The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-17
ISSUE WITH DENBY
SIR CHENTUNG LANG CHENG
 WRITES LETTER.
That the Chinese Minister Has Tried to MisIead
 the Public.

Washington, April 16.-Sir Chentung Liang Cheng, the Chinese Minister, has | taken issue with Representative Denby | (Mich. j.. on the question of the respon-
 sibility for the issuance of fraudulent | certificates of admission to the Cniied 1 States. MT. Denby stated to the House l Committee on Foreign Affairs during | the hearings on the Foster bill amend | ing the exclusion act that the fact that l so many of those certificates were 1 found to be fraudulent was pretty fair I evidence of the fraud of the Chinese l 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 Min | ister says, he has a record of every | certificate that has been issued in the provinces of Kwangtung or Fukicn. to | Chinese subjects departing for the United States, the Philippines or Ha- waii, that the emigration from all other | provinces Is insignificant and thlt 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 certificates is $500. The number bearing certificates from the Chinese Government is, he said. but per cent. of the total num- Der seeking admission.
 Where did the 92 per cent. ge- their certificates? he asks, and then pro ceeds to answer the question by stating that under the regulations of the imni-
 grafton service officials in the follow ing countries are permitted to issue the certificates: Vancouver, Victoria; New Westminster, Ottawa; Cuba, German Protectorat of Kiaoutchou, Guatemala,
 Hawaii, Hongkong. Japan. Hokhaido, Formosa, Mexico. Philippines, Porni- nf
 lands. Straits Settlement. Trinidad and Venezuela.
 The minister then comments as fol- lows:
 None of these officers has been au- thorized by the Chinese Government to issue the required certificates, and none is subject to the control of the Chinese Government. When Mir. Denby Says
 that China is the most fiagrantly guilty party in this matter, does he mean that l the above named countries are parts | of the Chinese Empire. and, therefore, the officers of these countries are Chi nese officials? I am willing to give him credit for better knowledge of geography than that. But is there any | evidence that Chinese officials have ever
 issued any fraudulent certifcates?" Representative Denby, who is a mem- Der of the Foreign Affairs Committee,
 made this statement tonight;
 | 'It was to have been expected that his eXcellency would admit that the Chi nese officials have been guilty of fraud, because he is the Chinese Minister. My statements were based on facts and 1 fair inference. Every assertion can be easily proved. The minister's state- | ment Is painfully, though I hope unin-
 tentionally, misleading. The records
 of the Bureau of Immigration show
 conclusively that during the period re- ferred to, S95 applicants bearing ccrti- fcates issued in China by Chinese off cials, presented themselves at various
 ports in the United States. Will the Minister admit that 36S certificates not reported to him were fraudulent? He becomes the best witness in proof of my assertion.
 The Minister also says that there
 were 6,590 admissions and rejections at
 San Francisco during the three years,
 and asks where the others got their
 certificates. It is possible that his eX-
 cellency does not know that most of
 those persons did not have or require
 any certificate from China or other for
 elgn Governments. They were persons
 who were, or claimed to be. native born Americans. or other citizens, re-
 turning laborers. returning merchants,
 merchants wives, merchants children.
 etc. Applicants with Section 6 certlh-
 cates numbered only 1,245 and those
 are the only ones with whom this
 statement deals, as they were the only
 ones who had certificates issued by the
 foreign Governments. Of those 1,245
 certificates, S95 were issued in China
 and the balance by officials in other
 countries. The rejections were PIT in
 all, of whom 246 bore certificates issued
 in China by Chinese officials More
 than SS per cent of all rejected certih-
 cates were, therefore. Issued by Chinese
 officials"