Meantime we must
take every precaution to prevent, or failing that, to punish
outbursts of race feeling among our people against foreigners of
whatever nationality who have by our grant a treaty right to
pursue lawful business here and to be protected against lawless
assault or injury.
This leads me to point out a serious defect in the present federal
jurisdiction, which ought to be remedied at once. Having assured
to other countries by treaty the protection of our laws for such
of their subjects or citizens as we permit to come within our
jurisdiction, we now leave to a state or a city, not under the
control of the Federal Government, the duty of performing our
international obligations in this respect. By proper legislation
we may, and ought to, place in the hands of the Federal Executive
the means of enforcing the treaty rights of such aliens in the
courts of the Federal Government. It puts our Government in a
pusillanimous position to make definite engagements to protect
aliens and then to excuse the failure to perform those engagements
by an explanation that the duty to keep them is in States or
cities, not within our control. If we would promise we must put
ourselves in a position to perform our promise. We cannot permit
the possible failure of justice, due to local prejudice in any
State or municipal government, to expose us to the risk of a war
which might be avoided if federal jurisdiction was asserted by
suitable legislation by Congress and carried out by proper
proceedings instituted by the Executive in the courts of the
National Government.
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