The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1905-04-27
WI TING-FANC HAS
HIS INNINGS NOW
Prevents New immigration
Treaty With China and Ne.
gotiations Are Off

WASHINGTON, April 26.-Nego-
uations between the United States and
emma Tor treaty restricting the i'm
migration of Chinese to this country
practically have been abandoned. 1t
mas been found impossible to reach
common ground of agreement as to
many terms. The whole subject, there
fore, Is being held in allowance until
w. w. Rockhill, the recently appointed
minister to China, shall arrive in Pc
king. 1t is expected that he will take
up the matter directly with the Chi
nese government.
When WI Ting-fang was the minis
ter of China to this capital he made an
exhaustive study of the immigration
question, ascertaining precisely.
among other things, the American
point of view. He maintained con-
sistently the injustice of the restric-
tons thrown by this government
around the immigration of Chinese
but was unable to accomplish any
thing in the way of lowering the bar
riers during his sojourn here In
China he is now in a position to make
IT difficult If not impossible to nego-
tiate a treaty unless the United States
shall have Incorporated in it certain
provisions for which the Chinese gov
eminent contends China is anxious
to obtain liberal definitions of the
terms merchants" travellers" and
students" in order to relieve such
classes from embarrassment on their
arrival in the United States.
Whence the Trouble
These classes complain bitterly of
the restrictions upon their entrance
and sojourn. immigration officials
urge the necessity for such restrictions
because of the issuance by Chinese Of
ficials in many cases of fraudulent
certificates stating that some persons
are students" or merchants and
such are entitled to enter. Sir Chen
tung Liang Cheng, the Chinese minis
ter, has been informed frankly that
much of the trouble experienced by
merchants" and students" arises
from the action of the Chinese officials
in issuing certificates that require in
vestigation here.
When a tentative draft of the pro-
posed treaty was proposed some time
ago, it was Immediately laid before the
immigration officials. 1t did not meet
their approval. The suggestions they
made did not suit Sir Chentung LANG
Cheng, who declined to agree to prop
ositions made by them. That brought
lnt negotiations TO an emu.
1t is not an absolute necessity, in the
opinion of some members of this gov
ernment, that treaty of immigration
shall be made with China. Unless the
United States can have incorporated
in the convention what it wants, they
would prefer to rest on the law as it
stands now.
How the Law Stands Now
The present status of the Chinese
exclusion law as defined by the COM
missioner of the department of COM
merce and labor is as follows:
by the expiration of the convention
of Dec. 3. 1894, the treaty of 1880 as
modified by the treaty of 1889 was re-
vived. The treaty regulations, there
fore, now subSisting between this
country and China are the same as
were in existence at the time of the
taking effect of the convention of
1894. By the act of April 81, 1904, the
existing laws relating to the exclusion
of Chinese were reenacted without
limitation or change and ceased to de-
pend for their binding force upon be-
ing consistent with treaty obligations.
Thus, where law and treaty are now in
conflict the law must prevail. AS a
result of the termination of the con-
the treaty of 1880 revived, but certain
provisions of the act of July l, 1894,
and Sept. l. 1894. which had been SUI
perseded by the convention of 1894,
were revived"
The question, ii Is expected, now will
be tried out in the courts. A final de-
cision against the above construction
would be a probable flood of Chinese
immigrants to the United States.