The American Government is not often beaten, but it cer-
tainly has not succeeded in its efforts to expel the Chinese. Whether influenced by fear of reprisals or by the large expendi- ture involved in carrying out the Excluding Act, the authorities at Washington remained passive, and of 107,000 Chinese liable to expulsion only a few were ever expelled. Even now, when the Supreme Court has decided that the Act is legal, the Executive makes no motion, and it is stated that President Cleveland has asked some Governors of States to make no motion either. Opinion, moreover, has veered round towards the Chinese. The great employers of labour miss them, they are greatly regretted as washernaen, and some of the Churches, notably the Presbyterian, doubt if it is right to persecute them. It is probable, therefore, that the Act will be forgotten, and that the Chinese, if they do not come in alarming crowds, will be admitted into the States like .other immigrants. The affair may give instruction to the gentlemen who are so greatly concerned to keep out Russian Jews, lest they should undersell native-born work- men and sempstresses. They can be excluded, but the exclu- sion is certain to produce consequences quite as unpleasant as those it is desired to prevent.
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