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AMERICAN DIPLOMACY IN THE ORIENT

condition of a servile class. From this cause there had sprung up a bitterly hostile feeling to the Chinese, sometimes exhibited in laws and ordinances of doubtful propriety, in the abuse of individual Chinese, and in cases of mob violence.

The committee held that an indigestible mass in the community, distinct in language, pagan in religion, inferior in mental and moral qualities, was an undesirable element in a republic, and especially so if political power should be placed in its hands; that the safety of the state demanded that such power should not be so placed, and the safety of the immigrant depended upon that power.

It was painfully evident from the testimony that the Pacific coast must in time become either American or Mongolian; that while conditions were favorable to the growth and occupancy of the Pacific States by Americans, the Chinese had advantages which would put them far in advance in the race for possession; and that the presence of Chinese discouraged and retarded white immigration.

By the judges of the criminal courts it was shown that there was a great want of veracity among Chinese witnesses, and that they had little regard for the sanctity of an oath. It was shown that they were non-assimilative with the whites, had no social intercourse and did not intermarry with them, and in a residence of twenty-five years had made no progress in that direction. They did not bring their families with them; all expected to return to China; and prostitutes were imported and held as slaves. It was claimed that in