The San Francisco call., 1899-06-10

y INCE the dismissal of Chief Meredith
of the Chinese Bureau the Chinese
J brokers have not been able any long
~ er to secure copies of the transcripts
of the statements of Chinese immigrants
on the steamers made to members of the
Chinese Bureau, and they have been put
ting their heads together to devise some
other means of landing their coolie chat
tells 1t was necessary to obtain these
transcripts in order that the testimony
of the witnesses secured in Chinatown by
the brokers' bureau should correspond and
be consistent with that of the immigrant
as taken down by the shorthand reporter
of the bureau. Otherwise the discrepancy
would be fatal to their case.
There Is now on foot scheme whereby
immigrants may be landed easily by the
usual perjured evidence, and that is to
provide that there shall be only one eX-
animation, and that before the United
States Court Commissioner. In order 10
accomplish this end movement has been
started to test the right of the Chinese
Bureau to examine or pass upon the
claims for admission of Chinese alleging
themselves to be native-born. An argu-
ment has been made to the Secretary Of
the Treasury, and It is a plausible one,
that the exclusion act relates only to La
tiVeS of China, and that it cannot legally
govern the going or the coming of ma
tives of the United States. Hence, it IS
argued, although the immigrant be clad
in Chinese costume and speak no lam
guage but Chinese, if he makes claim that
he is an American citizen by virtue of
his birth the exclusion act cannot be aD-
piled to him. 1t will be the duty OF the
Collector of the Port to pass him inside
the gates or to exclude him on the ground
that his assertion of nativity is not be-
heved. In the former case the immigrant
will be arrested by members of the Chi
nese Bureau for being illegally within rhe
United States and he will have the right.
claiming citizenship, of an appeal to the
local United States courts on writ of
habeas corpus. Then he will go before 4
United States Commissioner with his wit
nesses and prove his nativity if he can.
Should he be excluded in the first place
by the Collector he can invoke the writ of
habeas corpus as an American citizen. as
he does now, and appear before the Com
missioner. In either case the bureau will
not have any record of statement made
by him to be contradicted by his wit
neSses.
This law point was brought up in the
DICK Wllllams case two years ago by
Lyman l. Mowry, the acknowledged au-
thonty on Chinese exclusion law Mr.
Mowry argued on that occasion that the
IL.
not come under the exclusion act. no mat
Ter what might be his garb or speech.
Inc TACT that he claimed to be a native
OF this country was all that was required.
The truth or falsity of the statement of
the immigrant could be determined only
upon habeas corpus proceedings. The
court did not pass upon the point because
1t was not considered relevant to the issue
then pending before the court. There
seems to be much merit in the contention
or Mr. Mowry from technically legal
point of view. and 1t is this proposition
that is now being laid before the Secre-
tary of the Treasury in Washington py
interested persons.
Another snag in the way of the cooile
importers has been and is United states
Court Commissioner Heacock Juuse
Heacock himself cross-examines the lima
man who claims to be Yankee anu III
nine cases out of ten he has been dole Wy
a very few questions to determine "hether
the witnesses have lied or whetner they
have told the truth. Hence 1t is the pun
pose of the ring to avoid Judge Heacock
as much as possible. 1t is eXpecleu ma
the Treasury Department wiz am -. ullo
IT'S no,icv in three or four weeks from
| tho nresent time, and If 1t shouia De III
tho Inc of Mr.. Mowry's contention the
! Pacific Slope will be noooeu Will oo0iies