File No. 819.55/28.

The American Chargé d’Affaires to the Secretary of State.

[Extract.]
No. 509.]

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of September 22, informing me that the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs through the American Legation at Peking has requested that I be instructed to assume temporary charge of Chinese interests in Panama, and, with a view to my guidance in assuming these duties, referring me to previous mail and telegraphic instructions of the Department.

I have also the honor to refer to my despatch No. 506 of September 20, 1913, reporting the revocation by the Government of Panama of the exequatur of the Chinese Consul-General, Mr. Ow Yang King, [Page 1124] and the fact that the Chinese in Panama are now without a representative, and also to my telegram of September 24, reporting that my temporary appointment in charge of Chinese interests in Panama has been favorably received by the Government and press and that, out of consideration for my appointment and in order to give me time for a full consideration of the Chinese question from this new point of view Señor Lefevre, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has announced a temporary postponement in the application of the provisions of Law No. 50, thereby courteously enabling me to deal with this difficult subject with the fullest information available.

I have also the honor to report that on the day following the receipt of the Department’s telegram above mentioned I called upon Señor Lefevre and was received by him in my new capacity, and that he expressed the hope that with my intimate knowledge of the situation and my close and friendly relations in the past with himself and with the Foreign Office, a satisfactory solution might be arrived at through my good offices. In reply I stated, as confirmed in my Foreign Office note No. 353 of September 23, 1913, a copy of which note I have the honor to enclose herewith to the Department that in assuming these new duties toward the Government of Panama, with a full sense of the responsibility and importance of the questions involved in dealing with the present situation of the Chinese in Panama, I trusted there might be no change in the uniformly cordial and friendly relations which had so far characterized my relations with himself and his Government. To this end I made it clear to his excellency that my position while acting in charge of the interests of China in Panama was entirely distinct from my representative capacity as an official of the United States Government.

Following my interview with Señor Lefevre, I called at once on Mr. Ow Yang King, the former Chinese Consul General at Panama, who also expressed his pleasure that I had been appointed to temporarily take charge of the interests of China in Panama, and promised his cooperation for as long as he remained on the Isthmus in case I should desire to consult with him. He offered also to hand over the archives of the Consulate General and, with the consent of a committee of his countrymen, to whom they had been entrusted, the cédulas mentioned in my despatch No. 506 of September 20, 1913, which still remained in his possession. Having received the archives as a matter of form, and also the cédulas, which I placed in the Legation safe, I addressed a letter to Dr. King and also to the Chinese resident on the Isthmus, informing them of the action of the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs and of my acceptance of the charge, and inviting them by delegations or as individuals to call freely at any prearranged hour at the Legation to express their views as to the best means of safeguarding their interests under the present law.

I have taken particular care to inform Dr. King not only verbally but also in this letter, that the cédulas entrusted to me would never under any circumstances be placed at the disposal or examination of any official of the Panaman Government, which is an assurance greatly desired by the Chinese, as they fear that following an inspection of their cédulas, which may be found to be invalid, they will be subject to the tax of $250 under the law.

[Page 1125]

As I have anticipated for some time past that the Panaman Government might deprive the Chinese of their representative here through the revocation of Dr. King’s exequatur and that I might be called upon through my experience with the present conditions to take his place, I have for the last two weeks given my most earnest consideration to this question of the safeguarding of Chinese interests. * * *

To effect some compromise between the Chinese and the Panaman Government, I have decided, with the approval and cooperation of Dr. Ow Yang King, to take, in my capacity as the representative of the Chinese Government in Panama, a registration of all the Chinese here in the Republic of Panama, in a book kept for that purpose, which shall be the property of the Chinese Government and which shall not under any circumstances be placed at the disposal or under the observation of any official of the Panaman Government. This book shall contain the photograph, by way of identification, of each Chinaman registering, attached firmly to the page and sealed with a seal which I am having made, bearing in its center in Chinese characters the words, “Seal of the Republic of China”, and around the border the words in English, “In charge of the interests of the Republic of China in Panama”. The book will also set forth the name in Chinese, and also in English characters, of the person registering, together with such other facts as he may desire to offer in the way of identification, such as a personal description or thumb marks. At the time of registraton I shall inquire if the person registering possesses a cédula, and if this is the case and it is shown to me, either among those which I now have in my possession or brought by him in person, I shall record in the book the fact that the person registered possesses a cédula.

As these cédulas vary greatly in nature and character, and possibly validity as well, a minute examination and authentication of these would be practically impossible, but it is my opinion that, having registered all the Chinese who possess cédulas, I trust to be able, through my efforts and the exercise of good offices with the Panaman Government, to secure from the latter the assurance that those Chinese who have registered in the book and who are recorded as possessing cédulas issued by any responsible official of the Panaman Government, may be allowed to remain hereafter within the country as of right.

The matter of registration involves considerable expense and a great deal of time. I have, in the absence of instructions from the Chinese Government, already hired the services of a competent stenographer on behalf of the Chinese Government, and will go to such other expenses as may seem necessary, rendering an account therefor to the Chinese Government. In the matter of the registration I shall, in the absence of instructions, charge the same fees as those charged, according to the official statement of Dr. Ow Yang King, by the Chinese Consul General at San Francisco, protecting myself in this way and holding myself accountable to the Chinese Government for their collection.

It may be that this plan as outlined will not result in a successful solution of this present difficulty, but the matter is being placed before the Chinese at a meeting of their people held this evening, [Page 1126] and has received the approval and support of Governor Metcalfe and Judge Feuille, as before mentioned. I would request that in case my efforts on behalf of the Chinese here in Panama, and as the representative of their Government, may be approved by the Department, that the substance of my action to date may, through the kindness of the Department, be telegraphed to the American Legation at Peking for the information of the Chinese Government, in order that I may be supported, if advisable, in carrying through this plan, which seems at the present moment to afford the only practicable solution.

If my knowledge of conditions and experience, through the exercise, for four months, of good offices on behalf of the Chinese, coupled with my acquaintance with the weakness of the position of the Panaman Government and my sense of the justice of the cause of the Chinese, are of value to their people, I trust I may receive instructions as to where I have failed to best protect their interests, and support where I may succeed in upholding their rights, both through the Department of State and the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs at Peking.

I have [etc.]

Cyrus F. Wicker.
[Inclosure.]

The American Secretary of Legation in charge of Chinese interests to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

F. O. No. 353.]

Excellency: I have the honor to inform your excellency that I have received from the Secretary of State of the United States a telegram informing me that the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs through the American Legation at Peking has asked that I be instructed to assume temporary charge of the Chinese interests in Panama, and referring for my guidance to instructions given to a former. American Minister to Panama under similar circumstances.

I trust in assuming these new duties toward your excellency’s Government and with a full sense of the responsibility and difficulty involved in dealing with the present situation of the Chinese in Panama, that there may be no change in the uniformly cordial and friendly relations that have so far characterized my relations with yourself and your Government.

To this end I would make clear to your excellency the distinction between my position as a representative of the Government of the United States and that while acting in charge of the interests of China in Panama, bearing in mind that the instructions1 given to Minister Squiers by the Hon. Elihu Root, then Secretary of State, to the effect that when requested to make representations on behalf of the protected interests the American representative should confine his offices to the transmission of such representations without placing himself in the position of acting, while so doing, in the capacity of an official of the United States Government.

I avail [etc.]

Cyrus F. Wicker.
  1. See footnote to the Department’s instruction of September 22, 1913, ante.