The mixed commissions organized under claims
conventions concluded by the Chilean Government with certain European
States have developed an amount of friction which we trust can be
avoided in the convention which our representative at Santiago is
authorized to negotiate.
The cruel treatment of inoffensive Chinese has, I regret to say, been
repeated in some of the far Western States and Territories, and acts of
violence against those people, beyond the power of the local constituted
authorities to prevent and difficult to punish, are reported even in
distant Alaska. Much of this violence can be traced to race prejudice
and competition of labor, which can not, however, justify the oppression
of strangers whose safety is guaranteed by our treaty with China equally
with the most favored nations.
In opening our vast domain to alien elements the purpose of our
law-givers was to invite assimilation, and not to provide an arena for
endless antagonism. The paramount duty of maintaining public order and
defending the interests of our own people may require the adoption of
measures of restriction, but they should not tolerate the oppression
of individuals of a special race. I am not without assurance that the
Government of China, whose friendly disposition toward us I am most
happy to recognize, will meet us halfway in devising a comprehensive
remedy by which an effective limitation of Chinese emigration, joined to
protection of those Chinese subjects who remain in this country, may be
secured.
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