fact that the government of Peru has just enacted a new code of regulations for the protection of Chinese emigrants, making it impossible that they should be subjected to any abuses, which my government has always condemned and endeavored to punish; and at the same time assuring them all the rights which the constitution and liberal laws of the country guarantee to all foreigners in their persons and property. For these good offices allow me to give your excellency my government's and my own anticipated thanks, which it is my earnest hope to be able soon to express personally to your excellency. Begging you to please send your answer to the American consulate at Shanghai, with instructions that it be kept for me there, I have the honor to assure your excellency of my highest regard and most distinguished consideration. AURELIO GO Y GARCIA. [Inclosure 2 in No. 276.J Mr. Low to Señor Garcia. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have had the honor to receive your excellency's communication of the 15th ultimo, informing me of your appointment as minister plenipotentiary from Peru to Japan and China, and stating that it is your intention to shortly visit Peking for the purpose of negotiating a treaty of amity and commerce with China. Some months since the honorable Secretary of State of the United States notified me that the government of Peru was about sending a mission to China, and authorized me to use my good offices toward enabling it to accomplish the object for which it would be sent. I have now the honor to inform you that, in compliance with your request, I have addressed a note to Prince Kung, notifying him that a Peruvian mission would shortly reach China, and stating in general terms the objects which your government desires to accomplish. If you find that my good offices will be of service to you in any way, I beg that you will command me. I have, &c., FREDERICK F. LOW. [Inclosure 3 in No. 276.] Mr. Low to Prince Kung. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Some months since my Government informed me that the government of Peru was about to send a mission to Japan and China, with a view of concluding treaties of amity and commerce with those countries. I was at the same time instructed to render the Peruvian envoy such assistance as I could consistently with my other duties. I have just received a letter from the Peruvian envoy, stating that he is about leaving Japan for China, and requesting me to inform your Imperial Highness of the fact. He further requests me to say that it is his wish to conclude a treaty between his country and this empire similar to those already existing between China and the chief western powers. In communicating this to your Imperial Highness, I take the opportunity to express the hope that the mission will be received in the same spirit which animated Peru in sending it, and that nothing will occur to prevent the conclusion of a treaty which will be advantageous to both countries. I have, &c., [Inclosure 4 in No. 276.] FREDERICK F. LOW. Mr. Low to Señor Garcia. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Referring to my dispatch to your excellency of the 5th instant, inclosing a copy of my letter to Prince Kung, which I trust you have already received, I have now the honor to send you a reply received from his Imperial Highness. In this dispatch you will see that the Chinese government declines to enter at present into any negotiations with you as the representative of Peru, and base their reluctance wholly on what they have heard as to the treatment experienced by their countrymen in Peru. Though the high officers in Peking have probably no knowledge by personal inquiry among Chinese who have returned home, of the truth or otherwise of the rumors which are current in the southern provinces in respect to the condition of those laborers who have been taken to Peru during the past twenty-five years, still the documents referred to in Prince Kung's dispatch, purporting to have been written from Lima, which were sent to him from this legation in 1869 and 1871, have furnished the statements, and done much to form the opinion upon which he now bases his reasons for declining to negotiate. These representations have been strengthened by the fact that so few laborers have ever returned from Peru in comparison to the number who have gone there, and so little can be ascertained as to the actual condition of those still remaining. Under these circumstances it would be an act of humanity befitting the dignity of a Christian nation to furnish the Chinese authorities with the most explicit and reliable information, so as to disabuse them of any erroneous impressions they may now have upon this matter. Their own opportunities for learning the truth are not many, and a full knowledge of the matter might initiate a free enigration to Peru, like that to Siam and the United States, or Australia, which would supply her with cultivators and artisans to a great extent. The decided and rather curt tone of the prince's reply will perhaps excite surprise, and is most reasonably accounted for by the present discussion upon the coolie emigration to Cuba with the Spanish chargé d'affaires. I have, &c., FREDERICK F. LOW. [Inclosure in 4 in No. 276-Translation.] Prince Kung to Mr. Low. TUNGCHI, 12th year, 6th moon, 12th day, (July 6, 1873.) Prince Kung, chief secretary of state for foreign affairs, herewith replies: I had the honor of receiving your excellency's communication of yesterday, in which you inform me that you had been honored with a dispatch from your Government, stating that a Peruvian envoy was already on his way to negotiate treaties of commerce with Japan and China, and directing you to assist him as far as lay in your power whenever he reached Peking, adding that you had just received a letter from the envoy himself intimating his speedy departure from Japan, and requesting you so to inform the Chinese government, &c. I may here observe that, during the ten and more years which have passed since China has made treaties with other countries, that mutual good-will has been shown by all parties; and now that Peru proposes to enter into treaty relations also, and has applied for the good offices of your excellency to aid her, it is reasonable to admit her proposal without demur. But the manner in which that country has acted toward China is so different from the conduct of other nations, that she cannot be regarded in the same light, and I am obliged to enter into some details to explain it to your excellency. The only traffic which Peru has heretofore carried on is getting coolies and carrying them away, so that there are now several myriads of Chinese in that land. These people are treated with such injustice and cruelty, and suffer such extreme misery, that it cannot be adequately made known. In June, 1869, Mr. Ross Browne, the United States minister, informed me that the Chinese laborers in Peru numbered more than thirty thousand, and that they had presented a remonstrance against the harsh treatment of their Peruvian masters to the resident American minister then at Lima, in which they complained of the unbearable nature of their wrongs, and he (Mr. Browne) expressed his willingness to aid in whatever way he could to relieve them. Again, in July, 1871, Mr. Williams made a communication upon this subject, and proposed that stringent orders should be sent to the provincial authorities in Kwangtung to issue a proclamation restraining the people from accepting contracts for labor in Pera. This government has also heard from other sources of the harsh treatment of Chinese laborers by the Peruvians, who never stop their oppression till death ends it, and whose plan is just to sell human flesh for money. The evidence of their barbarous dealings with the coolies is plain and explicit, and this government has no desire to Hike a treaty with that country. But seeing that your excellency has been asked to act in this matter between us, this government considers that it will not be meet to repel the Peruvians too harshly or finally, but they ought to be plainly informed that until they return all the coolies to their own country and agree not to hire any more, no treaty can be made with them. If they decline this, it will be impossible to enter into any arrangement with them. I have ever found that your excellency clearly understands the relations of things, and I am therefore confident that in this decision I have not overpassed the rules of propriety, and you will also agree with me. No. 2.] No. 133. Mr. Williams to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Peking, August 26, 1873. (Received October 23.) SIR Referring to your dispatch No. 132, addressed to Mr. Low, and inclosing an address in English from the Chinese living at Quito, purporting to be written by one John Williams, to Mr. Wing, asking for the protection of the United States against those who ill-treat them, and giving directions to bring their complaint before the proper authorities, with a view to some remedial action, I now beg to reply that it would be very difficult to do so from these papers with any prospect of good to the Chinese in Ecuador. The original Chinese text should have been sent from Quito, as was done in the case of the petition from Peru, in 1869, and then its presentation to the high authorities here, with such explanations as were necessary to its full understanding, would have left them free to act. As it is, I have no evidence to bring that the Chinese there need relief, nor have the officials any clear notion of what they ought or are expected to do in the premises. While they have a general idea that their countrymen are much misused in all South American countries, and that it is incumbent on them to do something for their protection, they still feel their impotence to do aught effectual, and at present are content to do nothing; nor do I see what direct steps they could take with any prospect of relieving the wrongs complained of by their subjects living abroad in that part of the world. However, the appeal of these poor Chinese for help can be made in a measure beneficial if their petition be sent here in its original form, or one be drawn up designed for presentation to their own rulers, which will state in detail the causes of complaint. I should look for some good then to result, and the authorities be led to see better their own responsibilities, which in all such cases they have always been very willing to shift on others. With these explanations, I shall await your further directions in this affair. I have, &c., S. WELLS WILLIAMS. No. 134. No. 9.] Mr. Williams to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Peking, November 6, 1873. (Received January 23, 1874.) SIR: Referring to Mr. Low's dispatches of June 24 and 26, 1872, (Nos. 166 and 167,) in relation to the subject of coolie emigration, and more particularly to his recent one of June 3, 1873, (No. 261,) about the dis cussion between the Spanish chargé d'affaires and the Chinese government, growing out of their prohibiting the emigration of Chinese laborers to Spanish colonies, I have now the honor to transmit for your information several papers explaining its course and results. The controversy has been dragging along rather slowly since the date. of Mr. Low's dispatch, but has now come to a pause by the suspension of diplomatic relations between M. Otin and the Yamun. In Mr. Low's dispatch he states that "it was finally agreed that their differences should be submitted to the ministers of Russia, Germany, England, France, and the United States, jointly, and that the decision of a majority shall be final and conclusive." This conference was held at the Russian legation on the 1st of August, continuing four hours, and M. Otin was heard at length upon his complaint. Previous to this date he had also fully made known his views in conversation and letters, and I inclose a copy of a letter addressed to this legation, from which you can learn the manner of his argument. (Inclosure 1. The reference in the second paragraph to an order from a planter in Cuba, received by his agent in China, requiring him to procure three thousand laborers to work his plantation there, is the index to the spirit of the document. In it he refers to the "officious reports of some consuls in Amoy," making his own explanations, and entirely ignoring the treatment of tens of thousands of coolies tak en from China to Cuba before 1869, and disputing the right of the Chinese government to complain of that ill-usage, and suspend the fulfillment of the treaty until it can be investigated. The article on which the claim is founded reads as follows: ARTICLE 10. The imperial authorities will permit those Chinese subjects who may desire to go abroad as laborers in Spanish possessions to enter into contracts with Spanish subjects, and to embark alone or with their families at the open ports of China. The local authorities acting with the representative of Her Catholic Majesty in each port shall make the necessary rules for the protection of the said laborers. It is forbidden to take deserters and people who have been taken against their will. In such cases the local authorities can claim from the consul the restitution of the individual. In carrying out this article the native authorities require conformity to the code of emigration rules issued in 1866. In view of the approaching conference and arbitration the Yamun addressed two circular notes to the foreign ministers, containing the two points on which they desired categorical replies, in order to know somewhat the ground they stood on. In my reply I urged the appointment of the proposed commission of inquiry into the past and present condition of the Chinese in Cuba, as the only satisfactory means of arriving at the facts. (Inclosures 2, 3, 4.) The conference was held at a juncture which quite prevented me from attending it, without such risk to my health by exposure to the sun as I was unwilling to run. I had met all my colleagues, too, at the Russian minister's office two days before, and our views generally coincided; M. de Geofroy, the French minister, was also unable to be present himself. It was a step in advance on the part of the Chinese officials, and an homage to the power of public opinion. Prince Kung was not there. No protocol was drawn up at the meeting, but I have obtained from the German chargé d'affaires his summary of the points agreed upon, of which he has kindly furnished me a translation: 1st. The Chinese government to send one or more delegates to the island of Cuba, in rder to investigate the condition of the Chinese subjects settled in that place. The Spanish government to be at liberty to take part in this investigation, by apointing agents of its own. 3d. With a view to an impartial inquiry and investigation of the real facts, the rep resentatives of Russia, Great Britain, France, and Germany, who have taken part in this conference, will lay before their respective governments the request of the Chinese government, that the representatives of the said four powers residing at Havana may be instructed to advise and assist the Chinese delegates if necessary. The Chinese gov ernment can apply to the representative of the United States with a similar request. 4th. Both parties to be at liberty to apply again to the representatives of the leading powers at Peking for further decision regarding this matter. The Spanish chargé agreed to these stipulations, and it would have saved much useless discussion if all present had signed a paper containing their views of the agreement. However, the Chinese officials were committed to so far taking a direct interest in the well-being of their countrymen abroad as to appoint a commission; and in a few weeks the Emperor's rescript was received agreeing to the proposal, and the names of the persons composing the delegation were notified to all the legations. (Inclosures 5, 6, 7.) The chief Chinese commissioner, Chau Lan-pin, is now in the United States, connected with the education of the students taken there by Yung Wing last year; I know nothing of his antecedents, but I infer that his being from Kwangtung Province, and knowing the dialect spoken by a large portion of the coolies, has had something to do with his selection. Mr. A. Macpherson is an Englishman, and Mr. Alfred Huber a Frenchman, both connected with the customs service, and conversant with the Mandarin dialect and the written Chinese language. They are accompanied by persons familiar with the dialects spoken at Canton, Swatow, and Amoy, whence all the coolies in Cuba were taken. I sincerely hope that you will be able to assist this commission in carrying out its objects, either by furnishing its members with such information or suggestions as will help them, and documents bearing on the subject, congressional or otherwise; or by directing the American consul-general at Havana, and the consuls at other ports in Cuba, to assist them officially on the spot in pursuing their investigations. The idea here is, that while the Chinese commissioner acts wholly on his own instructions, and is not to be hampered or controlled by the Spanish authorities, their delegate and the five leading consuls at Havana are to act as assessors, to see that the inquiry is conducted impartially and with due regard to the rights of all parties, and the attainment of the truth. I have supplied Mr. Macpherson with the copy of the decree of O'Donnell in 1860, and the more recent law of Valmaseda, ordering the re-engagement of coolies, which formed the inclosure in your last dispatch, No. 149. * On the 9th of October, the day after Chan's promotion was notified he presented the draught of a protocol in five articles to the Yamun; and when it was declined as unnecesssary and novel, he threw up his office as chargé d'affaires, transferring the interests of Spain to the German legation. The correspondence between the parties was transmitted to all the legations on the 24th, and I append a translation of the Prince's dispatch with its inclosure, (inclosure 8;) its moderate tone seems to show that he is sure of his position in the step he has taken of appointing the commission. The five points stated in M. Otin's protocol were much beyond the sense taken at the conference, and the first one, if adopted, by making the whole board into a mixed commission, would have paralyzed the action of the Chinese commissioner. Yet M. Otin had the right to demand that the Chinese should definitely admit the privilege of the Spanish government to appoint an assessor, if not a colleague, with their deputy; and their unwillingness to enter into an arrangement on this |