Arthur was a firm believer in the spoils system when it was coming under vehement attack from reformers. He insisted upon honest administration of the Customs House, but staffed it with more employees than it needed, keeping people because of their party affiliation, in line with his views on the spoils system. In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which established a bipartisan t, and forbade levying political assessments against officeholders, and created a series of written tests in order to become a officeholder in the government. The system protected employees against removal for political reasons. Arthur also tried to lower tariff rates so the Government would not be embarrassed by annual surpluses of revenue. Although Congress ended up raising about as many rates as it trimmed, Arthur signed the Tariff Act of 1883. Westerners and Southerners were very upset, and looked to the Democratic Party for a rebuttal, and the tariff began to emerge as a major political issue between the two parties. Additionally, the Arthur Administration enacted the first general Federal immigration law, and later the Chinese Exclusion Act in which Congress suspended Chinese immigration for ten years, later making the restriction permanent. Arthur approved a measure in 1882 excluding paupers, criminals, and lunatics. Arthur had been suffering from a fatal kidney disease and died in 1886.