whether to keep them or not.  I see in that very fact of your hesitation an indication of your noble character.  Suppose a precious gift entailing obligations is tendered to a man; he would accept it without any thought or hesitation if he were wholly lacking in principle; but you hesitate because of your high moral character, and your sense of responsibility.  I express no opinion as to whether or not you should keep the Philippines.  That is for you to decide.  I am confident that when this question has been thoroughly threshed out, you will come to the right decision.  I will say this:  China must have a neighbor; and it is my humble opinion that it is better to have a good neighbor than an indifferent one.

Should your country decide to keep the Philippines, what would be the consequences?  A large trade has been carried on for centuries between those islands and China.  Your trade would be greatly increased and to your benefit.  Aside from this the American trade in China has been increasing largely in the last few years.  I have often been asked whether we Chinamen are friendly to America.  To show you how friendly we are, I will tell you that we call your nation a “flowery flag” and that we call your people “handsome.”  Such phrases clearly show that we are favorably disposed toward you.  If we did not like you, we would not have given you such nice names.  The officials of China, as well as the people, like Americans, and our relations, officially and commercially, are cordial.

There is, however, one disturbing element—­one unsatisfactory feature—­I refer to your Chinese Immigration law.  Your people do not know and do not understand my people.  You have judged all of my people from the Chinese in California.  Your Chinese exclusion law has now been in operation for fifteen or sixteen years, but it cannot be said to have been satisfactory even to yourselves.  Those laws were intended to keep the Chinese cheap labor out of your country, but they have also kept out the better class of my countrymen whom I am satisfied the laws did not intend to exclude.  I desire to throw no blame on any of your officials for their zeal in enforcing the laws.  They simply do their duty.  But I want to point out to you that those laws do not bring about the results intended by your legislators.  Besides, their existence gives the impression in our country that your people do not like our people.  I personally know that is not so, but I would like to see this disturbing element removed by a modification of the laws.  Once remove that disturbing element and our people would welcome your Americans to China with open arms.