the Governor of that state and request him to take the matter up,
but the Governor, for some reason or other, did not take any such action
as would have given satisfactory redress to the foreigner.
His ambassador made frequent appeals to the Secretary of State,
but the Secretary was powerless, as the Constitution
does not empower the Federal Government to interfere in state matters.
This seems a blemish in the administration of foreign affairs
in the United States of America. Suppose a foreigner should be
ill-treated or murdered in a state, and no proper redress be given,
the Federal Government cannot send its officers to arrest the culprit.
All it can do is to ask the Governor of that state to take action,
and if he fail to do so there is no remedy. Fortunately such a case
rarely happens, but for the more efficient carrying on of their state affairs,
is it not better in special cases to invest the Federal Government
with larger powers than those at present possessed by it?
I am aware that this opens up a serious question; that Congress will be
very reluctant to confer on the Federal Government any power to interfere
in the state affairs, knowing that the states would not tolerate
such an interference; but as there is a large and ever increasing number
of aliens residing in the United States, it naturally follows that riots,
and charges of ill treatment of foreigners now and then do occur.
Now state officials can, as a rule, be trusted to deal with
these matters fairly, but where local prejudice against a class of aliens
runs high, is it not advisable to leave to the Federal officials,
who are disinterested, the settlement of such cases? For the sake
of cordial foreign relations, and to avoid international complications,
this point, I venture to suggest, should be seriously considered
by the Federal and the State Governments.

The question as to what form of government should be adopted by any country