The San Francisco call., 1905-06-26


bor. that, while laborers must be strictly ex-
cluded, the law must be enforced without
harshncss and that all unnecessary inconvent-
enee e,s ana annoyance toward mos, persons en-
scrupulously avoided The officials OF the I'M
migration Department have been told that no
harshness in the administration OF the law
will for a moment be tolerated. and that any
discourtesy shown b Chinese persons by any
immediate dismissal from the service.
The status Of those Chinese entitled freely 10
enter the United states is primarily deter deter
section of the act OF Congress, July g. 1884.
Under this law the diplomatic and consular
representatives OF the United States have, by
direction of the President, been instructed, be-
tore viseing. any certificate, strictly to comply
to the requirements Of that portion OF section
6 which provides cs follows:
..And such diplomatic representatives or con-
suiar representative whose Endorsement IS SO
his duty before indorsing such certificates as
aforesaid examine into the truth OF tne
If he shsll md upon examination that said
or any OF the statements therein CONTAINED are
untrue it shall be his duty to refuse TO In
The ce.t,fcate thus vised becomes prima
facie evidence of the facts set forth tneren-
The immigration officials have now peen spe-
officially instructed to accept these certlncates,
which are not to be upset unless sooo redsoh
can be shown for SO doing, :. ,.s h.sr fo,na
that officials OF the Chinese Government nave
recklessy issued thousands OF suSh has
also be.n shown in the past by representatives
of the American consular service IN m, Hisslls S,
these certificates The purpose or TINS Gov
ernTnent is TO make these vised certificates OF
such real value that 1t is safe 10 aceep. tnein
here in the United states; .ha lhis samses Of COM
niaint that have arisen. The Chinese student,
me reliant or traveller VIII thereby i sJeuIs' ,I,
fore leaving China a certificate which VIII
gusrantes Sim against any improper treatment.
But. in order that this plan may Pc pe car ar
red out II is absolutely necessary that the
"A. ITO nd consular OfncerS, lnstcdh VI
treating their work in viseng these certinGates ne =
perfunctory. shall under undefstanc ts,nc,ions on
one of their most important iunctiohs-
They must not issue nny such certin-
cates unless they are certain that the
person to whom 1t IL issued Is enthieu
to it and they will be held to mosi
rigid accountability for the manner In
which they perform their duty. III
there is reason to believe that any cer-
tifcate has been improperly issued, or
is being improperly used, a thoro"sn
Investigation will be made into Its
issuance.
The only way in which. possibly. while fully
carving out the provision of the law agains,
the immigration of Chinese iaporers' skiIeu
or unskied to secure tne b,nese ,enesr nsrsons of
the exempt classes, such as officials, travellers,
merchants. students and the Ike. Is tnfousn @
Diplomatic and consular representatives under
the proposed policy OF the Department oil Co"-
The Change viii simplify the whole admin
istration of the law; but it cannot be made MADE
permanent Hness do ,ne thep full duty and see
to IL that no certificate is issued with their
wise, unless the person receiving II clear,S
comes within one of the exempt classes ana
is fully entitled to the privileges the certin-
cate secures for him.. Accordingly. al our
diplomatic and consular representatives In
China are warned to perform this most i'm
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
METCALF OUTLINES THE Law.
These orders are supplemented by
letter to the President from Secretary
Metcalf, setting forth the provisions OF
the law under which the Bureau OF I'M
migration operates in relation to Chi
nese immigrants and by the new in
structions issued. Ito immigration Of
ficers regarding their treatment of
Chinese who may come to the United
States.
The President and Mr.. Metoalf be-
lieve that the instructions will insure
the Chinese the same fair and courteous
treatment that is accorded to people of
other nationalitieS. Secretary Metcalf's
letter to the President and his instruc-
tions to the immigration officers fol-
low:
WASHINGTON, June "a 1905.
the Enforcement of the chinese exclusion laws.
1 have the honor to advise you that i have
gone thoroughly into the questions raised and
that L find the situation to be as follows:
For the purpose OF considering the opera
tion of the exclusion law. Chinese subjects
coming to the United States may be arbitra-
rily divided into two classes:
F'irst-Registered Chinese laborers who are
returning to the United States within one year
after departure therefom.
Second-Chinese subjects being merchants.
pleasure, who are allowed to enter the United
States and to come and so therein of their own
free will and accorded all the rights. privi-
leges and inlmunities and exemptions which are
accorded to the citizens and subjects of the
most favored nation. II In possession of what
for the sake of convenience, is generally known
as section 9 certificate, unless they have
sided as such in the United States and are
returning thereto in which case they may
present other evidence than such certificate
of their right to admission.
Section . OF the act OF May 9, 1SS2. as
amended by the act of July 5, 1884, In
force and effect. provides, in effect, that every
Chinese person other than laborer who may
be entitled by treaty or laws TO come within
the United states. and who shall be able
the permission of and be Identified as
titled by the Chinese Government other
such foreign government of which at the time
such Chinese person shall be subject. In
each case to be evidenced by certificate to
be issued by such government. The law re-
quires that this certificate shall be In the
English language and shall show such per-
mission, with the name OF the permitted per-
son In mis- or her proper signature, that the
certificate shall state the individual. family
If any; the age, height and all peculiaritfes;
former and present occupation, when and where
and how long pursued; the place Of residence