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HAItCH 301905
The Commoner.
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MR. BRYAN ON CHINESE EXCLUSION
yr(From Success Magazine for April, 1906.) ..
- V If every American could visit- China, the
"fluestion of Chinese immigration would soon be
settled upon a permanent basis, for no one can
.become acquainted with the Chinese coolie "with
out recognizing the impossibility of opening the
"'doors of our country to him without injustice
to our own laboring men, demoralization to our
, social Jdeas, injury to China's reputation among
us and' danger to our diplomatic relations with
that country.
I made it a point to ' inquire among the
Chinese whom I met in order to ascertain the
''real sentiment back of the boycott. I had heard
of students being subjected to harsh regulations
at ports' of entry; of travelers- humiliated by
confinement in uncomfortable sheds and of
merchants treated rudely, and f supposed that
these things had aroused the resentment. I
- fr'und, however, that the things complained of
'were more difficult to deal with and the con
cessions demanded impossible to grant.
'.' In order to understand the boycott one must
know something of Chinese history. As China
has never had representative government, the
"people have been compelled to britfg their com
plaints before officials by petition, and where
the petition has been ignored, they have been
accustomed to bring such pressure to bear as
.was within their power, and the boycott has
often been resorted to as a means of qompelling
action upon the part of officials. They, therefore,
conceived the idea of a boycott against American
goods for the double purpose of urging their own
government to favorable action and of calling
the attention of the American government to
their complaint. Our officials ara doing what
they can to convince the Chinese government of
the injustice and folly of the boycott, and the
'Chinese officials with whom I conversed seemed
anxious to co-operate with our minister and
"consuls. Immediate action upon the part of our
' congress, whether favorable or unfavorable to
.the Chinese, will remove the excuse' for a boycott
"and our government shouldriot b'e influenced .in
'itsaetl6n by any threats affecting" 'trade, for the
. subject is too grave a one to be determined by
commercial considerations.
" !' The Americans who are doings business in
China aro naturally anxious to cultivate friendly
"relations with the Chinese merchants, and just
before we reached Hong Kong the American
'business men residing there cabled home a state
ment of the minimum changes in the exclusion
act asked for by the Chinese merchants. I had
the privilege of attending a dinner at which a
number of the leading Chinese merchants of
"Hong 'Kong presented their vlewfc,, and it may
be worth while to give here an abstract of their
demands as drawn out by cross-fexamlriatton.
, They desire,' first, that the ' wbril laborer
'shall be clearly and distinctly defined, ,raccord
" ing tQ the highest standard English, and be
limited to such class or classes of persons as
f originally intended to be designated by both gov
''ernments." Second, that all regulations and legislative
measures affecting Chinese immigration shall be
communicated to and approved by the Chinese
government before going into force, and" that
when in force, they should not be altered with
.out consent of the Chinese government.
Third, that American consuls stationed in
China shall have full power to grant' certificates
of admission to persons not included in the pro
hibited classes, such certificates to be conclusive
' except in cases of actual fraud.
Fourth, that the American consul in China
shall without delay issue certificates of admis
sion to such Chinese not included in the pro
hibited classes as shall obtain passports from the
Chinese government.
Fifth, that the Chinese government shall be
permitted to appoint one European medical prac
titioner to act in conjunction with a medical of
. ficer appointed by the United States at the port
of departure and that no one shall be rejected as
"diseased unless certified to be so by both medical
"officers.
Sixth, that Chinese once admitted into the
United States shall enjoy the same rights and
, protection accorded to the subjects of the most
, favored nation, and In case of ill treatment shall
- be entitled to damages from the government.
Seventh, that Chinese passing through the
United States enroute for another country shall
. njoy the same privileges as the subjects of the
, jnost favored nations. '
' Eighth, that Chinese residing in the United
States shall not be required to register unless
such registration is required of the subjects of
the most favored nation.
Ninth, that Chinese lo.borors shall be admit
ted into the Hawaiian and the Philippine Islands,
provided that the legislatures or loetil authorities
of such islands are willing. (While' this proviso
is satisfactory to the Hong Kong merchants, it
.seems to have been objected to by the Chinese
of. Amoy and Canton.)
Tenth, that any Chinese " detained at an
American port of entry for purposes of inquiry
shall bo permitted to engage legal assistance and
furnish bond for appearance; should tho deci
sion be unfavorable, he shall have the right to
Appeal to the highest court of justice, and in
cas,e of any technical or formal error in his pass
port or certificate, ho shall be allowed to correct
the same without undergoing deportation.
Eleventh, that any Chinese residing in the
United States shall have the right to bring his
parents, wife, family and minor brothers and
sisters to reside with him.
Twelfth, that Chinese lawfully' admitted to
the United States but deported because- of failure
to register shall be' readmitted on satisfactory
proof of possessing in the United States prop
erty or bona fide debt up to the required amount.
The second demand could not bo complied
with without putting the enforcement of the ex
clusion act so largely In the hands of the Chinese
government as to very much cripple it.
The third demand is reasonable. Our coun
try ought to be bound by the act of its own
consuls, except in case of fraud, and those who
are to be excluded ought to be notified before
incurring the oxpense of a trip across the ocean.
The fourth demand should not be complied
with unless the Chinese government assumes
-pecuniary responsibility for any errors In the
Issuing of the passport and' for the subject's
compliance with the regulations provided by our
government.
The fifth demand is absurd, because it vir
tually transfers to,, a European physician ap
pointed by the Chinese government the power
-to decide on the health Of the immigrant. While,
according to the language of the, demand, the
Chinese appointee would act in conjunctionwith
an American physician, a favorable report by
-the Chinese appointee would admit the immigrant
in spite of an adverse report by' the physician
appointed by our government. It is perfectly
proper that a physician appointed by the Chinese
government should be permitted to be present
at the examination, and it is only fair that the
examination should be made at the port of de
parture, but it is: necessary that the examina
tib'n should be in the hands of physicians ap
pointed, and removable, by our government.
The tenth demand is for the most part rea
sonable. A Chinaman detained for purposes of
inquiry should be allowed to secure counsel and
furnish bond, and if the error In his certificate
is technical Or fovmal, he should be allowed to
correct ' 16 on such terms as are equitable, but
it would hardly be wise to ' permit appeal to
'the supreme court unless some vital principle is
involved.
Demands six, seven and eight are based upon
the theory that Chinese in the United States
should be treated Jn every respect "like subjects
of other nations, and this overlooks two material
facts, first, that certain classes of Chinese are
prohibited from coming to the United States and,
second, that the Chinese who do come to the
United States cbme for reasons different from
those which .influence immigrants from Europe.
(I shall consider the second reason later.) The
fact that some Chinese are excluded while
others are admitted makes it necessary to enforce
rules against the Chinese that are not necessary
against immigrants from other nations. While
no humiliating conditions ought to be imposed,
'still our country is justified in enforcing such
rules and regulations as will prevent fraud and
evasion. This cannot be considered an act of
unfriendliness because our nation adopts the
same principle in dealing with its own people.
For instance, the voters in the cities a.re required
to register from time to time, often at great
inconvenience, while registration Is not required
in rural districts, the discrimination being re
' garded as necessary to prevent election frauds in
the cities. In like manner, Chlne.se may be re
quired to register, even though registration may
be inconvenient, if experience shows registration
to be necessary to prevent evasion of the im
migration law. '
fn the case of travelers it ought to be pos
sible to provide' for such a certification of pass
ports as to relieve " Chinese "tourists, whether'
passing through tho United States or visiting
there, from annoyance or vexation. It 'goes with
out saying that they should be protected as com
pletely as tourists coining from any other coun
try.' Every encouragement should be given to
travel between countries, for an exchango of
views and Ideas between nations la as wholesome
arid as necessary to progress as social inter-1
course between individuals.
Tho ninth demand, while strenuously insisted
upon by tho Chinese, involves questions of tho
first magnitude. It is a question whether Chinese
qould be admitted into Hawaii and then oxcluded
from other states and territories, and in tho caso
of tho Philippines, our country should bo slow ,
to establish a policy there before the length of
our 'occupation is determined.
It will be noticed that the purpose of the
first, eleventh and twelfth demands Is to Increase
tho number of Chinese In tho United States.
The eleventh contemplates the Indefinite enlarge
ment of the family of each resident by the ad
dition of first, one wife; second, (possibly) two
parents, not to speak of an uncertain number of
children, brothers and sisters. While to the
Chinese who are accustomed to the patriarchal
system, tho admission of parents, brothers and
sisters would seem a very natural demand, it
would harSly seem reasonablo to Americans un
less It was limited to the exempted classes.
The real interest, however, centers In the
first demand, viz., that tho definition of the term
laborer shall be enlarged. I questioned several
of ,the Hong Kong merchants in regard to the
matter, and found that they desired especially
the admission of ' clerks and skilled laborers.
They contended that a Chinese merchant coUld
not conduct a store in the United States without
Chinese help and that to exclude clerks was
virtually to exclude merchants. When questioned
as to the number of clerks needed, they esti
mated that there were about four thousand
merchants In the United states and that each '
merchant would need from' six to ten clerks.
"When surprise was expressed at the number, it
was explained that some had to cook and do
housework. It was even argued that Chinese
shoemakers jarxd tailors were also necessary to
provide clothing and footwear for the Chinese
residing in-the United States. There was a divK
sion of opinion as to whether laundry men should
be classed as merchants and entitled to clerks.
But excluding laundry men and counting eight
clerks to the store, this one change In definition
would open the door to about thirty-two thou
sand, almost a fifty per cent Increase, according
to the estimate made by the Hong Kong merch
ants, of seventy thousand Chinese now in the
United States. Whether tho admission of clerks
could be so regulated and restricted as to make
it possible to grant this demand In whole or In
part is a question which I am not prepared to
answer' without further information as to the
location of the merchants, the character of their
business and the sentiment of the local com
munity. The admission of skilled laborers is one upon
which It is easier to form an opinion. Thq Chi
nese are not only an industrious people, but they
aro capable of becoming skilled artisans. They
could supply every factory in the United States
with skilled workmen and still have millions to
spare. Nearly all the reasons which apply to tho
exclusion of the coolie, apply to the skilled labor
er, and they can, therefore, be considered to
gether. ,
It developed during the dinner that while
the demands expressly recognized the improba
bility of coolies being admitted, most of the Chi
nese present favored the entire repeal of the
restriction law. They resented any discrimina
tion against their "people as unfriendly and un
warranted. One Chinaman of prominence in an
other city went so far as to intimate that such
discrimination would not be permitted if China
had a large army and navy and was able to
enforce her rights.
As the whole question turns on the admis
sion of, the Chinese laborer, let us consider, first,
the differences between the European immigrant
and the Chlneso immigrant and, second, the gen
eral objections to the admission of Chinese
workmen.
The Chinaman, unlike the European, regards
America as only temporarily his home, preserves
his national customs and peculiarities and fin
ally returns, carrying his savings with him. He
Is not attracted by our institutions and brings
.with him no love of American ideals. To him
the United States is a field to be exploited and
nothing more. The European casts in his lot
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