It will be seen
that by the treaty of 1868, known as the "Burlingame Treaty",
the United States Government formally agreed that Chinese subjects,
visiting or residing in the United States, should enjoy
the same privileges and immunities as were enjoyed by the citizens or subjects
of the most favored nation; that being so, and as the convention of 1894
has expired, according to the legal opinion of Mr. John W. Foster,
and other eminent lawyers, the continuation of the exclusion
of Chinese laborers and the restrictions placed upon Chinese merchants
and others seeking admission to the United States are not only
without international authority but in violation of treaty stipulations.
The enforcement of the exclusion laws against Chinese
in the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands is still more inexcusable.
The complaint in America against the immigration of Chinese laborers
was that such immigration was detrimental to white labor,
but in those Islands there has been no such complaint; on the contrary
the enforcement of the law against the Chinese in Hawaii has been, and is,
contrary to the unanimous wish of the local Government and the people.
Free intercourse and immigration between those Islands and China
have been maintained for centuries. What is most objectionable and unfair
is that the Chinese should be singled out for discrimination,
while all other Asiatics such as Japanese, Siamese, and Malays
are allowed to enter America and her colonies without restraint.
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