Speech #510041349

It had been agreed upon between the two Governments. but it was amended in the United States Senate. and these amendments were never agreed to by the Chinese Government. Consequently the treaty fell. and the act which was passed by both Houses of Congress and approved by the President became nugatory and of no avail. The next piece of restrictive legislation was what is known as the "Scott exclusion act." and there has been. I find. a very great misunderstanding in the public mind as tojust what that act is. the popular opinion being that it is an absolute exclusion act. It is very far from being such. All there is or all there ever was or ever can be of the Scott exclusion act is simply this: It provided that no Chinese laborer in this country at the date of its passage. October 1. 1888. or who at any time prior to that date had ever been inthis country and who should leave the United States. or had left and not returned. should have the right to return. and. moreover. it canceled all the outstanding return certificates which had been issued under previous legislation. entitling those to return who had been here and who had gone away. declaring all such to be void. That is the Scott exclusion act. and all there is of it. It has no kind of reference at all to Chinese who have never been in this country. It was never intended to. never did. and never can exclude from this country any Chinese laborer who has never been in this country. it simply prohibited those who had been here heretofore or who are here now or were at the date of the act from coming back to this country in the event that they had gone or may hereafter leave the United States. That is the Scott exclusion act and the whole of it. Now comes this bill from the House of Representatives. which. as I understand it. is not intended as a Chinese exclusion actnothing of that kind. It was intended. as I understand. to be an act in aid of the proper execution of such legislation as we now have on our statute books on the subject of Chinese laborers and on the subject of Chinese exclusion. I did not like the bill very well as it came from the other House for certain reasons which I shall point out later on. butas amended by the Census Committee and the Senate in my judgment it is absolutely worthless and inefficient. except as it operates to repeal existing legislation. and how any Senator. if indeed there is at this late day in this great controversy any such. who is in thivor of the immigration of Chinese laborers to this country. and who is opposed to legislation looking to the exclusion of Chinese laborers. can oppose the passage of this bill as it stands here now is a mystery to me. because if this billwere adopted today just as reported from the Senate committee. so far from adding to the principleof exclusion. so fir from being a step in advance upon the subject of the exclusion of Chinese laborers. it is an absolute repeal of nearly every vital point in existing legislation upon that subject. It is an absolute repeal. in the first place. of the Scott exclusion act. as I can satisfythe members of this Senate in two minutes if they will listen to me. Let us see how this is. The Scott act. as I have said. prohibits the return to this country of any Chinese laborer who is now in this country or who has ever been in this country at any time in all its history and who has gone away or who may go away.