No. 57.
Mr. Cheng Tsao
Ju to Mr. Frelinghuysen.
Washington , July 12, 1884. (Received July 12.)
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I have received a communication from Mr. Huang Tsun Hsien, Chinese consul-general at San [Page 110] Francisco, stating that on the 5th June last the steamer Rio de Janeiro arrived at San Francisco with a party of Chinese laborers bound for British Columbia, and applied to the consul-general lor transit certificates, for the purpose of temporarily landing at San Francisco; that Surveyor Morton refused to permit them to land, and that our consul, Mr. F. A. Bee, addressed a note to the collector of customs, Mr. Sears, on the subject, whose reply (a copy of which I inclose) was that—
Chinese laborers arriving at a port in the United States, and departing from the same port, are not in transit across the territory of the United States, and therefore not entitled to land, but should be kept on board ship and transferred to another vessel departing for a foreign port, &c.
The opinion of the honorable Attorney General dated 26th December, 1882, to you, Mr. Secretary, sets forth that “this Government does not think that a Chinese laborer coming to this country merely to pass through it can be considered as within the prohibition of the law, he being neither an immigrant nor a laborer coming here as laborer,” &c.
The honorable Secretary of the Treasury issued a circular, dated January 23, 1883, in relation to the transit of Chinese laborers.
Chinese laborers applying to the consul-general for a transit certificate, in transit, either passing through the territory of the United States or touching at San Francisco, in their journey to or from the Hawaiian Islands, Panama, British Columbia, and other places, were carefully examined by him.
Having satisfied himself with their status as mere transient passengers, the consul-general issued to them the transit certificates. This practice has been accepted by the collector of customs, who, after examining the transit certificates, has hitherto permitted Chinese in transit to land.
There has not been a single case where the Chinese in transit remained in this country arid evaded the circular of the Secretary of the Treasury. Now the collector states that the transit could not be applied to Chinese laborers en route to British Columbia, and that they should be kept on board ship and transferred to another vessel departing for a foreign port.
Besides, there are no steamers running directly to and fro between China, British Columbia, Panama, and other foreign ports on the American continent.
Thus Chinese necessarily touch at San Francisco before they can take another steamer going to or from those places. While waiting for a passage, sometimes they have to wait for ten days, and sometimes twenty days, as the departure of the vessel is uncertain. If they are provided with the consular certificate, they are still refused permission to land temporarily; so that the Chinese, wishing either to visit their relatives, or purchase things, or to find friends with whom to confer upon any transaction or business, cannot do so. This really would cause much inconvenience to them.
Moreover, if they were refused permission to land temporarily, and kept on board ship to wait for another vessel, despondency would pervade their minds and sickness might arise from it. It seems to me that the United States Government would not do such an inhumane act. Though the Chinese transient passengers are permitted to land temporarily, and wait for a passage by another vessel leaving for a foreign port, yet they do not remain in this country. There is no harm done to the United States.
I lay this matter before you with a view that you, Mr. Secretary, will exercise your impartial and fair judgment and consideration on the immigration [Page 111] act, in order, firstly, that the restrictions apply only to Chinese coming to the United States as laborers, but not to Chinese in transit, passing through this country or touching at one of her ports, and, secondly, that the Chinese transient passengers may be free from embarrassment.
Accept, &c.,