The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-03-20
FIGHTING THE STATUTE.
Chinese Bitterly Opposing the
State Exclusion Law.
Consul Bee Says the Act Is DEMONSTRATIONS al
1t VIII Be Fought in the United States
Courts-Mongols Liable to Arrest

On and after to-day enterprisng citizens
OF California can add to the weight of their
Golfers by procuring the arrest of all Chi
nese who have not been registered ard
given certificates of residen @ in the State
The field is pregnant with promise and
profit, as but three subjects of the Celestial
Empire in this State have taken out these
certificates of residence.
A reward OF so for the conviction of
every Chinese without one of these neces
sary documents in his possession will be
paid by the State Treasurer.
The law provides that:
The Governor OF this State Is authorized and
required AT the expiration of one year from the
passage OF This act To of r a reward OF S25 to
any person or persons as infOrmants VINO shall
produce the necessary testimony for the conyie-
ton OF any Chinese person OF a violation OF this
act.
So much for the public-spirited informer.
The law, however. does net make the ap-
prehensI0n of Chinese without certificates
"everybody's business" Ii provides that:
THE CERTIFICATES.
Whenever any peace officer of the State or Of
any county or municipality OF the same shall
have good reason 10 believe that any Chinese
person has neglected 10 provide himself OF her
self with certificate oil residence provided for
ID this act, he shall demand OF said person per-
mission 10 see and examine said Gel tificate; aud
on failure or refusal OF such said person 20 pro-
duce the same, lie shall nj once report The facts
on oath 10 the nearest Justice of the Peace or
Police Judge, or Judge of any Superior Court,
who shall. II In his Judgment good cause is
shown. issue his warrant FOR the arrest OF said
Chinese person aud proceed TO examine or try
the defendant upon said charge.
The act referred to is the State Chinese
exclusion law passed by the last Legis Ia
ture and approved by Governor Markh am
on March -. 1891.
The act prohibits the coming of any
intn ba
diplomatic representatives.. consuls-g general,
etc. IL enacts that any steamship or other
vessel shall not bring 4 Monaghan in TO the
State under penalty of $500 or imprson-
ment Tor one year Steamship, railroad
and stage managers are forbidden to sell
transportation 10 any Chinese who does
not possess a certificate Of residence in the
State.
DUTIES IMPOSED.
The law makes it the duty Of con iuctors
and other agents Of trans portatlOn lines
plying between points in the State or COM
ing into the State from other States or any
foreign county to demand Ger i!icate Of
residence, and should taIs not be fOrthc5ru-
Ing To arrest the applicant, who ii found
guilty of being unlawfuliy in the State. shall
be returned To China or fined $500, with the
alternative of Imprisonment
The law makes Ii the duty of eyery
County Clerk To record the certificates of
residence which have to be issued to the
his deputies, and it is made the duty of all
Chinese TO apply for one of these dOcu-
ments. Every applicant is obliged By the
law TO pay So for his registration. aud the
cost oil the enforcement OF the act Is TO be
drawn from the fund thus created.
Although the act went into effect from
ana after The date Of its passage il does not
become operative until to-day, as the Chi
nese were given one year in which 70 reg
lster. That year expired yesterday, and so
far but three of the seventy or eighty
thousand Celestials in the State have OBJ
tanned certificates.
Immediately alter the passage Of the act
1t was carefully dissected by Consul Bee
and his attorney 1. ID. Riordan, who is also
attorney Tor the Six Companies. They de-
cIded that 1t was uncon etitutiona on sew
eral grounds and they notified the little
brown men throughout the State to that
effect.
CASES BEFORE THE COURTS.
Two test cases were brought before the
courts. bat In both it was decided that the
conStituilonality OF the act could not be
tired until Chinese had been arrested for
being In the State without a certificate, and
as no one was compelled 70 obtain certifi-
cate until March 20, 1892, the validity Ofthe
law could not be tested before that date.
The validity OF the act Will be tested at a
very early date Consul Bee said, when in
terviewed yesterday by a CALL reporter,
that ali the Chinese in the State had been
instructed to pay no attention to
The law, as It was unconstitutional.
we VIII let Attorney General Hart
make the first move" he said. Then
we will come out. We hold that
The law cannot stand and we are backed by
the constitution OF the United States aud
by decision rendered by Justices Bradley
ana Field GU cannot compel Chinese
who is here under an agreement with his
government to submit to regulations which
are not enforced against other foreigners.
y law was once passed that a Chinese
When imprisoned for q crime should lose
his queue. but the matter was carried to the
highest tribunal and is was there decided
that Chinese who had committed a crime
could not be compelled 10 part with his
plgtail
CLASS LEGISLATION.
The new law is class legislation, for it
c0mpels Chinanan TO paw So for register
Ing. and m keS no requirement of any other
foreigner
The Consul fondled his white whiskers
While, anG, eontiuuing, said: Congress has
but the States have 10 such right.
when the constitutiOnality Of The law is
tested he said. ut viii be shown that |
am right. a Chinese will be arrested for
being here without certifi ate. and we will
take the matter before tie United States
court on writ OF habeaS corpus.
Il want to say" Consul Bee added that
In my opinion the number of Chinese in the
state l. diminishing 1t is not true that
great hordes Of these people are coming over
from Canada. j wrote some time ago To
Consul Levi W. Meyer NJ V Gloria for the
number pf Chinese who had entered Can
ada or departed during the last year, aud he
replied: NanalmO - No arrivals, depart
ures D; New Westmiuster-NO arrivals, de-
partures 1SS; NIctoria-1115 arrivals. 6q2
departures; NaucouyeF-2l56 arrivals 1892
departures. IotalS-ArTiyals 32TI, DEPART
ures 22T. So you see that even if all the
excess OF arrivals over departures went 10
California there would have been less than
10OO''
THE COUNTY CLERK.
Since the passage of the act and up to the
present, only three Chinese have appeared
before the County Clerk and recorded their
certhcates OF residence and their photos.
These were Charlie Fong of SI1B Dupont
street and Wong Din OF 712 DUPONT street.
both Store-keepers, who presented them
selves on August 2, 1891, and Pom Sing. a
cook OF NarrowlandS, Alameda County. WHO
MED his certificate on the 18th of Noyem Der
Ihey were each charged and paid 81 as a
lee, and since then the book of blanks has
been unused in the County Clerks Office. If
there IS any unusual rush of Chinese to-
morrow to file their certificates of residence.
the Zee Of 81 charged in each case will 60 to
pay the necessary extra clerical rush~for
the work OF registration. No such ruS ia
expected by the County Clerk, who thinks
there never will be another demand for one
OF his regis tration blanks.
Curtis Case Postponed.
The application for bail made bv M. r.
Curtis, the slayer Of Officer Grant, and that
was to have been heard before Judge Troutt
Yesterday. WAS OOStnappd till naxr rr,o...x.