The Portland daily press., 1888-10-02
THE PRESIDENT ON THE CHINESE.
Executive Approval of the sIIl Ex.
Guiding the ceIestiais,
Announced In a Long Message on
Past and Present Legislation.
How the News Was Received In San
Francisco.

| ~ w NOnBressi acCVmpdnicu ny long mes
sage. Thelfollowing is the text of the mes
sage
! have this day approved House bill No.
1885, supplementary to an act entitled.
eAn act to execute certain treaty stipula
tions relating to Chinese" approved the 9Th
| day of May, 1882. 1t seems to me that some
suggestions and recommendations may prop
erly accompany my approval Of this bill. Its
object is to more effectually accomplish by
legislation the exclusion from this country
of Chinese laborers. The experiment of
blending the social habits and mutual race
idiosyncracies of the Chinese laboring
classes with those of the great body of the
people of the United States has been proved
by the experience of twenty years, and ever
since the Burlingame treaty of 1868, to be in
every sense unwise, impolitic and injurious
to both nations. With the lapse of time the
necessity for its abandonment has grown in
force, until those having in charge the gov
ernment of the respective ccantries have re-
solved to modify and sufficiently abrogate
all those features of prior conventional ar
rangements which permitted the coming of
Chinese laborers to the United States
In modification of prior conventions the
treaty of Nov. II, 1880, was concluded, where.
by in the first article thereof it was agreed
that the United States should at will regulate,
limit or suspend the coming of Chinese labor
ers to the United States, but not absolutely
| prohibit, and under this article an act of Con-
| gress, approved ON May 5, 1882 (see volume
| 2, page 5S, Statutes-at-large), and amended
| July 3, 1884 volume %, page lis, Statutes-at-
| large), suspended for ten years the coming of
| Chinese labOrers to the United States and
regulated the going and coming of such Chi
| nese laborers as were at that time in the
| United States. 1t was, however, soon made
evident that the mercenary greed Of the par
| ties who were trading in the labor Of this
| class of the Chinese population was proving
| too strong for the just execution Of the law,
| and that the virtual defeat of the object of
both law and treaty was being fraudulently
accomplished by false pretence and perjury,
| contrary to the expressed will of both gov
ernments. To such an extent has the sue
cessful violation Of the treaty and the laws
enacted for its execution progressed, that the
courts in the Pacific States have been for
| some time overwhelmed by the examination
| OF cases of Chinese laborers who are charged
| with having entered our ports under fraudu-
lent certificates of return, or seek to establish
| by perjury the claim of prior residence.
| Such demonstration Of the imperative and
| inefficient condition of the treaty and law
has produced deep seated and increasing dis
| content among the people of the United
| States, and especially with those resident
on the Pacific coast This has induced me
| to omit no effort to find an effectual remedy
| for the evils complained of, and to answer
the earnest popular demand for the absolute
exclusion of Chinese laborers having OBJ
| jects and purposes unlike our own and
/ wholly disconnected with American citizen
| ship. Aided by the presence in this country
OF able and intelligent diplomatic and con-
sular officers OF the Chinese government and
ANTI ID
| by our minister in China under the instruc-
| tions of the department of state the actual
| condition OF public sentiment and the status
| OF affairs in the United States has been fully
| known to. the government of China. The
necessity for remedy has been fully appre-
clated by that government, and in August.
| 1886, our minister at Peking received from
the Chinese foreign Office communication
| announcing that China, Of her own accord,
proposed to establish system of strict and
| absolute prohibition of her laborers, under
| heavy penalties, from coming to the United
| States, and likewise to prohibit the return
to the United States of any Chinese laborer
who had at any time gone back to China,
I'm order (the words of the communication
| that the Chinese laborers may gradually be
| reduced in number and causes Of danger
| ayerted and lives preserved"
| This view of the Chinese government so
| completely in harmony with that of the Uni
| ted States, was by my direction speedily
formulated in a treaty draft between the
| two nations. embodying the propositions so
| presented by the Chinese foreign Office The
deliberations, frequent oral discussions and
| correspondence ON the general questions that
| ensued have been fully communicated by
| me to the Senate at the present session, and,
as contained inlSenate executive documents,
| parts and 2. and in Senate executive docu-
ment, No. 272, may be properly referred to
| as containing a complete history of the tran
sactlon. 1t is thus easy to learn how the
Joint desires and mutual understanding of
the two governments were brought into arti-
| culated form in the treaty, which after a
mutual exhibition of plenary powers from
| the respective governments was signed and
concluded by the plenip0tentiaries of the
United States and China at this Capital on
March - last. Being submitted for the ad-
vice and consent of the Senate, its conirma-
tion on the seventh day Of May last was ac-
i companied by two amendments, which that
body engrafted upon it.
| On the 18th day Of the same month the
Chlnese Minister, who was the plenipoten-
tiary OF his government in the negotiation
and the conclusion of the treaty, in note to
the Secretary Of State, gave his approval to
these amendments, 'as they did not alter the
were at once telegraphed to China, whittier
the original treaty had previously been sent
Immediately after its signature on March IL.
| On the 18th day of last month / approved
Senate Dill No. 1904, ito prohibit the coming
| Of Chinese laborers to the United States"
This bill was intended to supplement the
treaty and was approved in the confident an
| ticlpation OF an early exchange of ratifca-
| tions OF the treaty and its amendments and
tne proclamation OF the same, upon which
event tne legislation SO approved was by its
terms to take effect. No Information Of any
dennite action upon the treaty by the Chi
nese government was received until the Dist
ultimo, the day the bill which have just ap-
| proved was presented to me, when a tele-
gram from our minister at Pekin to the Sec
Tetary OF State announced the refusal of the
| Chlnese government to exchange ratifca-
| tions OF the treaty unless further discussions
snoui9 De mad, with a view to- shorten the
period stipulated in the treaty for the exclu-
sion Of Chinese laborers and to change the
| conditions agreed ON which should entitle
any Chinese laborer who should go back to
emma 10 return again to the United States.
by note from the Charge d'Affairs ad in
terim of China to the Secretary of State, re-
ceived on the evening of the 25th ultimo, a
| copy of which is herewith transmitted, to-
gether with the reply, a third amendment is
proposed blpob ea whereby whereby the certificate under
| ing the possession of property in the United
States, would be enabled to return to this
country, should be granted by the Chinese
consul instead of the United States collector.
as has been provided in the treaty. The OBJ
| vious and necessary effect of this last pro-
position would be practically to place the ex-
ecution of the treaty beyond the control of
the Unity States. Article Of the treaty
l pIOpOotu W D6 oU ludtClldlly dlt6T6Q, ndQ, IN
the course of the negotiations, been settled
in acquiesence. with the request of the
Chinese plenipOtentiary, and to his express
ed satisfaction. In 1886, as appears in the
documents heretofore referred to, the Chin
ese foreign office had formally proposed to
our minister strict exclusion of Chinese Ia
borers from the United States without limi-
tation, and had otherwise stated that no term
whatever for exclusion was necessary. for
the reason that China would of itself take
steps to prevent its laborerS from coming to
the United States
In the course of the negotiations that fol-
lowed suggestions from the same quarter led
to the insertion in behalf of the I'm tied
States of term of thirty years, and this
term, upon the representations of the Chi
nese plenipotentiary was reduced to twenty
years, and finrlly SO agreed upon. Article 2
was wholly of Chinese origination, and to
that alone owes its presence in the treaty.
And it is here pertinent to remark that every
where in the United States laws for the col
lection of debts are equally available to all
creditors without respect to race, sex. ma
tionality or place OF residence, and equally
with the citizens OF the most favored ma
tions; and with the citizens of the United
States recovery can be had in any court of
Justice In the United States by a subieet Of
China. whether of the laboring or anv other
class. No disability accrues from non-resi-
dence of plaintiff whose claim can he en-
forced in the usual way by him, or by his as
signee or attorney in our courts of iustice.
In this respect 1t cannot be alleged that
there exists the slightest Discrimination
against Chinese subjects, and it is notable
fact that large trading firms and companies
and individual merchants and traders of