Document 27: Letter from Watson Squire, Washington Territorial Governor, to F. A. Bee, Chinese Consul,
San Francisco, October 21, 1885
Report of the Governor of Washington Territory to the Secretary of the Interior 1886 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1886), 870. Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries.
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WASHINGTON TERRITORY, EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Olympia, October 21, 1885
DEAR SIR: I beg to acknowledge your letter of October 15, and to thank you for the copy of the decision of the United States circuit court defining the rights of Chinese residents in this country.
Inclosed I beg to hand you my special report of October 12, to the authorities in Washington, concerning the anti-Chinese agitation in the Territory. I would also inform you that ever since the agitation commenced I have been energetically endeavoring to put a stop to the further acts of violence towards the Chinese residents of this territory...
Of course, it is possible that an outrage might be committed before the authorities could prevent it, and in the excited state of public feeling I have privately advised Chinese residents who have waited upon me that I thought the best policy for them to pursue is to quietly withdraw, if they can do so, until the present period of excitement has passed away. Many of them are leaving this part of the country. I really believe it to be for the best interests of the Chinese residents on this coast to scatter themselves throughout the United States, thus so thinning out their number that they will not be offensive. There are many kinds of employment that they can pursue to advantage without interfering with the American laborer, if they will take the course.
In conclusion, I would add that every power of the law shall be lent to secure the Chinese residents of this Territory from assault.
Yours, respectfully,
WATSON C. SQUIRE, Governor
Col. F. A. BEE, Chinese Consul, San Francisco, Cal.