Daily camera., 1897-12-27
FOOLS UNCLE SAM.
How tho Heathen Chinee Works
tho Government.
He Accommodates American Coin and
Gets tho United States AutI,ori-
ties TO Send Him Homo for
Nothing.

"Melicar man think'm smart.
Think N Cinnamon no smart. He, he.
Chinaman fooi'm. Heap big joke on
Mclean man. 'Ha, ha, ha.'
Wah FoCr, secoLd-rate politician and
mana -atout-ChinatoWn, held his sides
and gutfaweG uproariously.
Come right down to it, this pig-tailed
Rainey of the Celestial quarters had a
right to ha-ha. Worse, al of China
town is With much difficulty suppress
ing its mirth over new dodge, by which
Uncle Sam is being played for a good
thing"
When a heathen gets tired of this
country and wants to returns to his ma
tive flowery kingdom nowadayshe does
rot have to bother his barbered head
about a grub stake, passage price or
anything else in the way of expense. He
is sent home by this govcrnment-and
that's where the joke on Uncle Sam
comes in.
When congress passed. a law requir-
ing all Chinese residents of America to
register and provide themselves with
certificate, showing that they had
bowed to the will of the government, it
wa, hoped that by this means the fed
eral authorities could keep tab on its
Chinese population and effectually reg
u7ate immigration of this class.
The officials were clothed with cu
thority to seize and deport. after given
I2te, all Celestials found! within tho
boundaries Of the United States who
could not show that they had complied
with the regulation by exhibiting the
necessary certificates. This was good;
enough as far as it went, but it appears
that it went not far. True. the Chinese
when they once got started registered
in drOves-50, 900, for instance. at this
port alone. Duplicate certificates of all
of these registrations are piled up with
in the local custom house building, but
inasrmuch as no index of the same was
ever compiled, it is next to an impossi-
biity for the government Officers to
tell who has or w,a) has not registered.
Their only recourse is to keep a sharp
eye out and grab every Chinaman who
cannot show certificate
Now it is this very state Of affairs
that gives the "heathen Chinee" the op-
portunity to exhibit the superiority of
his cunning and ingenuity. 1t has pro-
vided him with the means of enjovinga
free trip W China whenever he takes 4
notion.
Here is the mO1ius Operandi: All Sin
wants to go home. He has enough CT
America and American gold He goes
to a certain agency in Chinatown which
makes a business of purchasing certifi-
Gates for the purpose of reselling them
to Chinese who are smuggled' into the
country and are naturally nervous of
their chances of remaining. He in
creases Ibis pile by bartering away his
passport
The agency's contract does not cease
with the mere purchase of the paper.
One of the minions is dispatched to the
United States marshal's Office with the
information that one All Sin. who can
be found at this place or that place,
las no certificate, and consequently has
no right to sojourn in this country.
The marshal has the law before him,
and has no alternative but to go and
seize the supposed contraband The
man hasno certificate of course. When
Uncle Sam undertakes to deport, he
must pay the bill.
No wonder Wah Foon ripples with
glee.
The fedora, officials say there is no
help for 1.-THE law prescribes what
they shall do, and per .'rce they must
do it-San Francisco Call.