Speech #510044183

The Senator from New York of course can offer his proposition as an amendment to my amendment. The reason of having any provision for imprisonment in this case is this: The section provides that if any Chinese person is arrested upon the ground that he is illegally in this country and it is found that he has no certificate and can not show. as he is allowed to do by the Senate committee amendment to section 4. that he is entitled to itand missed it for some reason or for some matter not his own fault. if he does not either show his certificate or show reason why he should have one. he shall be deported or shall be imprisoned. the bill as it passed the House says. for five years. I think that is unnecessarily severe. and I have moved to substitute one year. What is sought to be reached is that. if there is not some alternative on the part of the court. Chinamen having these certificates will sell them to someother party who has come in illegally. who answers somewhat to the identification described. and then willappear as never having had a certificate and will seek passage home at the expense of the United States without the certificate. To discourage that. and so that this shall not become the business of the Chinaman who wants to get home for nothing at our expense. instead of the alternative proposition of the House that the judge may imprison him for five years. we have cut that down to one year. and that is the alternative presented to the Chinainn to prevent his giving away or selling his certificate. To repeat. unless you have some alternative that the court may exercise over a Chinaman appearing who will have sold or given away his certificate he will be deported at our expense and will get home for nothing. The Senator can move. as I have said. his amendment. which has the feature. not of imprisonment. but of detention in custody. as a substitute for mine. and the Senate. of course. can settle that question.