The San Francisco call., 1898-06-14
LEES
 AS A JURIST Passes on the Validity of an Ordinance. WILL NOT ENFORCE IT REFUSES ASSISTANCE TO THE LICENSE COLLECTOR He Will Not Arrest Offenders Who Violate the Law Which
 Regulates Chinatown
 Guides.
WILL NOT ENFORCE II
REFUSES ASSISTANCE TO THE
 LICENSE COLLECTOR

1 The recently enacted ordinance reQuir-
 ing all Chinatown guides to pay a quar- terly license of s10 is being openly violar- ed The attention of Chief of Police Lees has been called to the matter, but he re- fuses to act or lend any assistance to
 License Collector Bonnet Chief Lees is jealous of the record Bonnet has made since he has been In the license office.
 Bonnet succeeded Fred Lees. a son of
 Chief Lees. and in consequence the of
 flee Is being made to suffer. Since the day Bonnet assumed charge of the office he has not received any assistance from the police department. While Fred Lees was License Collector he had all the po- lice assistance he wanted, but Bonnets $ requests are ignored.
 Bonnet was instrumental in securing the passage of the law to protect strang- CTS from being robbed and swindled by opium fiends and vagrants, who infest Chinatown and pose as guides. Upon the payment of the license each guide is given a number that he must expose on his shield. If any complaint of extortion or misbehavior Is reported the license of ficials know who the offender Is and he is refused a renewal of his license at the end of the quarter. The respectable guides who pay the license are now bit terly complaining because the law is not enforced. Opium fends and vagrants continue to act as guides and are safe from police interference.
 Chief Lees will not assist in enforcing the law because he believes 1t unconstitu- tonal. It has generally. been believed that the duty O. rne Police Department was to enforce the laws as enacted and allow the courts to pass on the question of their constitutionality. Chief Lees in right to pass on the ordinance ana his decision is that 1t is unconstitutional Ex Judge D.J. Murphy differs, however. from the learned Chief. When Bonnet com Judge Murphy was retained to make a test case. After thorough considera- tion of the ordinance he gave the opinion that it was perfectly constitutional and that 1t would be a useless waste of time to appeal to the Superior Court from. verdict of conviction rendered in the Police Court against one of the offenders. Judge Murphy with his years of exper- ence, both as practitioner, District At torney and Superior Judge. is overruled is one consolation, however, and that is that Chief Lees will shortly give way to, successor, who will be content with the self up also as judge and jury,
 "I know that some of the licensed guides are complaining that the law is not rigidly enforced" said Bonnet, and I am sorry to have to say that such is the fact. The Police Department will not render me any assistance, and 1t is impos- 
 When the law went into existence fifteen Of the guides came forward and paid their licenses. detailed two Of my deputies to go into the Chinese quarter at night and cause the arrest of any and all guides who had not taken out licenses. We ar rested about a dozen or them; Ihey fines took out licenses. We have thirty six guides now who are paying the license and four more Of them have nled appll- cations for permits.
 If Chief Lees would only condescend to assist in carrying out the law 1t would not take long to round up all the offend CTS. But that he won't do. He will not give me any assistance. He won't even instruct the patrolmen to arrest the of lenders when they are pointed out by my deputies. I have two deputies in Chinatown until o'clock every morning, and if they see a guide who has not license, they ask the policemen to arrests him. The tnvariable answer is You wilS have to get warrant l went to Chief Lees to ask him for assistance. The an- sWer he gave me was that the violation of the ordinance was only misdemeanor to make an arrest for misdemeanor un- less the offense was committed in his presence. I would like to understand just what the learned Chief understands by presence. If one of my deputies calls the attention of a patrolman to a guide es- corting a party through the quarter, and that the guide is unable to show a license when asked for it by the patrolman, think the misdemeanor comes pretty close to being committed in his presence. The Chief has some peculiar ideas. however and a peculiar way of doing things. Why he should take upon himself the respon- sibility of passing on the constitutionality of the ordinance is something I cannot understand. I am seriously handicapped by the refusal of the Chief to lend me needed aid in enforcing the law, but will continue on, doing the best I can under the circumstances. I trust and hope that the new chief, whoever he show consideration the license office than does Chief Lees"
 'I think the law is unconstitutional" said Chief Lees, when questioned about the matter "but still if the License Col lector swears out warrants against the delinquent guides I will have them served"
 Refused to Testify.