Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration

Last updated
Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration
Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau.jpg John Hamilton Gray (New Brunswick).jpg
Commissioners Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau and John Hamilton Gray
Date1884-85
Commissioners Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau and John Hamilton Gray
Ordered by John A. Macdonald
Aftermath Chinese Immigration Act of 1885; Chinese head tax

The Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration was a commission of inquiry appointed to establish whether or not imposing restrictions to Chinese immigration to Canada was in the country's best interest. [1] Ordered on 4 July 1884 by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, the inquiry was appointed two commissioners were: the Honorable Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, LL.D., who was the Secretary of State for Canada; and the Honorable John Hamilton Gray, DCL, a Justice on the Supreme Court of British Columbia. [1] [2]

Contents

The commissioners heard from 51 witnesses who submitted their testimonies to 27 questions regarding Chinese immigrants in Canada, and what policies should or should not be implemented to restrict them. Each of these witnesses gave their accounts and the commissioners gathered their answers to draw upon for their conclusions. However, a majority of their interviews were concentrated in Victoria rather than in the countryside where Chinese men competed for jobs, and many[ who? ] felt that this lost credibility for the report. Although they did venture to other cities, like Nanaimo and New Westminster, none of the voices from those cities make it into the final report.[ why? ] (They held interviews in some locations in the United States as well, notably San Francisco and Portland.) [3]

Submitting their final report in 1885, the commissioners concluded that there was little evidence to support the claims made against Chinese immigration. According to them, the Chinese were judged by unfair standards and subject to broad generalizations about their character and habits. Despite the lack of proof against the threat of Chinese immigration to Canada, the report recommended moderate legislation to restrict such immigration. [1] [2]

Background

In the 1880s, around 15,000 labourers from China came to Canada to work on the western section of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in British Columbia. When the railroad was completed in 1885, Chinese labourers entered other industries like fishing and agriculture, or worked as domestic servants, among other things. [4]

Though employers generally supported Chinese labour as it was cheap and reliable, the growing anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination in the public sphere meant Prime Minister Macdonald could not ignore calls for the creation of anti-Chinese policies, particularly by politicians, trade unionists, and white residents. [1]

While initially refusing to introduce such regulations out of recognition for the necessity of Chinese labour for the construction of the CPR, Macdonald eventually yielded to public dissatisfaction pressure when railway construction ended. [1] [3]

Inquiry

Commissioners Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau and John Hamilton Gray collected evidence from Canada, the United States, and Australia relating to the effect of Chinese immigration on trade, social relations, and morality. [5] Their survey of British Columbia's Chinese population lists 157 Chinese women (classified as wives, girls, and prostitutes) and 10,335 Chinese men. [5]

The immigration policies of other countries were also examined by the commission, including the American Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), as well as the Chinese immigration laws in New Zealand (1881) and Victoria, Australia (1855), both of which levied a £10 poll tax on Chinese immigrants. [2]

A majority of their interviews were concentrated in Victoria rather than in the countryside where Chinese men competed for jobs, and many felt that this lost credibility for the report. (They held interviews in some locations in the states as well, notably San Francisco, California, and Portland, Oregon.) [3] The only testimonials from Chinese people were provided by two consular officials from San Francisco. [2] Although they did venture to other cities, like Nanaimo and New Westminster, none of the voices from those cities make it into the final report. [3]

They heard testimonies from 51 witnesses, most of whom gave negative reports, submitting their testimonies to 27 questions regarding Chinese immigrants in Canada. Each of these witnesses gave their accounts and the commissioners gathered their answers to draw upon for their conclusions. [2] [3] [5]

While a majority of the witnesses gave negative testimonials about Chinese immigrants, some individuals were of the opinion that there were upsides to Chinese labour. William Babcock, a resident of San Francisco, gave an overall positive testimonial citing that Chinese labor was cheaper, and that they do not get involved with politics as they are intending to return to their own country after amassing some wealth. As well, in some jobs where there is a high turnover rate for servants, the Chinese labour force are reliable and tend to stay. [6] Of the 20 respondents who believed that Chinese people had helped to develop the province, 10 believed that they had a negative impact. Regardless of a positive or negative impact, many who felt the Chinese had impacted provincial development felt that their presence was still needed, except for 3 people. [7]

Report and findings

The 731-page final report was submitted in 1885. [1]

Each of the commissioners have their own personal reports in the commission. In Gray's personal report titled, "Respecting Chinese Immigration in British Columbia", he outlines the three distinct categories of public opinions on Chinese immigrants: [8]

  1. "Of a well-meaning, but strongly prejudiced minority, whom nothing but absolute exclusion will satisfy.
  2. "An intelligent minority, who conceive that no legislation whatever is necessary – that, as in all business transactions, the rule of supply and demand will apply and the matter regulate itself in the ordinary course of events."
  3. "Of a large majority, who think there should be moderate restriction, based upon police, financial and sanitary principles, sustained and enforced by stringent local regulations for cleanliness and the preservation of health.”

An intelligent minority conceived that no legislation whatsoever was necessary—that, as in all business transactions, the rule of supply and demand will apply and the matter regulate itself in the ordinary course of events. A large majority thought there should be moderate restriction, based upon police, financial, and sanitary principles, sustained and enforced by stringent local regulations for cleanliness and the preservation of health.” [9]

Conclusions

Despite anti-Chinese sentiments growing in Canada, Chapleau and Gray did not see Chinese immigration as a hindrance to British Columbia, instead viewing their labor as necessary. They did not suggest the outright exclusion of Chinese immigrants, rather they opted for the consideration of a $10 head tax upon arrival in Canada. [2] [10]

The commission found that the average Chinese labourer earned $300 annually and saved a modest $43 after living expenses. [2] With the funds collected from the head taxes, the government could invest in a health inspector to be stationed at the ports of entry to examine the health of those who entered Canada, protecting against the spread of disease. [1] [11]

Results and aftermath

Following the Royal Commission was the passing of the first Chinese Immigration Act on 20 July 1885, which looked at the recommendations made by Chapleau and Gray. A head tax of $50 was set, much higher than the $10 suggested in the commission, intending to be an obstacle for entry to Canada. The Chinese were the only group that was required to pay the head tax in Canada. [2] [10]

By 1902, the head tax evidently did not impede Chinese immigration—even after it doubled to $100. A second inquiry, the Royal Commission on Chinese and Japanese Immigration (1902), said that the Chinese were "unfit for full citizenship... They are so nearly allied to a servile class that they are obnoxious to a free community and dangerous to the state." [12] It suggested the head tax be increased to $500, which was equal to around 2 years’ salary. The fee was established by Parliament in 1903. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Chinese immigration to Canada</span> History of immigration

There has been a significant history of Chinese immigration to Canada, with the first settlement of Chinese people in Canada being in the 1780s. The major periods of Chinese immigration would take place from 1858 to 1923 and 1947 to the present day, reflecting changes in the Canadian government's immigration policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese Canadians</span> Canadians of Chinese ancestry

Chinese Canadians are Canadians of full or partial Han Chinese ancestry, which includes both naturalized Chinese immigrants and Canadian-born Chinese. They comprise a subgroup of East Asian Canadians which is a further subgroup of Asian Canadians. Demographic research tends to include immigrants from Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as overseas Chinese who have immigrated from Southeast Asia and South America into the broadly defined Chinese Canadian category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Buscombe</span> Canadian politician

Frederick Buscombe, was the 11th Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He served from 1905 to 1906. A glassware and china merchant, he was a President of the Vancouver Board of Trade in 1900.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1898 in Canada</span> Canada-related events during the year of 1898

Events from the year 1898 in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1882 in Canada</span> Canada-related events during the year of 1882

Events from the year 1882 in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Vancouver</span> Neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia

Chinatown is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is Canada's largest Chinatown. Centred around Pender Street, it is surrounded by Gastown to the north, the Downtown financial and central business districts to the west, the Georgia Viaduct and the False Creek inlet to the south, the Downtown Eastside and the remnant of old Japantown to the northeast, and the residential neighbourhood of Strathcona to the southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hamilton Gray (New Brunswick politician)</span> Canadian politician

John Hamilton Gray, was a politician in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, a jurist, and one of the Fathers of Confederation. He should not be confused with John Hamilton Gray, a Prince Edward Island politician in the same era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese head tax</span> Canadian tax on Chinese immigrants

The Chinese head tax was a fixed fee charged to each Chinese person entering Canada. The head tax was first levied after the Canadian parliament passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 and it was meant to discourage Chinese people from entering Canada after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The tax was abolished by the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, which outright prevented all Chinese immigration except for that of business people, clergy, educators, students, and some others.

<i>Chinese Immigration Act, 1885</i> Canadian 1885 immigration legislation

The Chinese Immigration Act, 1885 was an act of the Parliament of Canada that placed a head tax of $50 on all Chinese immigrants entering Canada. It was based on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration, which were published in 1885.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian immigration and refugee law</span>

Canadian immigration and refugee law concerns the area of law related to the admission of foreign nationals into Canada, their rights and responsibilities once admitted, and the conditions of their removal. The primary law on these matters is in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, whose goals include economic growth, family reunification, and compliance with humanitarian treaties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Victoria</span> Oldest Chinatown in Canada located in Victoria, British Columbia

The Chinatown in Victoria, British Columbia is the oldest Chinatown in Canada and the second oldest in North America after San Francisco. Victoria's Chinatown had its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century in the mass influx of miners from California to what is now British Columbia in 1858. It remains an actively inhabited place and continues to be popular with residents and visitors, many of whom are Chinese-Canadians. Victoria's Chinatown is now surrounded by cultural, entertainment venues as well as being a venue itself. Chinatown is now conveniently just minutes away from other sites of interests such as the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, Bay Centre, Empress Hotel, Market Square, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of immigration to Canada</span>

The history of immigration to Canada details the movement of people to modern-day Canada. The modern Canadian legal regime was founded in 1867, but Canada also has legal and cultural continuity with French and British colonies in North America that go back to the 17th century, and during the colonial era, immigration was a major political and economic issue with Britain and France competing to fill their colonies with loyal settlers. Until then, the land that now makes up Canada was inhabited by many distinct Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Indigenous peoples contributed significantly to the culture and economy of the early European colonies to which was added several waves of European immigration. More recently, the source of migrants to Canada has shifted away from Europe and towards Asia and Africa. Canada's cultural identity has evolved constantly in tandem with changes in immigration patterns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Congressional Joint Immigration Commission</span>

The United States Immigration Commission (also known as the Dillingham Commission after its chairman, Republican Senator William P. Dillingham, was a bipartisan special committee formed in February 1907 by the United States Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt, to study the origins and consequences of recent immigration to the United States. This was in response to increasing political concerns about the effects of immigration and its brief was to report on the social, economic, and moral state of the nation. During its time in action the Commission employed a staff of more than 300 people for over 3 years, spent better than a million dollars and accumulated mass data.

The Vancouver anti-Chinese riots of 1886, sometimes called the Winter Riots because of the time of year they took place, were prompted by the engagement of cheap Chinese labour by the Canadian Pacific Railway to clear Vancouver's West End of large Douglas fir trees and stumps, passing over the thousands of unemployed men from the rest of Canada who had arrived looking for work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Commission on Opium</span>

The Royal Commission on Opium was a British Royal Commission that investigated the opium trade in British India in 1893–1895, particularly focusing on the medical impacts of opium consumption within India. Set up by Prime Minister William Gladstone’s government in response to political pressure from the anti-opium movement to ban non-medical sales of opium in India, it ultimately defended the existing system in which opium sales to the public were legal but regulated.

Racism in Canada traces both historical and contemporary racist community attitudes, as well as governmental negligence and political non-compliance with United Nations human rights standards and incidents in Canada. Contemporary Canada is the product of indigenous First Nations combined with multiple waves of immigration, predominantly from Europe and in modern times, from Asia.

The Vancouver riots occurred September 7–9, 1907, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. At about the same time there were similar anti-Asian riots in Bellingham, Washington, San Francisco, and other West Coast cities. They were not coordinated but instead reflected common underlying anti-immigration attitudes. Agitation for direct action was led by labour unions and small business. Damage to Asian-owned property was extensive.

The history of Chinese Canadians in British Columbia began with the first recorded visit by Chinese people to North America in 1788. Some 30–40 men were employed as shipwrights at Nootka Sound in what is now British Columbia, to build the first European-type vessel in the Pacific Northwest, named the North West America. Large-scale immigration of Chinese began seventy years later with the advent of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858. During the gold rush, settlements of Chinese grew in Victoria and New Westminster and the "capital of the Cariboo" Barkerville and numerous other towns, as well as throughout the colony's interior, where many communities were dominantly Chinese. In the 1880s, Chinese labour was contracted to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. Following this, many Chinese began to move eastward, establishing Chinatowns in several of the larger Canadian cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paper sons</span> Term for Chinese people born in China and illegally immigrated to the U.S. and Canada

Paper sons or paper daughters is a term used to refer to Chinese people who were born in China and illegally immigrated to the United States and Canada by purchasing documentation which stated that they were blood relatives to Chinese people who had already received U.S. or Canadian citizenship or residency. Typically it would be relation by being a son or a daughter. Several historical events such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and San Francisco earthquake of 1906 caused the illegal documents to be produced.

People of Chinese descent have lived in Colorado since the mid-nineteenth century, when many immigrated from China for work. Chinese immigrants have made an undeniable impact on Colorado's history and culture. While the Chinese moved throughout the state, including building small communities on the Western Slope and establishing Chinatown, Denver, the presence of Chinese Coloradans diminished significantly due to violence and discriminatory policies. As of 2018, there were 45,273 Chinese Americans living in Colorado. 

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration, 1885". Pier 21. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Chinese Head Tax in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Roy, Patricia E. (2014). White Man's Province : BC Politicians and Chinese and Japanese Immigrants, 1858-1914. UBC Press. p. 57. ISBN   978-0-7748-5463-4. OCLC   1042254860.
  4. "Chinese Women Project - Exhibits". www.mhso.ca. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  5. 1 2 3 "Chinese Women Project - Exhibits". www.mhso.ca. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  6. Chapleau, Joseph-Adolphe, Sir, 1840-1898. Gray, John Hamilton, 1814-1889. (1885). Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration report and evidence. Printed by order of the Commission. pp. CI–CII. ISBN   0-665-14563-2. OCLC   1083487977.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. Roy, Patricia E. (2014). White Man's Province : BC Politicians and Chinese and Japanese Immigrants, 1858-1914. UBC Press. p. 58. ISBN   978-0-7748-5463-4. OCLC   1042254860.
  8. Chapleau, Joseph-Adolphe, and John Hamilton Gray. 1885. "Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration report and evidence." Printed by order of the Commission. ISBN   0-665-14563-2. OCLC   1083487977. pp. CII.
  9. Chapleau, Joseph-Adolphe, Sir, 1840-1898. Gray, John Hamilton, 1814-1889. (1885). Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration report and evidence. Printed by order of the Commission. pp. CII. ISBN   0-665-14563-2. OCLC   1083487977.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. 1 2 "Chinese Women Project - Exhibits". www.mhso.ca. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  11. Chapleau, Joseph-Adolphe, Sir, 1840-1898. Gray, John Hamilton, 1814-1889. (1885). Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration report and evidence. Printed by order of the Commission. pp. LXXXVII. ISBN   0-665-14563-2. OCLC   1083487977.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. "Legacy of Hate".