The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1896-11-24


that the possession of fifty dollars Is TO |
be taken as evidence of his not being |
q pauper because fifty dollars. rs we
know, is not sufficient TO support man
for any considerable length of time.
In regard 10 the constitutionality Of
this Act do not undertake to eS-
pound the law on that question eNhaus-
lively after such limited considera-
ton of the subject Even though there
exists treaty between us and Japan
which allows free locomotion of the
respective subjects of those countries
and the right of ingresS and egreSs,
yet the government has n right TO exer-
else its police power and enact whole
some regulations in order to protect
its own citizens. Certainly if man is
afflicted with loathsome disease or
one dangerous TO the community. the
police power of the state has a perfect
right TO make and enforce such laws
as would prevent their landing here.
My impression is that the law is not
Unconstitutional or in violation of the
treaty. and similar laws under similar
circumstances are generally upheld.
As regards the facts in this case. II
that the petitioner had in his posses
sion certain certificates OF deposit of
a Japenese bank or Japanese govern
ment bank. which understand is some
thing like a National Bank in the
United States, calling for los Japanese
Yen. These certificates are readily con-
vertible into the legal tender of this
country by local Japanese bank; and
distinguish this case from the one
before Judge Cooper. where check
TO the amount of fifty dollars was in
, question. In that case the ability of
the drawer of the check to pay cannot
be taken for granted. A check or order
. is 4 very different thing from a certi-
. ticate of deposit payable to bearer. The
Legislature evidently intended that the
possession of what was legal tender in
: his country should not be the only
Interpretation of what was fifty dol
lars in money" Suppose we should
have come here some Armenian immi-
;. grants They might have possession
sof Turkish coins worth no more than
: their bullion value. but not legal ten
{ lder of this country 1t would be I'M
!, lust TO exclude them on that ground
United States greenbacl1s are not legal
: tender in this country although readi-
). " accepted as current here The sta
tute must have a sensible interpreta-
y ton. From the testimony of the clerk
!, of that bank, these yen certificates are
I readily convertible into coin. l hold
that the possession of them to the
value of $50 is compliance with the
requirement of the statute,
The effect of the investigation of the
. petitioner was of no more value in law
: than to procure from him an admission
= against his interest, his interest being
to say that the money was his own.
That admission is contradicted by his
positive evidence introduced in this
Court yesterday. He said that the
money was his own, and was not to be
returned TO this company, and that he
never made any contrary statement.
If he had made that admission under
loath before the tribunal created by the
lstatute, should have regarded it very
: differently; but the admission was
a made without caution by the Court or
without the particularly in examina-
ition usually required IN such cases.
4
doyle, a Japanese interpreter. who had
no official position IN this matter He
: was sent there to hunt up evidence
but the Court did not meet until Mr..
McStocker. the Deputy Collector, met
}, the immigrants after the examination
u was over.
The evidence of Mr.. Furuya:-I have
: nothing to say against the gentleman
| character, it seems to me, amounted 10
: very little. In the first place, he could
. not identify the man as the one who
I made the statement, and secondly he
I did not make or see the entries OF his
: statement made by Mr.. Doyle Both
: of these gentlemen rely on that record,
j and the record is not here-merely a
/. typewriter copy. 1t does not meet the
essential requirements of the statute:
it was not made by the Collectors
: Court. l do not care to go into the
lQuestion of the credibiiity of the testi-
mony OF these gentlemen as against the
oath OF the petitioner, but | wish to
say that from what occurred here yes
terday it is very clear that these JAP
anese immigrants are dull of under
standing, for they do not understand
: the particular questions put to them in
{ every case. The interpreter here in
! Court yesterday is a gentleman of high
standing, and he had to repeat his
questions over and over, and had to
converse with the petitioner quite long
before he could venture to interpret,
showing that the japanese is a Ian
guage that acquires particular skill in
order to get ones exact meaning. |
do not say that the Japanese language
is any different in this respect from
other foreign tongues, but we must
concede to the petitioner some of the
infirmities in the way of getting at his
exact meaning
do not think ought to hold the De-
titioner as having violated the pro-
visions Of this statute by coming into
this country without the possession of
fifty dollars of his own, by reason of a
: somewhat unguarded admission to a
party who had no official or judicial ca
pacity in the premises.
As regards the access of parties to
these immigrants to coach them as to
what their testimony should be in order