Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Chinese Bureau
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1842-1902
History
While there is no statutory authorization for the Chinese Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department implemented the policy of the Hawaiian Government, through Cabinet Council resolution, adopted on July 13, 1883, to restrict the number of Chinese persons entering the Kingdom. Beginning with regulations issued on March 25, 1884, a system of entry permits was instituted limiting permanent entry to teachers, Christian clergyman, agricultural laborers, domestic servants, and to wives and children of Chinese residing in Hawaii. Temporary permits were issued to travelers and merchants with business affiliations in Hawaii. The Chinese Bureau first appears as a separate entity in the biennial reports of the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Legislature in 1892. Some naturalization records in this collection predate the Chinese Bureau but were used by the agency to conduct its business.
The functions of the Bureau relating to Chinese immigration were effectively terminated on November 24, 1898, when Joshua K. Brown assumed his duties as the United States Inspector of Chinese in Hawaii
to enforce the provisions of the United States Chinese exclusion laws. The Bureau continued to enforce the Hawaiian government's six-month residence bonds for merchants and travelers, and to complete the record keeping for outstanding permits until June 14, 1900. The Bureau issued death records of Chinese contract laborers up to 1902. All immigration functions were assumed by the United States government when territorial government was established in 1900.