Mr. Hay to Mr. Wu.
Washington, April 23, 1901.
Sir: Referring to your note No. 203, of the 11th instant, in which you quote from a communication of the Chinese consul-general at San Francisco reports of certain cases in which it is charged that the United States officials at that place, upon whom devolves the duty of enforcing the Chinese exclusion laws, have been guilty of improperly refusing admission to Chinese immigrants, I have the honor to inform you that the Department is in receipt of a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, dated the 17th instant, in which he says:
The Department finds, upon reference to its files, that each and all of the cases cited by the Imperial consul-general to sustain the charges referred to were appealed to this Department, and, after a careful review of the evidence transmitted therewith, the action of the said officers was sustained, except in one instance, that of Tang Shai Tak, whose claim to be a teacher, and therefore within the exceptions provided for by the convention of December 8, 1894, was duly allowed, and he was therefore permitted to land.
The Department is of course not aware of what information the Imperial consul-general may have in his possession bearing upon the charge of impropriety on the part of the officials at San Francisco, but inasmuch as his letter, extracts from which are contained in the note of the Chinese minister, shows simply that in his judgment they had acted in disregard of the preponderance of evidence, and charges nothing against them other than that, their action in that respect does not appear to require further investigation, since it was ratified as above stated. Mistake or prejudice on the part of the said officials, if such is shown, may always be corrected by appeal, when each case will be reviewed and decided upon its merits.
Accept, etc.,