dolph asked Vest if there was any
thing In the affidavits to sustain the state
ments that Harrison's law partner had
ANYTHING to do with the naturalization of
the Cinnamon in Indianapolis.
Vest admitted that, on the contrary, he
learned that neither of the law partners of
Harrison had anything to do with it.
AT this point a message was received
from the president and laid before the
senate enclosing Jas the only official infor-
nation at hand in regard to the Chinese
treaty. copies of two kilograms, the first
dated Sept. 5, in these words: Believed
the treaty has been rejected. Have de-
manded from the foreign office positive
information some days since. No infor-
nation has yet been received" and the
second, dated Sept. 6, in these words:
Treaty postponed for further delibera-
ton"
After the reading of the message the
discussion of the bill proceeded, Mitchell
taking the floor and insisting upon the
propriety of passing the bill even if it
were an administration measure. The
only criticism he would make upon it was
that it did not go far enough. If he had
his will he would make the exclusion
apply not only to the 400, 900, 900 Chi
nese in China, but to those now in the
United States.
German referred to his motion to com-
NIT the bill and said he had made that
motion in consideration of the fact that
the bill had come before the senate under
misrepresentation. While this meas
ure was under consideration here and
elsewhere, there was a belief that the
treaty recently negotiated had been re-
jected by China. Now the senate is in
formed officially that that belief has no
foundation. Such action as we have just
taken ought not to have been taken and
if it was proposed to take such action in
regard to a great nation the bill would
not have received half a dozen votes. We
all understand the pressure on both sides
in the face of the great contest between
the two political parties. [ concur with
the senator from Ohio (Mr. Sherman)
that this matter is above politics; that it
is above presidential elections and hat it
ought not to be passed in this indecent
haste. | am delighted that the senator
from New Hampshire has made a motion
to reconsider and has given notice of an
amendment which he proposes to offer. |
hope the motion will prevail. l give no.
tice that if the motion to reconsider be
carried | shall again move to commit the
bill to the committee on foreign relations
with the message from the president.
That committee can come here next
week and present a measure that
will not put us in that posi-.
ton in which the Chinese government
will heye the moral right to exclude all of
our people from that empire. | do not
believe either party can gain any advant.
age by this unseemly and hasty action
on a great measure which is above all
politics We are all united in restricting
Chinese immigration, and | do not believe
that in this contest there is any advantage
on either side. If we go on in the face
of this information which we have re-
ceived to day. we will destroy our own
trade with China and make it impossible
for this great nation Of sixty million PEG
pie to have an outlet in China for its pro-
ducts, and close the door which during
years past we have tried by fleets and
special ministers to have opened.
Stewart opposed the motion to recon
slider, and said the more he read Denby's
dispatches the more he felt that the bill
was proper.
Blair advocated his motion He argued
that the treaty would if ratified by China
afford all the remedy which the bill was
designed to give, unless the real purpose
of the bill was to destroy the treaty. A
delay of sixty days ought to be s~atisfac-
tory to everybody. He was opposed to
Germans proposition to commit the bill,
and would regard that as juggling with
the matter.