· ·IN'BE Moreau-. " 47
orthe United States, she may touch at many ports, and for many
purposes. Calling at a port for orders is, in my judgment, a plain
case of "touching" at suchport; and if, invpursuance of the order
obtained or being there, the vessel remains long enough to take in a
cargo for a foreign port, I see no reason, under the circumstances, for
concluding that she is thenceforth "staying," but not “touching," at
such port. Upon this view of the case the Patrician has simply
touched at this port. Her stay here is only temporary, and for an
object necessary to enable her to prosecute a voyage to a foreign port
with profit to her owners. Nor do I think that the Chinese members
of the crew of the Patrician are "laborers" within the meaning of
this act. True, their vocation is labor. But they are not brought
here to remain and enter into competition with the labor of the inhab-
itants of the country. They labor uponthe high seas in the naviga-
tion of a vessel engaged in the exchange of commodities between this
country and other parts of the world. . i ·
This commerce it is the direct interest of both the labor and the
capital of the country to foster and promote. In a note to the opin-
ion of Mr. Justice Fmno, In the Matter of Low Yam Chow, 10 Pac;
C. Law J. 135, [S. C. 13 Fun. REP. 611,].it is stated,_upon the au- ,
thority of the Chinese consul, that the value of the commodities ex-
changed between China and the —.United States in the year of the - _
Burlingame treaty (1868) was $15,365,013; while for the year end- ‘
ing June—30, 1881, they had reached $27,765,409; being a gain of
‘ , almost 100 per centum in 13 years. When this treaty was con-
cluded the export of flour at the port of San Franciscowas about
20,000 barrels a year, while- in 1881 it had reached 2’?1,118¤·barrels A
I -90 per centum of which wasshipped by Chinese merchants.? —
It is not to be supposed for a moment that congress intended by
the passage of this act to impede or cripple this commerce byprohlib-
iting, in eifect, all vessels engaged in the carrying, trade to and from `
the United States,·and particularly those on the Pacific coast, from *
employing Chinese cooks, stewards, or crews, when, for anyreason,
_ it is necessary or convenient to do so;` for such would necessarily be l
the result of holding that the Chinese crew of a vessel. coming from
a foreign port to one of the United States are "laborers," within the `
meaning of the act. Such a "limitation" upon the right of the Chl.
nese to enter or be brought within our ports is clearly beyond the let-
ter and spirit of the ooncessionli made by the supplemental treaty,
which declares that it shall only apply “to Chinese whowmay. goto
the United States as lab0rer5;" that is, with the intention to labor ‘