Mr. Tsui to Mr. Wharton.

Sir: I have heretofore been under the necessity of bringing your attention to the riotous proceedings of a band of lawless people of the town of Vallejo, Cal., directed against certain peaceable and law-abiding Chinese subjects, merchants of said town of Vallejo.

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.

Accept, etc.,

Tsui Kwo Yin.
[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.,

Li Yung Yew.
[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.