The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-04-17
Otnby Wrong in Blaming the
 Chinese Officials
MINISTER WRITES LETTER
MT. Denby Then Comes Back and Shows That China Is Responsl. ble for 88 Per Cent of
 Certificates Issued.

Washington, April 16.-Sir Chentu. Liang Cheng. the Chinese minister, has taken issue with Representative Denby Of Michigan on the question of the respon- slbility for the issuance of fraudulent certificates of admission to the United States. MT Denby stated to the House committee on foreign affairs during the hearings on the Foster bill amending the exclusion act. that the fact that so many of those certificates were found to be fraudulent, was pretty fair evidence Of the fraud of the Chinese officials.
 To this charge the Chinese minister replied in a letter which has been made a part of the record in these hearings. During the three years he has been in charge of the legation here the minister says he has a record of every certificate that has been issued in the provinces of Kwantung or Fukien to the Chinese sub jects departing for the United States the Philippines or Hawaii, that the emigra- tons from all other provinces Is insignih- cant, and that 527 certificates represent the total number issued. However, he says the figures of the immigration for these three years shows the total number of applicants for admission bearing cer- tiicates Is 65OO The number bearing cer- tihcates from the Chinese government Is, l he said but s per cent of the total num- Der seeking admission
 Asks About the e2 Per Cent.
 Where did the 92 per cent get their l certhcates?" he asks, and then proceeds to answer the question by stating that l under the regulations of the immigra-
 ton service, officials in the following 1 countries are permitted to issue the cer-
 tihcates Vancouver, Victoria, New
 Westminster, Ottawa. Cuba, German pro-
 tectorate. pf IIlautchou, Guatemala, Ha- l-wali, Hong Kong, Japan, Hokkaido, Fora 'mosa, Mexico, Philippines. Portuguese province of Macao, Society Islands. Straits Settlement, Trinidad and Vens- zuea
 1 The minister then comments as follows:
 None of these officers has been au- thorzed by the Chinese government to issue the required certificates ana none is subject to the control of the Chinese government When Mr Denby says that China is the most fiagrantly guilty party in this matter. does he mean that the above named countries are parts of the Chinese empire and therefore the officers of these countries are Chinese officials? l am willing to give him credit for a better knowledge of geography than that. But is there any evidence that Chinese officials have ever issued fraudulent cer- tihcates?'
 Representative Denby. who Is a member of the foreign affairs committee. made this statement tonight:
 Denby Makes Reply.
 Tt was to have been expected that his excellency would not admit that the Chi nese officials have been guilty of fraud, because he Is the Chinese minister. My statements were based on facts and fair inference. Every assertion can be easily proved. The minister's statement Is pain fully though l hope unintentionaly, mis- leading. The records of the bureau of immigration show conclusively that dur ing the period referred to S95 applicants bearing certificates issued In China by Chinese officials presented themselves at l various ports in the United. Will the minister admit that 36S certificates not reported to him were fraudulent? He be- comes the best witness in proof of my assertion
 "The minister also says that there were 659O admissions and reIections at San Fran cisco during the three years. and asks where the others got their certificates It is possible that his excellency does not know that most of those papers did not have or require certificates from China or other foreign governments They were persons who were or claimed to be na- tive born Americans or other citizens returning laborers returning merchants, | merchants wives. merchants children. etc. Applicants with section certificates num- bered only i245. and those are the only ones with whom this statement deals, as they were the only ones who had cer- tiheates issued by the foreign govern ments Of those 1245 certificates S95 were isued in China and the balance by offi- cials in other countries. The rejections were 277 fin all, of which 246 bore certih- cates issued In China by Chinese officials More than S per cent of all rejected certificates were therefore issued by Chi nese officials"