The morning call., 1894-04-15
FRAUDULENT CERTIFICATES.
The Existence of a Ring More
Than Suspected.
TROUBLE AHEAD FOR ATTORNEYS
Names and Photographs of Members
OF Chinese Firms viii Be Secured
to Prevent Deception.

The Collector of Customs has grown
weary of landing Chinese who produce
certificates that they are merchants. He
knows that many of them are laborers,
brought here in violation of the exclusion
act and the contract labor law. yet with
the assistance OF DHrchasable white wit
nesses and notarles whose conseienees are
indurated they are provided with the
documents required by law, and upon land
ing doff the Disguise of merchants and be-
come coolie laborers.
There is no doubt in the Collectors
mind of the existence of q ring in this city
which is coming money by the landing of
Chinese in violation of the law. He not
only knows that such a ring is in exist
ence, but thinks he knows some of the
members. So far, however. he has been
unable to procure sufficient evidence 10
warrant their prosecution.
While the Collector cannot break the
ring he has found way to cripple il. The
certificates given up by the Chinese re-
fused landing by him have hitherto been
placed in court, where the lawyers and
others who use the haeeas corpus mill
have access to them. They are thus made
acquainted with the features Of the de-
fense which the Collector makes later on
when the cases are tried. 1t is possible,
the Collector thinks, that these certificates
are sometimes changed between the date
of the landing and the trial, and changed
In the interest of the ring. Hereafter
these certificates will be kept by the Col
lector until the day of the trial. and the
attorneys for the Chinese will thus be pre-
vented from using them to the injury of
the Government.
The bogus merchant and his attorney
will have hard road IN travail in tho
future. Six hundred Chinese are coming
on tie Peru, and most of them will produce
evidence, such as it is, that they are part
ners in Chinese stores. Having landed
they will register and secure the right to
remain in the country. A big batch of
such merchants" was landed last week,
and the Collector acknowledged when he
saw them III the cabin of the ship that
they were very respectable looking LOT.
but when he saw a wagon-Oad of them on
the way To Chinatown they had all the
characteristics of coolie laborers. Every
one of them had produced a certificate to
the effect that he was a partner In firm
of merchants doing business in this city.
Then came the instructions from the A t.
torney General ordering the Collector to
accept and land as merchants only such as
appeared by name in the firm 10 which
they claimed to belong.
OneY's order simplified the work of the
Collector. 1t defined a partner as one
who is actively engaged in the business of
the firm, and barred out stockholders,
! solicitors and others.
But TO assist their countrymen in land
ing n violation of the law many Chinese
firms have added fictitious names to their
partnership roll. There Is one firm that
lays claim to upward of seventy members.
some of whom are in China.
The Collector will secure the names Of
every Chinese firm in the city and il
possible the photograph of every partner
IN them. Then when a laborer seeks to
land on the ground that he is a merchant
the fraud can be at once detected and land
ing refused. The Collector will not accept
as partners all who are designated as such
by the Chinese firms, but will follow the
rule of the United States Attorney Gen
eral, thar they only are partners who are
actively engaged at the Office or store of
the nnncern