Mr. Pung to Mr. Blaine.
Washington, May 23, 1890. (Received May 24.)
Sir: It becomes my duty to bring to your attention the condition of the Chinese subjects resident in the city of San Francisco, Cal., and to invoke for them the protection of the Government of the United States against the injustice and hardships sought to be inflicted upon them by the local authorities of that city.
I am informed that in the month of March last an order or law was passed by the authorities of the city of San Francisco requiring the Chinese residents of that city to remove from their present homes and places of business to a certain prescribed district in a remote suburb of that city, and declaring it unlawful for any Chinese person to reside, locate, or carry on business in any other place within said city, except in the prescribed district, under penalty of imprisonment. I send you with this note a copy of this order or law as it was printed in one of the newspapers of that city.
I am now in receipt of a telegram from the imperial consul-general at San Francisco, stating that a large number of Chinese subjects have been arrested by the authorities of that city, in accordance with the provisions of the order or pretended law above cited, because of their failure to abandon their homes and places of business and remove to the prescribed district. The mere statement of this fact is, I have no doubt, enough to show you the enormity of the outrage which is sought to be inflicted upon my countrymen; but when I add that it involves the breaking up of the homes and places of business of many thousands of persons who have been there peacefully established for a long series of years, and imperils the possession and enjoyment of property to the value of hundreds of millions of dollars, you will recognize the aggravated character and extent of the wrong which is being perpetrated in flagrant violation of treaty rights solemnly guarantied to these suffering Chinese.
Article 3 of the treaty of 1880 between China and the United States is as follows:
If Chinese laborers, or Chinese of any other class, now either permanently or temporarily residing in the territory of the United States, meet with ill treatment at the hands of any other persons, the Government of the United States will exert all its power to devise measures for their protection and to secure to them the same rights, privileges, immunities, and exemptions as may be enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of the most favored nation, and to which they are entitled by treaty.
You will remember that the treaty from which this article is quoted was negotiated by commissioners sent to Peking from Washington for that express purpose, and that these commissioners, in order to induce [Page 220] the Chinese Government to make the treaty modification which they desired, gave, among others, the following assurance:
So far as those Chinese are concerned who, under treaty guaranty, have come to the United States, the Government recognizes but one duty, and that is, to maintain them in the exercise of their treaty privileges against any opposition, whether it takes the shape of popular violence or of legislative enactment. (Foreign Relations of the United States, 1881, p. 173.)
The foregoing assurance was, no doubt, given in all sincerity and with an earnest intention that it would be carried out, if, unhappily, the occasion should ever arise. The statement which I have made of the present situation of the unfortunate Chinese subjects now resident in San Francisco certainly presents an urgent occasion to make effective the foregoing treaty stipulation and the solemn assurance above cited; and I feel that I can with confidence appeal to you to cause the power of your Government to be exerted to maintain these subjects in the exercise of their treaty privileges. It would be superfluous for me to indicate to you what course should be adopted to this end, but I venture to suggest that many of these subjects are poor and friendless, and are unable to maintain their right to peaceable residence through the long and expensive litigation of the courts, and that, unless they receive the protecting care of the Government of the United States, they will be helpless victims of this corporate outrage.
The telegram of the consul-general leads me to fear that, unless prompt measures are adopted, the authorities of San Francisco will cause great distress and injury to my countrymen, and I therefore beg of you to take whatever steps you may think proper and necessary with as little delay as may be found convenient; and I shall esteem it a favor to be informed of your action.
I improve, etc.,