All the power of this Government
should be exerted to maintain the amplest good faith toward China in
the treatment of these men, and the inflexible sternness of the law in
bringing the wrongdoers to justice should be insisted upon.
Every effort has been made by this Government to prevent these violent
outbreaks and to aid the representatives of China in their investigation
of these outrages; and it is but just to say that they are traceable to
the lawlessness of men not citizens of the United States engaged in
competition with Chinese laborers.
Race prejudice is the chief factor in originating these disturbances,
and it exists in a large part of our domain, jeopardizing our domestic
peace and the good relationship we strive to maintain with China.
The admitted right of a government to prevent the influx of elements
hostile to its internal peace and security may not be questioned, even
where there is no treaty stipulation on the subject. That the exclusion
of Chinese labor is demanded in other countries where like conditions
prevail is strongly evidenced in the Dominion of Canada, where Chinese
immigration is now regulated by laws more exclusive than our own. If
existing laws are inadequate to compass the end in view, I shall be
prepared to give earnest consideration to any further remedial measures,
within the treaty limits, which the wisdom of Congress may devise.
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