The morning call., 1891-04-30
MIR. BLA1K's CHINESE RECORD.

The New York World circulates a rumor
that the State Department has received the
intelligence that ex-senator Blair will not
be received by the Chinese Government as
Minister from the United States. 1t is also
intimated that the State Department recOg-
nizes the right of the Chinese Government
te,object to a Minister it-does not like. That
q Minister who is personally obnoxious to
the Government to which he is accredited
may be refused recognition is freely admit
ted. There have been several instances of
this kind. to which it is unnecessary to refer.
But to refuse to receive a y mister on the
ground that his political action i'll his own
country was such as the Government to
which he is accredited does not approve
wosld, if admitted, lead to unpleasant re-
suits. 1t understood that Mr.. Blair is OBJ
-. jected to on account of his expressed oppo-
sition to Chinese immigration. On the same
ground nearly all the public men in the
United States might be objected to. Mr.
Blaine himself, the present head of the State
Department would not be acceptable to the
: Chinese Government as Minister to China
1t would follow that we should have TO
choose between no Minister to China aad
one who favored the admission Of Chinese
'laborers into the United States.
The record Of ex-senator Blair on the
proposition to exclude Chinese is limited
substantially to the debate in the Senate on
the exclusion bill of 1888. That bill was
opposed on the ground that it was in viola
tioH' of an existing treaty. Early in 1888
j treaty. was negotiated with the Chinese
Envoy providing for the exclusion of Chi
nese labOrers. For four months the Chinese
. Government made no response. The Ad-
ministratiOn was left in doubt as to the
action the Chinese Government would take
if it should take action at all. A short time
before the fall recess of Congress bill was
introduced excluding Chinese who had been
in the country and held certificates which
entitled them to return. The bill passed the
House without debate and went to the Sem
ate. 1t was there referred to the Committee
Oh Foreign Relations, and when it was con-
sidered several Senators opposed it on the
ground that it proposed violation of an
existing treaty with the Chinese Govern
ment. Mr.. Blair was one of the Senators
who urged the observance of treaty stipula-
tinns After the bill had passed the Senate
he moved to reconsider the vote, and offered
an amendment as follows:
This act shall not take effect until the expira-
ton OF sixty days after its passage, unless the
pending treaty between China and the United
oldtcs Dc islcCleu Nnllid THAI AliACt
shall take effect Immediately upon such reiec-
Tion aud this act shall take effect upon the ex-
piraton of sixty days after It's lassage, provided
said treaty shall! not within that time have been
ratified. II within sixty days from the pa ssage
OF this act the said treaty shall have been rati-
fed by China then this act shall be void.
1t is clear from the amendment that what
Senator Blair opposed was action by the
legislative department of the Government
which should abrogate treaty. The abso-
Lutte right of Congress to supersede treaty
by law was admitted, but it was held to be
an act Of diseourtesy. Mr.. Blair wanted to
give the Chinese Government more time. In
the debate Mr.. Blair said:
There Is just this one question. as to whether
we are doing an act of bad faith and of insult to-
ward China by making it operative at once.
That is the only source Of doubt, think, that
can arise IN the minds OF Senators. I am not
Willing, sir, to proceed to do an act needtessly
and improperly offensive to the Chinese GoU-
eminent.
II the Chinese Government objects to Mr..
Blair on the ground Of his anti-Chinese rec
ord, it will be hard to find man of any
prominence to whom it would not object.
In the debate on the bill Mr.. Blair drew the
following pen picture of Chinatown as he
had seen it in San Francisco:
went through Chinatown In San Francisco a
few years ago, and the Senator from Nevada
who has spoken this afternoon (Nr. jones' has
depicted nothing That reaches the cold, positive
fact. My knowledge OF the Chinese situation Is,
OF course, comparatively slight but from the
moment 1 saw that seething. roaring blood
curdllng curse, Chinatown, 10 San Francisco, /
felt as though there had been planted in the
Yitals Of American civilization the seeds of
death. unless the upas plant could be rooted up
and extirpated.
This is, perhaps what the Chinese Gov
eminent bases its objection to Mr.. Blair
upon. While that Government may exer-
else the right not to receive him, it win
probably be long time before it will have
an opportunity TO reject another American