The merchant vessels of the
United States lying in the waters of the five ports of China open to
foreign commerce are under the exclusive jurisdiction of officers of
their own Government. Until Congress shall establish competent tribunals
to try and punish crimes and to exercise jurisdiction in civil cases in
China, American citizens there are subject to no law whatever. Crimes
may be committed with impunity and debts may be contracted without any
means to enforce their payment. Inconveniences have already resulted
from the omission of Congress to legislate upon the subject, and still
greater are apprehended. The British authorities in China have already
complained that this Government has not provided for the punishment of
crimes or the enforcement of contracts against American citizens in that
country, whilst their Government has established tribunals by which an
American citizen can recover debts due from British subjects.
Accustomed, as the Chinese are, to summary justice, they could not be
made to comprehend why criminals who are citizens of the United States
should escape with impunity, in violation of treaty obligations, whilst
the punishment of a Chinese who had committed any crime against an
American citizen would be rigorously exacted.
Pages:
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457