A Plea Against Mob Violence

The undersigned memorialists are compelled to appeal to the Chief Magistrate of the Nation and to the representatives of the people in both Houses of Congress to see that such steps shall be taken to check the recurrence of such acts, and to uphold the honor and insure the dignity of the American Government to its treaty stipulations. The petition states that the perpetrators of these riots do not represent the true sentiment of the population of this coast, and it is slander for them to claim that public sentiment sustains or approves any such violence. We submit that these threats and intimidation and riotous and bloody acts, committed under the light of the nineteenth-century civilization, in this Nation which is proud of its intelligence, morality, and culture, shock our sense of national pride as well as our sense of justice, honor, and right. We submit further that the Chinese residing in this country up to the time of the passage of the restriction act have as good a constitutional right to be here as any foreign-born resident in the United States. The treaty between the United States and the Emperor of China, commonly known as the Burlingame Treaty, expressly guarantees to the Chinese the same privileges of residence and trade as are granted to the citizens of the 'most favored nation.'