Speech #490060420

The remaining words. itregulate. limit. orsuspend." first appear in tii Aferican draught. When it was submitted to the Chinese they said. "We infer that of thme phrases regulate. limit. suspend. or prohibit. thm first is a general expression referring to the others. We arc entirely ready to negotiate with your exeilenicies to the ed that a limitation either in point of tiue or of humbers may be fixed upon the emigration of Chinese laborers to the United States." Al a subsequeni interview they said that "by limitation in number they meant. for oxame. that the United States having. as they supposed. a record of the unber of immigrants in each year. as well asbthe total number of Chinese now there. that no more should be allowed to go in any one year in future than either the greatest number which had goie in any year in the past. or that the total inmher should never be allowed to exceed the number now there. As to limitation of time they meant. for example. that Chinese should be allowed to go in alternate years. or every third year. or. for example. that they should notbhe allowed to go for two. three. or five years." At a subsequent conference time Americanis said. "The Chinese commissioners have in their project explicitly recognized the right of the United Slates to use some discretion. and have proposed a hintlotion as to time and number. This is the rightto regulate. liit. or suspend." In one of the conferenes the Chinese asked the Americans whether tmey co uld give them any idea of the laws which would be passed toearry tme powers int execution. The Americans aiwered that this could hardly be done. "that tho United States Government might never deemit necessary to exercise this power. It would depend upon circumstances. If Chinese immigration concentrated in cities where it threatened public order. or if it confined itself to localities where It was an injury to the interests of the American people. the Government of the United States would undoubtedly take steps to prevent such accumulations of Chinese. If. on the contrary. there was no large immigration. or if there were sections of the country where such immigration was clearly beneficial. then the legislation of the United States. under this power. would be adapted to such circumstances. For example. there might be a demand for Chinese labor in the South and a surplus of such labor in California. and Congress might legislate in accordance with these facts. In general. the legislation would be in view of and depend upon the circumstances of the situation at the moment such legislation became necessary.