The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1881-05-07
RrieyG AIfred S.. HortaOeU. I'm re former
case.) Petitioners Counsel.

Rrie,lG Aitred S. HortoOeU. I'm re former
c0Se-) Petitioners Counsel
The petition alleges that the abOve-nam-
ed persons, now confined at the quarantine
grounds OH the reef of Honolulu, were on
the 18th Feb. last passengers from China on
the teamer Septtn10, that on or about the
I'D Feb. they were removed to the Quaran-
tine, on the grOund that said steamer had
smallpox on board, and that although their
quarantine has expired, they are retained in
custody by order of the Board of Immigra-
ton, "unti they give sureties or evidence
that they will not become Migrants or n
charge upon the community for their sup
port"
The return made by the respondent adj
mitS the above allegations to be true, add
ing no other material fact, if such it be,
than that the petitioners with several hun
dred others came here seeking labor as
field hands,
The whole case rests on the ordinance of
the Board of immigration, dated Jan. 18th
last. and that ordinance is based solely Oh
the Act of 1864, ITO Provide for the I'M
pOrtatiOn of LabOTers and for the Encourage
ment of Immigration" and the Act of 1868,
"TO Extend the Powers of the Bureau of
immigration"
The case permits no consideration of pol
icy or eXDediency to be entertained for one
moment but if it were a question of policy
or eXpediency, on that view alone [ do not
think that these men should be deprived
of their liberty unless the law plainly au-
thOriZeS the restraint.
The Act of 1864 authorizes regulations to
be made, "To secure the importation Of u
sufficient number of foreign labOrers to sup
ply the wants of planters and others and
such regulations as may be deemed eXpedi-
ent touching thec contract to be made with
such labOrerS as well as the terms and con-
ditions Upon which they are to be assigned
after their arrival into this Kingdom )"
and also, "such measures and regulations
as may be deemed eXpedient to promote
and encourage the Introduction of free i'm
migrants from abroad
1t is useless to try to base upon the Stat
ute an ordinance declaring, as this does in
effect, that immigrants in numbers of fifty
or more seeking labor, shall not be allowed
their liberty to obtain labor, but must ac-
ceDt such contract as may be offered to them
while in confinement, or else find s~ureties
that they will not become paupers. 1t
would be a refinement of irony to say that
such an ordinance is ''tO promote and en-
courage the introduction of free immi-
grants" And these passengers, although
seeking" COR desiring to be allowed to
seek) labor, are not "impOrted" here un-
der contracts to labor. They do not by any
possibility belong to the class of persons
referred to in the Act OF 1864, and therefore
this ordinance cannot affect them.
The Act of 1868 authorizes "Such rules
and regulations as may be deemed necessa-
ry for the good government and control of
immigrants that have been brought or adj
mitted, or that may be brought or admitted
into this Kingdom as servants or labOrers,
under license or permission from the Blu
reau of immigration, or contract with the
Minister of the Interior. These passengers
were not brought or admitted into this
Kingdom as servants or laborers under any
such license, or permission or contract.
They came here as free passengers, paying
their own passages, and desiring to obtain
work. Can we afford to have it said that
such persons, by the mere fact of seeking
labor, are not allowed to seek it, and that
all persons arriving here under such circum-
stances are liable to imprisonment on the
reef until they either make contracts q IA
a charge upon the community
/ do not think that the Court need 70 de-