The herald., 1893-09-17
STATUS ! OF THE GEARY ACT,
A Review of the Decisions Upon
It to Date.
Nothing to Prevent the Continued De-
portation of the Chinese.
A Statement OF Actions Under tho Law
from the Beginning-To Invalid
ate 1t the Supreme Court
Must Reverse Itself.

In view OF the many contradictory
dispatches regarding the Geary act
received OF late from the attorney
general. HERALD reporter called on
United States District Attorney Denis,
and obtained lucid statement from
him in regard to the present status oil
the act. ss..
"On the 10Th of May" began Mr..
Denis, "the supreme court Of the United
States held that the sixth section OF
the Geary act was constitutional. No
decision affecting the Gesry act was
rendered by any federal court until
the fret opinion OF Judge Ross, given
in the Wong Dip Ken case. The
effect of that decision was that China
man ordered deported by commission
had right to appeal to the federal dis
trict judge under the thirteenth section
of the act OF September IS, 1888.
"The next decision was also rendered
by Judge Ross in the came case at
another stage, in which he held the
order OF the commission sentencing
Wong Dip Ken to two days. imprison-
ment with hard labor in the peniten-
tiary was void, because unconstitu-
tional, IN that no person could be een-
fenced to AN infamous punishment ex-
cept for crime committed, and that the
supreme court in it's decision OF May
10Th had held that violation OF the
provisions of the Geary act was no
crime, and that consequently any one
violating such provision could not be
puniALed az for crime.
"The third Interpretation Of the Geary
net was again by Judge Ross in the ap-
plication by William Lintler for a
warrant for the arrest OF Chinese
unlawfully in the United States in VIOLA
tion of section OF the Geary law. Judge
Ross held that by section 12 OF the act
of 1888, private citizen could lodge a
complaint and obtain warrants, because
the Geary act expressly continued in
force all preceding Chinese exclusion
acte. The next federal Interpretation
was again by Judge Ross. in the Chang
Chung Chang case, September 9th, in
which he held that the Geary act must
be enforced until it became apparent
that there were no funds appropriated
for deportation purposes. No such
showing WAS made: on the contrary At
torney-General Olney's dispatch showed
by necessary implication that there were
funds for that purpose.
He held that the executive had no au-
thority for saying that an appropriation
by congress to enforce an act OF congress
was divisibls, to appertain to one section
and not another.
This constitutes," concluded the
speaker, call judicial action respecting
the Gesry law, with the exception OF the
action OF Judge Lacombe, circuit judge
in the southern district OF New York,
where he held that a certain laborer
should be deported, but ordered him in
to custody of the marshal until funde
for deportation should be appropriated.
Judges McKsnns and Morrow have
recently ordered a warrant for the arrest
of Chinese unregistered laborer, bas-
ing their order on the ground that while
it appears that there are not sufficient
funds for the deportation OF all pnregis-
tered in the country, that there are aui-
fcient funds 10 deport those whose ar
rest in the case were sought"
"Csn anything prevent the deporta-