The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-03-27

WASHINGTON March lg-The
Kahn Chinese exclusion bin is very
likely To be defeated In the Senate.
There is powerful opposition in the
House also. and the indications are
that the present statutes Will be- eN-
tended. The section prohibiting the en-
trance of Chinese even for exposition
purposes, the section dealing with sea-
men and the portion relating to the
punishment of railroad employees who
do not assist iu the enforcement of the
law, are all considered Objectionable.
Hanna, Elllins and Beverage are
among the strongest opponents of the
bin now before Congress. 1t is the gem
eral opinion that the old law win be
re-enaCted with a proNisO remedying
any possible lOophole through a SUI
preme Court ruling. The sudden OppOs-
! ition to the bill is very surprising, i'm
| view of the previous strong and uuani-
| nous fight for its passage a new Chi
uese bill continuing i'm force the Geary
| law has been introduced
| WASHINGTON, March 19.-Duriug
! the past two days the discussion of the
| Chinese exclusion bill among the sena-
| tors has been widespread, following the
| report of the Mitchell-Eahn bill 10y the
| Committee on immigration. 1t is now
! learned that, i'm spite of assurances of
! support given by many Senators, espe-
! Cially among the Democrats, the
/ 2
| tent that its passage is doubtful if not
already past hope. The extent of the
| opposition is surprising i'm its scope ana
| force. This opposition is not manifest
! ed i'm public speeches or interviews but
| it exists nevertheless, and Will come 60
the surface whenever the bill is called
| up on the floor
Senator Cockreu Of Missouri is one of
the latest to come out against the bill.
lie is opposed to it partly because Of a
provision which prohibits the entry of
| Chinese into this country even for eN-
position purposes. This would prevent
Chinese from exhibiting at the St.
Louis Exposition and thus detract from
that show. This provision was inserted
i'm the bill i'm the past few days, at the
instance of Secretary Shaw, who did not
want to be forced to assume the reSpOn-
sibility of admitting or denying en-
trance to Chinese bound for the Louisi-
ana Purchase Exposition. Secretary
Il Shaw preferred to have the point COW
cred by law so that there would be but
one thing to do i'm such cases.
Senator Hanna and others interested
in the development of the shipping in
terests of the country are strongly OPP
posed to the sailor clause of the Chi
II rose bill. Senator Hanna is credited
with saying yesterday that the bill
would never get his vote as it stood, and
thai the sailor clause would have TO
come out. Senator Elkins is equally
, strong against that portion of the bill
which provides for the punishme mt of
railroad employees along the border who
do not observe the strict letter 0t the
law. He declares that this is an at
4 tempt to force employees to do the work
Of Chinese inspectors.
Senator Beveridge is among those
I who are said to have expressed them
| selves strongly against the bill as If
| Irf. a To-. Ms
! bill, some going so far as to say that the
Z bill as whole should be SIGulrdCkeC
! and the existing laws ru-enacted by d
Z simple declaration of the VIII Of Con-
Il gress. The danger Of attempting this
: in view of the possibility of the Su,
! preme Court knocking out the vital par
of the existing law was pointed out tC
4 these Senators, who replied that the
/ bill could be framed covering chat mat
. ter.
Senator Bard said today he was
! satisfied that the bin could not pass the
Senate. There is hardly a chance OF
I the bill passing the Senate he said
! There is much greater opposition to il
than I expected. The bill has beer
loaded down with Objectionable feat
ures. l hear that frst-rate lawyers II
the Senate declare that it is unconstitu.
tiOnal i'm several provisions. For my
part, ! fear l shall not be able to vote
for it as it stands As you know, wheT
the bin was agreed upon by the Pacific
Coast delegation, every member re.
| served the right to offer amendment.
to perfect it. ! have an amendment
which ] shall offer i'm due time. But
! taking the bill as a whole. l doubt if i
will pass, even though amended. There
is a strong tendency to revert to the
simple re-euactment of the presen
laws. This tendency has displayed it.
self during the past couple of days
since the immigration Committee re,
ported the exclusion bill. Senators wer,
disposed to wait and approve of the
j committees bill. but it is so radically
different from the present laws that few
seem willing to accept il. From the
. present outlook ] should say that the
re-enactment Of the present laws, with
out addition or subtraction, is prob.
able"
Senator Perkins was asked about the
situation He Concurred with Senator
Bard in saying that he had found strona
opposition in the Senate among boil
Democrats and Republicans.