Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 5, 1892

Mr. Herbert to Mr. Foster.

British Legation,
Washington, October 2, 1892. (Received October 4.)

Sir: In further reference to my note of the 29th ultimo respecting the complaint of the United States Government against the Canadian Pacific Railway Company in transporting Chinese into the United States, I have the honor, in accordance with a request which I have received from the Governor-General of Canada, to transmit copy of an approved minute of council on the subject, to which are appended two communications from Mr. Shaughnessy, the vice-president of the railway company, dealing with the charges contained in your note of the 10th August last.

You will observe from these letters that Mr. Shaughnessy denies in emphatic terms that the Canadian Pacific Railway has in any way connived at the illegal entrance of Chinese immigrants into the United States, and that he points out that in every case in which Chinamen are carried over the company’s route the greatest precaution is taken to prevent the unlawful introduction of Chinese persons into that country.

I have, etc.,

Michael H. Herbert.

Certified copy of a report of a committee of the honorable the Privy Council, approved by His Excellency the Governor-General in Council, on the 26th September, 1892.

On a memorandum, dated September 24, 1892, from the ministers of railways and canals, submitting, by way of supplement to his report of the 4th September, instant, respecting the admittance of Chinese to the United States over the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, copies of letters dated 13th and 20th September, instant, received from Mr. Shaughnessy, the vice-president of the road, bearing on the subject.

The committee advise that your excellency be moved to forward copies hereof to Her Majesty’s charge d’aifairs at Washington.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

John McGee,
Clerk of the Privy Council.

Mr. Shaughnessy to Mr. Haggart.

September 13, 1892.

Hon. John Haggart,
Minister of Railways and Canals, Ottawa:

Dear Mr. Haggart: Herewith please find copy of letter which I wrote the premier some days ago upon the subject of the alleged violations of the United States law in connection with Chinese passengers.

Since the receipt of your private letter I have had our general passenger agent at Detroit conducting a thorough investigation, and a complete statement, with affidavits, is now in course of preparation. I hope to send it to you on Friday. I could send part of the documents before that time, but probably it would be as well not, until I can put you in possession of all the facts.

Yours, very truly,

T. G. Shaughnessy,
Vice-President.

Mr. Shaughnessy to Sir John C. Abbott.

August 15, 1892.

Sir John Caldwell Abbott, K. C. M. G.,
Premier, Ottawa:

My Dear Sir: Referring again to the subject of our Chinese passenger business: We have been carrying four classes of Chinese passengers.

(1) Poll-tax passengers, of whom we are able to bring 118 each trip, or 1 per each 50 tons registered tonnage, who upon arrival at Victoria or Vancouver pay the Canadian government tax of $50 per head.

(2) Chinese passengers with Canadian certificates, being those who, after having paid the poll tax and resided in this country for a given time, visited China, and before leaving secured from the duly authorized Canadian officer certificates authorizing their return without the payment of poll tax.

(3) Chinese passengers destined to points in the United States and provided with proper certificates authorizing their return to that country.

(4) Chinese passengers for Cuba or West Indies passing through the United States or Canada, in bond, who are in charge and under the supervision of the customs authorities of the respective countries from the time they land in the country until they reëmbark at New York, Quebec, or Halifax.

The Canadian customs authorities have been most precise in their interpretation of the statute relating to poll-tax passengers. We have been held strictly to the limit of 118 per voyage. If at any time we brought a single Chinaman in excess of that number we were compelled to take him back.

During the past three months there was some difficulty about Chinamen holding Canadian “return certificates.” The Department alleged that in a number of cases the certificates were forged. We had no means of detecting any such forgeries, and were therefore held harmless, but during the last session of Parliament the act was so amended as to prevent a recurrence.

We bring very few Chinamen destined to points in the United States, and none who are not provided with proper return certificates. The United States customs officer at the port of entry is in each case notified a sufficient time in advance to enable him to examine the certificates and their holders and determine the authenticity of the certificates before the passengers arrive at the frontier. In view of the company’s responsibility, our agents exercise every possible precaution to prevent the sale of tickets to persons who have not the right to enter the United States.

Indeed, because so many people are interested in misrepresenting this company’s actions in connection with international traffic, it has been our effort not only in this matter of Chinese passengers, but in all others relating to traffic to or from the United States, to so strictly observe every regulation as to earn the confidence of the United States authorities. I feel quite sure that every United States customs official who has had to do with our affairs will bear testimony to this fact.

The few Cuban, or West Indian, passengers who are taken through the country in bond are strictly watched by the customs authorities, and the transportation company is not relieved from responsibility until they have reëmbarked.

The suspicion which I understand is entertained in some quarters that this company is inclined to wink at the smuggling of Chinamen into the United States across the Canadian frontier is absolutely without foundation. It is possible that some of the Chinese passengers by this company’s steamships, who were landed at Vancouver or Victoria, in strict accordance with existing laws, did subsequently improperly enter the territory of the United States, but, if so, it was absolutely without the connivance or the knowledge of any officer or employé of this company. This statement can be verified by an investigation on the part of the United States authorities at any time.

The Canadian Pacific company has no advantage over other lines in the matter of Chinese traffic. On the contrary, under existing Canadian laws, this company’s steamships are restricted to the number of poll-tax passengers represented by their tonnage, while there are no regulations limiting the number of Chinamen who can come into the country by rail, and, as a consequence, it is possible for any vessels sailing to Puget Sound ports to land an unlimited number of Chinamen and send them by rail to Canada, where, upon payment of the ordinary poll tax, they will be received without question. This has been a recognized defect in the law, which it hoped your Government will soon remedy.

Yours, very truly,

T. G. Shaughnessy,
Vice-President.

Mr. Shaughnessy to Mr. Haggart.

The Canadian Pacific Railway Company,
Montreal, September 20, 1892.

Hon. John Haggart,
Minister of Railways and Canals, Ottawa:

My Dear Sir: Referring to the complaint made by the United States to the Dominion government concerning the relation of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company to the Chinese passenger traffic, you quote the following extracts from the complaint as formulated by the Hon. John W. Foster, Secretary of State of the United States, and asked of this corporation such explanation as it may be able to make:

• “(1) Information has reached me that the Canadian Pacific Railway Company is making contracts to transport Chinese persons from China and deliver them at designated points in the United States for fixed sums; the price named being for instance, $140 from China to Chicago.”
• “(2) When the policy of this country has been proclaimed and enforced by appropriate laws, it can not be deemed a friendly act should a great corporation, amenable in so many respects to the control of a neighboring Government, employ its vast power and resources to thwart the purpose of the Government by becoming an organized machinery for the unlawful introduction of Chinese persons into the United States”

We deny most emphatically that we are making, or have made, contracts to carry Chinese, or have carried Chinese to any point in the United States who do not hold what we consider proper certificates which will enable them to return to the United States, which certificates in every instance are afterwards submitted to the United States customs authorities. Since our steamships were placed in service we have carried 30 Chinese to Chicago at rates in the neighborhood of $100 to $110, Mexican.

A grave misapprehension seems to prevail in the United States concerning the relations to the Dominion government of this corporation and its policy and spirit toward the laws and regulations by which its interests are affected.

In view of the language of the second extract from the complaint as quoted above, this company respectfully urges upon the Dominion government that it convey to the United States the assurance that the Canadian Pacific Railway Company is in no sense or respect, any more, or in any different manner, amenable to the control of the Dominion government than is any other corporation organized like this company for purely commercial purposes under the laws of Canada; and the further assurance that the relations of this company to competing transportation lines and to the business interests generally of the United States are purely commercial, in which it represents itself alone and in no degree represents any political or fiscal policy of the Dominion government as such. The statement that this company is an organized machine for the unlawful introduction of Chinese persons into the United States has no foundation in fact. It is possible that Chinese passengers landed at Victoria or Vancouver, in strict accordance with existing laws, have subsequently improperly entered the territory of the United States, but if so it has been absolutely without the connivance or knowledge of this company.

We cordially invite the fullest and most exhaustive investigation of this subject by the United States authorities, to whom we would tender all the coöperation in our power, and if any employé of this company shall be detected in aiding or abetting in the violation of any United States law or regulation governing Chinese immigration he shall be summarily dismissed from our service.

Indeed, because so many people are interested in misrepresenting this company’s actions in connection with international traffic, it has been our effort, not only in this matter of Chinese passengers, but in all others relating to traffic to or from the United States, to so strictly observe every regulation as to earn the confidence of the United States authorities. We feel quite sure that every United States customs official who has had to do with our affairs will bear testimony to this fact.

We have been carrying four classes of Chinese passengers:

(1) The poll-tax passengers, whose destination is Canada, who upon arrival at Victoria or Vancouver pay the Dominion government a tax of $50 per head. We are restricted by law to the transportation of 1 Chinese to every 50 tons of the registered tonnage of our steamships, which enables us to carry not to exceed 118 Chinese per trip. The Canadian customs authorities have been most precise in their interpretation of the statute relating to this class of passengers.

(2) Chinese passengers with Canadian certificates, being those who after having paid the poll tax and having resided in this country for a given time, visited China, and before leaving secured from the duly authorized Canadian officer certificates authorizing their return without the payment of poll tax.

(3) Chinese passengers destined to points in the United States and provided with proper United States certificates authorizing their return to that country.

(4) Chinese passengers for Cuba or West Indies, passing through the United States or Canada, in bond, who are in charge and under the supervision of the customs authorities of the respective countries from the time they land until they reëmbark. As you are aware there is a large permanent colony of Chinese at Victoria which was in existence long prior to the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad or the establishment of its steamship line on the Pacific Ocean. The Chinese travel to and from this colony alone forms the major portion of our Chinese passenger business.

We carry very few Chinamen destined to points in the United States in comparison to the number brought by steamship lines to American ports, and what little we do carry are all placed in bond by the Canadian customs authorities on arrival, and we have to satisfy them as to their proper exit from Canada. On arrival at a United States port of entry of Chinese destined as above, or in many instances prior to their arrival, we forward their United States certificates to the United States customs authorities, and it is only when these certificates are reported correct that Chinese are allowed to enter the United States, and our Canadian bond is released.

Attached hereto is an extract from the private instructions of this company to our station agents and ticket agents regarding Chinese, by which it appears that no tickets are to be sold to Chinese between a point in Canada and a point in the United States, and none between two points in Canada when a portion of the route lies in United States territory. The only exception made by our general passenger agent to this rule is when Chinese have certificates enabling them to legally enter the United States, which papers, in all instances, are submitted to the proper United States authorities. We have, of course, no legal right or power to exclude from our trains Chinamen passing between two points in Canada or between two points in the United States.

Attached hereto also are some official figures furnished by our passenger department which show:

(1) The number of Chinese passengers carried by Canadian Pacific Railway steamships between the 28th April (first steamer), 1891, and the 25th August, 1892, both inward and outward.

(2) The number of Chinese passengers via the port of San Francisco for three months ending the 30th June, 1892, both inward and outward, as furnished us by our San Francisco agent.

(3) The number of Chinese passengers landed in Canada by steamships plying between China and United States ports from the 18th June, 1892, to the 26th August, 1892.

By these tables it appears that during the sixteen months last passed we have ticketed to United States points 662 Chinese, and carried away from United States points during the same period 1,526 Chinese or about two and one-third times as many as we have brought in.

Of the whole number brought into Canada by our line 4,357, more than 70 per cent, or 3,188, became members of the large permanent colony at Victoria, before referred to.

Of the whole number 5,133 brought into Canada and the United States together, 43 per cent, or 2,214, have been carried back by us to China.

This company has ticketed to the United States 662 Chinese in sixteen months, or an average of about 41 per month, while there were landed at San Francisco, from reports furnished us, 1,245 Chinese for United States points in three months, or an average of 415 per month, or ten times the number per month brought by this company.

The Canadian Pacific Railway Company has no advantage over other lines in the matter of Chinese traffic. On the contrary, under existing Canadian laws, this company’s steamships are restricted to the number of poll-tax passengers represented by their tonnage, while there are no regulations limiting the number of Chinamen who can come into the country by rail, and as a consequence, it is possible for any vessel sailing to Puget Sound ports to land an unlimited number of Chinamen and send them by rail to Canada, where, upon paying the ordinary poll tax, they will be received without question. This has been a recognized defect in the law, which, it is hoped, your Government will soon remedy.

Yours, very truly,

T. G. Shaughnessy,
Vice-President.

Statement of Chinese passengers via port of San Francisco for three months ending June 30, 1892, as furnished by our San Francisco agent.

inward.

For United States	1,245
For other countries	1,276
Total	2,521

outward.

For United States	827
For other countries	172
Total	999

Chinese passengers landed in Canada by steamship lines (not Canadian Pacific) plying between China and United States ports 18th June, 1892, to 26th August, 1892.

inward.

Upton Line (Union Pacific)	586
Northern Pacific Railroad Line	123
Total	709

outward.

Upton Line (Union Pacific)	147
Northern Pacific Railroad Line	9½
Total	156½

Statement of Chinese passengers carried by Canadian Pacific Railway steamships, 28th April (first steamer), 1891, to 25th August, 1892.

inward.

To Canada:
Pacific coast points	4,268
Inland points	89
	4,357
To United States:
Pacific coast points	381½
Inland and eastern points	281
	662½
To other countries	114
Total	5,133½

outward.

From Canada:
Pacific coast points	595½
Inland points	82
	677½
From United States:
Pacific coast points	615½
Inland and eastern points	911
	1,526½
Total outward	2,214

[Extract from “Instructions to Station and Ticket Agents” dated July 1, 1890. Signed F. G. S.]

chinese passengers.

168. Chinese must not be ticketed to any point in the United States from Canada or any other foreign country, or by any route that will pass through any portion of the United States, or from a United States point to a United States point or other point by a route which leaves the United States and reënters it. The law does not permit them to reënter the United States.

169. Chinese merchants and tourists (not laborers) are permitted to reënter the United States under severe restrictions. Communicate with the general passenger agent before ticketing such passengers to or through United States territory.

170. Chinese may be ticketed to Canada from a point in any other country, provided they observe requirements of the Canadian law, known as “the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885,” section 4 of which reads as follows: “Every person of Chinese origin shall pay into the consolidated revenue fund of Canada, on entering Canada at the port or other place of entry, the sum of $50, except the following persons, who shall be exempt from such payment—that is to say, first, the members of the diplomatic corps or other Government representatives and their suite and their servants, consuls, and consular agents; and, second, tourists, merchants, men of science, and students, who are bearers of certificates of identity, specifying their occupation and their object in coming to Canada, or other similar documents issued by the Chinese Government, or other government whose subjects they are, and every certificate or other document shall be in the English or French language, and shall be examined and indorsed (visé) by a British consul or charge d’affaires or other accredited representative of Her Majesty, at the place where the same is granted, or at the port or place of departure, but nothing in this act shall be construed as embracing within the meaning of the word ‘merchant’ any huckster, peddler, or person engaged in taking, drying, or otherwise preserving shell or other fish for home consumption or exportation.”

171. The above does not prohibit the ticketing from one Canadian station to another Canadian station, provided the Chinese do not leave Canadian territory en route, or the ticketing from one United States station to another United States station, provided the Chinese do not leave United States territory en route. Chinese from the United States, destined to trans-pacific ports, are peremitted to travel through Canada under bond in charge of the railway employés who are personally responsible for them at $50 per head.