Speech #470046685

Air. Trescot. on behalf of the United States commissioners. said that they had received the memorandum of the Chisiese eommissioncrs ois thoprsjeet sluiitied. and thanked them for the pronmtness of their reply and the friendly spirits which marked it. That as to the first article. it was. as tholChinese coinssieoners said. only a summary or recapitulation of the provisions of existing treaties on the snishjeet of the emigration and resideice of the citizens of either country il thie other. Th articlo was s .ggested simply under the itipressions that as the object of the prescut iegotialion was one brneh of iiiigration. it wouid be as well to make any treatx now nogotiated a comipleto treatment of the whole subject. put if the Chinese toverineonprcfesed to leave the provisions staunding as they nouw do in several treaties. and confne this negotiation to the inosigratisn ef Chinese ]ibor the United States comissioners would not object and wouhl not of course press any farther consideration of the first article. Tlilst ts to the second article. the Usited States commissioners wait some fuller explanat.ion of the tneanig of the langsago nssi iil tie Chinese illeooramulnm. The jsioemiorandsun says At tls mosent we are oily propared toinegotiato for a mooe oflitmitation. having in mind the interests of both governmeats. We car entirel y ready to negotiate most carefully with your excllencies to the end that a limitalion. eitlher in point of time or of numbers. may be fixed to the emigratiou of Chinese Ihborers to thie United States." The United States coussnissionors wouid like to lav a more definite statement of what such limnitation meant. and how it was proposed to carry it into elfect. The Chinese eomnmissioners replied that they had informed the secretary of the comniussisn verbally tilat there would be difficulty in their accepting the word "prohibition."oused in the second article. and. assuming thattie word regilate" .would cover generally the other words "limit and susped." they had soggestid this limitation in hopes of learning from the United States coumissioners what their idea of limitation was. as they would like to hear. Air. Trsceot replied that Ihe Unite States commissioners were not quite prepared to say. hecause. as the artieo they 1ad submitted was a distinet proposition. they had hueen led i y the lunguage of the memorandum to sauppose that tis proposition for liitatites Iu time and numbers was a substitto for that article and not a resin se ti it. and that they hod therefore expected that the Chiinsocomnimissioners wo hul e p espareil to oxliai it in soens detail. The Chinese com inssioners said they did not intend their proposition to be considered us a substitute for Artide I . or !e any sense an altiusatuis on the part of the Chinese Government. They rather intenled it to indueo a free diseussio of the siihjet so it should be thorougly undorstood. ly limitation in number they mest. for extumnho. that the United States having. as they snpposed. arecord of thi nuier of immigrants in each year as well aslhe total number of Chinese now thre. that no more should be a]owed to go in any one year in futaro than either Itie greatest unuer which hal gone in sisy year in the past. or the least number which had gone ia ass year in the past. or tit the total number shouli never be allowed to exceed the number now there. As to limitation i time they meant. fosn example. that Chinese shouh be allowed to go in alternale years. or every thid year or. for example. that they should not be allowed to gns tor two. three or fivs years. Mr. Tressrwt repliied that the United States comnsisussers foared there was souse muoonti aidingu il the part. of fle Chinese eo lnissiolsers its to th enlallitg of Article . The United States Government slid not ask the Chiness Governmeut to regulate. liuit. suspend. or prohibit immigration. but to leave that to the discretiou and notem of the United States Government itself. That under the hus. linmnsm ireaty. as construed in practice. the Chinese had the absolute right. in any numbos. to cou to the United States. This hail caused troubla and embir rassueut.