The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1906-04-13
HARD LUCK STORIES
ARE TOLD BY SARGENT

s5f'
Commissioner General Sargent Of
the immigration service was heard by
the house committee On foreign affairs
relative to proposed amendments to
the Chinese exclusion act. The COM
missioner reviewed at length the diff
culties in the way of enforcing the
present law and the tricks that were
practiced to Ievade it. For three years,
he said, he had emphasized the neces-
sity of having better supervision and
greater care exercised in the issuance
OF certificates to the privileged class
in China. #s&s WI
The greatest cause of complaint
arose, in his opinion, from the fact
that what are known as Section GER
tifcates, which are in reality passports
Of Cinnamon privileged to land in this
country, made out in blank by Unit
ed States consular Offices in China,
were bartered in for a consideration.
This, Mr.. Sargent said, appeared in
the recent Pierce report ON con litions
of the consular service in the Orient,
and his Office was full of evidence to
the same effect. The remedy, he sug
gested, was to have officers in China
who were subject to the discipline OF
the immigration service whose duty it
would be to investigate the certificate
issued to every Chinaman and who
should SEMI with the steamer in which
he sailed proper papers to the immi-
grafton authorities at the port of des-
tinatlon as the means of identifying
~ nadi fho nI A1,a
Gates.
Mr.. Sargent declared that today
Mexico was foode1 with Cinnamon
who were schooling themselves for
fraudulent entry into the United
States. He has not been able to con-
summate an agreement with the Mex
ican railroads which would greatly aid
in controlling the situation, and it
would take the whole American army
to patrol the border line and effectual-
ly keep them out.
The situation as to China is very
much better than it was several years
ago because of an agreement with the
Canadian railroads.
He recounted an experience he had
| in New York shortly after he became
the head OF the service, which led to
the railroad agreement. He at that
time witnessed in Pell street the op-
leration of school for witnesses car
ried on by an old Chinaman, who had
been doing lively business in furnish
ing Chinese witnesses both for the
government and for Cinnamon who
were endeavoring to prove that they
were born in this country when arrest
II Cd all hn
| For a consideration. a witness or any
number of them could be obtained
| for either side from this school and the
government had been endeavoring to
break down the case on the native born
Cinnamon with bought witnesses.
| Mr.. Sargent also advocated an
| amendment to the present law requir-
ing all Cinnamon in this country to be
re-registered. He said the country
\ and even the city of Washington was
| fulF sof Cinnamon who were here in
violation Of law. AFTER the re-registra.
| ton had been had, he would then send
out OF the country all Cinnamon who
did not have proper certificates.
The difficulty of enforcing the Chi
nese exclusion act, Mr.. Sargent said,
was because of the dishonesty OF
American attorneys, the "big six
compariies in San francisco as we'll as
other interested parties, and these
were. the interests now actively engag-
ed in efforts to get the law broken
down by lax amendments.
AS to the charge that the immigra-
| tion bureau was responsible for the
| Chinese boycott against American
goods, he said all he would ask for
was a specific case. None such had
| yet been cited. II