Other editions of book The Treaty with China Its Provisions Explained

Every one has read the treaty which has just been concluded between the United States and China. Everyone has read it, but in it there are expressions which not every one understands. There are clauses which seem vague, other clauses which seem almost unnecessary, and still others which bear the flavor of “surplusage,” to speak in legal phrase. The most careful reading of the document will leave these impressions—that is, unless one comprehends the past and present condition of foreign intercourse with China—in which case it will be seen at once that there is no word in the treaty without a meaning, and no clause in it but was dictated by a present need or a wise policy looking to the future.

The Treaty with China, its Provisions Explained is an essay written by the famous American author and satirist Mark Twain in 1868. The essay is that of biting satire on the American treaty with China.There are some humorous, ironic and sardonic observations. Twain writes of the mistreatment of the Chinese in California and of California's unfair and unconstitutional laws directed at Chinese residents. He also notes that many countries have taken advantage of China and forced the Chinese government into unfavorable agreements and concessions.