[Inclosure.]
Mr. Foster to
Mr. Blaine
.
Treasury Department,
Washington
,
June 12,
1891
.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 6th instant, transmitting a copy of a
note from the Chinese minister at this capital, in which he states
that the Imperial Government, in order to facilitate a more perfect
compliance with the terms of section 6 of the act of May 6, 1882, as
amended by the act of July [Page 460]
5, 1884, has authorized the consuls of China in foreign countries to
issue, in behalf of their Government, to the exempted or privileged
class of Chinese residents in such countries the certificate of
identity required by said section, and requests that this Department
may give such general instructions to collectors of customs in the
United States as shall secure a recognition by them of the validity
of certificates of Chinese consuls of the character named.
The language of the section of law above referred to is as follows,
viz:
“That in order to the faithful execution of the provisions of this
act, every Chinese person, other than a laborer, who may be entitled
by said treaty or this act to come within the United States, and who
shall be about to come to the United States, shall obtain the
permission of and be identified as so entitled by the Chinese
Government, or of such other foreign government of which at the time
such Chinese person shall be a subject, in each case to be evidenced
by a certificate issued by such government, which certificate shall
be in the English language, and shall show such permission, with the
name of the permitted person in his or her proper signature, and
which certificate shall state the individual, family, and tribal
name in full, title or official rank, if any, the age, height, and
all physical peculiarities, former and present occupation or
profession, when and where and how long pursued, and place of
residence of the person to whom the certificate is issued, and that
such person is entitled by this act to come within the United
States. If the person so applying for a certificate shall be a
merchant, said certificate shall, in addition to above requirements,
state the nature, character, and estimated value of the business
carried on by him prior to and at the time of his application as
aforesaid: Provided, That nothing in this act
nor in said treaty shall be construed as embracing within the
meaning of the word ‘merchant hucksters, peddlers, or those engaged
in taking, drying, or otherwise preserving shell or other fish for
home consumption or exportation. If the certificate be sought for
the purpose of travel for curiosity, it shall also state whether the
applicant intends to pass through or travel within the United
States, together with his financial standing in the country from
which such certificate is desired. The certificate provided for in
this act, and the identity of the person named therein, shall,
before such person goes on board any vessel to proceed to the United
States, be viséed by the indorsement of the diplomatic
representatives of the United States in the foreign country from
which said certificate issues, or of the consular representative of
the United States at the port or place from which the person named
in the certificate is about to depart; and such diplomatic
representative or consular representative whose indorsement is so
required is hereby empowered, and it shall be his duty, before
indorsing such certificate as aforesaid, to examine into the truth
of the statements set forth in said certificate, and if he shall
find upon examination that said or any of the statements therein
contained are untrue, it shall be his duty to refuse to indorse the
same. Such certificate viséed as aforesaid shall be prima facie
evidence of the facts set forth therein, and shall be produced to
the collector of customs of the port in the district in the United
States at which the person named therein shall arrive, and
afterwards produced to the proper authorities of the United States
whenever lawfully demanded, and shall be the sole evidence
permissible on the part of the person so producing the same to
establish a right of entry into the United States; but said
certificate may be controverted and the facts therein stated
disproved by the United States authorities.”
In the opinion of this Department, the delegation of such authority
by the Chinese Government to its consuls in foreign countries is not
incompatible with the intent of the above section, and, inasmuch as
this Department has already recognized such delegation of authority
in its telegram of the 1st instant, addressed to the collector of
customs at San Francisco, in the case of two Chinese merchants and
one student, subjects of China, arriving at that port per City of Pekin, holding certificates from the
Chinese consul at Yokohama, properly viséed by the American consul,
I will thank you to furnish the Chinese minister with a copy of this
letter, and inform him that this Department perceives no objections
to the acceptance by collectors of customs of certificates of the
character mentioned, issued by Chinese consuls in other countries to
Chinese subjects, and that action will be taken accordingly.
It may be mentioned that Department’s circular of January 14, 1885,
paragraph 5, as amended by its letter of July 13, 1885, contemplates
the issuance of such certificates by Chinese diplomatic and consular
officers to Chinese subjects, not laborers, desiring to come to the
United States from countries other than China.
It is suggested that United States consular officers be advised of
the fact of such delegation of authority.
Respectfully, yours,
