The San Francisco call., 1895-11-13
The Question of Citizenship of
American-Born Chinese
Sweeping.
POSITION OF MR.. RIoRDAN
Counsel for the Chinese Propose to
Stand on the Decision of Judge
Field to the Last.

The bringing up of the question of the
citizenship of American born Chinese by
United States District ATTORNEY Foote in
the Federal courts at the instance of the
Department of Justice, does not seem to
bother very much President Dix and Sec
retary Gun of the United Parlor, Native
Sons of the Golden State.
This is the organization in this CITY of
Chinese born in the United States which
the politicians have been counting on so
much for the next election. 1t has charter
from the State and headquarters on CLAY
street, and its members all voted in the last
lection. \. Gun, as he is now known. the
secretary, is the son of a Chinese who
owned great deal of property, and with
President c. Dick-or Dik-he could
probably control all the votes of China
town for some lucky manipulation in 1896.
The Chinese and their attorneys, Thomas
ID. Rlordan and Lyman I. Mowry, expect
a friendly decision. Mr.. Riordan, who has
the Wong Kim Ak case in hand, said yes
terdaY:
'Why, if the contention of Judge Foote
was to be sustained the status of 200 600
people OF various ancestries-I make low
esumate-would be affected by it. Think
OF all the people in this country who have
been born of parents who owed allegiance
10 either Great Britain, Germany, Italy or
some other European power. Are all
these people to be declared not citizens ?''
District Attorney Foote, however, makes
broad distinction between children of
Caucasian and children of Mongolian
parents. The Caucasian parents he saws
enjoyed a possibility of becoming citizens
which IS denied to the Mongolians. The
question, the Federal authorities assert.
affects the Japanese equally as much as
me chinese; IN TACT, all the olive-skinned
OrentaIs. There are nearly 5000 japanese
IN this State alone, according to the Jap
anese Consul, Saburo Koya.
Mr.. Rlordan proposes to stand flatIy on
the decision of Judge Field in the Look
lin Sing case. Judge Field delivered his
opinion in 1884, and it was in substance
that a Chinese born in this country of
parents not In the Chinese diplomatic
service Is citizen, and subject TO the
jurisdiction Of the United States. Judge
Field was careful to construe the words
subject TO the jurisdiction thereof" IN the
fourteenth amendment, and the effect of
his decision was to give Look Tin Sing,
who had been born in Mendocino COUNTY
constitutional right to remain here after
his return from visit to China and to vote
II he wanted to do so.
The celebrated decision of Chancellor
Sanford of New York in.zthe Lynch VS..
Clarke C., case IN 1874 was made the basis of
Judge Fields conclusions. This suit in
voIved the possession of the Congress
Springs property at Saratoga Springs, and
Its determination hinged on whether Julia
Lynch, the daughter born in this country
OF Irish parents subject to Great Britain,
was citizen or not. Chancellor Sanford 5
decision was very elaborate and Julia
Lynch was declared a citizen.
The "slaughter-house" cases referred to
y District Attorney Foote in his reason
Fag that the fourteenth amendment of the
S-hSttutlOn was especially for the benefit
OF the Afro-Ame was argued bv Matt
Carpenter and Joseph II. Choate before
the United States Supreme Court in 1872.
The title of the controversy was "The
Butchers Benevolent Association of New
Orleans VS.. the Crescent City Livestock
Landing and Slaughter-hOuse Company"
This decision is supposed to have settled
Tor all time the effect of the fourteenth
amendment.
Lyman MOwry said yesterday that Judge
Morrow had decided he'question a year
ago in the Tom Yum case. Yum was
born at 722 Dupont street. District At
tOrney Garter did then raise the question
on the habeas corpus petition of Tom
Yum, but Judge Morrow decided only as
10 the jurisdiction of Collectors of Gus
toms, and did not go into the citizenship
question. Judge Morrow's decision
amounted to this: "If Tom Yum is an
alien the Collector has undoubted juris-
diction, but if he is citizen the Collector.
has not''
In Mr.. Riordan's mind, section 1892 of
the Revised Statutes is sufficient, to wit:
"Al persons born in the United States and
not subject to any foreign power, exclud-
ing Indians not taxed, are declared to be
citizens OF the United States" He has
made his pleadings very pointed in the
Wong Kim Ak petition and will waive the
fact that upon previous return of Wong
from China in 1890 the Collector of Gus
toms landed him. He says he wants to
have the broad princinIe of citizenship SET
tied for all time.