sport will not suffice,
for it is not in the form which the act prescribes shall be the sole
permissible evidence of his right to land. And he can obtain no such
certificate from the Government of his place of residence, because he
is not a subject or citizen thereof "at the time," or at any time.

There being, therefore, no statutory provision prescribing the terms
upon which Chinese persons resident in foreign countries but not
subjects or citizens of such countries may prove their status and
rights as members of the exempted classes in the absence of a Chinese
representative in such country, the Secretary of the Treasury, in whom
the execution of the act of July 5, 1884, was vested, undertook to
remedy the omission by directing the revenue officers to recognize
as lawful certificates those issued in favor of Chinese subjects by
the Chinese consular and diplomatic officers at the foreign port of
departure, when viseed by the United States representative thereat.
This appears to be a just application of the spirit of the law, although
enlarging its letter, and in adopting this rule he was controlled by the
authority of high judicial decision as to what evidence is necessary to
establish the fact that an individual Chinaman belongs to the exempted
class.

He, however, went beyond the spirit of the act and the judicial
decisions, by providing, in a circular dated January 14, 1885, for the
original issuance of such a certificate by the United States consular
officer at the port of departure, in the absence of a Chinese diplomatic
or consular representative thereat; for it is clear that the act of
Congress contemplated the intervention of the United States consul only
in a supervisory capacity, his function being to check the proceeding
and see that no abuse of the privilege followed. The power or duty of
original certification is wholly distinct from that supervisory
function. It either dispenses with the foreign certificate altogether,
leaving the consular vise to stand alone and sufficient, or else it
combines in one official act the distinct functions of certification and
verification of the fact certified.

The official character attaching to the consular certification
contemplated by the unamended circular of January 14, 1885, is to be
borne in mind. It is not merely _prima facie_ evidence of the
status of the bearer, such as the courts may admit in their discretion;
it was prescribed as an official attestation, o