Mr. Gresham to Mr. Denby.
Washington, June 5, 1893.
Sir: I transmit herewith for your information copies of correspondence exchanged with the Chinese minister in this capital, relative to the application of the Chinese immigration act of May 5, 1892, to the test cases recently brought before the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of that act, and to the apprehensions felt by the minister lest the date fixed for the enforcement of the Geary act might be marked by mob violence against the Chinese in the Pacific States.
The minister’s fears in the latter regard proved groundless, as I felt confident would be the case.
In pursuance of the intimation conveyed in Mr. Wharton’s note to Mr. Tsui, of December 10, 1892, that the constitutionality of the Geary act could be tested only before the judicial branch of this Government, certain test cases were brought before the Supreme Court immediately after the act went into operation on the 5th ultimo, and by the understanding reached, as shown in the correspondence, the proceedings were expedited, and the decision of the court rendered on the 15th ultimo sustaining the law. When it shall be printed copies will be sent to you.
In recent conversations with the Chinese minister since the decision the alarming reports of anticipated acts of retaliation in both countries have been discussed. I have told Mr. Tsui I was satisfied that if the Chinese protect Americans in China and prevent assaults upon them we would be able to protect the Chinese in this country, but that should Americans in China—missionaries, merchants, and others—be injured in person or property it might not be possible to control sentiment here and to effectively protect the widely scattered Chinese.
The minister, in return, assured me that there was nothing in his latest official advices to justify the belief that Americans in China were now imperiled, and that no efforts would be spared for their protection should they be threatened with danger. As regards the execution of the act of May 5, 1892, I have stated to the minister that while the President can not suspend a law of Congress, which it is his constitutional duty to execute, and while it was impossible to give assurance that the Geary act would not be enforced, its terms and requirements will necessarily cause its enforcement to be attended with some delay; so that there was no reason to believe that the Chinese who have refused compliance with the statute will be deported in large numbers between now and the assembling of Congress, at which time there is ground to anticipate further legislation on the subject.
The situation appears, in the main, to be favorable to a rational disposition [Page 235] of the whole matter. Some harsh features of the Treasury regulations for the enforcement of the Geary law have been modified, a circumstance which Mr. Tsui assures me is highly appreciated. In the absence of an adequate appropriation for the deportation of nonregistered Chinese, the operations of the Treasury Department are necessarily limited for the present mainly to the cases of the those who are found to have come to the United States unlawfully.
I am, etc.,