The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959 Page: 487
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Pershing's Chinese Refugees in Texas
of one of them. Qu Song was a big fellow from the Hang Haow
[Hang Chow] district of China. He owned a pleasant face which
carried a ready smile and showed parallel rows of white teeth.
Accepting his document from the hands of Smith, his face broke
into a grateful grin as he thanked the inspector in a grave oriental
manner, using his native Chinese. Then spreading out his open
hands in fan-fashion, he announced in accented English-"Uncle
Sammy mighty fine man.""4
It will be recalled that Page had been with the refugee camp
two years and five months when he resigned as supervisor-in-charge
on July 2, 1919. After this date he was in frequent contact with
the camp and took the initiative in the effort to secure from Con-
gress the necessary legislation to give each refugee a legal status
permitting permanent residence. More than two years elapsed
from the time Page severed his official connection with the camp
until Congress completed enactment of the legislation that he so
earnestly proposed on the behalf of the Chinese.48 Pershing's in-
fluence was without a doubt fully necessary, and the legal advice
of the firm of Bouve and Parker was indispensable to Page. Per-
haps his proposal to Congress might have been unsuccessful with-
out the general's sincere interest, but certainly Page had need of
an attorney to present the case in Congress. The writer suggests
that an impartial critic will recognize Page as the leader who
inspired the refugees to seek integration into American society,
made coherent their plea for legal residence, and freely sacrificed
his time and energy to bring about the happy ending of the
odyssey of the Chinese who followed Pershing out of Mexico
in 1917.
The question inevitably arises, and it demands an answer: Did
the 67th Congress make a wise decision when it enacted Public
Law No. 29 granting the refugees legal residence in this country?
By the passage of the act, Congress accepted the position enun-
ciated by Pershing, that the Chinese had aided his expeditionary
47Ibid.
48In 1943 the Chinese exclusion laws were repealed, and a quota established.
Those Chinese who had made previous legal entry into the United States were
granted the right of naturalization. See Public Law No. 199, United States Statutes
at Large, CVII, 6oo-6oi. It was by virtue of the above act that all the men of the
Chinese refugee company brought into this country by General Pershing in 1917
were finally enabled to become United States citizens.487
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959, periodical, 1959; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101173/m1/584/: accessed March 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.