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No. 189.

Treaty with Great Britain regarding an Isthmian Canal

November 18, 1901

By the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 the United States and Great Britain agreed upon a joint control and neutralization of any isthmian canal that might thereafter be constructed. The apparent prospect of the construction of a canal at Panama by a French company led to an increasing demand in the United States for the abrogation of the treaty, and for the control of the canal by the United States alone. The Hay-Pauncefote treaty of February 5, 1900, authorized the construction of a canal either by the United States or by a private corporation, but retained the provision for neutralization. Amendments made by the Senate, declaring the Clayton-Bulwer treaty superseded and authorizing defensive measures by the United States in the management of the canal, were rejected by Great Britain, and the treaty failed. The Hay-Pauncefote treaty of November 18, 1901, in form a compromise between the original draft of 1900 and the Senate amendments, was ratified by President Roosevelt December 26, and by Great Britain January 20, 1902, and on February 22 was proclaimed. See post, Nos. 191 and 192.

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REFERENCES. Text in U. S. Stat. at Large, XXXII., Part 2, 19031905. The treaty of 1900, with other documents, is in Senate Document 85, 57th Cong., 1st Sess. (reprinted in Foreign Relations, 1901, pp. 237–246). The comparative merits of the Nicaragua and Panama routes were exhaustively treated by Senator Morgan, of Alabama, in Senate Report 1337, 56th Cong., 1st Sess. See also the report of the Walker commission, November 30, 1900 (Senate Doc. 5, 56th Cong., 2d Sess.). For the diplomatic history of the canal question see Moore, Digest of International Law, III., 2–222.

ARTICLE I.

The High Contracting Parties agree that the present Treaty shall supersede the afore-mentioned Convention [the ClaytonBulwer treaty] of the 19th April, 1850.

ARTICLE II.

It is agreed that the canal may be constructed under the auspices of the Government of the United States, either directly at its own cost, or by gift or loan of money to individuals or Corporations, or through subscription to or purchase of stock or shares, and that, subject to the provisions of the present

Treaty, the said Government shall have and enjoy all the rights incident to such construction, as well as the exclusive right of providing for the regulation and management of the canal.

ARTICLE III.

The United States adopts, as the basis of the neutralization of such ship canal, the following Rules, substantially as embodied in the Convention of Constantinople, signed the 28th October, 1888, for the free navigation of the Suez Canal, that is to say:

1. The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and of war of all nations observing these Rules, on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions or charges of traffic, or otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic shall be just and equitable.

2. The canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right of war be exercised nor any act of hostility be committed within it. The United States, however, shall be at liberty to maintain such military police along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness and disorder.

3. Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not revictual nor take any stores in the canal except so far as may be strictly necessary; and the transit of such vessels through the canal shall be effected with the least possible delay in accordance with the Regulations in force, and with only such intermission as may result from the necessities of the service.

Prizes shall be in all respects subject to the same Rules as vessels of war of the belligerents.

4. No belligerent shall embark or disembark troops, munitions of war, or warlike materials in the canal, except in case of accidental hindrance of the transit, and in such case the transit shall be resumed with all possible dispatch.

5. The provisions of this Article shall apply to waters adjacent to the canal, within 3 marine miles of either end. Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not remain in such waters longer than twenty-four hours at any one time, except in case of distress, and in such case, shall depart as soon as possible; but a vessel of war of one belligerent shall not depart within twenty

four hours from the departure of a vessel of war of the other belligerent.

6. The plant, establishments, buildings, and all works necessary to the construction, maintenance, and operation of the canal shall be deemed to be part thereof, for the purposes cf this Treaty, and in time of war, as in time of peace, shall enjoy complete immunity from attack or injury by belligerents. and from acts calculated to impair their usefulness as part of the canal.

ARTICLE IV.

It is agreed that no change of territorial sovereignty or of the international relations of the country or countries traversed by the before-mentioned canal shall affect the general principle of neutralization or the obligation of the High Contracting Parties under the present Treaty.

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No. 190.

Chinese Exclusion Act

April 29, 1902

A BILL to prohibit the coming of Chinese and persons of Chinese descent into the United States, and to regulate the residence of Chinese therein, was introduced in the House, January 18, 1902, by Julius Kahn of California, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The immediate occasion of the bill was the approaching expiration, by limitation, of the "Geary act" of 1892. A substitute bill, reported by James B. Perkins of New York, March 26, was followed, April 1, by another substitute bill and a minority report filed by Champ Clark of Missouri. The substitute bill of the committee was taken up April 4, and on the 7th passed the House, with amendments, without a division. The Senate Committee on Immigration reported the bill without amendment, but on April 17 a bill on the same subject, introduced January 16 by John H. Mitchell of Oregon, and passed by the Senate April 16, was substituted for the House bill and the bill was passed. Two conference committees were necessary before the bill received its final form. The report of the second conference committee was accepted by both houses April 28, and the next day the act was approved.

REFERENCES. Text in U. S. Stat. at Large, XXXII., Part I, 176, 177. For the debates see the Cong. Record, 57th Cong., 1st Sess.; a summary 1 Signed: "John Hay, Pauncefote."

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statement of the differences between the reports of the first and second conference committees is in ibid., p. 4709. The Perkins report is House Report 1231. On the Mitchell substitute, said to embody the views of Pacific Coast senators and representatives, see Senate Report 776. The most important work on the general subject is Coolidge, Chinese Immigration (1909).

An Act To prohibit the coming into and to regulate the residence within the United States, its Territories, and all territory under its jurisdiction, and the District of Columbia, of Chinese and persons of Chinese descent.

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Be it enacted . That all laws now in force prohibiting and regulating the coming of Chinese persons, and persons of Chinese descent, into the United States, and the residence of such persons therein. . . . be, and the same are hereby, reenacted, extended, and continued so far as the same are not inconsistent with treaty obligations, until otherwise provided by law, and said laws shall also apply to the island territory under the jurisdiction of the United States, and prohibit the immigration of Chinese laborers, not citizens of the United States, from such island territory to the mainland territory of the United States, whether in such island territory at the time of cession or not, and from one portion of the island territory of the United States to another portion of said island territory: Provided, however, That said laws shall not apply to the transit of Chinese laborers from one island to another island of the same group; and any islands within the jurisdiction of any State. or the District of Alaska shall be considered a part of the mainland under this section.

SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and empowered to make and prescribe, and from time to time to change, such rules and regulations not inconsistent with the laws of the land as he may deem necessary and proper to execute the provisions of this Act and of the Acts hereby extended and continued and of the treaty of [December 8,

1894,] . . . between the United States and China, and with the approval of the President to appoint such agents as he may deem necessary for the efficient execution of said treaty and said Acts.

SEC. 3. That nothing in the provisions of this Act or any other Act shall be construed to prevent, hinder, or restrict any foreign exhibitor, representative, or citizen of any foreign

nation, or the holder, who is a citizen of any foreign nation, of any concession or privilege from any fair or exposition authorized by Act of Congress from bringing into the United States, under contract, such mechanics, artisans, agents, or other employees, natives of their respective foreign countries, as they or any of them may deem necessary for the purpose of making preparation for installing or conducting their exhibits or of preparing for installing or conducting any business authorized or permitted under or by virtue of or pertaining to any concession or privilege which may have been or may be granted by any said fair or exposition in connection with such exposition, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, both as to the admission and return of such person or persons.

SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of every Chinese laborer, other than a citizen, rightfully in, and entitled to remain in any of the insular territory of the United States (Hawaii excepted) at the time of the passage of this Act, to obtain within one year thereafter a certificate of residence in the insular territory wherein he resides, which certificate shall entitle him to residence therein, and upon failure to obtain such certificate as herein provided he shall be deported from such insular territory; and the Philippine Commission is authorized and required to make all regulations and provisions necessary for the enforcement of this section in the Philippine Islands, including the form and substance of the certificate of residence so that the same shall clearly and sufficiently identify the holder thereof and enable officials to prevent fraud in the transfer of the same . . Approved, April 29, 1902.

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No. 191.

Act for the Construction of an

Isthmian Canal

June 28, 1902

A BILL for the construction of an isthmian canal was introduced in the House, December 6, 1901, by William P. Hepburn of Iowa, and referred to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. On the 19th

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