The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-27
NEGOTIATIONS ENDED
NOTHING DOING REGARDING CHI-
 NEsE IMMIGRATION.
Both Countries Refuse to Agree Upon Certain Treaty Provisions and the Matter Will Now
 Rest for Awhile.

Washington, April 26.-Negotiations between the United States and China for a treaty restricting the immigra- ton of Chinese to this country practi- cally have been abandoned.
 It has been found impossible by the representatives of the two Govern ments to reach, common ground of agreement as to many terms of the proposed treaty. When Wu Tung Fang was Minister of China to this capital he made an exhaustive study of the Chinese immigration question, ascer- taining very precisely, among other things, the American point of view. He maintained consistently the injus- tice of the restrictions thrown by this Government around the immigration of Chinese. but was unable to accomplish anything in the way of lowering the barriers during his sojourn here. In China he Is now in a position to make 1t difficult if not impossible to negoti- ate a treaty unless the convention shall have incorporated in it certain provisions for which the Chinese Gov ernment contends.
 China is anxious to obtain in the proposed treaty liberal definitions in the terms merchants" travellers" and students" in order to relieve such classes from embarrassment on their arrival in the United States. These classes are now admitted, but the re- strictions thrown around their entrance are severe, The immigration authori- ties urge the necessity for such re- strictions because of the issuance by Chinese officials in many instances or fraudulent certificates indicating that cool.es are students" or merchants" ana as such entitled to admission.
 These certificates have to be passed upon by United States consuls in China. but they necessarily have to take the word of the Chinese officlals for the applicants social standing, as they have neither the time nor the ap- propriation to make personal inves- tigation of each case. Sir Chentung Liang Cheng, the Chinese Minister. has been informed frankly that much of the trouble experienced by merchants and students" arises from the action of the Chinese officials in issuing cer- tificates that require investigation here. wu Ting Fang, when he was Minister, was told the same thing, but officials here say the admonition has peen of little or no avail.
 When a tentative draft of the pro- posed treaty was prepared some time ago it was laid before the immigration officials of the Department of Com
 merce and Labor. A considerable part
 of it did not meet with their approval
 The suggestions they made did not suit Sir Chentung Lian Cheng, who de-
 cIined to agree to some of the proposi-
 tions made by them. That brought the
 negotiations practically to an end and there probably they will remain until Minister Rockhill shall reopen them In
 China.
 It is not absolutely necessary In the
 opinion of some of the government of- ficials that a treaty on the subject Of immigration shall be negotiated with China Unless the United States can have incorporated in the convention what 1t wants they would prefer to rest on the law as 1t stands now. The present status of the Chinese exclusion laws as defined by the solicitor of the Department of Commerce and Labor is as follows:
 By the expiration of the convention of December 8, 1894. the treaty tf 1868 as modified by the treaty of 1880 was revived. The treaty obligations there now subsisting between this country and China are the same as were in ex istence at the time of the taking effect of the convention of 1894. By the act of April 27, 1904, the existing laws re- lating to the exclusion of Chinese were re-enacted without limitation or condition and ceased to depend for
 their binding force upon being consts- tent with treaty obligations. Thus where law and treaty are now Tn corr hict the law must prevail"
 An intimation is given in official cir
 cies that the law as 1t stands at pres ent may be open to successful legal attack. If the attack upon 1t should
 be made by some of the numerous or ganizations in this country interested in Chinese immigration, and carried to a successful issue in the Supreme Court of the United States, the result in the absence of a treaty on the subject probably would be a flood of Chinese immigration to the United States.