It is now my duty to lay before you an official communication from the
imperial consul-general at San Francisco, containing a detailed account
of the riotous events referred to and of the losses and damages
sustained by the Chinese subjects therein named.
In view of the statements made in said communication, if any further
action of the part of the National Government can, in your judgment, be
taken to secure the punishment of the guilty parties and protection of
the Chinese subjects from further violence and loss, it will be very
gratifying to my Government.
[Inclosure.]
Translation of the letter of Li Yung Yew, the
Chinese consul-general at San Francisco Cal., to the Chinese
minister at Washington.
Your Excellency: I am in receipt of a
petition from Sze-toe Hing Fat, Sze-toe, Shing Shune, and Sze-toe
Shing Cheok, aU Chinese merchants, residing in the United States,
who represent that they have been in partnership in the Kwong Tai
Shing grocer store, in the town of Vallejo, in the State of
California; that on the night of the 4th of July last some residents
of said town let off some crackers and threw them at the front of
their store, which soon caught fire; one of the partners discovered
it, and at once raised an alarm, but fortunately the fire was soon
quenched; that the wicked persons who had tried to prevent the fire
from being put out then advanced in a body, armed with firearms and
other weapons, broke open the door of the store and rushed in,
robbed them of their goods and money (a list of same being herewith
appended), assaulted and wounded 3 of the Chinese who were assisting
in quenching the fire, saturated the store with kerosene oil, to
which they set fire, and then went away; that they, the petitioners,
without delay repaired to the court in [Page 467] the town to present their complaint, which the
court refused to entertain, the court not allowing the charges of
incendiarism and burglary being preferred, but suggested that they
should be modified; that, as the charges were true and borne out by
facts, they insisted on the court receiving their complaint, but it
did not entertain it until the 15th day of the sixth month (the 19th
of July last), when it issued a warrant for the arrest of 8 of the
perpetrators only on the charge of robbery; that those men, after
their arrest, were soon bailed out on bonds varying from the sum of
$1 to $2; subsequently 6 of them were declared not guilty and
discharged, and only 2 are still held, pending trial; that since the
local authorities have been thus partial in screening them, the
wicked parties will show greater boldness, and it is impossible to
guard against future danger; consequently they deem it necessary to
bring the above facts to my notice and request me to submit them to
your excellency’s consideration, to the end that a communication may
be sent to the State Department, with a solicitation that protection
accorded by treaty stipulations be extended to them, the guilty
parties be punished, and compensation be awarded for the loss of
their property.
I have further received a petition from Fong Mun Kwan and Fong Foo
Lit, Chinese subjects, who represent that they are uncle and nephew
by relation, having resided in the town of Vallejo, in the State of
California, for some years; that in the sixth month of the
thirteenth year of Kwung Su (between July and August, 1887) Fong Mun
Kwan married a daughter of a family surnamed Chew (during the
several years since the marriage two girls were born to them, and
recently a boy baby, not quite one month old); that, owing to
several of their countrymen having been arrested on the charges
preferred by the Kwong Tai Shing store of incendiarism and burglary
committed on the night of the 4th of July last, some wicked men,
through bitter hatred of the Chinese and with a view to revenge, on
the night of the 19th of July last, set their, the petitioner’s,
house on fire by first saturating with kerosene oil the wooden side
of the house from outside and igniting it. On that night, about 8
o’clock, Chew She, wife of Fong Mun Kwan, had retired early to bed
with her babe and two daughters, while the petitioners slept in
their employer’s house, never dreaming of such a disastrous
occurrence that would befall on them; that fortunately a Chinese
subject, named Yu A Yem, saw, in the moonlight, a young man in the
act of setting the house on fire, who escaped on his approach,
otherwise there would have been not the least clew as to the cause
of the fire; that when Chew She was awakened by the flames that
danced around her, she, almost choked by the smoke and badly scared,
snatched her baby and younger daughter from her bed and ran out of
the house with them, but when she returned to save the elder
daughter she found her enveloped in flames and burned to [a] crisp;
that they have prepared a list of their property and money lost on
that occasion, amounting to $1,384.45; that Chew She, in her
endeavors to save the other daughter, got burned about the forehead
and head; that when the fire was over the body of the elder daughter
was dug out of the ruins; its head had been burned off and the body
entirely burned into a crisp—the worst and most cruel result of an
incendiarism ever seen; that it being a crime of incendiarism admits
of no doubt, and according to treaty stipulations of both nations
proper protection should be extended to the Chinese residents in
this country and outrages committed upon them should be visited with
severe punishment; that the cruel death met by the elder daughter
and the heavy loss of property through the fire suffered by the
petitioners are facts which can not but enlist all sympathies; that
they wanted to enter a complaint in the local court, which refused
to entertain it, and, being apprehensive of more outrages of like
character which no precaution could guard against, they have brought
the matter to, my notice, and pray that the same be submitted to
your excellency for your information, so that your excellency may
communicate with the State Department on the subject, to the end
that instructions may be issued for an investigation of the matter,
the arrest of the perpetrators of the crime and their punishment,
and also a compensation for the loss of their property.
The wicked people had since tried for several nights consecutively to
set fire to the houses occupied by the Chinese subjects, and, though
the latter have been vigilant in their watch against such attempts
and have so far averted immediate danger, yet as there might be the
possibility of the former’s success in carrying out their evil
designs, I hastened to telegraph the circumstances to your
excellency with a request that an immediate communication should be
made to the State Department for the issuance, by telegraph, of
instructions to the local authorities to the end that proper
protection might be extended so as to prevent any further outrages
being committed.
In the case of Fong Mun Kwan no foreigner would come out to give
evidence for him, and the local authorities are shielding the
perpetrators of the crime, which is a matter of regret.
Herewith I send the inclosed list of property lost as above
stated.
I have, etc.,
[Page 468]
Sze Toe Hing Fat and others claim $1,800 as the loss of property,
etc. Fong Mun Kwan, Fong Foo Lit, Fong Pnng Shuin, Fong Foo
Tsune, Fong Yut Wai, Fong Low Tok; Fong Show Tsun, Fong Pung
Kong, Fong Foo Heen, and Fong Foo Tsnn, claim $1,484.45 as the
amount of their loss in property destroyed by fire.