No. 156.
Mr. Bayard
to Mr. Denby.
Department
of State,
Washington, March 1,
1887.
No. 164.]
Sir: I inclose for your information copies of the
below-enumerated correspondence, showing that American residents in China
returning home on a visit, as well as travelers passing through the United
States, may bring with them Chinese nurses or body servants under the
provisions of the acts of Congress in regard to Chinese immigration.
I am, etc.,
[Page 194]
[Inclosure 1 in No. 164.]
Mr. Bayard to Mr.
Manning.
Department of State,
Washington, January 21,
1887.
Sir: Referring to a circular issued by the
Treasury Department on the 23d of January, 1883, to collectors of
customs, relative to the transit of Chinese laborers over the territory
of the United States in the course of a journey to or from other
countries, I have the honor to transmit herewith for your consideration
a copy of dispatch No. 57, dated the 3d ultimo, from our consul-general
at Shanghai, making inquiry with regard to the right of American
residents in China, returning home on a visit, to bring with them
Chinese nurses or body servants for temporary sojourn, and also as to
the right of travelers, passing through the United States in transit to
another country, to carry with them the same class of servants.
As the act of July 5, 1884, is essential, for the purposes of this
inquiry, with that of May 6, 1882, the latter question may be considered
as settled by the opinion of the Attorney-General referred to in your
circular.
The principles upon which the said opinion is based apply equally to the
case first presented by the consul-general at Shanghai. It may be
seriously doubted whether nurses and body servants accompanying persons
who came to the United States for a temporary visit are laborers within
the meaning of the act, and certainly they are not immigrants, for they
do not come to stay.
For these reasons I am inclined to the opinion that neither of the
classes of Chinese servants referred to by the consul-general at
Shanghai is prohibited by the act from entering our territory for the
purposes named in the inclosed dispatch. I beg to suggest, in case you
concur in this view of the law, that a circular, supplementary to that
of January 23, 1883, be issued to customs officers instructing them to
admit Chinese nurses and body servants coming to the United States with
non-resident employers, and for a temporary purpose.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 2 in No. 164.]
Mr. Kennedy to Mr.
Porter.
United
States Consulate-General,
Shanghai, December 3,
1886. (Received January 3, 1887.)
No. 57.]
Sir: Our citizens having a temporary residence
in China from time to time have occasion to return to the United States
for business or recreation. It not unfrequently happens that a family so
returning desire to take a Chinese servant, and it can be readily seen
that very often it is a matter of great convenience, if not necessity,
that a nurse should accompany an invalid or a family of small children
on the tedious voyage to America. I am frequently asked if, in view of
the act suspending the immigration of Chinese to America, this is
permissible.
Further, it is becoming more and more popular for British residents in
China to return to England via the United States. A case in this
connection has been referred to me to-day, and I am asked if an amah, or
female nurse, will be permitted to land at San Francisco for the purpose
of continuing the journey to Europe.
I respectfully request the Department to instruct me how to reply to such
questions. I am informed that in some instances this class of servants
are allowed to land at San Francisco, while at other times they are
not.
I believe an act was passed in 1884 touching this subject, but copies of
the public acts subsequent to 1883 have not been received at this
consulate-general, therefore I do not know how far the original act has
been amended, or what effect it gives to the decision of the Treasury
Department, given in a letter to Mr. Frelinghuysen, dated December 27,
1882, at the instance of an inquiry from here.
I have, etc.,
J. D. Kennedy,
Consul-General.
[Page 195]
[Inclosure 3 in No. 164.]
Mr. Fairchild to
Mr. Bayard.
Treasury Department,
February 23, 1887.
Sir: Referring to your communication of the
21st ultimo, relative to the right of American residents in China,
returning home on a visit, to bring with them Chinese nurses or body
servants, and also to the right of travelers passing through the United
States to carry with them servants of the same class, I have the honor
to state that an opinion upon the subject has been obtained, under date
of the 14th instant, from the United States Attorney-General, which is
substantially in accordance with the views entertained by your
Department.
Referring to section 6 of the act of May 6, 1882, as amended by the act
of July 5, 1884, the Attorney-General holds that Chinese persons
accompanying, as servants or nurses, visitors entitled to enter the
United States, and only temporarily remaining here during the stay of
such visitors, whether to be regarded as “in transit merely across the
territory of the United States,” within the meaning of the opinion of
Mr. Attorney-General Brewster of the 26th December, 1882, or not, fall
within a description of Chinese laborers who, according to the views
expressed in that opinion, and in which Mr. Garland concurs, were not
intended to be excluded from the country by the legislation above
mentioned.
This Department concurs in the above views, and will cause this letter to
be printed in the next number of its official monthly publication, for
the information and guidance of the officers of the customs.
Respectfully, yours,
C. S. Fairchild,
Acting Secretary.
