Mr. Adee to Mr. Wu.
Washington, August 18, 1899.
My Dear Mr. Minister: Before the Secretary went away he informed me of your conversation with him on July 27, when you stated that you had received a telegram from the Chinese consul-general at Manila to the effect that the Chinese exclusion laws of the United States were being put in operation in the Philippines against immigrants from China, and inquired whether this report was true, and, in that case, whether it was a result of the settled policy of the United States Government or a measure adopted by the General in the exercise of his discretion as commander in chief of the forces in the Philippine Islands.
Upon inquiry through the War Department, I learn by a telegram from Major-General Otis that the Chinese exclusion act is practically in force, except as to the methods for personal identification, for which other convenient methods, suitable to the special conditions in that quarter, have been adopted.
It is the opinion of the War and Treasury Departments that the enforcement of the Chinese exclusion act is incident to the military administration of the Philippine Islands during a state of hostilities therein, and therefore without prejudice to the future action of Congress in permanently extending the laws of the United States to such territory; so that, while it seems appropriate and desirable not to interfere with the discretion of the military commander in that quarter, the measure he has adopted should not be regarded as in pursuance of a settled policy on the part of the United States Government.
From an examination of the papers sent to me by the Secretary of War, it seems that the regulations under which the military authorities have prohibited the entrance of Chinese into the Philippine [Page 210] Islands have not undergone material modification since the promulgation of Major-General Otis’s order of September 26, 1898, with the provisions of which I presume you are familiar.
From later report, dated April 1, I learn that only such Chinese as are in good health and who have been residents of any of the provinces of the Philippine Islands are permitted to land in Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu, the only three open ports of the archipelago; that they must in every case present to the captain of the port or his deputized official on their arrival a consular certificate from the port of embarkation; that this certificate can only be issued upon a personal examination, and after careful inquiry upon the part of the consul, thereby assuring himself that the Chinese applicant is qualified, under the law, to engage passage to Manila. On being released from the vessel, and being allowed to land in cases where the certificate is found to be regular, all Chinese must at once register at the Chinese consulate, paying a registration fee, a hospital fee, and the cost of landing from the steamer with baggage—usually about 50 cents in Mexican money. The Chinese refusing to register, or who are known to be deported criminals, are not allowed to land, while in the event of the certificate they bear being fraudulently issued they are sent back to the port of departure by the steamer which brought them.
I am, etc.,