Speech #600143906

Now. the principal trouble. I take it. is not so much with those who are immediately charged with the admission of the Chinese. but it is due to the fact that the Department of Commerce and Labor has chosen not to arrest those who have gained admission to the country surreptitiously and fraudulently. especially If they get a little away from the border. In his report for 1908 the CommissionerGeneral of Immigration admits that these surreptitious entries of Chinese are very large and on the increase. I read from his report for 1908. page 148: In the early months of the calendar year 1905 the bureau undertook the conduct of a quiet canvass with the object of securing a record of the Chinese in each district. and of the papers. if any. held by them as evidence of their right to reside in the United States. In some districts this canvass or census was complete. but In others it was only fairly begun when so strong a protest arose on all sides that instructions were issued for its discontinuance. It had been carried far enough. however. to indicate that there were then about as many Chinese in the United States whose entry had been unlawful and who held either no papers showing a right of residence or else had in their possession papers of a forged. fraudulent. or irregular character as there were of the lawfully resident class. Is it any cause for wonder. therefore. that the " companies." the " steerers." the " promoters." and the "smugglers" interested in the immigration and residence here of coolies should have registered an emphatic objection to the Governments pursuing a course calculated to expose the extensiveness of their operations? Simultaneously with the discontinuance of the census the general policy with regard to the making of arrests in the interior of the country was so changed as to contemplate arrests being made only in flagrant cases of unlawful residence coming to the attention of the Chinese inspectors incidentally during the conduct of investigations regarding domiciled Chinese. which policy has been practically continued to the present time. In other words. while the excluding provisions of the law have been vigorously enforced at the ports of entry. the provisions contemplating expulsion have not been emphasized elsewhere than along the Canadian and Mexican borders and in districts immediately connected therewith. Table 3 A (p. 154) shows that during the year 912 Chinese persons have been arrested and 477 finally deported. But the vast majority of these arrests. viz. 816. were made in districts immediately on or closely connected by lines of travel with the land boundaries. During the fiscal year 1907. 503 arrests were made. only 50 of which occurred in the Interior. (Annual Report. 1907. p. 99.) What has been the result? Chinese have come to believe that once they reach the large cities of the interior they are practically safe. and that it is much easier and not very much more expensive to gain entry by some of the surreptitious routes than through a regular port. hence the conditions described in subtitle 4 hereof regarding the Canadian and Mexican borders. If the exclusion law is to remain on the statute books as now drawn. it is obvious that its reasonable enforcement demands a change in this policy. Money that was formerly spent in the defense of Chinese arrested in the interior can now be used to pay the expenses of smuggling coolies and conveying them to the interior. and as long as this can be done at a profit the smuggling will contlnue. Remarkable words these to come from the department whose duty it is to enforce the law. Not only has there been of late great laxity and indifference on the part of the Department of Commerce and Labor in the deportation of Chinese unlawfully in this country. but the same spirit has pervaded the whole administration of the law. This. in effect. is serving notice on the Chinaman that if he can avoid the vigilance of the officials and get to some city in the country he will not be disturbed. and as a result this wholesale smuggling is not only continuing. but is vastly increasing from month to month and year to year. and must continue to increase unless the policy of the Departmeat of Commerce and Labor Is changed in this respect. A gentleman connected with the Chinese service. and well up in the service. too. told me not long ago. and I have no doubt that he is correct. that he believes that 500 Chinamen are here in the city of Washington in violation of the law. and yet he says: I am not allowed to make any move to discover these men. nor to arrest or deport them.