The Problem of the Chinese in the Philippines

The close of the war with Spain in 1898 and the cession of the Philippines to the United States brought to this country a number of serious and difficult problems in the islands other than those immediately connected with the exercise of governmental control over them. Not the least among these problems was that which concerned the presence of the Chinese and the question as to their future admission or exclusion from the islands. An attempted solution was reached in the extension to the islands in September, 1899, of the exclusion laws of the United States. These laws are based upon the limited treaties of 1880 and of 1894, both of which modified the general treaty of 1868. The latter treaty provides for the free admission of Americans to China and also for the unrestricted entrance of the Chinese to the United States. At the time of the agitation against the incoming of the Chinese in the seventies, negotiations were commenced with China which in the treaty of 1880 secured her consent for a limited suspension of the admission rights of the Chinese to the United States. A similar concession was obtained from China in 1894, limited to ten years in its operation. Since the expiration of this treaty China has claimed that the provisions of the treaty of 1868 obtained, while the United States has contended that the treaties of 1880 and of 1894 abrogated the rights of the Chinese to free admission to United States territory. This contention of the United States is obviously forced and without sufficient basis either in theory or in fact, and the interpretation is maintained solely because of the weakness of China and her inability to prevent the United States from ignoring her protests. This attitude of inattention would hardly be assumed toward a more able and aggressive nation.