Speech #530009438

Mr. President.. the conference report upon the socalled Geary law was considered in the Senate of the United States on the 3d day of May. That left but two days intervening between the time when the report was under consideration and the time when the existing laws restricting Chinese immigration would expire by their own limitation. It was necessary to secure an agreement of both Houses to the conference report. the engrossment of the bill. its transmission to the President of the United States. and its approval by him within those two days in order to prevent an influx of many thousands of Chinese laborers. who were already congregated upon our borders. waiting for an opportunity to come in. In the Senate it was discovered that. copied from the House - bill. an unfortunate expression had been used. The provision in which it occurred was that if a Chinese laborer should be arrested after the expiration of a year from the date of the passage of the actand brought before a court. he should be deported unless he could show to the satisfaction of the cout that he had failed to register by reason of accident or unavoidable cause. and could further show by a white witness that he had been a resident of the United States or had been within the boundaries of the United States at the time of the passage of the act. Continued residence for a year was the only fact that was required to be proved by a white witness.. I have no doubt that whoever drew that provision intended by it only to secure other testimony than Chinese testimony to the fact of residence.