No. 131.
Mr. Avery
to Mr. Fish.
Peking, November 23, 1874. (Received January 28, 1875.)
Sir: On the occasion of my interviews with the viceroy, or governor-general, of this province, Li Hung Chang, at Tien-tsin, which were reported to you in my No. 3, under date of November 5, that functionary made one inquiry which I promised to lay before the State Department. He wished to know if Chinese could be admitted to the Military Academy at West Point, and remarked that his government would consider such admission a great favor and mark of friendship. In this connection he referred to article 7 of the treaty supplementary to that of 1858, wherein it is declared that “citizens of the United States shall enjoy all the privileges of the public educational institutions under the control of the government of China, and, reciprocally, Chinese subjects shall enjoy all the privileges of the public educational institutions under the control of the Government of the United States which are enjoyed in the respective countries by the citizens or subjects of the most favored nations.” As a matter of fact, no citizen of the United States has claimed entrance to either of the two public educational institutions under the control of the government of China,” which would doubtless be accessible if the privilege were desired; but that fact would hardly be construed to warrant a denial of educational privileges which might be asked by the Chinese in America. The only question, as I explained to Li Hung Chang, is whether there is authority in our laws for the admission of foreigners to the Military Academy, or whether special legislation to that end would be required on the part of Congress in behalf of the Chinese. After a careful examination of the statutes of the United States, I am unable to find any requirement that cadets in the Military Academy shall be native or naturalized Americans, or the sons of such; and an inspection of the Academy-lists for a number of years shows that the appointments of cadets born abrord, and presumably of parents not citizens, have been numerous. The sx5t approved April 29, 1812, (see Statutes at Large, vol. 2, p. 720,) prescribes as the conditions of admission:
“That the candidates for cadets he not under the age of fourteen, nor above the age of twenty-one years; that each cadet, previously to his appointment by the President of the United States, shall be well versed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and that he shall sign articles, with the consent of his parent or guardian, by which he shall en gag 3 to serve five years unless sooner discharged.”
By joint resolution passed June 16, 1866, (see Statutes at Large, vol. 14, p. 359,) Congress fixed the age for admission at between seventeen and twenty-two years, and further required candidates “to have a knowledge of the elements of English grammar, of descriptive geography, (particularly [Page 228] of our own country,) and of the history of the United States.” The same act requires that cadets nominated from a congressional district or Territory “shall be actual residents” of the same. The act of August 3, 1861, “for the better organization of the military establishment,” (Statutes at Large, vol. 12, p. 288, sec. 8,) requires from each cadet an oath of allegiance to the Constitution and Government of the United States. This requirement, which would seem to have been dictated by the sad examples of bad faith afforded by the rebellion, is, so far as I can ascertain, the only bar to the admission to the Military Academy, in the discretion of the President, by appointment at large, of any Chinese having the prescribed age and literary qualifications; and this, if I am right, and have not overlooked some essential act, would be no bar in the case of a Chinese applicant qualified as above and willing to take the prescribed oath. As it is probable, however, that no Chinese would care to denationalize himself, and as the very object in view would be to fit himself for usefulness to his native country, the only practical question remaining is this: Would the State Department or the War Department, or both, be willing to recommend, and would Congress be willing to authorize, as a matter of good-will to China, and as a means of helping this empire to a just appreciation of western science, the appointment by the President of a limited number of properly-qualified Chinese into the Military Academy, without requiring of them the oath of allegiance to the United States?
If authority to this end were granted, one, two, or three experimental appointments might be made by selections from the ranks of those Chinese students in American schools who have latterly been sent over by the Chinese government under the charge of a special commissioner, Yung Wing, who is himself a graduate of one of our colleges. The special friendliness and confidence felt toward the United States by China are evinced by her preference of our country to any other for the education of a portion of her people in our language, learning, and arts. I am sure that the admission of a few Chinese, out of the 60,000 living in our country, to the Military Academy, would enhance the good-will enjoyed by us, would contribute to the enlightenment and advancement of this people, and would ultimately redound to our material advancement. I beg leave respectfully to ask if the State Department will procure for me from the War Department such information or opinion as it may be disposed to furnish relative to the foregoing matter, and will make such suggestion in the premises as may seem proper, advising me of the same, that I may return it to Li Hung Chang, or communicate to the Tsung li Yamen the reply demanded by courtesy.
I have, &c.,