his brethren who are confronted by the Chinese problem in
California. So May 6, 1882, Congress passed the Restriction
Act, which, as amended July 5, 1884, and reenacted in
1903, is now in force.

There are thousands of high-minded Christian people who
are unselfishly and lovingly toiling for the temporal and
spiritual welfare of this Asiatic population in America. They
rightly feel that the people of the United States have a special
duty towards these Orientals, that the purifying power of
Christianity can remove the dangers incident to their presence
in our communities, and that if we treat them aright they will,
on their return to China, mightily influence their countrymen.
But the kindly efforts of these Christian people are unfortunately
insufficient to offset the general policy of the American people
as a whole, especially as that policy is embodied in a stern law
that is most harshly enforced.

Americans are apt to think of themselves as China's best
friends and the facts stated show that there is some ground
for the claim. But before we exalt ourselves overmuch, we
might profitably read the correspondence between the Chinese
Ministers at Washington and our Secretaries of State regarding
the outrages upon Chinese in the United States. Many
Chinese have suffered from mob violence in San Francisco and
Tacoma and other Pacific Coast cities almost as sorely as
Americans have suffered in China. Some years ago, they
were wantonly butchered in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and it
was as difficult for the Chinese to get indemnity out of our
Government as it was for the Powers to get indemnity out of