Speech #530023273

The law itself is harsh enough. Its execution is in the hands of the judiciary and the officers of the judiciary. in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury and the AttorneyGeneral. and great comment has been made on the acts of the Secretary of the Treasury and the AttorneyGeneral in this connection. I want to say simply that the Secretary of the Treasury responded. in answer to the resolution of the House. that there were not funds enough on hand to execute the law With regard to these Chinese who had not been deported. that 13.000 of them had been already deported. and that there re� mained but about $25.000 of the fund appropriatednot enough to deport all. and indeed a very small number. The Secretary of the Treasury said. that being the case. it was prudent probably to suspend the execution of the law and not to fill the jails by unnecessary arrests when these people could not be deported. there being no meanS for that purpose. Mr. Olney acted on the Same principle when he authorized the officers of the law to suspend its execution until otherwise ordered. for Want of funds.