Mr. Hill to Mr. Nabeshima.
Washington , June 29, 1900 .
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 25, of the 26th instant, in reply to Mr. Hay’s of the 25th instant, on the subject of alleged discrimination against Japanese subjects in the enforcement of quarantine measures at San Francisco and in Colorado as a precaution against bubonic plague.
You say that you desired, by your note of the 7th instant, “if the [Page 751] action of the board of health of Colorado was as reported, to obtain the prompt remedy which action so manifestly ultra vires and so gravely violative of rights guaranteed to Japanese subjects by solemn treaty pledge seemed to imperatively demand,” and that it appearing to you that the facts in the case of the quarantine in Colorado, as well as those in the case of the quarantine at San Francisco, have been fully ascertained, you must confess to disappointment at not discovering in my note of the 25th instant any intimation of redress, or any assurance against the recurrence of what amount to serious violations of a principle the observance of which, you had ventured to hope, would be regarded as a matter of equal concern to both our Governments.
It was hoped that the letter of the Surgeon-General of the Marine-Hospital Service would sufficiently explain the motives which inspired the orders promulgated by him regarding the quarantine measures to be adopted at San Francisco, and that the inconvenience occasioned by those orders would not be considered as directed against Japanese subjects.
The Government of the United States desires to observe and protect all the treaty rights of the Japanese subjects resident in the United States, and contemplates with regret the inconvenience which may have been caused to some of them by general orders intended to prevent the spread of a dangerous form of disease.
Regarding the measures adopted in Colorado, I have the honor to transmit the following, contained in a letter from the governor of Colorado, dated June 23, 1900:
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 18th instant, inclosing copies of correspondence with your Department, by the honorable the Japanese minister, relative to the recent action of the board of health of the State of Colorado, complaining of its unjustifiable discrimination against the subjects of His Japanese Majesty.
I have transmitted your letter with accompanying documents to the secretary of the board, and have instructed him to report the proceedings of the board concerning this matter to me in full. He is now engaged in the preparation thereof, and notifies me that it will be ready for delivery early in the ensuing week. As soon as I receive it I will forward it to you, together with such additional information as I may be able to secure upon the subject.
In view of the fact that the suppression of the plague is a matter of common interest to all nations, and considering the oriental origin of this disease, which implies that its diffusion is chiefly through the movements of persons connected with the Orient, the representatives of the Japanese Government will certainly not be disposed to interpret precautions which have primarily a geographic bearing as possessing a national significance. The avowal of the medical officers of this Government that they have not intended to discriminate against subjects of the Japanese Empire should, therefore, be received as a pledge of the good faith and friendliness of this Government in observing its treaty obligations.
If you would kindly represent to your Government the motives of the United Stdtes authorities as purely hygienic, pointing out that the inconvenience to your countrymen resulting from quarantine regulations in the consequence not of their nationality, but on their geographic origin, such representations might aid in the preservation of that good understanding which the Government of the United States desires always to maintain.
Accept, etc.,
Acting Secretary