Milford chronicle., 1893-06-30
wHAr rHE eEARY LAW IS.
Legislation Regarding Chinese In II

Legislation Regarding Chinese In Thii
Country Clearly Explained.
The supreme court Of the United State;
has affirmed the constitutionality of the
. Chinese exclusion act of May 5, 1892, which
requires the removal from the United States
Of all Chinese persons who are not lawfully
entitled to remain here Practically this
act-which is commonly called the Geary
law, from the name Of the member Of con
/ gress wko introduced the bill for which it
was substituted--did not go into effect un-
til May 3, 1893, because it gave the Chinese
until that date to procure the certificates
which should show that they were lawfully
in the country.
By its terms the new law excludes no
class Of Chinese not already forbidden to
enter the country, nor does it require the
expulsion Of any who were in the country
when the previous laws prohibiting the i'm
migration Of Chinese laborers went into
force
In effect, however, taking into considera-
tion the failure Of many thousands of
Chinese laborers to comply with the terms
Of the law, its strict enforcement would
eXpel the majority of the Chinese in the
United States
The law continues in force the existing
legislation relating to the Chinese and
provides that all Chinese who cannot prove
that they are lawfully in the coun;EF shall
be removed to China, or, if they ESve be-
come citizens of some other country, to
that country
All Chinese laborers who were lawfull'
in the country at the time Of the passage c
the act are required by it to obtain within
one year, from the collector Of internp
revenue in whose district they lived a ce
tiflcate Of their residence, giving each man
name, age, place of abode and occupation
Any Chinese laborer, whether entitled to
live in the country or not, who shall not
have obtained this certificate before May
., 1893, is subject not only to deportation,
but to fine and imprisonment.
As the previous legislation had prohibit
ed the immigration of Chinese laborers
only, and as by the treaty between the
United States and China all Chinese who
are teachers, students, merchants or trav-
elers from curiosity, together with their
servants, and all Chinese laborers who were
already in the country when the treaty was
adopted were guaranteed the same rights
as other foreigners, the law directly applies
sion to the country since the previous ex-
clusion acts were passed or to those who
have failed to take out certificates.
Acting under advice that the present or
"Geary act" was contrary to our national
constitution and in violation of the treaty
with China, the great majority of the Chi
nese laborers failed to take out certificates
of residence Several of them were arrest
ed, and when their liberation was demand
ed on writs of habeas corpus their cases
We're taken first before the United States
district courts and then to the United
States supreme court on this constitutional
question.
A majority of the supreme court decided
against these Chinese appellants declaring
that the law is il, accordance with the con-
and tla' congress did not exceed
its power in enacJing it. The majority of
Chinese laborers in the country, therefore,
are now subject to arrest and Punishment
to China,
a great deal of opposition to the terms of
the law has been expressed Oh ccarlfT u
its supposed violation of Hie treaty of the
United States with ChiBa. 1t is assumed
that if the law is entBrcad it wi. be fol
lowed by retaliatory measures a that
VIII be eN belled from Cl a.
1t is possible th2f this will be the sase,
but it is proper totsay that the conditions
under which Chigese may live in the United
States under the/"Geary act" are far more
liberal than those under which Americans
live, travel, do business or express them |
selves in China or have ever done So /
Youths Companion.