Speech #500090345

Mr. President. is a very large trade. and it has been increased enormously within a few years past. A number of gentlemen were invited before the Committee on Foreign Relations. not for the purposeof smothering anything. but for the purpose of getting full and exact information as to what were the needs and wants of the people of the Pacific coast in regard to Chinese immigration and the best methods that were possible to accomplish that by legislation. I think that every member of the House of Representatives from that coast but one. and every Senator from that coast but oneand he was a Democratwas present at that interview. and in a very able manner and in a very kind way they communicated to that committee what was necessary to be done in the way of legislation to prevent this influx of Chinese into this country. That was before the treaty which the Senator from Oregon says was a fraud and a sham had been negotiated. but it was in process of fegotiation. although we did not know it. at least I did not. Those gentlemen communicated to us that they desired that soie law should be passed that would absolutely exclude the coming of Chinese laborers here. We called their attention to the phraseology that I have just read in Article VI of the Burlingame treaty which was brought down into the treaty of 1880. We said to them. being a treatyobeying people. we can not possibly pass � law whichwill shut out from this country persons who have the right of immigration when we have promised them sacredly in a treaty that they should be put here upon a footing with the people of the most favored nation. We could not do that. and itwas a great puzzle and a greatembarrassment. Then it was that some of the distinguished statesmen who were present before the committee insisted that laws should be passed abrogating treaties entirely.