The herald., 1895-12-22

any given individual coOlie beyond the
reach of the law of the United States
The proceedings we're quite informal
Platoon after platoon of Cinnamon
arrived until the entire courtroom was
gorged, swamped, filed to replstion.
Mr.. McAllister, with trembling hands,
raised paper and read a part Of it
aloud. He had been warned that his
life was worth nothing if he continued
to prosecute Chinese with vigor. There
WAS sardonic smile on the faces OF the
white attorneys for the Chinese. Col.
Bee, with his usual cynicism and his
habitual amiability, smiled and said
nothing. Judge Hoffman had never
beheld any such spectacle nor had any
other living American, because it was
entirely new thing. All that could
be done WAS to return the Chinese to
the ship on which they came, to be
held in custody pending further pro-
ceedings, or to admit them to bail to
be held until their cases could be
reached on the calendar.
The writer of this, who took keen
interest in these events, does not rec
collect more than one night session.
At the conclusion Of this session the
highbinders, the painted maidens and
oil women with their jade stone ank-
let's and bracelets, the raw boys whose
pretenoe of being merchants could
never have deceived any one, the Chi
natown detectives and special police
men who came in to get pointers, the
interpreters, newspaper men and off,
GERS Of the Chinese Six companies who
looked as sleek as a bankers conven-
I'M nv OF hill
ity. Steamer after steamer came bring
ing hundreds of Chinese whose evil
dence for admission into the United
States consisted of certificates, the va
lidity OF which was attacked on sight.
The most picturesque and improbable
stories were told concerning the eli
mate and environment Of Gan Fran
cisco. There were alleged merchants
who gravely told Judge Hoffman that
they lived in Oakland and that they
reached there by means of a cable car;
that they had frequently seen snow in
the streets of Los Angeles and so on.
The lawyers whose names had never
been conspicuous in connection with
the administration of justice In San
Francisco, suddenly found themselves
famous by taking up Chinese cases.
Immense amounts OF money were ex-
pended by the Chinese collectively in
making their fights in the district cir
cult and supreme courts Of the United
States. One attorney, now known
around town as NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.,
is supposed to have accumulated $780,
600 or to have received that sun within
period of two or three years. The
fees attendant upon the issuance of
writs of habeas corpus and prelimi-
nary expenses in court aggregated
something like $3.50 per case and, as
has been before said, within compare
lively short period there were between
II, 900 and $4,000 of these cases. Many
times the legal question involved
was 40 fine that two or even three
judges sat in bank to consider the argu-
ments and facts. A ring Of white men
illegally grew well-to-do by wink
ing at or covertly encouraging frauds.
It is unnecessary to mention names,
for these facts are we'll known and
still remembered. The first restriction
law of May, 1882, had not been in ef-
feet many months before this. The
agitation which followed and the dis